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[Silence] [Music] Blessed are they who mourn. [Murmuring]

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Blessed are the pure in heart. [Murmuring] O Lord, open wide our lips. [Murmuring]

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Let us pray. We thank you, O God, for the gift of this day. We invoke your blessings upon us as we seek to worship you in spirit and in truth. O God, have mercy upon us and bless us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Let us greet one another this morning. Good morning and welcome to the worship of God.

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Just like a tree that's planted by the water, I shall not be moved. [music] I shall not, I shall not be moved. I shall not, I shall not be moved.

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Just like a tree that's planted by the water, I shall not be moved. Oh, and I shall not, I shall not be moved. I shall not, I shall not be moved.

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And I'll be the treasure of the world. I shall not be moved I'm on my way to glory I shall not be moved

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I'm on my way to glory I shall not be moved I'm free just standing by the border I shall not be moved

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King Jesus is my captain I shall not be moved King Jesus is my captain I shall not be moved

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I will free that planet by the water I shall not be moved I shall not, I shall not be moved I shall not, I shall not be moved

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By the tree that's planted on the water ♪ Hark, the herald angels sing ♪ - Amen. Our scripture lesson is taken today

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from the 52nd Psalms. Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God endureth continually. Thy tongue diviseth mischiefs, like a sharp razor working deceitfully.

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Thou lovest evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy thee forever. He shall take thee away and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place,

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and root thee out of the land of the living. The righteous also shall see and fear and shall laugh at him. Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusteth in the abundance of his riches

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and strengthen himself in his wickedness. But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. i will praise the forever

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because now has done it and i will wait on by name for it is good before the i think

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now without time of prayer together we're going to ask that you remain in your seats by your hands and let us play together as brother franklin Eternal God, the God of our weary years,

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the God of our silent tears, we are here this morning, Heavenly Father, to worship Thee in the beauty of holiness. I want to thank you, Lord,

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for bringing us together at this hour. Heavenly Father, we know that it is through your goodness kindness that you spared us to meet together one more time and Heavenly Father since coming here at this hour we want to give you the praise for

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everything even for waking us up this morning Heavenly Father closed in our right mind and Heavenly Father we know that through it all Heavenly Father we should learn how to trust thee we should learn how to depend upon thee and Heavenly Father and give you to praise for everything now Lord Jesus we gonna

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break bread this morning and we ask thee Lord to bless as we dine together as we worship together as we lift up your name in the beauty of holiness through songs than through the Word of God. Bless those who are not with us today, Heavenly Father, those who are sick and afflicted, those who are at work, Heavenly Father,

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regardless where they are, bless them Lord Jesus. Oh God, we know that there ought a burden bearer, a mind regulator, and Heavenly Father, we can put our trust and thee all the days of our lives. Oh God have mercy upon us today bless your preached word Heavenly Father all over the land and country and oh God when

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this life is ended and Heavenly Father knowing that it will be someday we want to hear that welcome voice Heavenly Father saying well done that good and faithful servant. Oh God have mercy now and bless us and we ask it all in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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

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[Music] [Music] [Music] ♪ Across the distant land ♪

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♪ Sweet comfort, pride, and joy ♪ ♪ Oh, my Lord and Master ♪ ♪ My God, my Saviour and Friend ♪ ♪ My, my, Lord God and Friend ♪

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♪ Oh, my, my heavenly Friend ♪ [Music] [choir singing] [ Music ]

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What shall I render unto God for all he has given? What shall I render? [Music] ♪ Love shall I recall, unto God my love intercede. ♪

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♪ Love shall I recall, love shall I give. ♪ ♪ God has created everything, everything belongs to thee. God has created everything, everything belongs to thee. ♪ How shall I endure? How shall I live? All I can endure is my body and my soul

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That's all I can prepare, that's all I can be. God has everything, everything in all to me. What shall I become? What shall I be? What has everything, everything he wants to be?

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What has everything, everything he wants to be? Amen, amen. How many of you have your Bibles? Let me see your hands, those who have Bibles.

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I encourage you to bring your Bible because what the pastor is doing is preaching through through the Psalms. It's the largest book in the Bible, 150 songs, it's the hymn book of the Bible, and so we have been preaching through it. So we've been there now for some forty-some weeks. We are now considering the 52nd Psalm. The 52nd Psalm and the

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basis of the message is the eighth verse. But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. Would you repeat those words?

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I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. subject of the message "Life Like an Olive Tree." Life like an olive tree. Poets through the ages have sung about life on the wings of song. Longfellow expresses his thoughts in his Psalm of Life.

