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[ Silence ] [MUSIC PLAYING] ♪ The blood that Jesus shed for me ♪ ♪ Way back on Calvary ♪

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♪ The blood that gives me strength ♪ ♪ From day to day ♪ ♪ It will never lose ♪ ♪ Its power ♪

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♪ It blossoms my doubts ♪ ♪ And calms my fears ♪ ♪ And it dries all my tears ♪ ♪ The blood that gives me strength ♪

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♪ From day to day ♪ ♪ It will never lose its power ♪ ♪ It reaches to the highest mountains ♪ ♪ It flows to the lowest valleys ♪

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♪ Oh, this valley ♪ ♪ Oh, the flood ♪ ♪ That gives me strength ♪ ♪ From day to day ♪

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♪ It will never lose ♪ ♪ Its power ♪ ♪ Oh, it reaches to the highest mountain ♪ ♪ It's song to the lowest valley ♪

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♪ The blood that gives me strength from fear ♪ From day to day, it will never lose its power. It will never lose its power. ♪ He will never use his power ♪

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- Amen, amen, amen. Hear this word recorded in the book of Acts, 3rd chapter, beginning with the first verse. "Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man, lame from his

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mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple. Who seeing Peter Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.

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And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of "Then Peter said, 'Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.' And he took him by the right hand and lifted him

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up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones gained strength. And he, leaping up, stood and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God." I read the first nine verses of that chapter. So our message

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today, "Set free to live in safety." "Set free to live in safety. This is a miracle that occurs in the life of the Church soon after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is based on the manifestation of the power of the resurrection. Some years

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ago, in Beirut, Lebanon, a new administration was elected, a City administration. And one of the first laws they enacted was against jaywalking. Jaywalking. Most of the time, we just take jaywalking for granted. And even though it is illegal, we do it

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Some years ago I was walking in Dallas on St. Paul Street between Maine and Elm and I thought I would take a shortcut and I did a little jaywalking and to my utter surprise the policeman blew his whistle and beckoned for me to come to him and gave me a ticket I had to pay. So if there's no one else who's ever gotten a ticket for jaywalking, I'm here

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to bear testimony concerning that. But here in our text today, in the passage of Scripture which we have just had read and listened to, is a man who never engaged in jaywalking because he couldn't walk. He was a cripple. He was one who was unable to use that which had been given him as a means of locomotion, his legs. He had legs, but they did not have the strength

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that was necessary. He had ankles, but he could not stand on his own feet. He had to depend on others. He was a cripple. And he did not get that way because of some accident which occurred, he was born that way. He was born lame from his mother's womb, always crippled, always waiting for someone else

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to carry him. This is the second thing about him. Not only was he crippled, but he had to be carried. He was a parasite. He was dependent on others, when they would come, when they would leave, and when they would decide to do whatever he may wish to have done. He was dependent on others. And we have a lot of people in our society

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crippled, born that way. This man is a symbol of the human family, that we are born in sin and shaped in iniquity. Every one of us is born with a fatal flaw, some inherent weakness that has come as a result of our being a member of the human

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family. Something dreadful, something terrible happened back in the Garden of Eden that poisoned our system and left us crippled. So this man represents us. Every one of us can identify with this man who is crippled. As I said earlier, the second

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thing about him is that he was one who had to be carried. We have people all around us who have to be carried, have to be carried by being placed on the welfare rolls. They have to be carried. An increasing number of people have to depend upon the

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services of what we call caregivers. They have to be carried. This man had his pallet. And every day, there were those who came to his home and helped him by carrying him to the temple. Not only was he a cripple and one who had to be

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carried, he was a beggar. He always had his hand out for someone to help him. And he always had to look up to others. He had his palate, but that was for him a way of life. But on particular day, it was sort of different from other days. He

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had a certain place where he went, where he was carried. It was there at the gate, beautiful. Everything that was a good place. You know, people who depend on the public many times find certain spots that they want to use and they want

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So those spots become their spots. We had almost a great controversy here some years ago about the cab drivers who wanted certain spaces, certain place, a particular spot at the airport

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because they'd get more customers that way. Well, he had a certain place. In other words, no other beggars, no other cripples were to get that space.

