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[ Silence ] (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)

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(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)

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(upbeat music) [ Music ] ♪ Oh how good ♪ ♪ Oh how good is our pleasure ♪

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♪ For men to dwell in unity ♪ ♪ Oh how good ♪ ♪ Oh how good is our pleasure ♪ ♪ For men to dwell in unity ♪

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♪ We've gotta walk ♪ ♪ Together ♪ ♪ We've gotta talk ♪ ♪ Together ♪

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♪ Sing ♪ ♪ Together ♪ ♪ We've got to pray ♪ ♪ Oh yes ♪

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♪ Oh yes ♪ ♪ Oh, it's wonderful ♪ ♪ Oh, yes ♪ ♪ It's beautiful ♪

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♪ For men to dwell in unity ♪ ♪ Oh, how good ♪ ♪ Oh, yes it is ♪ ♪ For men to dwell in unity ♪

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♪ Oh, how good ♪ ♪ For me to dwell in unity ♪ ♪ We've gotta walk ♪ ♪ We've gotta talk ♪

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♪ Sing ♪ ♪ We've gotta pray ♪ ♪ Oh yes ♪ ♪ It's wonderful ♪

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♪ Oh yes ♪ ♪ So beautiful ♪ ♪ For me ♪ ♪ To dwell ♪

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In unity Oh how good it is For me to dwell in unity

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We gotta walk, talk together Read in the Lord God just you and me What a fellowship What a joy divine

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How sweet to walk in the bright sunshine. Oh, yes It's wonderful Oh, yes, it's wonderful Oh, yes, it's beautiful

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Oh, yes, it's beautiful For men For men To dwell in unity

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Yes, it is Oh How good it is For men

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To dwell in unity ♪ Well in unity ♪ ♪ You know what, we ought to walk, talk, sing together ♪ ♪ Spreading the love of God, just you and me ♪

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♪ What a fellowship ♪ ♪ What a joy divine ♪ ♪ How sweet a walk in the bright sunshine ♪ ♪ Oh yes ♪

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♪ So wonderful ♪ ♪ Oh yes ♪ ♪ So beautiful ♪ ♪ For me ♪

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♪ To dwell ♪ ♪ In unity ♪ ♪ Yes it is ♪ ♪ So good ♪

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♪ So good ♪ ♪ Mighty good ♪ ♪ So good ♪ ♪ So good ♪

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♪ To walk together ♪ ♪ Talk together ♪ ♪ Sing together ♪ ♪ Sometimes we gotta pray together ♪

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Oh yes, it's wonderful. So good, it's mighty good. So good, so good, so good. Oh yes, oh it's good.

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To walk together, to sing together, to pray together, to pray together. ♪ Oh, it's good ♪ ♪ Oh, good ♪

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♪ So good ♪ ♪ So good ♪ ♪ So good ♪ ♪ So good ♪

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♪ So good ♪ ♪ Oh, yes ♪ ♪ Oh, yes ♪ ♪ We ought to go ♪

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♪ Oh, yes ♪ ♪ Oh, yes ♪ ♪ So beautiful ♪ ♪ So beautiful ♪

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♪ For men ♪ ♪ For men ♪ ♪ We ought to dwell ♪ ♪ We ought to dwell ♪

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♪ In unity ♪ ♪ Oh, yes ♪ (audience applauding) (applause)

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Let's all say amen. Audience Members: Amen. The President: So good. That's so true.

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[Applause] Alright. There's a window here to my right, the last window. It has the word "freedom."

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And at the bottom there is the black foot. and a chain around it. As we prepare for this message, would all of us bow in a period of silent prayer for the struggle of freedom

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in which so many have been engaged. Would you bow your heads? In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. By the rivers of Babylon, there we stand now. We stand at In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

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By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, there we wept when we remembered Zion. W.E.B. Du Bois, in his book "Soul Reflectful," mentions sorrow songs, sorrow songs of the slaves, sorrow songs of our people. If we were to name some of the sorrow songs of the scriptures, certainly we would include the 137th song, or the sorrow song.

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by the rivers of Babylon. There we set out, yea, we went. Babylon

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is a symbol of bondage. Babylon is a symbol of captivity. Babylon is a symbol The symbol of enslavement, to be in bondage,

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is to be in Babylon. Economic bondage, political bondage, religious bondage, is to be in Babylon, to be captives of the Babylonians. But the interesting thing to note here, the psalmist says,

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by the rivers of Babylon, by the rivers, many rivers, by the rivers, where the water continues to flow. And sometimes the captivity of the people may be like a member of that, because the captivity experience continues to flow on and on and on by the rivers of battle. There we sat down and wept.