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Sweet singers of Israel have compared life to a tree. In the first Psalm, the writer says that life is like a tree planted by the rivers of water. And here in the 52nd Psalm, which is the basis of our message, life is compared to a green

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olive tree. The psalmist says, "I am like a green olive tree." But before saying that, the psalmist describes the existence of a braggart, the person who who sees himself as the big shot,

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while others are the little shots. So he begins his song by telling what life is not. Many times we can better understand what something is by considering what it is not.

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One does not live on negatives. One is not alive to what really matters when we take comfort in boasting in the wrong things. Matters not what we may have,

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it matters not how much we may be blessed with, the important thing is how do we use it? That's what really counts. There are individuals who boast of what they have

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and fail to consider that they are responsible for how it is used. We're responsible for the use of our bodies. We're responsible for the use of our influence.

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We're responsible for the use of our position. We're responsible for the use of our power and our prestige, as well as our material resources. But when we misuse these and boast about it,

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we are immersing ourselves in the sea of stupidity. So the psalmist begins by saying, why do you boast, oh mighty man, of mischief done against the godly?

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Here is a man who has done some mischief, committed some wrong deeds against a godly person and he's boasting about it. And the psalmist raises the question, "Why do you boast? Oh mighty man, you've got all your power and all of that, but why are you boasting now

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of the evil that you have done against the godly? I boast about that. An individual may be in a position of power. He or she may be able to make life difficult for the godly. And the Psalmist here describes such an individual who spends the day plotting destruction, who spends time digging ditches for innocent people

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to fall in, the individual whose tongue is like a sharp razor, the individual who is busily engaged in treachery, who loves evil more than good, who loves lying more than speaking the truth. This is the kind of individual that the psalmist describes in these verses.

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is an individual who is deceitful and who is constantly engaged in destruction. It's always tearing down. This psalm was written in ancient times, but the kind of individual the psalmist describes is not peculiar to ancient times.

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same person, that same kind of individual, lives today. So the words of the psalmist are up-to-date. They are as up-to-date as this present moment. Psalm 52 is identified with a critical period in David's life. It's a time when King Saul seeks to take David's life. David is a fugitive. He's on the run. He's

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He's running for his life. And so he goes to Ahimelech for help. David is hungry. And as a priest, Ahimelech has the showbread, which is reserved for the priests, not to

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be eaten by anyone else. But he gives this bread to David to eat. And this is a revolutionary act. a radical change in the normal way of doing things. It's revolutionary. We live in revolutionary

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times. Change is all around us. Israel was in revolutionary times. She experienced a radical change from tribal government to the establishment of the United Monarchy. Now Now the kingdom is in the process of being taken from Saul and given to David. Revolutionary times.

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And sometimes we think, both as nations and as individuals, that we have a monopoly on our position or our place in history. Saul thought that his position was his to keep, but it really belongs to God. We live in a time when there is revolution in the air.

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America expresses increasing concern for civil rights. In Poland, the workers are protesting against the government. There is revolution among the Arab states. There is revolution in South Africa.

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There is revolution in Europe, Revolution in Asia, revolution in Africa, revolution in America. There is revolution all over this world.

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Change, change, change. Change in structure, change in the quality of life. Yet amid change, there are constants. Amid the discontinuities of life,

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there are the continuities. In the midst of all of the shifting changes, there is that which remains steadfast and secure, that which is changeless.

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The Psalmist says, "I am like a green olive tree." Let's consider what it is to be like an olive tree. Now olive trees are plentiful in the Holy Land.

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They were then, they are now. They are familiar sight on the hillside and in the countryside. In fact, the olive tree is regarded as the king of trees.

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I am like a green olive tree. And so every individual ought to be like an olive tree and think of yourself as being like an olive tree. the king of trees. We are the climax of God's creation. We are the best God has made when

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it comes to the investment that God has made in the human family. He made us to be ruler over his world. The olive tree is regarded as king of the trees. Now olive trees were planted, I said, on the hillside often. It was grafted when three years of age

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and it was arranged, the arrangement rather, was of such that the water from early rains is conducted to the roots so that it would receive the kind of nourishment.

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And great care is taken in the planting. planting, because you see, when they were planted on the hillside, they were exposed to the scorching sun and the fierce winds, and yet the psalmist says, "I am like a green olive tree planted on a hillside exposed to the scorching heat and the fierce

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winds but nevertheless remains green, steadfast, secure. I am like a green olive tree. In other words I'm rooted and grounded in that which is meaningful. You You know so often people live meaningless lives? They defend themselves for that which really doesn't matter.