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That was his. He was carried there, he was placed there day after day, because the gate, that particular gate called Beautiful was a place where no doubt many people came in

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and he would be there with his hand stretched out to be helped to receive some coins that they may drop there. beautiful. He wasn't to go inside the temple. He was there

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to confront the worshipers, those who were going inside the temple. And so this particular day, two preachers are coming. coming to the hour of prayer. Three o'clock in the afternoon, they're coming to the hour of prayer. And they see this man,

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and the man sees them, and he stretches out his hand, expecting to receive a gift, some coins that may be dropped in his hand or in his plate, and Peter speaks and says, "Look on us. We don't have any money to give you." "Silver and gold

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have I none, but such as I have give I thee." "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." Now, this man expected to receive money, and he'd been receiving money over the years, but the money that he received left him in the same

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condition that he came. It provided no cure. No cure. But expecting to have the same thing to continue. Oh, we concern ourselves a great deal about the cost of cure in our world today, what it costs to be cured. It sort of rubs me the wrong way

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when I go to a physician's office and the attendant comes The attendant comes out and says, "You ought to give $50," or whatever the amount is, "$50." I said, "Well, the doctor hasn't seen me yet." "Yeah, but you must prepay in some physicians.

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You pay the cost before you know what the ailment is." That just sort of rubs me the wrong way. But I understand they have to get their money, and sometimes if they don't get it in front, they don't get it behind.

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The cost, the rising cost of health care. And that's one of the main issues confronting us as a people and as a nation, what it costs to be cured. And we have persons being exposed,

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looking at our TV programs week after week, some company who is producing a drug that promises to do certain that it doesn't do and the federal drug administration is warning people of that particular drug.

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And someone who has fraudulently received thousands of dollars from people because they put out something that promised cure. And instead of providing cure,

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it did more damage to the persons who partook of it. So the cost of cure, it's not in--it's not in the gift that this man has received. He cannot go inside. He has to be outside. He's a lame man. He hears the hymns that may be provided by

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choir and the wonderful music outside the beautiful gate. And oh, there are millions today outside the beautiful gate. Wonderful opportunities, but they're outside. Outstanding possibilities for their advancement, but they are

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outside beautiful gain. And they themselves possess potentialities that are never, never, never realized because they are outside the beautiful gain. But here, here, here, here comes a word from these apostles who are also outside the gate,

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but they're on their way inside. And when this request is made of them, the response is, "We don't have what you're asking, silver and gold we don't have, but such as we have, we'll give it to you." And this is--this is what we're called to do as

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channels of God's grace to give what we have in the service of redeeming others such as I have, give I thee." In the name of Jesus, in that wonderful, in that powerful, in that saving name of Jesus, rise up and walk. Brothers and sisters, that's the

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the gospel of the resurrection. Rise up and walk. "Well, well, I'm--I'm--I'm a paralytic. I've got limbs that have never been used. I've never been known to walk. I was born in this condition." But in the name of Jesus, in the name of the one

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is the impossible possibilities. In His name, rise up and walk, because in His name is power. In His name is the strength that you need for your weakness. In His name is the healing for your in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Rise up and walk."

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And his ankles received strength. And he stood on his His own feet. His own feet. He didn't depend on the feet of somebody else. That's what He'd been dependent upon before, but now He stands. He stands on His own feet. He affirms Himself

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rather than to rely upon some handout from those who've been in there all these years. He stands now on his own feet. You've got to stand your test. Every one of us, "I've got to stand my test." We've all got to stand our test in judgment, and

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we've got to stand on our own feet. And this man not only understands, but he walks. That means that he's advancing. And we ought to be advancing if we--if we are faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. We ought to be a little farther

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along today than we were yesterday. He walks! He walks! He walks from being outside to becoming one who's inside. And He goes with them inside. And not only does He walk, but He leaps. He leaps. In other words, He has additional strength that

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He's been crawling around on a paddock. That's a long ways to leaping. Now he's able to leap over some of the potholes. He leaps as he goes into the temple rejoicing, praising God. Praising God. He recognizes that this is something that's

