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[ Music ] ♪ Till I come home ♪ ♪ I will be alone ♪ ♪ Come and live ♪

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♪ This nice day in my soul ♪ ♪ When I'm here ♪ ♪ Wait me till I'm gone ♪ ♪ No, till my time ♪

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♪ Fill it up and let me hold ♪ ♪ There are millions in this world who are craving ♪ ♪ The pleasures earthly things afford ♪ ♪ But none can match the wondrous treasure ♪

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♪ That I feel in Jesus Christ my Lord ♪ ♪ Till my time of old ♪ ♪ I live till the morn ♪ ♪ Come and fix this bursting of my soul ♪

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♪ Bread of heaven ♪ ♪ Feed me till I won't go ♪ ♪ Fill me up, fill me up ♪ ♪ And lead me home ♪

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♪ So my brother ♪ ♪ If the things this world has given you ♪ ♪ Leave hungers that won't pass away ♪ ♪ My blessed Lord will come and save you ♪

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♪ If you kneel to him and only pray ♪ ♪ Heal my cup, Lord ♪ ♪ I lift it up, Lord ♪ ♪ Come and quench this thirst in all my soul ♪

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♪ Bread of heaven ♪ ♪ Feed me till I want no more ♪ ♪ Fill my cup ♪ ♪ Fill it up and make me whole ♪

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♪ Fill my cup, Lord ♪ ♪ I lift it up, Lord ♪ ♪ Come and quench this thirsting in my soul ♪ ♪ When I'm handed ♪

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♪ Leave me till I want no more ♪ ♪ Fill my cup ♪ ♪ Fill it up and make me whole ♪ - Amen.

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Hear this word that is recorded in the book of Acts, the ninth chapter, the 32nd through the 43rd verse.

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And it came to pass as Peter passed throughout all quarters, he came down also to the saints, which dwelt at Lydda. And there he found a certain man named Aeneas, which had kept his bed eight years

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and was sick of the palsy. And Peter said unto him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole. "Arise and make thy bed."

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And he arose immediately. And all that dwelt at Lyta and Saron saw him and turned to the Lord. And there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha,

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which by interpretation is called Darkus. This woman was full of good works and alms deeds which she did. And it came to pass in those days

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that she was sick and died. who when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. For as much as Lydda was nigh to Joppa and the disciples had heard that Peter was there,

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they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber and all the widows stood by him weeping and showing the coats

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and garments which Darcus had made while she was with them. But Peter put them all forth and kneeled down and prayed and turning him to the body said to Bithyn arise and she opened her eyes and when she saw Peter she sat up and he gave her his hand and lifted her up and when he had called the saints and widows

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presented her alive and it was known throughout all Joppa and many believed in the Lord and it came to pass that he tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon a tanner. The subject of the message is "Rays to Life."

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"Rays to Life." "Tobitha Arise." "Rays to Life." Easter keeps on happening.

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It's celebrated every day, every week, every year. Easter keeps on happening. Some think that it is an observance on the calendar that happens only once a year, but Easter keeps on happening. So there may be those who wonder why the minister is talking about Easter.

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Easter, as far as the day on the calendar, occurred a number of weeks ago. But it keeps on happening, even after the traditional worship service is in, when the crowds disperse, the band music is no longer heard, and people in the parade return to their homes, Easter keeps on happening.

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Well, I know that there are those who are under the illusion that Easter ends with Easter Sunday. But the truth of the matter is that Easter keeps on happening. So Easter cannot be confined to an event that occurred in a garden near Jerusalem almost

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2,000 years ago. Easter keeps on happening. Easter moves from place to place and from time to time. Easter keeps on happening.

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goes from Jerusalem to Lydda, Easter keeps on happening. What force can limit the Spirit? Like wind that blows and goes where it wills, so does the Spirit. Peter Thought about returning to life as it was before Easter, returning to the status quo, but he could not.

