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Through another week permitted us to begin again. We thank you for the gift of this day, a new expression of your grace, grace which is new every morning. We pray that you would have mercy upon us and bless us. Grant unto us your spirit as we sing your praises and as we meditate may the words of our mouths and the meditation of our

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hearts be acceptable in your sight. Forgive us of our sins, renew the right spirit within us and help us, O God, that we may run with patience that race which you have set before us. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. [MUSIC PLAYING]

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(footsteps) [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] (clears throat)

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(dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music)

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[COUGHING] (gentle music) (somber music) (somber music)

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(footsteps) (papers rustling) (somber music) (dramatic music)

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(dramatic music) [MUSIC - "GO TURN ON THE LIGHTS"] God shed on the mountain, over the hills that He made me wear. God shed on the mountain, that Jesus Christ was born.

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♪ Go tell it on the mountain ♪ ♪ All the leaves that give me rain ♪ ♪ Go tell it on the mountain ♪ ♪ That Jesus Christ was born ♪

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♪ The shepherd's first-born sheep ♪ ♪ For silent once the night ♪ ♪ E'en the full moon bright in the east ♪ ♪ Has shown her only light ♪

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♪ Lord, tell it of the love to give ♪ ♪ The value we'll take every day ♪ ♪ O tell it over mountain ♪ ♪ That Jesus Christ was born ♪

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♪ The shepherds fear and tremble ♪ ♪ When lo, above the earth ♪ ♪ Hang down the angel choirs ♪ ♪ Then will my Savior appear ♪

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♪ Round and round He'll go ♪ ♪ Like the angel everywhere ♪ ♪ Round and round He'll go ♪ ♪ And Jesus Christ the Lord ♪

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♪ Down in the lowly manger ♪ ♪ The humble Christ was born ♪ ♪ And blessed the salvation ♪ ♪ And blessed Christmas morn ♪

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♪ No more shall we hunger find Him ♪ ♪ Oh, I believe you'll turn every way ♪ ♪ Lord, I'll turn around and love you ♪ ♪ When Jesus Christ was born ♪

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♪ Lord, I'll turn around and love you ♪ ♪ Oh, I believe you'll turn every way ♪ ♪ O tell them, O tell them ♪ ♪ That Jesus Christ was born ♪

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- And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of

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knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall

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smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girtle of his loins, and faithfulness the girtle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.

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And the cow and the bear shall feed, their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den. Our scripture lesson, the book of the prophet Isaiah chapter 11, the first eight verses. May the Lord bless to us the reading and hearing of His holy

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word. God, our Heavenly Father, has said to us, "Ask whatever you will and it shall be given when it is asked in the name of Jesus Christ. This is the promise which he gives us in his word and we come now to the time of prayer, the time when every child of the Heavenly Father has the blessed privilege of communing with

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him. And we have that privilege as the family of God here at Ebenezer right now. In this call of prayer we ask you to come as we gather together around the altar in our time of altar prayer. Sweet hour of prayer it is, sweet hour of prayer that calls me from a world of care and bids me at my father's throne

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make all my wants and wishes known. What a blessed privilege it is to pray, to be in tune with God to tell him all of our concerns and not only to talk with him but to listen to what he has to say to us. Let us pray. Gracious God, our Father, we thank you for this blessed opportunity, for this the hour

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of prayer where we can pour out our hearts unto you. We come here this morning conscious of our weakness and yet aware of your strength. We come, oh God, in this season of hope, this season of promise. And as we come, we come also with our hopes.

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Many of the hopes that we have entertained have been shattered before our eyes. We've seen our dreams crushed, and so we come to spread out our desires in your presence and to pray that our hopes would be grounded in you. What is our hope, oh God?

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Our hope is in you. Our hope, oh God, is that you will lead us and that you will guide us along life's way. Have mercy upon us today. Oh, we know we aren't all we ought to be.