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superhuman, and he praises God. He praises the God who speaks to him through his servants, saying, "Rise up and walk," because he responds to this command, and a miracle, the miracle of the resurrection is performed through his life. He

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goes into the house of God joyfully. He praises God. Well, As we think of David and think of this man, this man was in a condition who--where he faced danger. They just crucified Jesus. And now he is celebrating in the temple the fact that he

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been healed by this crucified Redeemer. His life is still in changing. And--but he has learned through this experience, he has learned to trust in Jesus. And he goes from that day forward--they all--there are threats all around him, but he

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goes from that day forward trusting in Jesus. And I thought David who was facing certain dangers, and when he faced them, he cried out to God. He said, "Answer me when I call on your name and set me free." He'd been running here and there in

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bondage. He says, "Set me free." He's in bondage of fear because was fearful of what Saul was going to do. He said, "Set me free." Well, this man has been set free. Set free from bondage. Set free to live his life, not to be dominated by others, but

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to be free to live his life. Set free. And God, who answered David's prayer, also answers this man's prayer and sets him free to live in safety sets him free. And I think that particular Psalm says that, "You will guard me," in Psalm 4. He

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goes on to say, "You will guard me while I'm asleep." And, brothers and sisters, in the gospel of the resurrection, every night we lie down. We don't know whether we're going to wake up not. But there is one who guards us while we sleep. As Paul says

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in one instance, "While I slept last night, the angel of the Lord stood by me and whispered good news in my ear while I slept." So there is one who guards. And we need--we need We need someone to watch over us, to watch over us.

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He was unconscious of it. He was not aware of it in the sense that he was after he went into the temple. When he went into the temple shouting and praising God,

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he could testify in that prayer meeting about what God had done for him. You know, when God has really done something for you for which you are grateful,

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you don't have to depend on someone else to give your testimony. testimony of your own. You stand on your own feet and say, "Thank you, Lord. Thank you for your healing mercy. Thank you for

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your power and for your strength." That's the Word, the gospel of the resurrection. As we sing the hymn of invitation, we extend the privilege of the church to accept Jesus Christ as as Lord of your life,

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if you have not made a profession of faith. We invite you to become a member of the family of God here at Ebenezer. It's an open door that he sets before us.

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We invite you to come by letter, by Christian experience or on profession of faith. This is an intergenerational fellowship of Jesus Christ. invite you to come. (Music) (Singing) I will trust in the

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♪ I will trust in the Lord ♪ ♪ I will trust in the Lord ♪ ♪ Till I die ♪ ♪ I will trust in ♪

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♪ Oh, I will trust in the Lord ♪ I will trust in the Lord. I will trust in the Lord till I die. I will stay on the battlefield.

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I'm going to stay on the battle. Oh, I'm going to stay on the battlefield till I die. I'm going to stay on the battle. Oh, I'm going to stay on the battlefield.

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I'm going to stay on the battlefield till I die. I'm going to watch, fight, and pray. I'm going to watch, fight, and pray. I'm going to watch, fight and pray, 'til I die.

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I'm going to watch, fight, oh, I'm going to watch, fight and pray. I'm going to watch you fight and pray 'Til I'm gone I'm going to trust in the Lord

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I'm going to trust in the Lord I'm going to trust in the Lord till I die. I'm going to trust in-- oh, I'm going to trust in the Lord.

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I know you trust in the Lord. [MUSIC - "HELL IS A JOB"] (SINGING) Hell is a job in your pain and your sorrow. These are his hands with your grave and his head.

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Cast all your cares and your burdens upon him. ♪ God is a man, oh, he is a man ♪ ♪ God's great love, he does it show ♪ ♪ God's great love, he watches over us all ♪

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♪ He cannot fail, he does prevail ♪ ♪ God's great love, God's great love ♪ [MUSIC] ♪ For He provides for you all ♪

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♪ He cannot fail, for He that shall perish ♪ ♪ Hails His reigns upon His throne ♪ ♪ Heav'nly Lord, He holds His throne ♪ ♪ Heav'nly God, He watches over His own ♪

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♪ He can not win ♪ ♪ He must win ♪ ♪ Help me in God ♪ ♪ Help me in God ♪

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- We seek you that you will be present with us in this service of worship. We adore you. We bless your name for your goodness and your mercy.

