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as I have loved you. In Christ, god says to us, your sins are forgiven. Friends, believe the good news of the gospel. Thank you.

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let me make one announcement which is just a reminder that following tonight's service everyone is invited to the fellowship hall where refreshments are to be served so please adjourn to the fellowship hall immediately after the benediction tonight my friends before giving the prayer of illumination Let me just make some informal remarks about how happy I am to be here this evening. You stole Ted Wardlaw from us. And we come with a vendetta tonight.

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You tore a hole out of the fabric of urban ministry in Atlanta, Georgia. But we thank God for the time that he and Kay were with us. We know that God was able to do mighty deeds through him, and we trust that the residue of what he did may linger indelibly in our minds and motivate us in our hearts. Then, let me say, as I come here, I am no stranger to Austin Theological Seminary, because before I was a Baptist, I was a Presbyterian.

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They said my sins were so great that a little sprinkling of water wouldn't do it. I had to be completely immersed from head to toe and then dry off and hope that God would redeem me. So it was that I became a part of the Presbyterian Church and then a part of the Baptist Church. But my early days were spent in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

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So you can see that I am a conglomerate of many-- thank you. Thank you, Naomi here. I'm a conglomerate of many traditions. And I thank God for weaving the strands of ecumenism so tightly around me that I feel comfortable almost anywhere I go.

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I think of the memory of Henry Quinius and all of those who preceded him at this place find this opportunity a wonderful one. Also, let me say that it is good for a pastor who is going into his 30th year in a church to be able to get away from the desert of the parish and come to the oasis of the academic community, where you are able to keep us on the cutting edge and to let us drink deeply from the fountains that you have discovered.

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And I go back to Atlanta, knowing that I will be resuscitated and revived through what I will hear among you here. I sit with those of you who are in the pew, with seminary students, and with pastors, and with others, who can say in the words of the 42nd hymn, of David as the deer pants for the water brook. So pant our souls for thee, O dogs.

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And it is our prayer, as we come in this gathering, that we may come closer to a view of the God who always appears in a glass darkly, never to be conveyed, only to be approached. And when we approach Him, to take off our shoes, because we stand on holy ground. And after studying and preaching so long, it is amazing how abysmally little we know of Him, such a great and wonderful God who serves. Let us pray.

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Now, Lord, you are the light of the world. and my light is derived from you. I have no radiance unless you first touch me with the glory that is in you. And so humble me and let me block myself out so that you may be more fully seen and we may feel your presence.

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Be with Ted and with all of these, our dear friends, And grant that somehow the feeble efforts that we make, though flawed and fragmented, may somehow be in the cohesiveness of your spirit, so that with our trembling lips, and with our feeble efforts, we may do something that is acceptable in your sight. And if it is acceptable in your sight, then we will have done our duty, and we will go on from this place.

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to see what the end will be. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we pray for the life that only you give, and that the people of God say, amen. I would like to call your attention to the general epistle of Peter. to words that are found in that general epistle, the fourth chapter, verses twelve through nineteen.

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Of course, you know, whoever wrote this particular epistle is facing some of the persecutions that Christians face as they carried the gospel to Asia Minor and other places. As they ran into difficulty in Galatia and Ephesus and in other places where they tried to proclaim the word of God and persecution was starting. It was attacking the household of God.

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These are the words of encouragement that we receive, but also words about reality that we often forget. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you. as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's suffering, so that you also may be glad and shout for joy when His glory is revealed.

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If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you, but that none of you suffer as a murderer, Let none suffer as a thief or a criminal, or even a mischief maker. Yet if any one of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God.

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If it begins with us, What will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God's will entrust themselves to a faithful creator while continuing to do good.

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Beloved, Be not surprised at the fiery trial that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's suffering, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. I'd like to ask a question tonight.

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Are we attempting to pull the nails out? are we pulling the nails out? By way of introduction, let me refer you to that wonderful preacher of the 14th century, that German mystic Father Thaler. I've been intrigued by his writings recently because it seems to me that he wants to examine our faith with one penetrating question.