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They had come from Jerusalem. It's a long, long way from Jerusalem to Battle. Long way. Hundreds of miles, probably six or seven hundred miles.

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by Jerusalem to Babylon. And in Jerusalem, they enjoyed freedom. They had things very much according to their desire in Jerusalem. They were independent, they were free, they had freedom of locomotion.

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But here they are by the rivers of Babylon in captivity. So this is our journey from Jerusalem to Babylon. We talked about the great glorious days in Africa many years ago.

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But our journey has been as it is the case here described by the psalmist from Jerusalem to By the rivers of Babylon There we sat down

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Yea, we wept when we From this passage of scripture we get a glimpse of the people brought face to face with what it means to be among the ranks of the dispossessed. For with a strong and ruthless army the Babylonians

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had marched into the city of Jerusalem, ranshacked all the houses, destroyed the temple, and destroyed the temple, and departed, taking back to Babylon the most healthy men, women, and children of the Jewish people. And having had the course of their lives altered so abruptly, the Hebrew people found themselves unable to cope with the situation which they were placed.

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They were now prisoners of the Babylonians, a warlike people that worshiped many gods and were slaves to low moral standards. And of course much depended upon their attitude toward their captors, whether they had the faith that was needed in such an hour, or whether they would just throw up their arms in despair. The psalmist tells us that they sat down by the rivers of Babylon and wept. They brooded over the misfortune that had befallen them.

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They yearned for their return to Jerusalem. the center of their affections and the apex of their joys. And while they were thus nursing the sweet memories of Jerusalem,

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those who were responsible for their unhappy condition came to them and said, "See, miss, One of the songs, I'm sorry, not the Babylonians had undoubtedly heard much

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about the religion of the Jewish people, their temple choir and the hymns that were sung in honor of their God. And so they wished to have confined

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many of these things that they'd heard that they required of them. One of the songs. Now if you really want to understand the people, one of the best keys of understanding is in

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their songs. Their songs reveal their hopes, their aspirations. Their songs reveal the in a testimony of the soul. Sing us one of the songs of Zion. The Jewish people said, "How can we sing the Lord's song?"

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You know, strange, right? - Yes, sir. Here in this place where people worship idols and we worship Yahweh, how can we sing? In this strange land.

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We're accustomed to singing in Jerusalem. Oh, in Jerusalem we can sing the Lord's song. When we find ourselves in the hallowed walls of the temple, we can sing the Lord's song. But in Babylon, this is a strange land. We can't sing here.

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So they placed their harps on the willows that were in their midst and sat down by the rivers of Babylon and wept. They said, "In Jerusalem we can sing the Lord's song with the conviction of a prophet and the harmony of the angelic choir.

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But not here in Babylon. We can't sing here. If we want to look at one's strength as an individual or as people, it's being able to sing the Lord's

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song in a strange land. Conditions are not favorable. Listen, listen to the sorrow songs. Sometimes I feel like a motherless child.

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Sometimes I feel like a motherless child a long ways from home. You can hear. the pathos, the sorrow, the burden of it all,

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of being a lonely traveler and sometimes feeling forsaken by God himself. So that Frederick Douglass had the question asked of him, Frederick, is God dead?

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But here they are. But I want to suggest to us that nothing is to be gained by refusing to sing the Lord's song in a strange land. By singing the Lord's song in a strange land,

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we keep hope alive. And we develop strength because we keep singing the song. That was a story that comes, it's a story that comes and counts

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in what we know as the fool's prayer. King had had a banquet, it was all over, It was all over. And so the king wanted to have some entertainment for his guests.

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So he called for the fool and summoned the fool and said, "Fool, make for us a prayer." The fool obeyed, came before the king and bowed upon the monarch's silken stool and said, Lord, be merciful unto me a fool. Earth has no balsam for mistakes men crown one and debase the other, but Lord, be merciful

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to me a fool. And when the fool had completed that prayer, the room was hushed, and silence rose the and sought his God in school and walked apart and murmured low. He said, "Lord, be merciful to me, a fool." So you see it was by the fool complying with the king's request, even though it was made in mockery,

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that he was able to bring about the repentance of the king. So nothing is to be gained by refusing to sing the Lord's song in a strange land. Oh, so many things have happened, been so much water under the bridge so to speak, but we are to sing the Lord's song in a strange land.

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Oh, let, let, let, let all of the vicissitudes of life crowd in upon us, but in the midst of it all, to be able to say the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, to sing the Lord's song in the spring. That's been our situation as a people, to sing the Lord's song in a strange land.

