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[music] Our scripture lesson, the gospel according to St. John, the sixth chapter, verses 16 through 21. That evening his disciples went down to the shore to wait for him, but as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn't come back, they got into the boat and headed out across the lake

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toward Capernaum. But soon a gale swept down upon them as they rowed, and the sea grew very rough. They were three or four miles out when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat.

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They were terrified, but he called out to them and told them not to be afraid. Then they were willing to let him in, and immediately the boat was where they were going. Walking on troubled waters is the subject of the message. Walking on troubled waters.

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Our generation is in the midst of a storm, a storm of controversy, wages over many social issues. There is a storm of controversy over the matter of abortion, the right to life and the right to take life. There is a storm of controversy over the matter of pornography, The dissemination of salacious literature,

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controversy rages over inflation, the high cost of living, increased tax burden, the energy crisis,

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encroachment of governmental powers on individual freedoms, The storm is raging. Our oars have brought us into troubled waters.

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Powerful winds of change are blowing. Our boat is driven about by contrary winds. We are buffeted on the angry billows of the deep. We are surrounded by the snow-capped foam of troubled waters.

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boat is blown about like a leaf in the wind. The storm is raging. Strong currents are against us. The waters are troubled. Our oars fail to guide us in the direction we want to go. We are caught in the midst of the storm. It is evening. Darkness has fallen, and the storm is raging. Our oars have brought us into troubled waters. We are out on the voyage. When we left we expected everything to go

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well. We thought that we would row our boats gently down the stream, so to speak. That was the condition or the situation which the disciples of Jesus faced in the long of go. But after a short time, the winds began to be contrary, the waves refused to behave, And it seemed that both the winds and the waves organized a chorus of opposition, singing

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an anthem of delay, defeat, and despair. The storm is raging. oars have brought us into troubled waters. It is evening time, there is dense darkness, and this has eschatological significance, it's a symbol of the final hour, the last chapter of

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human history. For evening is the beginning of the end. At evening time the disciples have set out on a journey from Tiberias to Capernaum. Before they can get there they are caught in in a storm in the middle of the sea. You know there's nowhere to go

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when you're caught in a storm, when you're out on the sea. There's nowhere you can hide. There is no escape, no hiding place.

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The storm has caught up with us and we must stay where we are and make the best of it. There is no way to get out. The voices in the storm,

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or the sounds of the howling winds and the discontented waves beating against our little boat, we are caught in the storm. And in a storm, one wonders how to get out alive.

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We are anxious about our safety, we are concerned about our salvation. A storm at sea. The Hebrew people had certain notions about the sea, their concept of the sea was associated with that which is evil. The sea represents a barrier. It separates us from where we are to where we want to go. And we might think of the sea in our own experience as separating us from

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the no longer to the not yet. The ancient people thought of the sea as a dragon, dragon of chaos, symbol of confusion and disorder. The sea is the dwelling place of trouble, they thought. It's the home of storms and terrors. And here, here a little band of disciples out on the sea,

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somewhere between two and six o'clock in the morning, in the midst of the dense darkness, caught in the storm. So really to sail the seas is to encounter turbulence and danger. They're at midpoint on their journey. There's no point in turning back, it's the same distance trying to go back as it is to

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go forward. It was at this point in time that they find themselves caught in the storm. Oh we can see them as they began to row their boats fanatically and fiercely trying to reach the seashore, trying to get to Capernaum, but their efforts are in vain. They toil without success. And we are in troubled waters when we discover that the best human

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efforts that we exert fail to move us toward the seashore of our dreams. We are caught in the storm. Our best efforts are frustrated. We seem to try to move forward but there are forces pushing us backward. We are in troubled waters when the boat in which we are riding is caught in the storm and we are whirling

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about in the cross currents and we find ourselves going nowhere. The waters are troubled. Sailing is rough and we thought that things would be well because the boat has good construction, but the sailing is rough, the waters are troubled. The sailors in that boat are very scareful and they have a sufficient

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number of oars, but the sailing is rough and the waters are troubled and they have no power to overcome the storm. How do you get out? In such a time as this, Jesus comes. That's the miracle of salvation that Jesus comes. That's the miracle, the epiphany, the fact that he comes, the miracle of the epiphany

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because he comes in the midst of the storm, he comes to us in the worst circumstances. He comes to us in the most severe situations. He comes in the midst of the storm and he comes and stands in their midst. He stands upon the waters. He walks on troubled waters. For here is one who is the ruler of the winds and the

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waves, he walks on the waters. And as he comes in their midst it seems like a dream, it seems like they are seeing a ghost. It's so miraculous that they wonder whether or not this is really real. Jesus comes in their midst and that's the way he comes.

