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[ Silence ] [MUSIC - "OPEN MY EYES"] [ Music ] [MUSIC - "THE WONDERFUL THING"]

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♪ That I may see ♪ ♪ The great days of truth ♪ ♪ God has for me ♪ ♪ Place in my hands ♪

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♪ The wonderful key ♪ ♪ That shall unclasp ♪ ♪ And set me free ♪ ♪ Silently now ♪

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♪ I wait for thee ♪ ♪ Ready by dawn, I will to see ♪ ♪ Open my eyes to you and me ♪ ♪ Spirit divine ♪

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♪ Open my ears, let I receive ♪ ♪ Voices of truth are singing still ♪ ♪ And while the windows fall away ♪ ♪ Everything falls to disappear ♪

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♪ Silently now I wait for thee ♪ ♪ Mary, my God, my plains you see ♪ ♪ Open my ears, delude me ♪ ♪ Spirit divine ♪

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♪ Open my mouth and let me in ♪ ♪ I need a home to live in there ♪ ♪ Open my heart and let me prepare ♪ ♪ A memory with us to share ♪

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♪ Silently now I'm waiting for thee ♪ ♪ Ready my heart, I will to see ♪ ♪ Open my heart to you and me ♪ ♪ Spirit divine ♪

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- Let us all say amen. - Amen. I would like, first of all, for you to join me in thanking the youth for doing such a beautiful job

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up until this moment. Let us all give them a round of applause. (audience applauding) They've had it all this past week.

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They were in charge of prayer service, and they were here at eight o'clock, eight o'clock service. We had a wonderful message preached by, Like I was always kidding, by our young minister.

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Let's all say amen. - Amen. - Yes. We've had a wonderful time up until now.

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Let us continue to pray for the youth as they strive to continue conducting the services. Reverend Renfro has shared with us sometimes in the past the reason why he sings before he preaches.

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Now, you know, other than the fact that he's, he has a beautiful voice and does a wonderful job in preaching and singing, he's also shared with us that it kind of, it seeks to settle his nerves when he sings before he delivers the word. Well, my brothers and sisters, that's one of the reasons why, at least that's part of

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the reason why I don't sing before I preach. Because I don't want your nerves to get unsettled. So I'm not going to try to do the same thing as Reverend Renfro. I'm going to try to go right into the message.

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We've had the scripture lesson read to us by Sister Davis. For the basis of this message, we invite your prayerful attention, for those of you who have Bibles to a scripture found in 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and the very first verse. That's 1 Corinthians 11 1. And it reads as follows. Be ye followers of me even as

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I also am of Christ. The title of the message, "Follow the Leader." Well, it's that time again. You know the political season, the time when we as a nation must choose whether we are

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to elect a new leader or keep the one that we have now. The field has been narrowed and it is down to the expected two. We're now at the point when we are to be bombarded with campaign speeches of which we will hear promises made that will soon be broken, agendas proposed that will eventually fall by the

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wayside, and time and time and time again, we're going to hear just how bad the other fella is as opposed to the one claiming to be Superman. And I don't know about you, my brothers and sisters, but sometimes the rhetoric of the campaign trail can just about wear me out.

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In fact, I've become so tired of the political platitudes that we are about to be hit with that I've decided to nominate my own choice of leadership. Have you, my adult brothers and sisters, considered this fine group of young men and women

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here today in this congregation? Now Reverend Renfro had every other one of you to stand up this morning. I want you all to stand up.

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the youth in the house to stand up. Now if you feel like you youth, go and stand up too. I want all the youth to stand up. As you can see, they have all the qualifications. They're mature, they're intelligent, overflowing with initiative and new ideas, and in this day when appearance matters so much, aren't they good-looking?

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[applause] Especially this one right over here, and this one right over here, and this one right here don't look too bad either. You may be seated.

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And I nominate them. And in light of this nomination, I would like the youth, even as you're sitting down, I I want you to repeat after me. I want you to voice your acceptance

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by saying to us, the adults, repeat after me. Follow the leader. Follow the leader. Follow the leader.

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Thank you, thank you. Let us all say amen. But as you say that, I've got one question for you. Where are we going?

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Where are we going? is the main question that must be proposed to anyone taking on the position of leadership. Where are we going?

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Where are you taking us? Where are we going? Somebody may say to heaven, well, that's true. I'm gonna try to make heaven my home, too.

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But it reminds me of that joke about that little boy who was in a church meeting one time, and the preacher asked everybody, "How many of y'all here wanna go to heaven?"