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And so we come to you, oh God, praying that you will take us, take full possession of us and guide us in the midst of this service. We find ourselves perplexed. We don't know which way to go, but you know the way. Be with us as we face the crises here in Austin and we pray oh God that you will help each one of us to

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lean on you because we know that you are a God of crises, that you've never lost a battle and we pray that you will help us to be calm and help us to trust in you. Oh, bless those who are suffering from bodily diseases and ailments. Bless those who are suffering from the illnesses of the mind.

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Grant unto them, oh God, that peace that comes in the midst of the storms of life. And if it be your will, we pray for healing for those who are in the hospitals and in the homes. For those that are bereaved today,

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oh God, grant unto them your comfort. Speak to us in the midst of this service so that we may go from this place with greater determination to be a channel of your grace. We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ,

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our Savior and our lord, amen. (ominous music) (snorts) (soft music)

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(soft music) (footsteps) [MUSIC PLAYING] (footsteps)

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[MUSIC PLAYING] (eerie music) [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[MUSIC PLAYING] [ Music ] [ Music ] ♪ That glorious song ♪

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♪ For angels living near the earth ♪ ♪ To touch the cross of God ♪ ♪ Peace on the earth ♪ ♪ Good will to men ♪

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♪ The birds of creation sing ♪ ♪ The world in silence ♪ ♪ Sing a blessed lay ♪ ♪ To hear the angels sing ♪

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♪ Still through the mountainsides they come ♪ ♪ With peaceful wings unfurled ♪ ♪ And still the heavenly music ♪ ♪ Doth sound the weary world ♪

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♪ The lonely saddle he brings ♪ ♪ They made the God we meet ♪ ♪ And evermore his mellow songs ♪ ♪ The blessed age shall sing ♪

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♪ Of all the days our history knows ♪ ♪ And God be praised for true ♪ ♪ We've built this city years ♪ ♪ 'Cause God is our God ♪

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♪ The nation of the Lord be thine ♪ ♪ His righteousness proclaim ♪ ♪ And all the world give thank to the sun ♪ ♪ That shone the angel's day ♪

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[MUSIC] >> You know I look forward to coming here each Sunday with great joy and anticipation for the blessing of having the privilege to worship with you every Sunday morning, I just love it.

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I do not have any announcements nor visitors cards. I wonder if there are any visitors who did not sign cards this morning. If so, please stand and let us see you. Thank you.

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We worship the Lord now in our giving that each one of us give according to how the Lord has prospered us lovingly and sacrificially. [MUSIC PLAYING] Let us pray.

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Bless us, O Lord, in this time of sharing, that we may give freely that which thou hast entrusted to our keeping, showing your love in our lives.

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In Jesus' name, amen. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] ♪ We found you ♪

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♪ Now that I'm all alone ♪ ♪ Just as you ♪ ♪ As you are me ♪ ♪ And the world wants to hear it ♪

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♪ All right ♪ The more you give, the more he gives to you. Keep on giving, he asks his really true. You can keep on giving, no matter how you try.

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[ Music ] [MUSIC PLAYING] Let us all turn to hymn number 59, "O Come All Ye Faithful," and let us all mingle our voices together in this song.

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All of the stanzas as we sing now hymn 59. May we stand? [ Music ] [MUSIC]

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♪ ♪ [Music] ♪ O come, let us adore Him ♪ ♪ O come, let us adore Him ♪

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♪ O come, let us adore Him ♪ ♪ Christ the Lord ♪ ♪ Sing, choir of angels ♪ ♪ In its own precious ♪

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♪ Spirit of the universe ♪ ♪ All in all ♪ ♪ It is the heart ♪ ♪ Of the universe alone ♪

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♪ Of the universe alone ♪ ♪ O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord ♪ ♪ He came to bring us victory ♪ ♪ O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord ♪

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♪ Lord of all glory ♪ ♪ Glory to your name ♪ ♪ The Lord of all is born ♪ ♪ The Lord of all is born ♪

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♪ The Lord of all is born ♪ ♪ Glory to you ♪ [Music] [Music]

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[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

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A little child shall lead them. Isaiah 11 and 6. The subject of the message, "A little child shall be the leader."