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He comes in our midst. He comes to us when our hearts are heavy, when our minds are perplexed, when we are frustrated in our efforts.

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He comes right then in the midst of the storm. He comes and walks on those waters. And it's so miraculous that we wonder, Is that real?

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Jesus coming right by our boat. Right where we are, right where we have become so hysterical and so depressed and so perplexed, he comes right there, walks on those waters.

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Stands by our boat. Reverend Claude Black of San Antonio says that not only does he walk on the waters, but that he stops the waters to let the waters know

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that he has firm control right here. No matter what may be the perplexing situations you face, no matter how difficult those problems are you confront, he walks on those waters and comes right to your boat.

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Well, we're right. Forces of destruction are there, the howling winds and the raging waters, but right now Jesus has come walking in their midst.

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He stands above the waves of affliction. None of these things can destroy him. Have you seen people who have been sick and who've had pain and everything seems to be going

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against them in their lives, and the afflictions that they face, and yet somehow when you talk with them, they are radiant Christians,

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and they talk about how good God is. That's how Jesus is, walking on the waters in their midst. Walking on those waters. He comes in the midst of persecution.

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He comes in the midst of famine, in the midst of flood. He comes because you see, None of these things can destroy Christ's church. None of these things can destroy his body.

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That's true in the life of the church. No matter how the church is persecuted, no matter how the church may find itself tossed about in the floods of affliction,

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he comes in the midst and he protects and preserves his church. He walks on the waters. And so he's present demonstrating his power.

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But you know what? The disciples are afraid. They look out there and they say, there's one walking on the water.

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That must be a ghost. They're afraid. Many people are afraid. They're afraid.

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They're afraid of religion, Christian religion. They're afraid to exercise faith. They're afraid to take the risk. And they want not to hear all of these things

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that they hear proclaimed from the pulpit and they say, "Could that really be true?" And they wonder, they're afraid sometimes to take the risk. And Jesus somehow comforts their fears.

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He says, "Be not afraid, it is I." >> Amen. >> You don't have to be afraid. I know the winds are raging.

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I know that the waves are beating against the boat and I know you're being tossed about, but be not afraid, I've come. I've come right here to your boat.

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Be not afraid. Be not afraid. And when they heard that word, their fears subsided.

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Sometimes people are afraid. They're afraid to venture forth. They're afraid to come out and make a public confession of Jesus Christ. They're afraid to witness on their job.

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They're afraid what others may think. Afraid sometimes to say amen, even in church, because somebody may look around and wonder, "Why are you doing that?" Afraid.

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Afraid. But there is one who comes right by one's boat and says, "Be not afraid. It is I being out afraid. And when they saw and recognized Jesus,

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one of the synoptic writers says that they cried out. They cried out. I don't know what they said, but I just suspect that in a crisis like that,

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when you find yourself in a crisis and you afraid, and you all shake it up, you don't have time for a long speech. And sometimes, most of the time, it's just one word.

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And I think that they just probably had one word, and that word was Jesus. - Yes, amen. - That's the only word you need.

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He's our savior. And they just cried out, "Jesus!" Jesus. - Yes, amen.

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- And that was enough. That was enough. Because whenever you call on him, he always answers. - That's right.

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- Whenever you call his name, Whenever you knock on the door in prayer, He always opens that door. Whenever you call on Him.

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And then something else happened here that they were willing, says the scripture, they were willing to let Him in. They accepted Jesus as the companion,

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their companion for the journey. Oh, you see, they were trying to make it alone. They were trying to make the journey in their little boat all by themselves.

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They were trying to make that voyage without Jesus aboard as their captain. But when Jesus comes aboard, he comes by their boat and they invite him to get in

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and they willingly accept him. That's the way he does. He comes right by the boat which you are riding. Are you having problems?

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Are you having difficulties? Are you perplexed? Are you disturbed by the circumstances surrounding you? Jesus comes right by that boat where you are.