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The question is this, are we trying to avoid the pain and the suffering of the cross that our Lord knew, the spiritual pain of it all? Are we suddenly trying to pull the nails out of the cross? But to put it another way, would we like to trade the blood-stained cross for a fancy, fashionable, ornamental one?

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Are we endeavoring to pull the nails out of the cross, to escape faithful following of Jesus? we claim as our Lord and our ultimate sovereign, well, let's listen for a while. Jesus put it well, didn't he, when he said, whosoever will follow me, let them take up their crosses daily and follow me. Isn't that a heavy load?

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Don't we wish we had a day off? from that heavy cross. It's a daily thing, it's persistent. Not just once a week, not just on Sunday, not just for a little while, but daily.

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365 days a week, if anyone would come after me, let them take up their crosses and follow us. But listen to what Father Tallis says about this cross bearing. He says, But alas, we have come to this.

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Nobody nowadays thinks that they can endure any pain or suffering at all. People have grown weak-spirited and delicate-natured. If we could find some way of perfection involving no manner of suffering, we might preach and propagate it with success. It's being done now, you know.

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Fut in our day, says Thaler, we love only ourselves. That's mighty harsh, isn't it? But this great Dominican scholar and preacher is definitely on point. Listen to the modern observations of Roy Hammerling as he applies the words of Thaler to our lives in 2005.

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Listen to what he says. Do you have any idea what type of product is advertised more than any other on television in our time. Think about it for a moment.

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It's almost obvious. Yes, you got it right. It's pain relievers. Whether it's a headache or a backache, minor arthritis, or a major toothache, we consider and are counseled to take a pill to get rid of our pain.

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And we are constantly seeking a pain-free existence a pain-free life. But what happens when we take this idea of a pain-free life into the arena of our Christian witnessing and discipleship? Father Tyler recognizes that if a preacher proclaimed a doctrine of doing away with suffering and pain, people would flock to hear him or her.

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We do know some preachers who tickle the itching ears of their listeners by telling them that they don't have to live in pain. In fact, some of them say Jesus Christ already took on pain, and so you don't have to be caught in pain again. They say God will bless you with a painless, successful life.

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Nothing about painful faithfulness. Now, such teaching is attractive. even though it is false, because none of us really want to work too hard. None of us want to have pain.

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None of us want to suffer that much. Therefore, some modern preachers of glory avoid the cross of Christ by proclaiming that Jesus bore the cross already. It is empty, so we don't have to. These popular preachers of no suffering have TV shows, and I call them that rather than worship services, and large congregations.

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And they point to their success as evidence that God is truly with them. They say, we have been anointed. But what have they really accomplished? In reality, they have traded the old rugged cross for an ornamental one.

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They have traded the rough-hewn cross for a soft bed of money and luxury, befitting their own ambitions. Yes, people have always wanted to avoid the cross with its nails, but a healthy caution is needed when we come to religious instructions. For if any teaching pulls the nails out of the cross or wipes away the wounds of Christ, then beware, for this teaching is not only a quick false fix, but it offers no permanent relief for our appropriate struggle as disciples of Jesus Christ our Lord.

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But now to the biblical text. 12 and 13, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you, because you've got trouble in your perish. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's suffering. so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.

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What is the writer saying? Don't try to pull the nails out. Regardless of how difficult the situation is, hang in there as a witness for Jesus Christ, for truth and for righteousness. Now, we don't pull the nails out of the cross,

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and then receive our blessings. But if we strive to do three things, and I'm only going to talk about one, we will be able to endure even though we hang on a cross. First, face the fiery ordeal with Christ. Secondly, keep our faith in Christ.

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Thirdly, share in the sufferings of Christ. Just dealing with face the fiery ordeal with Christ. Now, Peter's strong words regarding the fiery ordeal really refers to the trouble that he was having and others were having as they tried to preach in other places.

