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[Silence] Boston Conservatory, she didn't take organ because she had had so much organ here in the church, in that church, that it was better than what she would have been exposed to and that connection had a very good teacher. So many, many in the competitiveness that we have in our schools today don't make it.

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Age 20, your daughter didn't make it in the band here in Austin. The competition was so great. When I was in the band in high school, all you had to do was buy an instrument. You didn't have to be good. Just buy an instrument, get in there and start blowing. And they produced some good ones and then there was some like me who never did quite as good.

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But at least they had the opportunity. So if you're interested in that, let me know. Brother Billy and Sister Queenie Owens are in charge of the New Year's Eve program. We usually try to get a couple and we ask that we have all of these various activities and we'll have a talent program that you ask to give them that which you would like to

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do or you're willing to do in connection with that program as they form it. Now if you are interested in home ownership, our Economic Development Corporation is is in this area and can be of tremendous assistance so if you're interested in home ownership and maybe you don't think you have enough wherewithal to qualify

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But if you're interested, we want you to give us that your name and the like because there may be Opportunities that you may not be aware that will assist you Enable you to reach that goal Brother James McKinley informed me

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That this is his last Sunday. He is retiring from this position and He has been with us a long time. He's been with me both on two different occasions. He was here when I came, he went away and came back and is here again and has been

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giving faithful service in that capacity and has come to the point now where he wants to rest from it. So we want to give our thanks to him for what he has done and I told him this is the last

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service, the eight o'clock service on today. So I want him to have a word to say whatever he would like to say is his swan speech in this particular relationship. Good morning.

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I would just like to briefly just say thank you for your support and your kind words through the years. You have made this load a lot lighter and I certainly appreciate it. And in return, I hope that I've been a blessing to each and every one of you and at some point

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been able to inspire you to continue on. So again, I want to say thank you and I will continue to pray for us, my church family. Amen. [APPLAUSE]

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Now, persons who are celebrating birthdays this week, would you raise your hand if you're celebrating a birthday this week? Anybody?

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A particular season, but for all time. I have entitled it The Messiah's Liberation Manifesto. Karl Marx and his disciples issued the Communist Manifesto in January 1848. It's a view of history involving a struggle between the classes, the proletarians, the

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factory workers, and the bourgeoisie, the employers or the property owners. The manifesto calls for the abolition of private property and the concentration of economic and social affairs in the hands of the State. It focuses on the overthrow of the existing government.

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Its final exhortation is "Working men of all countries unite." That's the Communist manifesto. At the height of the civil rights movement in this country, James Forman

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delivers the Black Manifesto at Riverside Church in New York City. This manifesto delineated injustices suffered by African Americans in this country, and stated explicit demands

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in the form of reparations. But long before the Black Manifesto, long before the Communist Manifesto, a prophet uttered these words which are identified with the suffering servant of history that we have as our text in Isaiah chapter 61, verses 1 through 3.

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Now a manifesto addresses the matter of intent and purpose, particular aims and goals and objectives. It's no accident that this scripture is a focal point in the celebration of Advent. This is not a word about Santa Claus, not a word about jolly old Saint Nick, it's not

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a word about mistletoe, it's not a word about holly, it is a word about the true meaning of Christmas. We often put it this way, "The reason for the season." I saw a slogan the other day that said, "Keep Christ in Christmas."

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We often say, "Christ is the center of Christmas." Such slogans are designed to keep us reminded of what Christmas really means. Stephen Nissenbaum is the author of a recent book entitled The Battle for Christmas, in which he states that trim trees, Santa Claus, gift wrapping, and intimate family get-togethers

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grow out of the Victorian romance with domesticity rather than out of Christian history. The truth of the matter, my brothers and sisters, is that commercialism has almost taken over Christmas. Nossenbaum goes on to state that until the nineteenth century, our Christmas celebrations

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owed more to the mid-winter worship of Saturn in Bacchus than to Christ. And I think we can almost say that about the close of the 20th century. From time to time, we're going to ride around and look at the Christmas decorations. And we go out and Zilker Park and the like,

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and you'll find a lot of good exhibits, but not much to remind you of Christ. In fact, in our pluralistic society, we have said that we must not emphasize

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this whole matter of religion and faith, and that this is a question that is often faced by the Supreme Court. But the thing that disturbs me is that the season is regarded by so many people as a holiday rather than a holy day.