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But what it really means to be rooted and grounded in that which matters, in meaningfulness. A green olive tree rooted and grounded in freedom. Freedom.

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Rooted and grounded in justice. You know, some people want to play it safe. know something is right, but they don't want to be over there on what's right because there's a price to pay for that. I may not be as prosperous if I'm over here, but to be rooted and grounded

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in justice, to be rooted and grounded in love. I am like a green olive tree. The psalmist says that because he's planted on a hillside and he owes his existence to one who is a skillful planter. Now that olive tree must be cultivated, there is plowing that takes place that's essential for the proper growth of the tree, soil around it must be plowed

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in order for it to develop in a meaningful way, in order to have strength. So really, God has to plow around us. Sometimes shake the stall from around us

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in order that we might develop. So when some things are happening around us, and sometimes people wonder why is this happening? Well, it's essential for our development.

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You can't really be, and I can't be the kind of person I want to be, I ought to be, if all you have is just success, you're going to have some disappointments, you're going to have some failures, you're going to have some reverses in your life, but somehow in the midst of it all, this plowing, this cultivating that we ought to be cultivating that which

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is good, cultivating that which is true, cultivating that which is beautiful. And this takes place through obedience to God's Word. You know what? The cultivation of the olive takes a great deal of patience. You got to be willing to wait three years in the grafting of the plant and then three years before it produces any fruit. And somebody may say

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who wants to wait that long? It takes a great deal of patience. So if our lives really develop in the way that God wants them to develop, must be like a green olive tree, there has to be a great deal of patience. Enough patience to wait on God! Ah, enough patience to wait for the kind of maturity

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to take place in one's life. I'd have patience to wait. And sometimes that's so hard to do. I have problems with it, all of us do, patience.

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When I was a little fella, we used to wear short pants, and I wanted to wear long pants. It looked like it was so long before I could wear long pants, you know, patience.

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you can wait to be able to wait on the Lord but the psalmist says I am like a green olive tree I'm prepared to wait on God the psalmist says of the braggart who boasts of his mischief against the godly this is what the psalmist says about that braggart God will break you down forever he will snatch you and tear

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you from your tent. He will uproot you from the land of the living. God will do that. In other words, don't worry about the person when you're doing good and they're always doing mischief to you. You don't have to run out to pay them back. Leave it to God. God will snatch you from your tent. And then he, as he looks and compares his life with

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the one who's boasting about what he has and what he's doing in the way of mischief, he He said, "I am like the green olive tree. During a time of drought, the olive tree prospers. No rain, sun is scorching, but the olive tree remains green."

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You know, how can we accept the changes? You know, some people go to pieces. They go to pieces when they have things happen in their family, when they have some disappointments, when they have some

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reverses on their jobs, when some loved one is taken they go completely to pieces and sometimes find fault with God. The psalmist says I am like a green olive tree. In this book Future Shocks, Toffler points out the fact that when you put a many of the changes that that are going to occur during this period that people

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aren't prepared for them because not being prepared will cause them to go to a great deal of shock. It's like when you uproot a plant and you put it somewhere and you've changed its environment and it loses all of its leaves, it's going through shock. And so sometimes people experience shock because of these changes, but the olive tree remains

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steadfast, it remains secure, and prospers during times of drought. And then lastly, the olive tree is a symbol or an emblem of peace. God has promised to make our lives like an olive tree if we trust in him. He said to Israel that you will inherit olive yards that you did not plant. That if you follow the

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leadership of my spirit and I will make your life beautiful I will make your life secure I will make you like olives because you will inherit olive yards that you did not plant so life like an olive tree is due to one comes as a result of one who trusts in God. George Skilmore says I think that I shall

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never see, a poem as lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed against the earth's sweet flowing breast. A tree that looks at God all day and lifts her leafy arms to pray. A tree that may in summer wear a nest of robins in in her hand, upon whose bosom snow has lain, who intimately lives with rain.

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Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree. Only God. Only God can make a green olive tree. I'm talking about a tree that remains green.

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Jesus as he goes through his life and he is the epitome of perfection but he is mistreated, he's ridiculed, he's crucified and as they are taking him up Calvary he looks to those who are around women who are weeping and he said don't weep for me He said if they do this thing to a green tree what will they do to the dry? He compares his life to a green tree and if we would be like Christ it means

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that our lives must be like a green olive tree. Standing on a hillside amid all of the scorching heat and the fierce winds but it remains green and prospers. So he says I can say this because I trust in God. I trust in the mercy of God forever. That's what the psalmist says. Well the psalmist says that that's his testimony what about

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yours and what about mine? Can you in your heart of hearts say today I am like a green olive tree. So, if you are here today, God is present to help you if you have not made this decision to live like a green olive tree.