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Everybody held up their hand except for the little boy. And he asked again, "How many of y'all wanna go to heaven?" So he, everybody held up their hand except for him. And after a while, he looked at the little boy, he said,

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"Son, don't you wanna go to heaven when you die?" He says, "Oh yes, I wanna go to heaven when I die. "I thought you were getting a bus load up tonight." I know, I'm not ready to go right now.

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So yes, I wanna go to heaven. I know that's where I wanna go. But in the meantime, before I get to heaven, where are we going?

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In the meantime, you are to lead, we are to follow. Yet in the midst of our journey together, as you lead us along this road of life, for those of us who will place ourselves under your directorship,

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We cannot help but ask the pertinent question of the hour, where are we going? And when you really think about it, this question is not only directed

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at the young leaders for the day. It's for all of us to answer in this life. For whether you recognize it or not, my brothers and sisters, We are all leading somebody in some capacity.

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Oh yes, oh yes, whether you know it or not, somebody is following your lead. You may think, well, nobody cares about what I think, but you're wrong.

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Somebody is looking at you right now and basing some direction in their lives according to your actions. Somebody is trying to follow your lead in the clothes that they're going to wear,

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in their manner of speech, even in the way they walk. Somebody is trying to follow your lead even when they feel weak, and they may look at you and look how strong you are, look at how strong you are, and that may just prevent them from giving up.

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Somebody is following your lead in that they may try to get into some kind devilmen and they look over and look at you and they say well that brother or that sister's a Christian so I'm not gonna do that. Somebody is following your lead and they may be just following your lead in this matter of overall

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appearance. I was noticing the back of the head of the pastor one day as he was standing down here for Children's Hour and I noticed that he and I had the same hairstyle. And when he came back up back up to the pulpit and sat down I kind of whispered over to him I said you know Reverend you know I heard that they had

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they selling Rogaine over the counter now and I asked him I said have you heard that he said yes I heard that I said well have you decided to try it and so he goes no no right now I don't put much faith in that I say well me neither But you know my brother and sisters, all he had to do was say yes.

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And I'd be right over at Ecker's Drugstore, collecting up all my, that stuff is expensive, collecting up all my money, getting all the role gain I possibly can and rubbing it all on top of my head. All because I'd be following his lead.

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Somebody is following your lead. And it goes without saying that it is an awesome responsibility to be put in the position of leadership. And in recognizing this fact, you and I should strive to the best of our ability to be the

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best leaders that we can possibly be for those who are following us. Yet someone may ask the question, "How can I learn how to be a good leader?" Well, the answer is given in our text this morning, and we hear it from one of the greatest leaders of the first century church.

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For you see, the apostle Paul speaks to the church at Corinth and speaks to us in saying, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." In other words, Paul starts out by telling us that in order to be a good leader, we must first of all, learn how to be a good follower.

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That's the best way to learn. A good department manager is one who knows the ins and out of that department by first working in that department.

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A good school teacher is one who has some idea of what it means to be a good student. It is said that Colin Powell served as an outstanding general, all because he was at one time

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a good soldier. For you see, my brothers and sisters, anybody can call themselves a leader, but in order to be a good leader,

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you've got to have first some idea of what it really means to be a follower. But as we dig deeper into this short passage of scripture, We discover something else which points to the quality of a good leader.

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For not only does it matter for us to learn how to follow, but it matters most of all who or what it is we're following. Paul says, "Follow me." He tells the Corinthian church, "Follow me, follow the leader, follow me."

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Yet he does not stop with what seems like a pretentious statement. He does not stop with what seems like a pompous word. He does not stop right there. He says, "Follow me," and he goes on to assure them that they were safe in following his

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lead because of who it was he was following. Be ye followers of me even as I also am of Jesus Christ. In other words, Paul guarantees to them that they are safe in following him because the one that he is following knows what he's doing. And you know my brothers and sisters that's good to know, that's good to

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recognize, that's a wonderful thing to recognize even in this day and time. Because nowadays if you're not careful you can easily find yourself following somebody that doesn't know what they're doing. I used to work part-time when I And I was either just out of high school

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or maybe in my senior year I used to work part-time at a clothing store. And I had a friend of mine there that worked along with me. It's a white friend of mine.

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And I remember after one weekend, he was telling me the kind of weekend he had. He said that he'd gone to one of these house parties. I don't know if they have that nowadays.