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There's a great deal of difference in that. minister reported the other day that he was quite disturbed that one of his parishioners greeted him saying, "Happy holidays," with no real reference to what this is all about.

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So this is more than a time of being off from work. That's what some people think of it as. This is a time I have some off time. It's more than a time of vacation.

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And that's sometimes what primarily people think about. This is my vacation period. It's a time I get a chance to rest a little and be paid for it, and have some leisure and relaxation.

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And we emphasize these things rather than the worship of the Christ of Christmas. But here is a word that confronts us with the real meaning of the Christmas celebration.

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These are words addressed to exiles in Babylon, and those who are a part of the return community. There were two groups. There were the exiles who remained in Babylon

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after they were permitted to leave, and then there were those who returned. It's interesting to read our history because when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued

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and when it became a reality, There were some slaves who stayed on the plantation. - Yes Lord. - Rather than leave, they decided to stay there.

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They didn't want to try a new way of life. They were fearful of all that. And they felt more secure in the bonds of servitude. And then there were those who were quick to launch out

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on their own, to begin again, because they wanted to build a life of their own, and they want to utilize the opportunity that they had of being free

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to determine their own destiny. So this is a manifesto, it is a mission, it's a program, it's an intent focusing on the exile community,

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persons who are oppressed, persons who are victims of exploitation and dehumanization. This is a word to be heard. It is strange how certain people

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are left out of the equation. We talk about welfare reform and we focus not so much on welfare reform, but welfare reduction. "welfare reduction."

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We want to reduce the number of people that we have on welfare rather than so much reform to see that people are better provided for. And of course, we still must deal effectively

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with the dropping of people from welfare roles without job opportunities involving a living wage. And that's one of the problems that's forthcoming session of the legislature would have to deal with.

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Because one of the problems in Texas is that those who get hurt most in this are children. You don't have anybody over there lobbying for children as a rule, speak of. Very little lobbying going on for children. And they can't lobby for themselves.

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And when we look at what's allocated by state for them, it's among the least of the 50, Texas. So as we think about Christmas that celebrates, celebrates the birth of a little child,

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it's good for us to see how this meaning is related to our life. All societies, past and present, have had a tendency to exploit and oppress the weak.

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they've had a tendency to exploit and oppress the poor. They've had a tendency to exploit and oppress even prisoners as well as the less fortunate. So these are eternal realities.

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But Christmas is about internal as well as external realities. Christmas is about the salvation of the individual and the salvation of the nation.

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Christmas is about wholeness. And not just about having a full stomach. That's just one part of our existence. But it's about our spiritual life,

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our material possessions. It's about our social connections. Christmas is about the wholeness of life, holistic living. affecting people in every dimension of their existence and Christmas has to do

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with the redeeming work of God through Jesus Christ. So it's about the creature being rightly related to the Creator. The bringer of salvation is the suffering sacrificial servant who enters the historical moment, who comes to be with us, to help us, and to redeem us from the curse of sin. Christmas is about change. Change. There's a story about

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a man who became a Christian, he had been going to a saloon, he had been frequenting the saloon, hitching his horse there to the hitching post,

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going in and spending most of his time in the saloon. And he got converted. And the people in the neighborhood were talking about so and so being converted,

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and one of the brothers said, "I don't think he's converted." He said, "Well, why don't you think?" He said, "He's still hitching his horse

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"to the same hitching post." Christmas is about change, meaningful change. It's about being open to the most wonderful change that can occur in our lives. Listen to what the prophet says. He says, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me." Before we can have any real celebration, let's consider these words. "The Spirit of

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the Lord God is upon me." That's what's required for a true celebration of this season, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. You know it's interesting, I listen sometimes when people give their testimony,

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when they get up and give their testimony, what they really do is get up and start lecturing to other people about what they should do rather than testify about what God has done through them.

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But if I'm the Spirit of the Lord, God is upon me, and the Spirit of the Lord God is the Spirit, that's Spirit with a capital S not spirits

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we will see and hear more about spirits during the Christmas season as a rule than we will the Spirit but the prophet says the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me for he

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has anointed me to preach glad tidings to the meek. One translation is to preach glad tidings to the poor. To the poor, the neglected, those who are shut out, those Those who are without, those who are the have-nots, the poor. He has anointed me.

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It's interesting how God's first concern here, according to the way the prophet has it, is to the poor. To the poor.