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Easter keeps on happening. The Easter event does not only occur in the life of Jesus Christ, it occurs in the lives of his followers.

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Easter keeps on happening. So Easter comes to Lydda and the surrounding regions. Peter goes to all the quarters. He covers the area town by town, street by street, block by block.

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Easter cannot be shut up in the inner city. It must spread abroad. So Easter keeps on happening. And later, Peter encounters Aeneas, a paralytic,

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who has been confined to bed for eight years. His case is regarded as incurable. He has tried countless remedies and employed numerous physicians, all to no avail.

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His case was placed in the file labeled impossible. The testimony of history was against Aeneas. Leave him alone. Time is against him.

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He's been paralyzed for eight years. His condition has degenerated. It has gone from improbability to impossibility. But Peter finds Aeneas.

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That is his mission. That's why he leaves Jerusalem. He goes searching for opportunities which to do good. He goes reaching out to others.

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But he finds here a man who is a man A man who is stricken with paralysis, and we can identify with that situation as people. We can identify with it as far as East Austin is concerned.

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How many times have you heard people come up with solutions for East Austin, what ought to be done. As I said some weeks ago, that we are suffering from the paralysis of analysis.

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We've analyzed our problem so much and had other people to analyze it for us, that we find ourselves unable to do anything about it. So Peter is looking for an opportunity

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to do something about conditions such as this man. So he was looking for this particular person with this dreadful ailment. The scripture says, "Peter found him."

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And Peter brought good news. He said, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ makes you whole." The resurrection power of Jesus Christ is available to make you whole, to heal your infirmities.

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Arise and make up your bed. Others have been making up their, your bed for you, Aeneas. But I say to you, arise, make up your own bed. Arise, that's good news.

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To a man who has been down and out, to arise is to be raised to life. That's resurrection power. Arise and make up your own bed.

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Well, that's the gospel of self-help. And that's something that our people manifested long ago. You know, many people are talking about, oh, what's gonna happen?

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What's gonna happen to African Americans with the changes that have occurred in Congress and the fact that many programs that we have had in the past that they're going to be reduced

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and many of them will be eliminated. Well, what happened to us? Well, what happened to us when we got out of slavery? (audience laughing)

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We were turned out without anything. We had no schools. We had no banks. We had no churches.

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And yet with nothing, our forefathers, our ancestors, I should say forefathers and foremothers, all united and with pities, they built institutions that were able

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to educate their children and went into businesses that are still operating. That's using what you've got. Arise!

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Make up your own being. No, no, no, no, no, don't depend on somebody else. Don't be a parasite. Don't be a beggar.

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Abandon that bed that has confined you for these eight years and yes arise. Oh I know you've been down but stay down there no longer. Do not trust in your own power and your own strength but by the power of Jesus Christ arise get up.

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power is available to you. Use it. Arise. Get up. You're not meant to remain down and out, paralyzed by doubt. New possibilities await you, man. Arise. Get ready to meet them. Arise and is prepared to realize your potential. Make up "Make up your own bed."

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Well, that's good news. That's good news not only for the first century paralytic, it's good news for 20th century paralytics to arise and make up your own bed.

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On our way to church this morning, we saw some homeless people. And the remark was made, look at these people, even though the city has provided places for them

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to put their waste, their garbage and the like, they don't even seem to use it. And I said, well, one of the things is that it's one thing to have all these things,

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but there has to be something inside us. You ride around over town and I see signs here, there, all over town saying help wanted, hiring now. You don't have to look far to find it.

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And Austin has one of the best employment records in the entire country at this time. And yet, in the midst of all of these opportunities, there's some people who still down on their bed,

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Paralyzed, unable to do anything about their situation, complaining about what they don't have. But here comes a god, a gospel of self-help arise. Get up.

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Make up your own bed. And you know what? In response to this word, Aeneas got up. That's the miracle of Easter.