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And there were troubles, especially for Paul, in a number of those churches. For whenever we saw people who were being honest to God, they could not avoid the cross. They were suffering in the name of Jesus, in Galatia, in Thessalonica, in Ephesus, and in Corinth, to name but a few places. And whenever we are suffering.

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for Jesus, there's no way to get around it. And so some of the apostles and early disciples were saying, can't we get some relief? Is there a way to pull these nails out of the cross of Jesus Christ? Or personally, isn't there a pill that I can take to relieve this pain in my life, this trouble that my church is giving, which is so devastating, so penetrating, and so excruciating?

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But the writer of the General Epistle of 1 Peter says, Think it not strange that you're having trouble. Think it not strange that this fiery ordeal is taking place among you. This is no surprise because when you look, says Peter, at your master and Lord, he pledged to serve until death and he himself suffered and died as an example for us.

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And Jesus said, all who would follow him must take up their crosses daily and follow him. But we do not want life to be that painful. Yet, this is our proper life. Think it not strange that this is happening.

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I read the statement the other day, which lets me know what we can expect when the nails are in us and we cannot pull them out right away. It says, people do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them. Think about it for a little while. Is it not strange that this is happening?

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The stone which the builders rejected has become the head cornerstone. It is painful. There's no way to get around it. Don't pull out the nail.

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Stick to the task. Face your fiery ordeals with price. Now, one of the purposes of these fiery ordeals, it's right there in the text. It says, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to do what?

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To test you. Test you. That's the problem. We're facing the final examination.

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We have to be tested. Well, these tests are for our proving. The word fiery trials is testing. Whether the test is sent from God or from a devil in the congregation, it's coming.

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We have to realize that the fiery ordeals determine how earnest we are in his service. And it is not always going to be a bed of roses. Sometimes there are thorns and thistles in our way. Sometimes the devil gets in the church.

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Didn't he walk with Job and walk with God's sons when Job was tested? But greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. Remember, the saints always had to go through trouble, and they wished their nails could have been pulled away from them, Joseph and David and Elijah and Jeremiah and Job. To test the sincerity of their commitment, they were placed under persecutions, cast into fiery furnaces, the three Hebrew voice, and selected for God's discipline.

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Listen to the prophet Zechariah speaking to us from the Old Testament in the 12th chapter of his prophecy. I will refine them the disciples as silver is refined and will try them as gold is tried by fire they shall call on my name and I will hear them I will say it is my people and they will say the Lord is my God or Psalm 115 the Lord trieth the righteous Psalm 66 12 we went through fire and through water but you broughtest us out into a wealthy place And of course, 1 Corinthians says, Our work will be tried by fire, and even though we will be burned, we will be saved. That's what we learn.

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No way to escape it. The cross and then the crown. You let people ride over your heads, and we went through fire and through water. You have brought us, says the writer, to a special place, to test us, to test us.

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I would like to suggest tonight, as we think about the fiery trial, that there are a whole lot of people who are being tested, and there is a whole lot of suffering that is being seen in our world that is not really right for us to have to have. Let me just give you a few illustrations. The World Alliance of Reformed Churches, led by Clifton Kirkpatrick,

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who is a prominent man in the Presbyterian Church and president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, has been involved in a heated debate over morality. You know, we've heard a lot about morality in the presidential election. It's been centered around three thoughts, hasn't it? Stem cell research, same-sex marriage, and abortion.

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That's been the limit. to morality. But listen to what these people say. Amid this heated debate, they say the current world order is rooted in an immoral economic system defended by empire, the superpower, the United States of America.

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The document defines empire as the coming together of economic, political, and military domination led by one powerful nation. Stay with me. Profit motivations yield little assistance to the poor or the underprivileged or the underdeveloped. We live in a scandalous world that denies God's call for life for all people.