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He is concerned about the poor. The anointing of the Spirit, when we are really ruled by the Spirit of God, we will be guided and led by his spirit,

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imbued and endowed by his spirit to express passionate concern for the poor. So you see, this is personal, it's direct, it's the spirit of God upon me.

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He has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor, to the lowly, to the lowest, those in the lowest rung of the ladder, to the least, to the neglected, to the forgotten, the poor,

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to those who are on the margin of society. The Spirit of the Lord, God says the prophet, has anointed me to preach good tidings to the need, to the poor.

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He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, and this is the work of the Spirit, to bind up the brokenhearted, to create and make new the center of one's existence,

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to gain new feeling, new passion, new excitement for living. God has sent his servant to bind up the brokenhearted, to bring joy where there is sorrow. He has sent me, says the prophet,

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to preach good tidings to the meek, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives. Now this is a real celebration of Christmas,

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is the celebration of an emancipation proclamation. That's what this may be called. It's an emancipation proclamation to the afflicted and the underprivileged, to those who are caught

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in confining and oppressive circumstances. This is a word addressed to the exiles and to the post-exilic community. Years following return from exile

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brought a great deal of misgovernment and God knows we've seen enough of that in our world. It also brought with it poverty and we certainly are acquainted with that.

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It brought moral disintegration to persons who returned with lofty hopes. Spiritually wretched people needed good tidings, strong hearts and freedom. Yes, freedom from tyranny, freedom from demonic powers. And

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the work of the Messiah is stated here in this manifesto. This is the work of the Lord of life. This is the expression of the meaning of Christmas, to open prison doors so that people are no longer captives of themselves, they are no longer captives of others, they are no longer captives of demonic forces. Prison doors are open, the

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captives are free to live their lives, free to determine their own destiny. And that's a wonderful thing to be free to live your life. And he says here, "To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. It means now is the time. Do not put it off. Now is the time to act. You know so many people say you know I would become a

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Christian but I've got a few things that I want us to do, straighten up this, straightened up there. No, now is the time. Now is the time. Now is the time to change. Now is the time. We don't have always here in this world. We all know how this moment sees it. Now is the time. Dr. Benjamin Mays had a poem that I love that he recited often.

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He says, it's called God's Minute. I have only just a minute, only 60 seconds in it. Forced upon me, can't refuse it. Didn't seek it, didn't choose it, but it's up to me to use it.

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I must suffer if I lose it, give account if I abuse it. Just, yes, just a tiny little minute. But eternity is in it. Now is the time, that's what the prophet said.

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Now is the time. Oh, how many times have we heard as a people, you know, the time ain't right yet. Time is not right.

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I remember I was up at the United Nations a number of years ago and they were debating the end of colonialism in Nigeria that day and there were those who were saying that the time wasn't right. When can you say time isn't right for people to be free?

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And they were talking about Her Majesty was this and that and this and that but she wasn't quite ready to release the people fully but wanted to do this in stages. is not quite right and there were others who were saying now is the time! Now is the time for these people to have all of their rights! Now is the time to be

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completely free. This is the meaning of Advent. This is why we wait and work. So we are a waiting congregation in Nazareth. There was that waiting congregation that was surprised in the worship service on that Sabbath morning when one of their own, a homeboy, came back to church to worship with him. And he

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comes that morning as a preacher. He comes as God's Word to the people. And he has given the book and he opens the Bible and he turns to this passage of the prophet Isaiah the 61st chapter and these first three verses. "And is that the Spirit of the Lord God? It is before me, for he has anointed me to preach

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good tidings to the meek. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, which deliverance of the captives, opening of the prison to them that are bound to declare the acceptable year of the Lord. Then the scripture says that he closed the book and said to that waiting congregation, "Today is this scripture fulfilled in

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your eyes. So this is the time. God is waiting for us. He has sent his Son, and as his Son comes into our lives, it depends upon our openness to this Word, our openness to receive him because he knocks at the door of our hearts. He comes, he waits, he knocks. It's ours to answer. So as the choir leads us in

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singing the hymn, an invitation we extend the privilege of the church to accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, his eyes on Sparrow. [Music] The door of the church is open.