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This year is designated by the United Nations as the International Year of the Child. It is indeed significant that we focus attention upon the child. While children are gifts, The scripture says children are a heritage from the Lord. A child is a gift from God. And in the gift of a child, God shows his special favor to the human family.

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What we think of children reflects the character of our society. In the window of a Washington DC toy shop there was a large poster telling of the changing advice of parents over the past 60 years. Though perhaps not completely accurate, it reflects some of the confusion felt by parents over child rearing. In the

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The year 1910, the advice was to spank them. In 1920, the advice was to deprive them. In 1930, ignore them. In 1940, reason with them.

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1950 love them. In 1960 spank them lovingly. And in 1970 to hell with them. But a child points the way to the new order. This new order is not of our making. It is a gift. Concerning children, Gibran in his book The Prophet says, "Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of life's

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longing for itself. They come through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they do not belong to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts for they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls. For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow which you cannot

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visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward, nor tarries with yesterday. The prophet Isaiah envisions the dawn of the Messianic age, he sees it coming with a little child as the leader. A A child is a symbol of hope. The hope of this world lies in the child. We who belong to

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the older generation have tried. We have made our mistakes. We have blundered. But there is hope of a new beginning, a fresh start in a little child. And so the prophet begins by saying that there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. To put it another way, there shall come forth a shoot out

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of the stump. Tree has grown old, it is cut down, only the stump remains. But a But a shoot shall come forth from the stump, though the tree is cut down, from the stump there shall emerge a new expression of hope, a new manifestation of life, a new level of living, a new beginning.

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A little child shall be the leader. A branch shall grow out of his roots. He shall be the means of instituting a new order of things. And all of the cherished hopes of humanity are expressed in the life of this little child.

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For the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, God's presence shall be with him, God's power shall be with him, Spirit of the Lord, the energy of the Lord shall dwell in this little child, spirit of wisdom and understanding, spirit of counsel and might, spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord shall be in this little child.

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little child shall be the leader. We often think of a child as being very limited in understanding, but when we think of what the Prophet is saying to us here, we are speaking of innocence for a child is a symbol of innocence. For there shall come forth one who will be innocent, who will be spotless, who will be without

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blemish, who will somehow represent a new order, a clean slate, and this little child shall be the means of establishing that for which we have hoped. shall be equity for the meek of the earth. He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth. Righteousness will be the girdle of his waist, faithfulness the girdle of his loins. And look

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at what will happen because there will be a ministry of reconciliation. Those that have been at odds with each other, those who have been separated from each other, those who have long been divided against each other will somehow be united, there will be reunion, there will be a spirit of harmony, there will be

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peace that comes through this little child. Father Wolf will dwell with the land. Wolf is concerned about destroying the land. That's the order of things as they are now. That's the order of things in the old system, but as the messianic age dawns, the prophet envisions that through this little child, the child that will lead this new

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order, that the wolf will come to dwell with the lamb, not to destroy the lamb, not to lie down with the lamb on the inside, no no. But somehow there will be such an order of things, there will be a change in the relationships that exist. Now, "For then the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf, the lion, and the

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fattling together and a little child shall be the leader. A little child. God begins to do a new work in history in a small way. He begins by identifying himself with the human struggle in the form of a little child. Oh there were predictions concerning the kingdom that God would not depart and as they looked

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at the world around them they wondered whether or not God would cause the Lion of David to continue and every time there was a coronation service they began to wonder concerning the fulfillment of that hope. And every time we think about the coming of Christmas and we think about it as a season of

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hope, we also think about the things for which we hope. There are certain things of which all of us hope. We have our hopes, we have our desires, and as the years come and go and we begin to look at the happenings, the events in relationship to our hopes. Sometimes we begin to wonder. But here is somehow a

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word that is in our midst that expresses not just the hope of a people that lived in a particular period of history and we can say that that particular hope is isolated from all of the rest of humanity, no that isn't the case. But here Isaiah has placed in our midst a word that expresses the hopes of all humankind

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because all of us long for a day when we can really understand what life is all about. We hope for that kind of understanding. So much of life remains a mystery, so much of life remains a puzzle, so much of life is absurd to us, but here in that day and in that time that comes in our midst in the form of a little child that we are able to understand life and to accept life as it is. And that's what a little child does.

