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[ Silence ] Won't it be wonderful there? Having no burdens to bear. Joyously singing and joy bells will be ringing.

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Won't it be wonderful there? I want to sing about it. Won't it be wonderful there? ♪ Having no burden too bad ♪

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♪ I'll be joyously, joyously singing ♪ ♪ And joy bells, I know they'll be ringing ♪ Won't it be? Won't it be? Won't it be? Wonderful, wonderful day

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I know it will, won't it be? Won't it be wonderful? Won't it be wonderful? Won't it be wonderful Having no burdens

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Having no burdens Burdens to bear Burdens to bear Over

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Over in Zion The city built The city built for us when Won't it be

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Won't it be wonderful ♪ I'll meet ♪ ♪ I'll meet you there ♪ ♪ Won't it be wonderful ♪

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♪ Won't it be wonderful ♪ ♪ Won't it be wonderful ♪ ♪ Won't it be wonderful ♪ ♪ Having no burden ♪

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♪ Having no burden ♪ ♪ Burden's too bad ♪ ♪ Burden's too bad ♪ ♪ Talking about over there ♪

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♪ Over in Zion ♪ ♪ City built ♪ ♪ In the middle of the air ♪ ♪ Now my sisters and my brothers ♪

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♪ Will you meet me there ♪ ♪ I'll meet you there ♪ ♪ I'll meet you there ♪ ♪ I'll meet you there ♪

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♪ Will you meet me there ♪ ♪ We're gonna mingle with the saints of old ♪ ♪ And the half had never been told ♪ ♪ Won't it be ♪

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♪ Won't it be wonderful ♪ ♪ I'll meet you ♪ ♪ I'll meet you there ♪ ♪ We're gonna be caught up ♪

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♪ To meet him ♪ ♪ In the middle of the air ♪ ♪ Now my sisters ♪ ♪ All my brothers ♪

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♪ Won't you meet me there ♪ ♪ We're gonna mingle with saints of old ♪ ♪ And the half had never been told ♪ ♪ Won't it be ♪

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♪ Won't it be wonderful ♪ ♪ Won't it be wonderful ♪ ♪ One of these mornings ♪ ♪ You're gonna look for me ♪

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♪ And I'll be gone ♪ ♪ Gonna see Jesus ♪ ♪ Gonna see Jesus ♪ ♪ And I'll tell him all

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about my troubles down here ♪ I know it's gonna be wonderful. Won't it be wonderful? Won't it be wonderful?

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Won't it be wonderful? Won't it be wonderful? Won't it be wonderful? You know I'll meet you.

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Won't it be wonderful? And I'm gonna meet you there. I'll meet you there. (congregation applauding)

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- Amen. - Let's all say amen. - Amen. - Amen. Yeah, this word recorded in the book of the prophet Isaiah, Deuteronomy Isaiah, the 43rd chapter,

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the 18th through the 21st verses. Isaiah 43rd chapter the 18th through the 21st verses. Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past.

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See I am doing a new thing. Now springing up, Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

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Wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland and give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I've farmed for myself,

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that they may proclaim my praise. See, I am doing a new thing. God is doing something new. Yes.

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God is doing something new. I thought that in connection with this particular time of the year when we are celebrating Black History Month that I might use this particular passage of scripture

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as we think about our situation in the world at this particular time. I read an article in the New York Times a number of months ago dealing with the race situation.

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There were many pictures of persons of various shades, various colors, and the article went on to suggest that the human family is changing. That what was and years gone by as far as color is concerned is not what it is today. It went on to suggest that people of color, people of many colors, would outnumber those people that we have been considering white.

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they know it or not, they are the minority in the world anyhow. You know, they are the minority. I used to remind my banker in Waco that all the time, that you are in the minority in the world. I may be the minority here, but you are in the minority. So God is doing a new thing. And this whole matter of race is changing. One book suggests that it's not

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so much color anyway, it's a matter of economics. Well, we know that there may be a great deal of truth in that but we still have to deal with color. Well more and more we must become accustomed to looking at couples of various colors. You know I noticed when a mixed couple shows up different places that people stop.

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And they used to say, "What is happening here?" They don't say anything, but their body language lets us know that we're not quite ready for some of these things that are taking place. But God is doing a new thing.

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You know, we may one day have in this world a race of people to which color does not really matter. And we're already talking about this matter of cloning. They said they have already reached the way you can do this with sheep.

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Well, wouldn't it be something that you look on the pew and there'll be people all along that be looking just like you? How would you like that? If there were many like you, you know?

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And instead of there just being one Marvin Griffin, there may be 20 or 100 Marvin Griffiths. I don't know whether I could bear that. I can hardly bear this one. But God is doing a new thing.

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A new thing. Now you know how you feel when you have on something new. My wife says when she wants to get a boost, she likes to go and buy something new. You know, like to have something new.