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[ Music ] [Music] ♪ He is the red ♪ ♪ On a silver shadow so ♪

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♪ Once upon a long, long day ♪ ♪ And that for heaven and earth ♪ ♪ And hope in his heart ♪ ♪ Like a star ♪

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♪ Like a house ♪ ♪ In his heart ♪ ♪ His eye is on her ♪ ♪ On the swerve ♪

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♪ And I know he wants to be ♪ ♪ He's riding on the swerve ♪ ♪ And I know he wants to be ♪ ♪ I see because I'm happy ♪

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♪ I see because I'm free ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm free ♪ ♪ For in time ♪ ♪ His love ♪

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♪ Just can grow ♪ ♪ And I know ♪ ♪ He watches ♪ [Music]

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When your heart is troubled, this will grow warm for you. ♪ For unrest in all its goodness ♪ ♪ I use my house and place ♪ ♪ The path of happiness ♪

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The hearts that I may see His light is on the sparrow And I know He watches me His eye is on the star

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♪ Can I ever hold thee but testily ♪ ♪ I sing because I'm happy ♪ ♪ I sing because I'm free ♪ ♪ Almost I'm free ♪

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♪ For his love is not a sorrow ♪ ♪ And I know he loves me ♪ He watches me. Never, I've felt him today. He never loves us. It's obvious he's decided. [Music]

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♪ In the eyes ♪ ♪ I follow ♪ ♪ The words you said ♪ ♪ From there ♪

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♪ He sets me free ♪ ♪ His love ♪ ♪ Is boundless ♪ [Music]

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[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

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[Music] [Music] I see my friends, meet me. I speak because I'm happy. I speak because I'm free. ♪ For he is mine ♪

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♪ The simple ♪ ♪ And at home ♪ ♪ He watches me ♪ - Mr. Jackson, if you'll continue to play the organ softly

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and Brother McKinley, will you join us back here at the rear, please? [music] We thank you for this manifesto of liberation, that we can be free in you no matter what

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may be the conditions or circumstances. Comfort us with this good word as we confront the challenges of this new week and celebrate the joys of this season. The Lord bless you and keep you.

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The Lord cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace, now and forevermore. Amen. [MUSIC]

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[Music] [Music] [Music] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[MUSIC] [ Background noise ] [Music] (audience chattering)

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[Music] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC] (audience chatter)

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[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

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[Music] (music playing) (music) [Music]

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(upbeat music) [MUSIC PLAYING] [Music] [Music]

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[Music] [Music] [Music] (upbeat music)

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(music playing) [MUSIC] [MUSIC PLAYING] [Music]

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(people chattering) (people chattering) (audience chattering) [inaudible]

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[inaudible] [INAUDIBLE] [ Background noise ] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[inaudible] [inaudible] (audience chattering) (audience chattering)

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(audience chattering) (audience chattering) [inaudible] [inaudible]

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[inaudible] [ Background noise ] Oh, we just got here. Oh, thank you.

00:41:09.960 - 00:41:13.960

Nice to meet you, too. This is my home. Oh, OK. Where's LeBron?

00:41:13.960 - 00:41:50.960

Have you seen him? [MUSIC PLAYING] [ Music ] [MUSIC]

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♪ Of tears we cry ♪ ♪ And knowing that there is life ♪ ♪ Glorious ♪ ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪

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♪ Glorious ♪ ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ Shepherds, what a stupefying ♪ ♪ Violent storms of cabbage year ♪

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♪ What grand madness did you see ♪ ♪ What grand tidings did you hear ♪ ♪ Gloria ♪ ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪

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♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ Come to Bethlehem and see ♪ ♪ Him whose birth the angels sing ♪ ♪ Come out your Lord and be pleased ♪

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♪ And to the new born King ♪ ♪ Gloria ♪ ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ Gloria ♪

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♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ (singing) [Music] [ Music ]

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[ Music ] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] There's a star in the east on Christmas morn.

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Rise up, shepherd, and follow. We will lead to the place where the Savior's born. Rise up, shepherd, and follow. Lead your sheep and lead your lamb.

00:44:58.500 - 00:45:17.160

Rise up, shepherd, and follow. ♪ Leave your youth and leave your grand ♪ ♪ Rise up, shepherd, and follow ♪ ♪ Follow, follow ♪

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♪ Rise up, shepherd, and follow ♪ ♪ Towards tomorrow when we return ♪ Rise up, shepherd, and follow. Follow.

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Follow. Rise up, shepherd, and follow. Follow. Follow.

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Rise up, shepherd, and follow. If you take good heed, 'tis the angels' word. Wise love shall burn and follow. [BLANK_AUDIO]