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[Silence] [Pastor] ...here with us, and that we may worship you today in spirit and in truth. Amen. Good morning. Let us shake hands with one another as we used to do.

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[Music] I'll fly away. [Music] ♪ From that morning ♪

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♪ With his happy joy ♪ ♪ I'm flying away ♪ ♪ To my home of the natural sun ♪ ♪ I'm flying away ♪

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♪ I'll fly away, I'll fly away ♪ ♪ When I'm not with you, my love, I'll go my way ♪ ♪ We'll rush down on this island shore ♪ ♪ Out of my way ♪

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♪ I'm gonna live on with my life and more ♪ ♪ Out of my way ♪ ♪ Out of my way ♪ ♪ Oh, we have a way ♪

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♪ To see the light of the world ♪ ♪ Oh, we have a way ♪ ♪ Just love is all we need ♪ ♪ I'll find a way ♪

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♪ To love again ♪ ♪ For the memory of the good ♪ ♪ Of my day ♪ ♪ Of my day ♪

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♪ In thy heart, hallelujah, my love ♪ ♪ I'll always be true ♪ - You may be seated. Those of you who have Bibles,

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would you turn with me to Psalm 55, Psalm number 55. Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me and hear me.

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I mourn in my complaint and make a noise because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they cast iniquity upon me,

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and in wrath they hate me. My heart is sore pain within me, and the terrors of death are fallen upon me, fearfulness and trembling are come upon me,

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and horror hath overwhelmed me. Oh, I said that I had the wings like a dove, for then would I fly away and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off

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and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest. Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues, for I have seen violence and strength in the city.

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Day and night they go about it, upon the walls thereof, mischief also and sorrow in the midst of it. Wickedness is in the midst thereof,

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deceit and guile depart not from her streets. For it was not an enemy that reproached me, then I would have borne it. Neither was it he that hated me

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that did magnify himself against me, then I would have hid myself from him. But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance.

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We took sweet counsel together and walked unto the house of God in company. Let death seize upon them and let them go down quickly into hell for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them as for me I

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Call upon God and the Lord shall save me Evening and morning and at noon will I pray and cry aloud and he shall hear my voice He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me for there were many with me. God shall hear and afflict them even he that abideth of old because

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they have no changes therefore they fear not God. He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him he hath broken his covenant. The words of of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.

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Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in thee.

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We come now to our time of prayer together. May we remain in our seats and bow our heads as the Reverend Franklin leads us. Eternal God, the God of our weary years, the God of our silent tears, dear God, I want to thank you Lord for allowing us to assemble here in this sanctuary one more

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time. Heavenly Father we know that it's not of our goodness that we gathered here but it is your goodness that you so fit to let us come and magnify your name and fellowship together in their service. And Heavenly Father we ask in thee Lord Jesus to bless each and every one of us as we gather here in the name

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of Jesus because Lord Jesus we know that we only pass in this way one time. Heavenly Father, we want to do all the good that we can while we have a chance. We may not have this chance anymore, Lord Jesus. And Heavenly Father, may there be those who are sick in body or in mind.

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Heavenly Father, I know that you can administer to that body or to that mind, Lord. And Heavenly Father, you can make them, Heavenly Father, go home rejoicing another way by touching that body or mind.

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Oh Lord, bless the preached word this morning and bless the heroes. And Heavenly Father, as we dine together this morning, Heavenly Father, we know that we are doing it.

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Heavenly Father, until you come again, Heavenly Father, and we ask thee, Lord, to bless our souls as we die. Oh God, bless those who are in the hospital, rest homes,

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in the prison, heavenly Father, in that lonely room yonder, Lord. Heavenly Father, we know that you can go there, Lord. And heavenly Father, you can administer those persons.

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Bless the choir as they sing. Oh God, when we leave this place today, we want to go home rejoicing, saying I was glad when he said unto me,

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let us go into the house of the Lord. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. (upbeat piano music) (upbeat music)

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[Music] ♪ Baby, my brother and I ♪ ♪ Baby, the righteous one ♪ ♪ Baby, the one who built up Zion's wall ♪

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♪ Baby, my brother and I ♪ ♪ Baby, the righteous one ♪ ♪ Baby, the one who built up Zion's wall ♪ ♪ Chariot rode on a mountain top ♪

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♪ The one who built up Zion's wall ♪ ♪ My God spoke and the charioteers saw ♪ ♪ This is the day of Jubilee ♪ ♪ The Lord has set his people free ♪

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♪ My brethren, pray ♪ ♪ God's gonna get up so you'll know ♪ My brother ain't crazy, I just march in prayer, hey, hey, hey. God's gonna get us, lion's roar.