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We pray that you will lead us so that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts may be acceptable in your sight. Oh, Lord, our strength and our redeemer,

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we ask this in the name of the one who taught us to pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

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And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. (footsteps) (gentle piano music)

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(gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music)

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(piano music) [MUSIC PLAYING] (gentle piano music) [MUSIC PLAYING]

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(gentle piano music) (choir singing) ♪ So love the world ♪ ♪ Love, so love the world ♪

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♪ And be with the living God ♪ (singing in foreign language) ♪ For he lives, he lives, he lives ♪ ♪ Soon the day ♪

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♪ Soon the day ♪ ♪ That ever was begun ♪ [MUSIC] ♪ And he can give the world ♪

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♪ But 'tis the dear son ♪ ♪ Who to the world ♪ ♪ Do can tell ♪ ♪ Though that the world ♪

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♪ To him might be said ♪ [MUSIC] ♪ Of the world ♪ ♪ God is so loved by you ♪

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♪ And he gives his only begotten son ♪ ♪ And who so believeth ♪ ♪ Believeth in me ♪ ♪ Should not perish ♪

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♪ Should not perish ♪ ♪ But have everlasting life ♪ ♪ And in your house ♪ ♪ In your house ♪

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♪ And in your house ♪ ♪ I see you ♪ [MUSIC] [MUSIC]

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(gentle piano music) - Give the pastor a prayer. [MUSIC PLAYING] (piano music)

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[MUSIC] (clears throat) ♪ Oh, Lord, oh, hear me praying ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord, oh, hear me praying ♪

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♪ Oh, Lord, oh, hear me praying ♪ ♪ I want to be your holy every day ♪ ♪ Lord, oh hear me praying ♪ ♪ Lord, oh hear me praying ♪

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♪ Lord, oh hear me praying ♪ ♪ I'm closing my eyes every day ♪ ♪ Like Peter when you said to him ♪ ♪ Feed my sheep ♪

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♪ Like Peter when you said to him ♪ ♪ Feed my sheep ♪ ♪ Like Peter when you said to him ♪ ♪ In my land ♪

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♪ In my land ♪ ♪ Oh, hear me praying ♪ ♪ Oh, hear me praying ♪ ♪ Oh, hear me praying ♪

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♪ I won't leave, I won't leave you standing there ♪ ♪ Like Peter when you said to him ♪ ♪ In my land ♪ ♪ Like Peter when you said to him ♪

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♪ I won't leave you standing there ♪ ♪ Like Peter when you said to him ♪ ♪ Like Peter when you said to him ♪ ♪ Oh, hear me praying ♪

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♪ Oh, hear me praying ♪ ♪ Oh, hear me praying ♪ ♪ I will be holy, shall be ♪ ♪ Like the Baptist when you said ♪

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♪ Like the Baptist when you said ♪ ♪ Praise and thank ♪ ♪ Like the Baptist when you said ♪ ♪ Thank you ♪

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♪ Like the Baptist when you said ♪ ♪ We'll travel away ♪ ♪ Oh, we'll be praying ♪ ♪ Oh, we'll be praying ♪

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♪ Oh, we'll be praying ♪ ♪ I want to be holy every day ♪ [chanting] It is the time of prayer.

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I'm going to ask at this time that you would settle yourselves and try to find a place of peace and rest. Close your eyes and let's now go to our Heavenly Father together

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to lift up our thanksgiving, our praise and our words of worship. Oh Lord, our God, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.

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We come before you to seek your face and your favor. Lord, not only do we come to seek your face and favor, we come to thank you for the many blessings that you have showered upon us.

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Lord, we praise your name. We praise your name because you are so worthy of praise. Lord, we come to worship you this morning in both spirit and in truth.

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And we come asking, Lord, that you would make yourself known, in a very special way, Lord, to every member of our congregation. Lord, we come praying because we know that when we pray,

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things get better. We know that when we pray that we are in a better position to find ourselves able to tell a dying world about the God that we serve.

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Lord, we come praying, asking on the behalf of those who have sick members in their family, those who have members-- [ Silence ]