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We used to have house parties when we were growing up. You know, you'd go to somebody's house, to have a party at the house. But apparently somebody from the east side

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had invited him over here to one of these house parties. And he was telling me the good time he was having. And he said he noticed how people were having a good time and all that.

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Then after a while, he kind of got quiet. And then he said, Rodney, can I ask you something? And I said, yeah, sure. You can go ahead and ask me anything.

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So he says, well, you know, they were doing this kind of dance. And I think that's when the worm came out. And he says, "I was wondering if you can teach me "how to do the worm."

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Well, my brother and sister, I never was much of a dancer. And I tell him, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. "You know, you come to the wrong person." Now, I may look like I know what I'm doing

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as far as teaching you how to do that, but I can't do that. Some people may look like they know what they doing and leading, but they don't know what they doing. You may look the part, but unless you're a real leader

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and know what you're doing, you're not really doing anything. You may look like you know, when in fact, you don't know. Paul, in so many words, is saying, I am following somebody that I can put all of my trust in.

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I can put my whole life in his hands because he knows the direction that I should take. I'm walking in the path of somebody worth following. I'm following, says the Apostle Paul, somebody.

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Young man, young woman. Who are you following today? Who is it that you're seeking to imitate and to emulate? Who are you following today?

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Who is it that you're putting all your trust in and putting all, banking everything that you've got on their life? Who or what are you following today?

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Is it some celebrity or sports figure? Well, you know, that's all right. There's some people who say that athletes should not serve as role models.

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I don't quite agree with that. I feel like that if a man or a woman can keep up their grades and go on to professional sports as much as they're paying these professional athletes,

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I'm trying to groom Joel right now for the NBA. As much as they're paying these professional athletes, I don't have any problems with that. You know, basketball is big now.

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And I don't quite agree with this matter of just writing off all sports figures as role models. For it doesn't really matter. It matters most who it is you're following.

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That's what matters most. You don't want to follow somebody like Dennis Rodman. Now, he may be a good fella, But you don't go around butting no officials in the heads,

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thinking that's gonna get you anywhere, and culling your hair and stuff. No, you don't wanna follow anybody like that. But you know, you do indeed have the people

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like Cheryl Swoop of Texas Tech, and you have somebody like David Robinson of San Antonio, the San Antonio Spurs. They serve as wonderful models of character.

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Yet have you ever noticed, especially Robinson, when they interview him, how they seem never, how he seems never to take all the glory to himself. It seems like that he's always pointing to somebody else

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in his life that he's following. He's always thanking somebody for giving him the ability to perform. He's always acknowledging that somebody

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has provided all the strength and the support that he needs, even in those times when they may be disappointed in themselves and when it seems like things are not going quite right in a game when he's

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given his bad performance. It seems like he's always talking about that somebody who can indeed give him joy in good games. And also in those times when it seems like he can't even

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buy a shot. And my brothers and sisters, life can get like that sometimes. It seems like the more you shoot up, the more you miss.

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But it seems like he's always talking about somebody, somebody that's always in his corner when it seems like everybody else would leave him. You talking about, I'm not talking about all sports figures.

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I'm talking about those that know where the source of their power comes from. I'm talking about the ones who rest assure of that power that they have in the one who holds them up.

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For you have that kind of strength in character in those kind of role models. But you know, it's not only in sports figures. For you have leaders of such character

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in every walk of life. They're everywhere. Oh, you may have to search them out in certain places, but as you look for them, you can find them.

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Sometimes you can find them right here in this city. Sometimes you can find them right here in this community. And my brothers and sisters, I'm telling you right now, there's many of them sitting out here right now.

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Good role models. And sometimes you're gonna be able to find them in your own homes, but they're there. And when you do find them,

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they're gonna be saying the same thing that the Apostle Paul is saying, and that is follow me. Follow me. But you can follow me because you can rest assured

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of who I am following. You can follow me because you can find that person who I'm following inside me. Let me show you the way.

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Follow me because I'm following somebody that knows the way. No, no, more than that, I'm following somebody that is the way, the truth, and the life.

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I'm following somebody. Young man, young woman, the mantle of leadership has been placed upon your shoulders. And I realize that it is an awesome responsibility

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to be placed in the position of leadership. I know it can get hard sometimes, and I know it seems like the burden can get a little bit too much,

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but I'm here to tell you that you can do it. Oh yes, you can do it. You can be a good leader, as long as you know how to be a good follower.