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The annual income of the richest 1% in the world is equal to that of the poorest, 57%, and 24,000 people die each day from poverty and malnutrition. Martin talked about it when he talked about three great evils. He said they were poverty, racism, and war. Well, let's move on to racism.

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Is slavery over? God is testing us. These things must be proclaimed. He is testing whether or not we even talk about it in study groups.

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Slavery is not over in the United States of America, because there is a World Relief Organization that announced plans in 2004 to help US victims of human trafficking that slavery, the National Association of Evangelicals. received a half-million-dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to use this aid to help victims of human trafficking who are brought from other countries and subjected to sexual exploitation and forced labor in the United States of America. Look at our goal.

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We're going over to Iraq to tell them how to live justly. When we have a slave trade in the United States of America, 20,000 people are brought to the United States of America every year. And they are subjected to forced labor or to prostitution in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Every ordeal isn't called for.

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Every ordeal isn't of God. But do we say anything about these ordeals? Well, the World Relief Agency will open a clinic in southeastern United States established by a network of emergency trafficking services. It will provide shelter and legal aid and medical care and job skills for all these little girls and little boys who have been brought to this country to satisfy the perversions of Americans in sexual acts or through false labor.

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with almost 20,000 victims trafficking annually in the United States of America. This is a fiery trial of exploitation that we should not have. And so Ruth Billingsley said we had to get involved because slavery is not dead in the United States of America. And at least we need to let that be known from our poverty or in our study groups.

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Some of the people who are being burned up Like that little girl who was burned up in Vietnam with a napalm bomb. It is our firepower that is eliminating a lot of people. Well, this is the time of testing.

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What are we going to do about poverty? On the international scale, two and a half, I'm sorry, two thirds of the people of our world go hungry every night to bed. Why should there be hunger and privation in any land in any city, at any table, when we do have the resources and the basic know-how to provide all humanity with the basic necessities of life.

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Even the desert can be irrigated, and topsoil can be replaced, and it shall blossom like a rose. We cannot complain of the lack of land, for there are 25 million acres, square miles to be-- 25 million square miles of tillable land on Earth. We're only using 7 million of the 25 million available. People would be able to eat.

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There's no deficit in human resources. The deficit is in the human will. We don't want to do what we should do. Samani, the great upheavals, it's wonderful to see how we are pouring out money to try to help people in Sri Lanka, Thailand.

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Indonesia, all of those other places that were devastated, and it is admirable to see how we will do this. But why didn't we, the richest nation in the world that had the technological expertise to put warning devices near these places, why didn't we do that? You know, God is wonderful, isn't it? They tell me that when the Sumanic trouble came up, the birds knew about it.

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And they flew away first. Go to the ant, thou sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise. But here we are, big and smart and the wealthiest nation in the world, protecting our people, as we did in the '60s, from the Somati trials with technical things in California and Oregon.

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But We haven't said anything about sharing all of those. Well, I hear there's some move toward that. But you see, there's something else we've got to face, folks.

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There are a lot of folks who are going through fiery and watery ordeals who don't deserve to be going there. Why are we getting? all of this flood water? Is it because we have sent gases into the air that have heated up the North Pole and caused more water to flow and inundate places?

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Is it because there are four countries that have not signed the Kyoto Accords? What are those countries? China. Saudi Arabia, India, and the United States of America.

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We send pollutants, hot gases, up into the air that cause water to flow down and inundate other places. We are responsible because we are greedy. Because as a capitalistic nation, we don't want to mess with province. because we are just coming up.

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All this fiery ordeal is not necessary. We are hurting people. We are making them feel that they cannot make it at all. Ultimately, we have to give answer to God.

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The final problem that we face is, of course, the problem of war. I'm bothered with the way we set our priorities. I'm bothered with the way we don't stretch out to others. Perhaps

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President Bush's re-election has unhinged the Democrats because more than 20% of the voters cited moral values as their top priority. So they centered on a rather narrow definition of that. Three issues, opposition to same-sex marriage, abortion, and stem cell research. But the commandment that says, Thou shall not kill, applies to adult victims as well as children.