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Get something new. And we sort of walk with a different strut, you know, when we have on something new. Now sometimes we can sort of be cool with it. And we get it and we sort of ease along.

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When I said to my wife the other day, and I was coming to church, I said, "Isn't that Yes. [LAUGHTER] But I'll have it for some time.

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So some of you ladies sort of slipped things in. That's right. Some of you ladies sort of slipped things in. Thank you.

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The men. but God, God is doing something new. Now, many of these things we are not ready for, but God is doing it, something new.

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Now we have mixed couples, what we call the Aryan race, white people. White people are adopting black children in their family. Now some black people don't think that's right.

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But God is doing something new. And this whole matter of race has to undergo some changing in our thinking going to be able to adjust to the world that God is ushering

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us into. He's been doing something new a long time. In the beginning when he created the heavens and the earth, he was doing something new. And then he made the first day, it something new. Monday, which was followed by Tuesday, and

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Wednesday, and Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and he rested and he went back to work doing something new. God is doing something new. He is doing a new thing. And His grace, brothers and sisters, is new every morning. Every morning you get a

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new expression of His grace. It's new every morning. Back in the 30s, a man by the name of Roy Otley wrote a book entitled, "A New World A Coming." And he talked about the things that that were here as far as black people are concerned.

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But I think that if we were to take Roy Otley's book and compare with the things that have happened since he wrote that book, not only would he be astounded, you know,

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the people who lived. I often think that if my mother could be here now and go some of the places that I go all that hashish you would feel, you know. But God is changing

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this world. He's doing something new. And this word was spoken many, many years ago when the Hebrew people were taken into bondage by the Babylonians and they remained in slavery for for over 50 years.

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And in the midst of it all, as a new beginning faces them, there comes a word thundering through history from a lonely prophet saying to them,

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forget about the former things. Forget about all these things that have held you back, these back-dragging forces. Forget about those things,

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because God is getting ready to do something new in your history. You know, sometimes we feel that our history has kept us down, but with God, He's able to redeem history. He's doing something new. It's rather strange how He takes a people,

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He is peculiar people. God is unique, nobody like God. And his people are called upon to be peculiar people, unique, in other words, nobody else like you,

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even the identical twins are different. They say, when God made you and me, he threw the pattern away. And he's still at work.

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He takes this people, Jewish people, His chosen people to whom He revealed this divine revelation of His glory and His goodness in a special way.

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And yet they were not faithful. And because they were not faithful, He permitted them to be carried into Babylonian captivity. He caused a godless people

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to take into captivity a people who claim to be godly. And yet, in the midst of that captivity, God works with those people in such a way that it becomes a redemptive force in their lives.

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Isn't that strange how God can take bad people and enslave so-called good people and make good people better people because they were submitted to the bad people?

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works. He is doing something new. That's what this prophet Isaiah says. As they face a new day, new century, new age, we face a new millennium. And in the midst of it all, God speaks God speaks to us as people of color who have suffered many

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things in a strange land. He speaks to us saying, "I am doing something new." In other words, something new, me bringing into existence that which has not previously existed. God is doing something new. Oh, how wonderful it is as we think of how He

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works. He never runs out. And I was in seminary 50 years ago. So there was a man who came up with that. He said, oh, he was lamenting the fact that the time would come when there would be no new music.

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That his theory was that there were just so many tunes that you could put together. And that the way people were putting them together, they would run out.

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And that time would come. But that was long before this time. >> Yes Lord. >> When we've come up with, what is it, bebop and hip hop

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and all of that, we've come up all kinds of music that we've come up with and just as that is true of us, what about God? We can never, never exhaust the possibilities,

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my brothers and sisters, that God has for you for me. God is rich in possibilities. Oh, so never, never limit yourself if you, if you hooked up with God. You hooked up. God is overflowing. As Psalmist says, "My cup

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overflows." It overflows with what you can do when we are with God. So he's saying this to people who have been subjected servitude to people who've been humiliated, to people who have been shamed, to people who have gone through the scars of

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slavery. And he says, "I don't worry about the gods of Babylon because I am doing something new." And when we take that in and apply it to our daily living. Some of you may be facing some difficult trials.

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You may be going through some illness, not certain about how the outcome is going to be, what the doctor's going to say and all of that, what his diagnosis may be and what the future may hold.

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But here in the midst of all of that comes this word, that God is doing something new with you. Well, a new experience. That you'll come to discover something of the goodness

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and something of the power of God, how he can work in the discontinuities of life. With all of the contradictions that we may face, God can take them and bless us through them

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because he knows just how to do something new. God is doing something new. So, as we face this as a people, in order to be ready for this newness

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that God has for us. We need to know ourselves. We need to know ourselves. You know, most of us don't know much about our history.