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And as long as you know who it is you are to follow. Leadership can be hard. You can be misunderstood when you are a leader. Folk will try to hurt you when you are a leader.

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Folk will hurt you when you are a leader. And sometimes you're going to feel like turning in your resignation on your leadership. But in those times when you feel like giving up and throwing

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in the towel, I want you to consider the life of another leader, of one leader, the leader that you're supposed to be following in the first place, the leader that Paul was talking about following. I want you to consider the life of one who came and sojourned among us wrapped up

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in human flesh. I want you to consider the life of a leader who walked about this earth doing good, walking the dusty roads of Palestine, raising the dead, healing the sick, restoring sight to the blinds, and those who couldn't hear, he'd make them hear again. I want you to consider the life of that leader. I want

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you to consider the life of the leader who did nothing but good, but people persecuted him and put him down and told him he was no good, and all he was doing, like Reverend Riffrao was saying this morning, was the will of his father. I I want you to consider the life of a leader who did all he could, when he could, while he was here to do the best for all of us.

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I want you to consider a leader, that main leader, that leader who was at one time taken and driven up a hill and whipped and placed on a cross. Not for his own sins, for he didn't have any. I want you to consider a leader who took on your sins and my sins and took those sins and he died Oh, yes, he died on that cross

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I want you to consider a leader who hung there until the third hour and died But I also want you to consider a leader about this I want you to consider a leader who was taken from the cross and placed in Joseph's new tomb And it seems like this leader's day was out. It seemed like that there was no

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more reign of his leadership. But on the third day my brothers and sisters, on the third day, on the third day my leader, your leader, my leader got up and he said all power in heaven and in earth are in my hands. I want you to consider that leader when you feel like giving up because things get a little rough and

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know that that leader has the power to give you the power to consider to be a good leader in this world that will try to make you be a follower of other things in this world. I want you to consider a leader who is good above good and can give you that spirit which you need to survive when things are going

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against you. My young brothers and sisters you've accepted the nomination. The mantle of leadership has been placed upon your shoulders. It can't get too rough for the leader that you follow. All you have to do is to continue to follow the leader Jesus Christ, the one who can give you the power to go on and go on

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and go on leading throughout your life and throughout eternity. Amen. Let us all say amen again. Let us all say amen again. Let us all say amen again. The doors of the church are now open. The privilege of Christian discipleship is is now being extended.

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If there's one who is willing to follow such a leader as Jesus Christ, we would ask that you would make your mind up now and come down front. He's willing to accept you this morning.

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Reverend Swisher has preached. Follow his lead. Follow his lead. Would you come?

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[ Music ] Would you come? [ Music ] I am weak and I need thy strength and power

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♪ To help me over my weakness ♪ ♪ I let me through the darkness ♪ ♪ Thy face to see ♪ ♪ So lead me O Lord ♪

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♪ Help me tread in the paths of righteousness ♪ ♪ Be my aid when Satan and sin oppress ♪ ♪ And sing, oh Prince ♪ ♪ For I'm putting all my trust in thee ♪

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♪ Just lead me, oh Lord, lead me ♪ So please see me, lead me, guide me, and guide me along the way. Oh, Lord, if you lead me, I cannot stray. ♪ Oh Lord, let me walk ♪

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♪ In faith with Thee ♪ ♪ Lead me, oh Lord, lead me ♪ ♪ I am lost if You take your hand ♪ ♪ Your hand from me ♪

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♪ I am blind without the light to see ♪ ♪ Lord just always let me ♪ ♪ Thy servant be ♪ Just lead me, oh Lord, lead me.

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So please lead me and guide me along the way. ♪ Lord, if you lead me ♪ ♪ I cannot stray ♪ ♪ Lord, let me walk ♪

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♪ Each day with thee ♪ ♪ Lead me, O Lord ♪ ♪ Please lead me ♪ ♪ I'm just asking to lead me ♪

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♪ Just lead me ♪ ♪ Guide me ♪ ♪ Why don't you guide me ♪ ♪ Along the way ♪

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♪ Along the way ♪ ♪ For I know if you lead me ♪ ♪ I cannot stray ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, let me walk ♪

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♪ Each day with Thee ♪ ♪ Lead me, oh Lord ♪ ♪ Lead me, lead me ♪ ♪ Please lead me, oh Lord ♪

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♪ Lead me ♪ ♪ Come on Jesus, I'm your child ♪ ♪ Lead me, oh Lord, lead me ♪ Amen.

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[ Applause ]