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Are the winds blowing? The waves beating against you? Jesus comes right by that boat. And all you really have to do is invite him to get in.

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He's right there. Willingly invited him to get in and Jesus got him and you see what really happened is that they took Jesus as their guide And brothers and sisters, this is a sign of salvation

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You see if you if you've got really been saved you ought to show some sign And what are the signs of being saved is that Jesus is your guide and my guide No matter no matter what else we may do no matter how well constructed that boat is in which you're riding Unless Jesus is our guide

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We cannot make it safely through the storm That's the sign that Jesus is our God That passage doesn't say that the wind stopped blowing. It doesn't say that It doesn't say that it doesn't say that the waves start beating against the ship in which they're riding

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Didn't it say that? It just says that Jesus walked on the waters and came to their boat and got in and guided them to the seashore.

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So don't think those winds are gonna stop howling. Don't ask the Lord to stop the howling winds. That's a part of the nature of things. That always happens on the sea.

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And that was one of the things that often happened on the Sea of Galilee. When I was in Israel for the first time, we got on that sea and we were just going

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not many miles across, to ask them eight miles or so. But before we got from one side to the other side, the tempest came. Winds were whirling.

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And waves were beating. It still happens today. It is happening in every way. The situation doesn't change.

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The winds continue to blow and the waves beat. But when Jesus guides, when he's in that ship, then all goes well because, you see, they were comforted by the fact that Jesus is aboard.

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So if you need someone to guide you through the raging waters, if you need someone who will be in the ark with you when the floods are raging,

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if you want someone who will be there when the troubles are crowding in upon your life, invite him because he will be with us. He'll be with us.

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Every time we come to a crisis, God always shows his power with a time of crisis. He comes right down there where the crisis is. He's in the midst.

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Down there at the Red Sea, when the children of Israel were trying to get out of Egypt and found themselves with Pharaoh's host behind them the Red Sea before them and they cried out, they cried out and God just made a path through

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the waters and they went through the waters safely on dry land. Oh, and they found themselves facing the Jordan River. They wanted to cross over into Canaan and they saw there those raging waters. God open the waters that they could cross over. Someone who'll be with us in

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the midst of our floods, in the midst of our storm, in the midst of our troubles. Jesus is there and all one needs to do is to call on his name. All one needs to do is to call upon Jesus. I think that's what's expressed in the language of this him Jesus Savior pilot me. That ought to be your prayer if you're out here on a troubled sea.

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Jesus, Jesus, Jesus Savior pilot me over life's tempest you see. Unknown ways before me roll, hiding rock and treacherous show. But charred and compass come from thee. Jesus, Savior, pilot me. Pilot me. I don't know what may be before, but you guide me through it. And you know what happens? they end that journey on dry land. On dry land they reach Capernaum safely with

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Jesus as their guide. And I look again and I remember that passage of Scripture. It comes near the close of the Bible. The Bible begins talking about raging waters and God, the Spirit of God broods over the waters and he creates a new world and then over there at the end of the Bible in the book of Revelation as

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you come to the close John has a vision and in that vision of a heavenly city he says there's no more sea. To have Jesus to guide you until you get to the point all through the troubled waters until you get to the point where there's no No more sea.

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No more trouble. Where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest. No more sea.

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Where the fire is lifted and there's no more time and no hidden horrors. No more sea.

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Jesus is the pilot that takes us to that point in our lives. I'd like for us to sing that song. Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me.

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Hymn number 241 it is in the new hymnal. Let it be a prayer. Let it be your commitment. Maybe you've already made a commitment

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and you found yourself in the midst of waters and your boat just seems to be whirling around. You can make this your prayer. Maybe you've never committed yourself.

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Maybe you've launched out on the journey and you've never committed yourself. I encourage you to invite Jesus into your boat. If you would have the direction that you need

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to guide you through the chaos, through the darkness, and through the disorder, invite Jesus to get in with you. Jesus, Savior, pilot me. We invite you to come.

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The doors of the church are open. Accept members for those who are willing to get in the boat. The old ship of Zion. (piano music)

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Now that's been piloted. For many a star. We invite you to come, Mr. Austin. You have some people of God who are like you.