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Little child accepts life. There as we see a babe in the mother's arms, accepting life, whatever life brings, the little child is there to accept it. To accept it in a state of innocence and somehow in a state of trust, in a state of complete dependence.

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And that's what is a symbol of hope in our lives today, when we can arrive at that point in our lives where we can accept God, when we can accept the eternal,

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when we can accept the absolutes of life in such a way that we can trustfully lean, when we can wholly depend on God. It is that little child,

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that childlike faith that leads us on our journey. Not that we know, not know, not that we can fully begin to grasp in an intellectual way all of the things

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that are going to happen along life's journey. No, no, it is the spirit of the little child that must lead us. A little child must be the leader.

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Small beginning. Most of us who have accepted Jesus Christ have accepted him as a little child. My acceptance came at the age of nine.

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Others have come earlier, some a little later. But it was with simplicity, the simplicity of a little child And that acceptance did not have with it all of the understanding that has come through the years.

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It was an acceptance that had with it a motive. A motive that somehow, that by identifying with God and having the right purpose in life, that everything would work out all right. A little child shall lead the way. As we grow older we become rather sophisticated and we know how to deceive, we know how to make people

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believe things that we would like for them to believe when we know that they aren't quite the way that the people think that would be thinking that they ought to be. And so our motives and our actions are often in conflict one with the other. But a little child has pure motives, a symbol of pure motives. The story of the Emperor's clothes,

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the Emperor who had employed persons to come and to make for him the most beautiful garment. They came there they engaged in weaving that garment. Oh they worked but they said that this garment which was so beautiful could only be seen by the pure in heart and they made the garment and they put it on the king

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and the people the subjects there who were gathered as as spectators didn't want others to know that they were not pure in heart so they began to talk about oh how beautiful the garment was when it was really no garment at all the king was naked. But since they wanted everyone else to believe that they were

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pure and hard and that they could somehow be able to see this garment, everyone was talking about how beautiful the garment was and how well the king looked in that garment. But there was a little child there who whose motive was pure, void of all of that deception little child pointed out the fact that the king is

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naked he has nothing on it's that motive that pure motive that singleness of heart that somehow focuses upon the eternal the God who is our father it is that motive to be in right relationship with him to be able to see life as it is The little child is the leader.

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The little child is the symbol of hope. And so this is why Jesus says to us that if you would be my disciple, you must become as a little child. That somehow, you must somehow get under the wings of the Spirit of God and the Spirit

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of God must lead the way as a little child trusting in him and saying to God Lord here I am take me just as I am not knowing many of the things that I'd like to know but I know that you know everything and somehow my hope is in you a small beginning yes a pure motive but somehow walking with God as a little

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child points the way without malice, no matter what happens, no malice there because the wolf and the lamb lie down together, no matter what life brings, with all of the reverses of life, that somehow as a little child we'll love the father and say, "Lord, I'm in your hands I'm a child of the King. Nothing really matters if one has that

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understanding. Why worry? Why fret? Why become hysterical when one is a child of the King. As a child of the King everything is provided. My father is rich in houses and land. He holds the wealth of the world in his hand. It's a little child that leads the way. So when God made the decision to manifest himself in

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the fullness of time. He came as a little child, into the struggles of human history and into our struggles. Sometimes he comes and in such a strange, mysterious way and yet he comes. And he comes that we might somehow recognize that in his presence, in that mystery mysteries in the presence of the spirit of a little child God comes to redeem

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history that's what it means that's the meaning of this prophetic word a little child shall be the leader and so as we hear that word our prayer ought to come in the form of these words, "Oh little child of Bethlehem, descend on us we pray. Cast out our sin and anger in, be born in us today, for it is the spirit of that little child that leads us