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We've got no cowards in our band. God's gonna get us, lion's roar. We call for valiant heart and hand. God's gonna get us, lion's roar.

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Gonna take my breastplate, sword, and shield. God's gonna get us, lion's roar. And march on boldly in the field. God's gonna get us, lion's roar.

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My brother ain't crazy, I just march in prayer, hey, hey, hey. God's gonna get us, lion's roar. My brother ain't crazy, I just march in prayer, hey, hey, hey. God's gonna get us, lion's roar.

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We bless your name, O God, and ask that you would give us your spirit with which to worship in our giving. That we may not give grudgingly, that we may not give wishing we had it back, but that we might give with a spirit of wishing that we had even more to give.

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In Jesus' name we ask it. Amen. [music] [Music]

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[Music] ♪ His name is wonderful ♪ ♪ His name is wonderful ♪ ♪ His name is wonderful ♪

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♪ Jesus, my Lord ♪ ♪ Jesus, my Lord ♪ ♪ The mighty King ♪ ♪ Master of everything ♪

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♪ His name is wonderful ♪ ♪ Jesus, my Lord ♪ [music] He's the great shepherd, the rock of all ages.

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♪ Almighty God is here ♪ ♪ Bow down before Him ♪ ♪ Love and adore Him ♪ His name is wonderful, Jesus my Lord.

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His name is wonderful, His name is wonderful, His name is wonderful, Jesus my Lord. He is the mighty King, the man of our hearts, the ever-renewing King, He is the Lord Jesus, my Lord Jesus. [Music]

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Amen. Hear this word, recorded in Psalm 55 and 6. And I said, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove, for then would I fly away and be at rest." If I had wings like a dove.

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This is the lament of the psalmist in the face of life's adversities. It's a cry from the depths of despair. It's the complaint of one who is in the valley of depression. "Oh, that I had wings like a dove, for then would I fly away and be at rest."

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of us at some time in our lives can identify with these words because all of us have our ups and downs. The problem is how do we get up when we're down? At a But a period in his life that is a down period, the psalmist exclaims in desperation, "Oh that I had wings like a dove, for then would I fly away and be at rest.

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Oh, how I wish I could get away from it all. The psalmist, you see, is walking in the dark valley of shadows. He desires deliverance from depression. One out of every 10 Americans suffers from the energy-sapping, joy-stealing affliction

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called depression. Enveloped by a cloud of gloom, they feel a sense of doom. They are in what is called a blue mood, captives in the dismal dungeon of despair. We may become depressed because of failure or defeat, because of setbacks, financial

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or otherwise, depression may stem from difficulties encountered in the workplace, loss of job. I remember another situation which can easily give rise to depression in the life of a particular acquaintance of mine. It had to do with retirement.

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This man had been in public education for about 40 years or more. He was the principal of a school at the time of his retirement. And after his retirement, he just didn't seem to know what to do with himself. He would go down to the school almost daily and walk around the school and weep.

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He was depressed. He was unable to make the adjustment in retirement. Here the psalmist says, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove, for then would I fly away and be at rest."

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Now depression may also come because of the loss of a loved one, a kind of separation that leaves an emptiness and provokes reactions of sadness and grief. But let us focus for a moment on oppression that gives rise to depression. The psalmist tells what has caused his predicament, it's due to oppression.

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disturbed by the voice of enemies. Hostile forces surround us and often rob us of energies that could be used in constructive and praiseworthy ways. There are many people who are afraid to sleep because of fear of what the enemy may do while they are unaware of what's happening around them.

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Here the psalmist is troubled by the iniquity of the wicked. The treachery, the chicanery of people often plague us, as a way of annoying us, as a way of sapping our energies and stealing our joys.

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Hostile forces are arrayed against the psalmist. There are times when an individual may feel that there are more forces working against him than there are working for him.

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So you see, this is a Psalm of David. Let's look for a moment at what David has going against him. As we look into his life, we know that early in his life, he was up against overwhelming odds.

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David had to fight against the king. The king had the armed forces of the nation at his command. He had the security forces. Now not only was this the case, but the king, you see, was also David's father-in-law.

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So David faced fightings within the family and fightings outside the family. That's true of all of us. We have to fight within and fight without. He faced troubles on every hand.

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He had to deal with iniquity. He had to deal with crookedness, with the kind of sneaking undercurrent, the seditious activities that were designed to destroy him. That's oppression.