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We put this on the calendar for a month and we celebrate it. We do that for the other people. - Amen. - Because most of us aren't reading much.

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And most of those who write about African history don't know too much about African history. They made my daughter, when she was teaching a school in Boston, the college there,

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over black studies, African studies. That's what we called it, African-American studies. That's the right word. And so I said, you over African-American studies?

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She says, yes. I said, but you haven't been to Africa. She says, no. I said, well, I need to see that you go to Africa.

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So you'll know. You'll actually know now what they said. Because you know what they said when I was coming up? What about Africa?

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Well, it was Tarzan. Tarzan, it was Jane too, wasn't it? Flying from the trees and all that. That was Africa.

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Half-crab, that was us. Couldn't speak good English, you know, but bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble, so bubble out some words.

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Africa. But God has blessed us. Now we have on fine suits and shoes, alligator shoes and all of those things, but God has brought us a mighty, mighty long ways. He's doing something. So we need to know ourselves. Know ourselves. Really in our church

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church, we ought to have more black history, not once, not once, not once, one month a year. We ought to be doing it every day. Learning more and more about ourselves. I think it was Spelman that had a list of books that every student who

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came to the school should have read before getting there, dealing with us, like Malcolm X and W.E.B. Du Bois and Garvey and all of those go on and on and on. And include some women in there too.

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[LAUGHTER] I need to remember that. Because I've got this down in my notes, and I want to be sure to get this home.

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because God is doing something new as far as the gender is concerned. You know, there's still a lot of men who think that God only spoke to men.

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You know, he doesn't say that anywhere, but we say it. And we attribute it to him. You know, and that's not fair to the ladies not fair to God, which is worse. But God is doing

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something new and we must prepare for it. We need to know ourselves. We need to know. Know thyself. And not only know yourself, but of all things be true to yourself. Who you are. you. Don't let anybody define you. Define yourself. And not

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only that, not only know yourself, I want to be brief here, but we need to love, you know, love thyself. Love yourself. Some people don't love themselves. That's why they have such a hard time with other people because they can't--they

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themselves. But love thy neighbor as thyself. People skip over that. As thyself to learn because if you really learn to love yourself and be good to yourself, you'll be good to people. So, in doing this, be holy. To be holy is to walk with

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God. Love thyself, be holy. Know thyself, love thyself, be holy. Well, let me close by saying, since God is doing something and new, I wanna be in on it. >> All right, all right.

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>> Don't you? >> Yes. >> I wanna be in on what God is doing. He's doing something new.

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I read here that he's creating a new heaven and a new earth. I wanna be in on that. I wanna walk the streets of glory. I wanna be there when they gather around the throne

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and sing the hallelujahs. I want to be in on it because I know God is doing something new. He's doing something new. Thanks be to God.

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He said, "You know, I made a path through the rivers. I make a highway in the desert. I protect you from wild beasts. You know my history.

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I have a grand and glorious history. I have a grand and glorious history, but I'm doing something new. I'm gonna make some new paths.

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You're gonna be able to drink from some new streams because God is doing something new. Thanks be to God. Praise his name that he's still doing something new.

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Door of the church is open. We invite you to come. By letter or by Christian experience, I invite you to come.

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(piano music) Come. He wants to do something new in your life this morning. This week.

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This year. Come. Northern Church is open. (piano music)

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He's giving us a new name. I've got a new home over in glory, and it's mine, mine, mine. I've got a new home over in Zion, and it's mine. ♪ Mine, mine, mine ♪

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♪ I've got a new name ♪ ♪ Over in Zion ♪ ♪ That is mine, mine, mine ♪ ♪ I've got a new name ♪

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♪ Over in Zion ♪ ♪ And it's mine, mine, mine ♪ ♪ I've got a new home ♪ ♪ Over in Zion ♪

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♪ And it's mine, mine, mine ♪ I've got a new heart over in Zion And it's mine, mine, mine I've got a new heart over in Zion

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And it's mine, mine, mine. I've got a new home over in Zion. And it's mine, mine, mine. I've got a new hope over in Zion

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And it's mine, mine, mine I've got a new hope over in Zion ♪ And it's mine ♪ ♪ Mine ♪

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♪ Mine ♪ - Lord, how we thank you, how we praise your name that you are doing something new. - Yes.

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- Be with us this week as we go about the daily chats to engage in whatever the task may be, knowing full well that you are with us doing something new. Amen. [MUSIC]

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You know what I mean? When you mentioned that part, I thought about him. He's here this morning and having a look. All right.

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I was glad to see you come on down so we could have some face. When you hit your face, two notes, they asked you. That's right. Because I looked at you, so I'm going to hit him.

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I'm going to stop him. [LAUGHTER] We just hit the same glory, but we doing the wrong. No, I'm sure they're both ways.

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I just know it from Zion. [BLANK_AUDIO]