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God is present to help us. The Spirit knocks on the door of every heart. Let me come in. Let me.

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- Knock on the door of every house! - Let me come in, let me! (dramatic music) ♪ Oh, Washington, dear ♪

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♪ God is great indeed ♪ ♪ God is in our hearts ♪ ♪ And all ♪ ♪ The people ♪

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♪ That save us ♪ ♪ Are so kind ♪ ♪ And the world ♪ ♪ And the clouds and the clouds ♪

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♪ They are very tall ♪ ♪ And the heavens on the mount ♪ ♪ Oh, they ring ♪ ♪ Because they're flying ♪

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♪ I will be your star ♪ ♪ I will now find my people again ♪ ♪ For peace for time ♪ ♪ And I have known ♪

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♪ People now of my dreams ♪ ♪ My faith in Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ And all beyond degree ♪ ♪ At the cross, that cross ♪

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♪ Where I first saw the light ♪ ♪ And the burden of my heart grew heavy ♪ ♪ It was there by ♪ I've received my sight, and now I am happy all the day.

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[MUSIC PLAYING] [CHANTING] May we bow our heads. [CHANTING]

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Gracious God, our Father, we thank you for this encouraging word that comes to us from the experience of the Psalmist. We pray that your spirit will ever be with us

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to help us to develop in the way that it may be truthfully said that I am like a green olive tree. We come now to the table which thou hast prepared

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to nourish us, to strengthen us, and to keep us as we seek to travel the upward way. You've promised to prepare a table for us in the presence of our enemies,

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and we thank you for this expression of your grace and your power. We pray now that you will bless this bread and bless the cup representing the body and blood

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of our Lord, and help us as we partake of it to rededicate ourselves to that task being faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. Be with us as we commune together. We ask in his name, Amen.

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[music] [Choir singing] And walk to his services, the median of all. He calls us to build a city on earth,

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Where the hills are round, hidden from his turn. He calls us as his own to be a man's own, to share his own kingdom, his bread and his blood. We fight to translate our praises to thee. Prepare to go out, we follow the street.

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From Sunday to Sunday, the journey's free. ♪ With passion devoted ♪ ♪ The courage be given ♪ ♪ Amen ♪

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(music) (audience chattering) ♪♪ Over hill and plain, there comes a single strain.

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There's loyalty, loyalty, loyalty to pride. With shielding foes alone, the hills take up the town. Of loyalty, loyalty, there's loyalty to pride. ♪ All to victory, all to victory ♪

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♪ Ride the wind, oh let it blow ♪ ♪ We'll be there, eternal jest, forever ♪ ♪ To loyalty, loyalty, yes, loyalty to power ♪ ♪ Oh, hear the sound of those who have been found ♪

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♪ With loyalty, loyalty, loyalty to God ♪ ♪ Our flag we bear with you ♪ ♪ We have the right to defend ♪ ♪ Our loyalty, loyalty, yes, loyalty to God ♪

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♪ All to victory, all to victory ♪ ♪ Rise up, rainbow, and you'll all be free ♪ ♪ The kings come down ♪ ♪ The soldiers hands come down ♪

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♪ How loyalty, loyalty, that's loyalty to God ♪ ♪ All to victory, all to victory ♪ ♪ Rise up, rainbow, and you'll all be free ♪ ♪ For He has moved and is come down ♪

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♪ His Son was as the Lamb ♪ ♪ So loyal be, loyal be, as loyal be to Christ ♪ - Let us pray. Oh Lord, our Lord, have mercy upon us and bless us.

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Grant unto us your spirit that we may truly worship you in spirit and in truth. Grant that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts may be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer.

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Now let us pray together the Lord's Prayer. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

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And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen. [Music]

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[Music] [Music] [Music] ♪ To save the people of New York ♪

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♪ We'll be there, shame they know ♪ ♪ The final piece of ground ♪ ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ With your glory crowned ♪

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♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled ♪ ♪ In language ♪ ♪ His tongue is the song ♪ ♪ Out of heaven ♪

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♪ His word ♪ ♪ Language ♪ ♪ He knows the strength of hope ♪ ♪ The power of the Son ♪

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♪ The hope of freedom ♪ [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]