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Except to hear the Savior's voice. ♪ Jesus, Savior, by the tree ♪ ♪ I will be ♪ ♪ All the world will gladly see ♪

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♪ On the range before me go ♪ ♪ Hiding rocks and tetras show ♪ ♪ God and God was one for me ♪ ♪ Jesus, Savior, I love Thee ♪

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♪ As the wildest hills are high ♪ ♪ Love is love's purest wine ♪ [MUSIC] With the saints to Him he's king.

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Under a sovereign ombest King, He's the Savior, God, to be. ♪ In the land that is the shore ♪ ♪ And the river where you're strong ♪

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♪ 'Twas he and the east, the west ♪ ♪ With the leaping of the grass ♪ [MUSIC] [MUSIC]

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Let us listen now to the report of our membership clerk. This is Johnson and our son Jerry Johnson who wishes to join our Christian experience. She does. And this is, she comes from Goodwill Reconciliation, C.D. Daniels Pastor. How does he come? Has he been baptized?

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All right, Sister Johnson and son Jerry Johnson Jr. coming from the Greater Jerusalem Baptist Church, Reverend C.D. Daniels, pastor in Houston, Texas. What is your pleasure regarding accepting them on the basis of their Christian experience? All in favor say aye. Opposed no, it's carried.

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All right. Yes, I got it. Sister Johnson is going to be serving as our new church secretary.

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So she will be beginning on tomorrow in our office and she is the wife of

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Brother Johnson. Where's brother Johnson? Well, that's all right. So we've got the whole family here now, Jerry Jr. and Sister Johnson, along with Brother Jerry Johnson.

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Let's all say amen. So we are happy to have them into the fellowship of our church, and we want to give to you the right hand of fellowship, giving you all the rights and privileges as a full member of this church. May God bless you and keep you as you seek to live according to his commands.

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Yes, I took him in. Brother Taylor doesn't know I've taken him in. All right, all right. Brother Waters, I'd like to see you for a few moments before you go, for just a few moments. May we bow our heads. The choir is going to sing a closing number. Let me see is

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Sister Dale here? Are we having a reception today? All right. The choir is going to sing the closing number and then we're going to have the benediction. [MUSIC PLAYING] [ Music ]

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God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders superfine. He passes feet upon the sea and moves in every storm. God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders superform. He wets his feet upon the sea and moves in every storm.

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God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform. God knows our every problem, so the work's already done. God knows our every heartache, our every pain or care. So just look up for an answer after you go down in prayer.

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God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform. He plants his feet upon the sea and moves in every storm. God works in wondrous ways, his will it must be done. God knows our every battle, so the victory is already won.

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Have faith whene'er you call him, his power must prevail. Be faithful when you call him, your foes he'll all assail. ♪ God moves in mysterious ways ♪ ♪ His wonders to perform ♪

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♪ He plants his feet upon the sea ♪ ♪ And moves in every storm ♪ ♪ God moves in mysterious ways ♪ ♪ His wonders to perform ♪

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♪ He plants his feet upon the sea ♪ ♪ And moves ♪ ♪ And moves ♪ ♪ And moves ♪

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♪ And moves, and moves, and moves ♪ Father, we thank you that you come to us in the midst of the storm. We thank you that you come to us in the midst of the storm, when the winds are blowing and the waves are beating against us, when we are fearful and we are frustrated in our efforts, we thank

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you that at such a time you come, you come walking on the waters, showing your power, your presence, giving to us the victory, that safety that we need, that calmness of spirit in the midst of the raging storm. Let us go forth with this firm conviction to serve you this day and this week.

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Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before his glorious presence with exceeding joy, to the only wise God, our Father, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, now and for evermore. Amen.

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[MUSIC] >> How you doing? >> Good. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. [ Silence ]

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[speaking in foreign language] [speaking in foreign language] [speaking in foreign language] [speaking in foreign language]

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[speaking in foreign language] (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) [Radio chatter]

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[A man is being held in a cell.] [A man is being held in a cell.] [A man is being held in a cell.] [A man is being held in a cell.]

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[A man is being held in a cell.] [A man is being held in a cell.] [A man is being held in a cell.] [A man is being held in a cell.]

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Oh yeah, and you're now one. Timber. Yeah, right. So, this is it. (Gibberish) (gentle music) [Music]

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(gentle music) [Music] [Music] [Music]

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[Music] [Music] (soft music) (eerie music)

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(speaking foreign language) [Chanting] [Chanting] [Singing]

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