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Whenever that happens, whenever people who are down and up, hear the word and respond to it, arise, and they get up, that's the miracle of Easter. No matter what the date is on the calendar, it's Easter.

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That's resurrection power. That's the power of the eternal that somehow works in, through and with us. The divine word is always looking for a lodging place.

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And that place was found in Aeneas. The divine speaks now to the fallen and helpless, to those far from realizing their potential, saying, "Rise up, oh child of God.

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"Have done with lesser things. "Give heart and mind and soul and strength "to serve the King of kings. "Arise, wake up, and get up."

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I often refer to the experience that I had during my youth in Dallas as a paper boy, throwing the Dallas morning news. I was to get up every morning at 4 o'clock, and I was to be through with my papers by 6 o'clock. Well, sometimes when the alarm would go off and my mother would call me saying, "Marvin,

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it's four o'clock, get up." It looked like I had just gone to bed. And I would say, "Yes, ma'am." And many times, most of the time, I would get up and get dressed and go and throw the

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papers. I would go back to sleep. She'd say, "Marvin, get up." And I'd say, "Yes, ma'am."

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She'd say, "Are you up?" I'd say, "Yes, ma'am." And I'd go back to sleep. And then she'd call about 6 o'clock,

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"Marvin, have you thrown the papers?" And I hadn't even gotten out of bed. [laughter] And that's the way it is with many people.

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The call comes! Arise! Get up! Make up your own bed. And now those who answer would stay in bed.

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They don't get up. There has to be some will in you to get up. You know, some people start to, they say, "Oh, how I hate to get up in the morning. Oh, how I like to remain in bed."

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it takes a will on the part of the individual, self-motivation to get up. So this word comes to Aeneas, it's a word of opportunity. He must seize it because salvation is passing by. Peter is here now. The moment of salvation is here now. And he is to respond. Arise, get up, make up your own bed. Some hear it, fail to respond. Comes right to our door,

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because right where we are. There was a man who committed a crime and he was sentenced to the electric chair and he was on death row. His mother was so concerned.

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She pleaded with the governor. She made plea after plea for her son and finally the governor decided that he would go down to visit this man and see what could be done or would be done. He went down, but when he got there,

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this young man was so indifferent. He would not even discuss-- in fact, he would not even talk with the governor. He ignored him.

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He didn't know that was the governor. He had become so disgusted, so bitter, that he would not even talk. And the governor, after many attempts to talk with him,

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finally left. And one of his cellmates said to a man, didn't you know that was the governor? That's the man who had the power

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to give you a new lease on life! It came right to your cell. And you did not respond. Arise!

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Make up! your own pen. Well, that's a miracle that occurred in Lythre almost 2,000 years ago.

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But now the scene changes in this chapter from Lytre to Joppa, just a few miles away. There's a woman named Tabitha. The Hebrew name and the Greek name was Darkus.

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We've named many of our mission circles Darkus in her honor. This name means small, graceful. It's used to describe Asian or African antelopes that have lustrous eyes.

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She was evidently a very attractive woman. And her attractiveness, however, was not limited to the physical. Her beauty was reflected in her kindness, her loving deeds.

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Darcus is referred to in the scripture as a certain disciple. And this is the first time in the New Testament that the word disciple is used in connection with a woman. A certain disciple.

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But Darcus was full of good works. She was always doing something to help people. She was a philanthropist. She gave freely of herself and her possessions.

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She was a widow, but she was an unusual woman. She protected and provided for other widows. She made garments and gave these garments to the widows. But in the course of time,

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darkness became ill and died. The church heard that Peter was in Lydda and they sent two men to request of Peter a visit to Joppa. They came bearing a telegraphic message,

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come at once, Peter arose and went with them. When they arrived in Joppa, They took Peter to the home of Darchus where she was upstairs, dead, her body was prepared for burial. Widows were weeping, displaying garments Darchus had made and testifying concerning her good works.