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gently along life's way." Small beginnings but a great end is in store for those who follow the leadership of that little child. Those who possess that child like spirit of pure motive, of forgiveness, of love, of dependence on God, yes, there is a great reward in store for them who travel that way. For those who entertain that hope which is symbolized in

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that little child who ushers in the Messianic age. It is a hope which God himself fulfills. That's why we are privileged to joyfully sing "I'm a Child of the King." It's to identify with God in receiving the assurance of his blessings all along life's way and as we sing now hymn 206 a child of the King we

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invite you to accept Jesus Christ to unite with the people of God here at Ebenezer entering his family. If you can say in your heart of hearts you can trust in him as a child of the King. In humility, recognizing our weaknesses, but relying upon his strength, we invite you to

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come today by faith. Profession of your faith, will you come? [MUSIC] [Music]

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♪ Of the world in his hands ♪ ♪ The good, the good ♪ ♪ The good, the good ♪ ♪ Is coming, is coming ♪

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♪ He has risen from the dead ♪ ♪ And the sound of the beat ♪ ♪ The sound of the beat ♪ ♪ Will make the world stand still ♪

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♪ And the world will be ♪ ♪ And the world will be still ♪ ♪ Don't speak of dreams ♪ ♪ Don't talk about love ♪

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♪ Don't talk about dreams ♪ ♪ The world is big ♪ ♪ The world is big ♪ ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪

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♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ ♪ And the home of the brave ♪ ♪ And the home of the brave ♪ ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪

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♪ Oh, how I love thee ♪ ♪ I want to live ♪ ♪ To see the world ♪ ♪ I see the world ♪

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♪ I want to live ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free ♪ ♪ And the home of the brave ♪ ♪ Hail to the people ♪

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♪ Hail to the people ♪ ♪ For the child of the free ♪ [music] I received word from Brother Cathy that Sister Cathy is in Brackenridge Hospital and is in

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need of blood. I don't know whether the type of blood is known, but whatever blood you have I think can be used and that can be used to replace the blood that is taken out of the blood bank. So is there anyone, yes, all right, that's the assurance of what I just said, they'll

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take any type of blood. Is there anyone here who would provide some blood for Sister Kathy who is in need of blood in Providence Hospital? May I see your hand?

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Anyone here who can give some blood and will give some blood? All right, Brother Huff, thank you. Somebody else up here? All right good. All right Kenneth Lewis. All right those two. We thank you very much. We are still in the midst of trying to settle the

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desegregation plan which we are to present to the court on tomorrow and negotiations are still going on and it may be that we will have a meeting this afternoon. We'll know for sure a little later. All of the plans that we have submitted have had some alteration. We believe that we are on the verge of

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having a settlement, a kind of agreed-upon settlement that would bring an end to the long litigation which we have now been engaged. The implementation of this plan that will be adopted, we hope will be delayed. The latest compromise has to do with delaying the implementation of the lower grades and

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the senior high. The latest proposal would involve implementing only the junior high at this time and delaying the first through the sixth grades all under the junior high until first five grades since we already have the sixth grade centers the first five grades

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would be delayed until and the senior high would be delayed until August 1980. So with that understanding we await some kind of final agreement which we think will possibly occur within the next 24 hours. That's our hope. May we bow our heads. Gracious God, our Father, we thank you for that hope which is ours, which is expressed by the

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the prophet, the dawn of the messianic age, in which a little child is the leader. That child which is the expression of the supreme manifestation of your presence and power. We thank you that that child has entered the world, and that that childlike spirit has in it into our lives and that that spirit leads us, that it strengthens us, and that

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it gives us hope and assurance in the human struggle. We thank you, O God, for this blessed assurance, and we pray that your spirit will be with us and guide us on our journey through this week that you've set before us. Leave us not alone in the way that we take. Grace, mercy, and peace be with you

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all from God our Father in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (bells ringing) (bells ringing) [BELL RINGING]

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(bells ringing) (bells ringing) (horn blaring) (horn blaring)

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(bell ringing) [ Background noise ] [BLANK_AUDIO]