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And life has a way of oppressing us. are times when life gets hard. Say in the spiritual, when Israel was in Egypt's land oppressed so hard she could not stand. And Egypt's land invades our lives and seeks to hold us captives in despair, the clutches of despair. Sometimes we may

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try to hide our depression behind a mask. We try to hide it behind a well-groomed self-image. We don't want even our closest relations and acquaintances to know how we feel. We want to keep our feelings in the closet. And the psalmist opens the door of the closet of his heart when he cries, "Oh that I had wings

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like a dove, for then would I fly away and be at rest." This is a word uttered by a person who is down in the dumps. He's in a blue mood. He harbors feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, feelings of guilt and deprivation. He suffers from the agony of loneliness and bears the burden of intense frustration. And this

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may happen and it does happen to us all along the way. Sometimes it happens because of poor health, because of some particular disease or infirmity. It may happen when one is not doing well in school. It may happen when one is jilted in a love affair. It may happen when we suffer some particular conflict within

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in the family or it may happen when we experience economic reversal, it causes us to be irritable and withdrawn. So we have our ups and downs. The danger is when we have more downs than we have ups.

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That's always a danger. And as long as we are down and keep getting up, we can make it. The danger is being down and staying down. The song goes, "I've been down so long that down don't bother me."

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There's always a danger when we live in the dumps, down in the dumps. You see, depression is a killer. In recent days, here in Austin, we've had two teenagers to take their lives. Suicide.

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The important thing is how do we respond to conflicts in our lives. has to do with inner pain and conflict. When circumstances put you down, how do you respond? When people get down on you, how do you respond? If you look to the future and it appears hopeless, if you consider the world around you filled with impossible circumstances, if you consider

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yourself helpless in the face of it all then you are caught in the clutches of despair then one may well say oh that I had wings like a dove for then would I fly away and Be at rest. I say depression is a killer.

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You know when you get depressed, it's when you get down on yourself. You get down on yourself. And you begin to blame yourself for everything.

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You lose your job, you blame yourself. You have an economic reverse, you blame yourself. Something goes wrong, everything you blame yourself say I'm not I'm not worthy I'm I'm unworthy so you get down on yourself

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depressed not only do you get down on yourself you get down on everybody else you get down on your closest friends they don't love you nobody cares about me get down on everybody else and in fact you get down on the world you even get down on God so that you think that God doesn't really care about what's

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happening to you. In fact why would God let it happen anyhow if he's such a good God so you're down on yourself you're down on everybody else you're down on the world you're down on God. Oh that I had wings like a dove for then would I fly away and be at rest. But you see the way to fight depression is when you are down

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look up. And the wonderful thing about this Psalm is that the Psalmist looks up. He looks up when he says really oh that I had wings of a dove. He's looking up. He's not looking down. You see, see it depends on what really, one, there were two that were sort of caught in the prison, so, and one looked out of the prison and saw mud, and the other one looked

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up and saw stars. It's looking up, for you see, depression is being caught in the clutches of despair. In other words, it's getting to the point where you are without hope. As long as you look up, your looking up is in hope.

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So the psalmist looks up, oh, to fly away from the clouds of despondency, from the gloom of fear, from the horrors that baffle and burden us, the iniquity that cripples us. So though we may be down, look up, look up, look up with self-confidence, believe in yourself no matter what happens, believe in yourself, believe that somehow you're going to make

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it. Always keep that, doesn't matter how many times life knocks you down, if you have the faith to believe that you can make it and you'll pray to God somehow that there are forces beyond us, that there is the force of the eternal that somehow is

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concerned about what happens to us. We're not left alone as orphans in this universe. God loves us and God cares about us and reach up, not only look up but reach up, encourage and God will give you strength to do battle with the conflicts that we encounter. That's what the psalmist says. Oh yes I've got all

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these burdens. I have everything that seems to be crowding against me. My enemies are over there. They're all arrayed against me. They're talking about me and all of the difficulties and obstacles of this life are besieging me. They're besieging me rather

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But he says as he Goes on in that lament. He says cast thy burden upon the Lord

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Sure, you've got your burdens every one of us here has some kind of burden but cast thy burden upon the Lord and he will sustain thee He never Will suffer the righteous to ultimately fall that if you're right with God

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You're not going to fall somehow God always lifts you up Cast your burden upon the Lord because he cares

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And you see he comes to be with us through Jesus Christ He comes right where we are He descends to the valley of depression He comes to us when we're down in the dumps, when we're down and out, when we're helpless,

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when we're hopeless, when we're frustrated, when we're lonely, He comes. No matter what may be the condition or circumstance, He comes. Jesus speaks to that impotent man who's down. He's down.

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He's down. He's down in the dumps. and Jesus comes right where he is. The Lord God comes in the flesh in concrete situations. Jesus Christ comes right where this ill-fated man is. He's unable to do anything to help himself. He's helpless and hopeless. He said, "Oh I've been here at this pool.