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See, many voters, when they look at morality in the United States, fail to consider the immorality of a preemptive military action that has resulted in the death of thousands of Iraqi citizens. It's wrong to label people in the United States unpatriotic or lacking in traditional values because they are saddened by foreign deaths, as well as by deaths in the United States of America. We should never take the deaths of our soldiers casually. But those people who we are killing in other countries are also dying tragic deaths.

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The term morality and all it connotes should not be cheapened into a political device. Another thing that we have to see about the danger through which we go, can't pull these nails out of the cross, they've got to hurt. Our problem with the politics of fear is that fear may, in fact, be misplaced. What are we afraid of in America?

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Is our greatest danger that some radical jihad will use weapons of mass destruction and wreak havoc in the United States of America, or is there another great danger? that in our quest for security and safety, we will undermine the very values that have made us strong. And what are they? A pledge to equality and opportunity for all, a constitutional guarantee of the right to free speech, the freedom of religion, a free press, and the freedom to assemble, a commitment to serve as a beacon of hope, to marginalize and oppress people around the world, and a haven for the world's poor, if it is possible.

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in the war on terrorism. It is possible in the war on terrorism to save our skin, but to lose ourselves. Will we be better off if we become so afraid of strangers that we mistrust our own neighbors? Will we seal off our borders and retreat into isolation?

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So the words at the bottom of the Statue of Liberty will mean nothing. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free. It's a fiery ordeal. But the question I leave with you is, are you trying to make it too easy?

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Are you unwilling to feel the pain? Are you unwilling to fight through Calvary and then wait until God raises us up on Easter morning? That's the thing that God calls us to. And the challenge that I would leave with you is a challenge I leave on myself.

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Whenever for political considerations or for harmony, I don't speak the truth. And I'm not saying speak it hatefully. Speak it in love and admit that you could be wrong. But one of these days when it is all over and we are called before the judgment bar of God Almighty,

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You will ask, why did you pull out the nails? Why did you try to make it easy? Why did you sugarcoat the truth? Why didn't you lead your people in the same spirit that the eighth century prophets led them?

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Why didn't you walk with them? Why didn't you tell the truth? Didn't I tell you that if any person would come after me, they must take up their cross daily and follow me.

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Why didn't you do that? There was once a man who worked as the person who swung the lantern when trains were coming down and made sure that they wouldn't clash into each other. And he had that job and it was late one night. It was a terrible crash.

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The next day, the owners of the railroad came out to see him And they asked him, Were you out there last night? And did you have your lantern and did you swing it so that the accident could have been avoided if one of the engineers had been watching? He said, Yes, I was doing it.

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I was doing what I was supposed to do. He said, Well, if you did what you were supposed to do, we're not in trouble. I want you to go to court with me when we go to court and just give that testimony. So he went to court and he testified.

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The judge listened to him. He said, Sir, The night of the terrible crash, did you have your lantern? I did, sir.

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Did you go out to the tracks and swing your lantern? I did, sir. And the trains crashed anyway? They did, sir.

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He said, Gates dismissed. The railroad fulfilled its duty. It did what it was supposed to do. And even though there was terrible human suffering, the railroad cannot be sued because of his risk.

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The next day, the owner of the railroad came to him with a big bonus. He said, I want to thank you for saving the railroad a great suit, a great amount of money and damages that we would have had to pay. He said, But I can't understand why you did not look happy after the judge acquitted the railroad of any responsibility.

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He said, You told the truth. He said, You were out there, weren't you, that night? Yes, I was. He said, You did have your lantern?

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Yes, I did. That you did swing your lantern as the trains approached so that one would know what the other was doing and be warned and avoid a great catastrophe. He said, Why is it that you look so sad?

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He said, I was out there that night. I had my lantern. I swung the lantern as the trains approached. But there's just one thing I can't remember.