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In doing so, we have produced some of the most beautiful music that this country has known. We had a series on television a few weeks ago on "Get Jazzed" and we have made a significant contribution in jazz. But we've made a great contribution in spiritual.

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Where we were under oppression and under unfavorable circumstances, we lifted up our hearts and sang to God. hymns of praise. So nothing is to be gained by refusing to sing the Lord's songs in a strange land.

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Oh, let the difficulties come. The German knight decided to build a great aeolian harp that stretched from tower to tower across his castle. He did so and when it was completed he listened for the music. At first there were faint strains of music that seemed to come with the wind softly blowing.

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And then after a while there was a great storm that raged over that castle and the more loudly did the tempest rage, the more majestic was the music of the harp. So it's no small wonder that out of our persecution has come great, great accomplishments. unparalleled by any people who have known our suffering such as they have been.

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Yet somehow by the grace of God we have risen higher and higher. So nothing is to be gained by refusing to sing. For God somehow, I don't understand it, He leads us in the strange places. beside the rivers of Babylon.

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Why would he do that? And yet somehow God has blessings for us as we pass through this experience of being by the rivers of Babylon.

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Job never understood why God caused him to go through certain things. He was never told. He just held on to God's unchanging hand.

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And it's ours to be faithful. to God and to be able to sing his song. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.

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I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see. It was grace, it was grace that brought me safe thus far. Through many dangers, trials, and snares I have already come.

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But by the grace of God we are here today to celebrate His goodness and to thank Him for which we've come by the leadership of His Spirit. So it's a song that He gives us. You know the Hebrew people were not able to sing down by the rivers of Babylon

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because they said that we can't sing the Lord's song. Because they were down by the river. But you know, it's really not the place that makes the song. If the song is in the soul of the singer, it will somehow manage to get itself sung.

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And there were those of our ancestors out there in the fields, but they had a song in their hearts. And they passed it on to us. So thanks be to God. Thanks be to God who has given us the victory through Jesus Christ. - Yes.

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(laughing) - Hallelujah. - Yes. - As we sing now the hymn of invitation.

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- Yes. - Amen. - We extend the privilege of the church to become a part of the family of God

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here at Ebenezer. God leads his dear children along. That's hymn number 231. You may come by letter,

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by Christian experience or in professional faith. We invite you to come. It's an open door, an invitation to Christian discipleship. And we invite you to come.

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♪ In shady green pastures ♪ ♪ So rich and so sweet ♪ ♪ God meets his dear children ♪ ♪ The Lord ♪

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♪ Where the water's love always the weary one's feet ♪ ♪ Are peace's dear children of old ♪ ♪ Some through the waters ♪ ♪ Some through the flood ♪

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♪ Some through the tide ♪ ♪ But all through the flood ♪ ♪ Some through great sorrow ♪ ♪ But God heals the strong ♪

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♪ In the night season ♪ ♪ And over they go ♪ ♪ Some times on the mount ♪ ♪ Where the sun shines so bright ♪

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♪ God bleeds his dear children alone ♪ ♪ Sometimes in the valley ♪ ♪ In darkest of nights ♪ ♪ God bleeds his dear children alone ♪

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♪ Some through the water ♪ ♪ Some through the blue of the night ♪ ♪ Some through the fire ♪ ♪ And all through the night ♪

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♪ Some through the red sun of doom ♪ ♪ Would not hear the sun ♪ ♪ In the night season ♪ ♪ And all the day long ♪

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♪ Oh, son, we love you ♪ ♪ And say to the world ♪ ♪ God leads his dear children on ♪ ♪ Through grace we can conquer ♪

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♪ In the end of our foes ♪ ♪ God leads his dear children on ♪ [ Music ] [ Music ]

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♪ Through the hard times ♪ ♪ Some through the fire ♪ ♪ Some through the fire ♪ ♪ But all through the love ♪

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♪ Some through great sorrow ♪ ♪ But all through the song ♪ ♪ In the right season ♪ ♪ And all the day long ♪

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♪ Away from the marion ♪ ♪ Away from the lame ♪ ♪ For peace is dear children ♪ ♪ For love ♪

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♪ Away, away with glory ♪ ♪ Eternity's day ♪ ♪ For peace is dear children ♪ ♪ The Lord ♪

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♪ Some through the water ♪ ♪ Some through the flood ♪ ♪ Some through the fire ♪ ♪ And all through the blood ♪

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♪ Some through great sorrow ♪ ♪ But God is the Son ♪ in the night season, and all the day long.

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[applause] Following the benediction, the members of the Concord Choir are asked to come to the choir stand immediately following the benediction.

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We will have the report now for the winners and [ Silence ]