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38 years I've been here in this condition and I want to be made whole. I've tried. I've reached out but every time that the watch is troubled when I get near the pool somebody else gets in there just before I do. So Jesus said now do you really want to be made whole? Do you really want to be made whole in other words it really depends on you I've got the power but do

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you really want to be made whole if you really have the desire you really have hope the help is already available Jesus is our living hope comes right where we are right right down in the valley of despair he comes right where we are and and he lifts us as a voice that speaks from eternity saying I'm with you. Lord I'm with you always even

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to the very end of the world. So with the wings of faith we can rise above the valley of despair with the wings of faith we can soar above the clouds with the wings of faith we can experience deliverance and salvation. You can rise above the darkness and see the sunlight of God's love. Psalmist knew something about that when he said, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove,

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Then would I fly away and be at rest. In fact, one may think that this is a kind of escapism. I don't want to face the burdens of life. I don't want to engage in the struggle.

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No, this is being able to face it. Storm is coming, but if you have wings, strong wings of faith, you can rise. not only fly into the storm but you can rise above the storm.

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Rise above the storm. So don't despair. Oh sure we get down, down. We have our ups and our downs, but don't stay down.

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Get up. Don't despair. For the Lord God has come to be with us in the midst of our sorrow. We're so sad

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There is one who comes So I know how you feel Because I am the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and he comes and he shares our griefs and our sorrows

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And he lifts us up from the bucket the mire and places us on a solid rock That's our hope My hope is built on nothing less and

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Jesus blood and righteousness I Dare not trust the sweetest frame But holy lead on Jesus name

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When we can do that We cannot only face depression We can overcome it We can soar above it

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With the wings of a dove We can have peace with the Spirit of Jesus Christ Peace that

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Passes all human understanding Take your burden to the Lord And leave it there

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If you trust and never doubt He will show bring you out, take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. That's the way of faith.

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That's the way of hope. That's the way to walk with the eternal. We invite you to come now as the choir leads us in singing. [music]

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♪ He's from a world of you and I ♪ ♪ One day he'll wear a heart of gold ♪ ♪ And you have to know ♪ ♪ Oh, he'll be a man ♪

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♪ Don't crib him now, he's a man ♪ ♪ Oh, he'll keep the simple man ♪ ♪ And you'll be back to the Lord ♪ ♪ He'll be a man ♪

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♪ Leave it there, leave it there ♪ ♪ Leave it there, leave it there ♪ ♪ Take your burden to the Lord ♪ ♪ Leave it there ♪

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♪ If you trust and never doubt ♪ ♪ He will treat you right ♪ ♪ Take your burden to the Lord ♪ ♪ Leave it there ♪

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If your body suffers pain, and your health you can't regain, and your soul is all the sickest, take His hand. Jesus knows the pain you feel, He can save and He can heal. Take your burden to the Lord, take His hand.

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Leave it there, leave it there, leave it there, leave it there. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. If you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

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♪ Leave it there, leave it there ♪ ♪ Leave it there, leave it there ♪ ♪ Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there ♪ ♪ If you trust and never doubt ♪

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♪ He will surely bring you out ♪ ♪ Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there ♪ [Music] ♪ When morning in the skies ♪

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♪ My heart awakens ♪ ♪ May Jesus Christ be praised ♪ ♪ Almighty, perfect man ♪ ♪ To Jesus I repent ♪

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♪ May Jesus Christ be praised ♪ ♪ The city's filled with life ♪ ♪ Of soul and dear life divine ♪ ♪ May Jesus Christ be praised ♪

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♪ All things by earth we've met ♪ I come to this land where Jesus Christ is raised. He is my life, is mine, I will always be his. ♪ May Jesus Christ be praised ♪

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♪ He lives in earth and sky ♪ ♪ Through the ages on ♪ ♪ May Jesus Christ be praised ♪ - Let us pray.

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Almighty God, our gracious Heavenly Father, we invoke your blessings upon us as we worship you today in spirit and in truth. Grant that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts may be acceptable in thy sight. O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen. [Applause]

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We come to celebrate the ordinance of blessed baptism. There are two ordinances in the New Testament Church, that of baptism and then the Lord's Supper. Baptism is the gateway into the Church,

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And we come now to baptize those who have declared faith in Jesus Christ, accepting him as Lord and as Savior. The first is Arthur Clarence Douglas, Jr. Author Clarence Douglas, Jr. is six years of age.

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Those persons in the congregation, parents, relatives, or friends, instrumental in Ralph Arthur Clarence Douglas having made this decision for Jesus Christ, would you stand at this time that we may recognize your presence? Thank you very much.

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Father, upon profession of your faith in Christ, I baptize you, my brother, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. [Music] [Music]

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The next is Jerome Lee Douglas, nine years of age. Those persons in the congregation, parents, relatives, our friends, instrumental... [BLANK_AUDIO]