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I don't know whether my lantern When we are called before God Almighty, and we have been preaching for years and testifying and teaching for years, the question will not be how excellent were your sermons, how great your hermeneutic, how wonderful your exposition, how honest your exegesis. But the question is going to be, when you saw people, being swallowed up in fiery triumphs.

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These were tests for you. Did you have your lanterns burning with the truth even though it might hurt you and even though you might not be popular to stand for God. No, Lord, I just tried to give them from Sunday to Sunday a few pain reliefs so they could go on throughout the rest of the week, ignoring the fiery trials of 20,000 slaves

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In the United States of America, ignoring the fact that we could feed the hungry. In the United States of America, ignoring the fact that we had narrowed values and morality down to two or three little idiotic issues. I just put a Band-Aid on the womb, and Jesus will shake his head. and say you should have borne your cross.

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Because I also told you, if I be lifted up from the earth, I would draw all people underneath. Keep your light. That's burning. Might destroy not.

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I invite you to remain standing and to say with me what we believe using the affirmation of Faith found in your bulletin Christ Jesus though he was in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited but emptied himself taking the form of a servant being born in human likeness, and being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. Therefore, God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bend in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

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and every tongue should confess to the glory of god. Jesus Christ is lord. and now as we join our hearts together in prayer, I invite you to respond. Lord, hear our prayer.

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When I say, lord, in your mercy. The lord be with Almighty God, in Jesus Christ, you taught us to pray and to offer our petitions to you in his name. Guide us by your Holy Spirit that our prayers for others may serve your will and show your steadfast love.

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Let us pray for the world. God, our Creator, You made all things in your wisdom. And in your love, you save us.

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We pray for the whole creation. Overthrow evil powers. Right what is wrong. Feel and satisfy those who thirst for justice.

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So that all your children may freely enjoy the earth you have made. And joyfully sing Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Eternal God, you sent to us a Savior, Christ Jesus, to break down the walls of hostility that divide us.

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Send to peace on earth, and put down greed, pride, and anger, which turn nation against nation and race against race. Be the day when wars will end. And the whole world accepts your rule. Lord, in your mercy.

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Oh God, whom we cannot love unless we love our neighbors. Remove hate and prejudice from us and from all people. So that your children may be reconciled with those we fear, resent, or threaten. Help us to live together in your peace that you have given to us in Jesus Christ.

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Lord, in your mercy. Hear us with us. Eternal ruler, hope of all the earth, give vision to those who serve the nations of the world. Give vision to those who govern all countries.

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that with goodwill and justice, barriers may be broken down, and we may be drawn together in one new world in peace. Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer. Merciful God, you bear the pain of the world.

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Look with compassion on those who are sick Those who are suffering, those who are dying, cheer them by your word. Bring healing as a sign of your grace. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

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God of all generations, we praise you for all your servants who have been faithful to you on earth, now live with you in heaven. Keep us in fellowship with them until we meet with all your children in the joy of your eternal kingdom. Lord, in your mercy. And now we are bold to pray, even as Jesus Christ, our Lord, has taught us and teaches us still.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

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For thine is the kingdom, through the power, and the glory forever. Amen. Dear Lord, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ's suffering, so that you also may be glad

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and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. Almighty God, we've got not gotten it right yet. And yet you reach out and use us. You could have done so very well with other creatures.

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You could have let the birds Sing the good news. The babbling brooks let us know about it. The wind rustling through the trees, all of nature, the heavens could declare your work.

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But you came to us, poor, broken, willful, and disobedient. And you touched us and turned us around. Though we have denied you more than Peter ever did. Have mercy upon us, oh gracious faith.

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And send us forth to seek your faith. Whenever we are caught in the vortex of a fiery ordeal. May we realize that you are testing And when the impurities are burned away, we may come home as pure gold.

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Toward that air, we leave this place of worship, and toward that Ultimately, we turn mind, body, and spirit. Go with us and keep us and give us the courage to bear our crosses daily and follow you. In the name of the risen Christ,