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Peter put all of them out of the room. He knelt down and prayed. Facing the body he said, "Temizah, arise. She opened her eyes and when she saw Peter she sat up. It was a miracle. Resurrection occurred in their midst. Easter, you see, just keeps on happening. They saw the dead rise and Nils was in a critical condition and was miraculously

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healed but Darkus was dead. She had reached the end, she had reached the realm of hopelessness. Both Aeneas and Darkus were raised to life by the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. So when it appears that there's nothing more that can be done. Jesus Christ is able to snatch victims from the jaws of death. Jesus

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Christ is constantly on the move. He performs miracles every day. In other words, he makes every day Easter. Every day that I wake up after having a night of sleep and get up, wake up in the morning. That's an Easter experience. That's a resurrection experience. And every time we find ourselves cast down in spirit and somehow we reach out to God and he lifts our hearts.

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That's Easter. That's an Easter experience. And you may ask, "Aeneas, what happened? What changed your situation?" I'm sure he would answer it was a miracle. I was down never to rise but Jesus Christ raised me to life. Raised me to life. Oh that's that that's that's the difference in my condition now and what it was then. Jesus Christ raised me

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to life. You see sometimes people get existence mixed up with life. You see existence you know that just you just have your biological needs and you're you're able to to get what you need to eat and what you need to wear and what where you need to stay and a few other things. Well that's just existing from

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day to day but to really have life. To have life is to have a sense of purpose. to have life is to find meaning and to find yourself doing what God has designed for you as his child that's really to live. You may not have a lot of the things in the world but you'll have life and have it abundantly. So ask

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Dorcas. She would say I had more than my share of the things of this world. Oh, I had those things, but really what happened was a miracle of grace. I found meaning beyond the things of this world. So God is in the business of giving people life, life, eternal life.

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That's what makes the Easter event the most significant event in our lives. And the wonderful thing is that God is always raising us up. Raising us up. Whenever we get ready, many times when I get ready

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to take a trip, you go out there and you get on the plane. It's many times a very hazy day and sometimes it's raining and all of that. And you have the pilots there

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and they are somehow able to raise up the plane and go through the clouds and you get beyond the clouds and things look so bright and so cheerful. Well, that's the way God does us in our lives.

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He raises us up. Sometimes we get down and out and things seem to be gloomy, but somehow God is our co-pilot, is able to take us through the clouds

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and we're able to cruise. Sometimes they say you're cruising at 30,000 feet. You're able to cruise with God. And you can say, well, how are you able to make it?

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Not because of my knowledge, but God is my co-pilot. He knows where I should go. He knows how to direct my steps. For the steps of a good person are ordered by the Lord.

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So as we sing now the hymn of invitation, we extend the privilege to accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life. We invite you to come.

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Door of the church is open. Raised to life. Only God can do that. It's a miracle.

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We invite you to come. [ Music ] Go ahead, draw the nails in my hands, laugh at me where you stand. Go ahead and say it isn't me.

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The day will come when you will see. Cause I'll rise again. There's no power on earth can tie me down. Yes, I'll rise again.

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Death can't keep me in the ground. Go ahead and mock my name. My love for you is still the same. Go ahead and bury me.

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But very soon I will be free. 'Cause I'll rise again. There's no power on Earth can tie me down. Yes, I'll rise again.

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Death can't keep me in the ground. Go ahead and say I'm dead and gone, but you will see that you were wrong. Go ahead and try to hide the sun, but you will see that he's

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the one, 'cause I'll rise again. There's no power on earth can keep me back. Yes, I'll come again. Come to take my people back.

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Yes, I'll come again. There's no power on earth can keep me back. Yes, I'll come again. I'll come to take my people back.

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♪ Come to take my people back ♪ ♪ Come to take my people back ♪ - Let's all say amen. - Amen.

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(audience applauding) - Amen. We've had many obstacles to confront, But as you can see by the changes that are out there,

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that we finally got the-- [ Silence ]