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[BLANK_AUDIO] - If it had not been for the Lord. - All right, let's just stand and sing If it had not been for the Lord.

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Everybody, if it hadn't been for the Lord. (piano music) It's not in the hymn, it's just an old familiar song. [ Music ]

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♪ If it hadn't of been ♪ ♪ A Lord on my side ♪ ♪ Where would I be ♪ ♪ Where would I be ♪

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♪ If it hadn't of been ♪ ♪ Call the Lord on high tonight ♪ ♪ Tell me where would I be ♪ ♪ Where would I be ♪

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♪ He kept my inner misery away ♪ ♪ He let the sun shine through a cloudy day ♪ He rocked me in the cradle of his arms when he knew I had been battered and scarred.

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So if you left me, God forbid, I would have longed on our side. So beware, where would I be? Where would I be? He never left me all alone.

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He gave me peace and joy I'd never known. He answered when I knelt to really pray. And in the victory, the Lord brought me his way. So if it had not been for the Lord on my side,

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Tell me where would I be? Where would I be? He kept my enemies away He let the sun shine through a cloudy day

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He rocked me in the cradle of his arm When he knew I had been battered and scarred ♪ And so it be that I may ♪ ♪ Call the Lord on my side ♪

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♪ Tell me where would I be ♪ ♪ Where would I be ♪ - Amen, let's all say amen. Amen.

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Hear this word recorded in Psalm 20 and 8. Psalm 20 and 8. Or 7, rather. Psalm 20 and 7.

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Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. Psalm 20 and seven. This is also translated in this manner.

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Some boast of chariots and some of horses, but we boast of the name of the Lord our God. Should read it again. Some boast of chariots and some of horses,

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but we boast of the name of the Lord our God, the subject of the message, what to boast about, what to boast about. It's human nature to boast,

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to take pride in achievement and associations. Texas brags, it's part of the tradition of this great state. great state, we boast of the fact that things are bigger and better in Texas. We have a tendency to boast about that about which we care deeply.

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most of their country, their city, family, their training, their job, or their possessions. The psalmist takes us to the royal palace for the coronation of the king. It's a national event. a time when the nation considers the past, faces the challenge of the present, and looks

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to the future with triumphant hope. The coronation of the king may be compared to the inauguration of the president of these United States, or it may be compared to the inauguration to the governor of our state. Such occasions mark new beginnings. It is a time when we look at ourselves, it's a time to pause and think about from whence we have come, where

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we are and where we hope to be. Coronation is a time of pomp and pageantry. When the nation is on parade, what we put on parade is what we boast about. Both Psalm 20 and Psalm 21 are coronation hymns that focus on the king, the nation,

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the enemy, and God. Some boast of chariots, some boast of horses, but we will boast of the name of the Lord our God. First let us consider the fact that there are conflicts in the human struggle.

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within and fears without. Many a conflict, many a doubt. That is the nature of the human struggle. Israel is a tiny nation sandwiched between great empires surrounded by nations much larger in size. Nations then as nations are now,

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determine their strength by their ability to confront conflict by the skill of their diplomats and by the size of their military forces. Our own nation is embroiled with conflicting situations in South America, the Middle East,

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the Far East. Almost in every direction we turn, north and south, east and west, at home and abroad, we conflict. The state of Israel faces conflict today.

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Since the new state was created in 1948, there have been numerous threats to her existence. It is this awareness of internal conflict as well as external conflict that causes nations to make spiritual preparation. Well, not always spiritual preparation, but to make special preparation. In other words, this is the question, what do we do to be ready for conflicts? Cities

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depend upon police, the police force. States often depend upon the National Guard. The nation depends upon her military forces. And to a great extent, when we look at the nations of our world today, they boast of the size of the armies, the size of the Air Force, the size of the Navy, the number of missiles, the number of nuclear weapons.

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Ancient kings were prepared for battle and the more weapons, the greater the boast. were involved in conflicts. And so the psalmist here lifts it up for us to consider on this great occasion celebrating the coronation of the king when he says, "Some boast of chariots, some boast of horses, but we boast of the

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name of the Lord our God. Some were primarily concerned about the military. You see, because when we consider the words chariots and horses, what is stated here that the most powerful military resources are brought into play. They are made available for the struggle. This is a sign of the King's strength. Where is

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our strength as a nation? Is it to be determined by the budget that we have for the Pentagon? For even now the issue facing this nation is whether to cut defense spending. Some believe that to reduce the military budget is to endanger our national security. Modern state of Israel faces the dilemma as to

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how much should be allocated for defense and what action should be taken by her military forces. But when we look at ancient history we see that while the weapons may have changed the situation was still somewhat the same. And the psalmist points up the fact that the nation's security, Israel's security, must

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not be based upon the fruits of the gun. Individually, how do we confront the conflicts of human existence? Hebrew kings were prohibited from having a large number of horses. That was not to be done at any cost because to have a a large number of horses and chariots meant that the nation was putting trust in them

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rather than in the eternal. So notice what is involved here is ultimate trust. Where does the nation put her ultimate trust? Where do we put our ultimate trust?

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do we place our supreme commitment as nations and as individuals. The presence of enemies makes warfare a necessity. They recognized this on the day of the coronation of the king that there were enemies to be faced. There is a war to be fought and the nature of the weapons determines the outcome. We are concerned

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with a practical approach to life here as we consider the message of the Psalmist. What is presented in the words of the Psalmist is not an abandonment of horses and chariots, he's not suggesting that you don't have any horses or chariots because horses and chariots have their place but when they are given

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priority in the struggle they become a symbol of arrogance and military might. The person who trusts in horses and chariots arrives at the conclusion that military might determines what is right. This is not true. Might does not make right. Human action without divine preparation is destined for defeat. The

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next thing to consider as we unravel this text is the challenge of the difficult. There are difficult and dangerous situations to be faced. There are deadly enemies to be encountered. We cannot run away. There's but to do or die. The psalmist recognizes this when he says some boast of their chariots and

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some boast of their horses, but we boast of the name of the Lord our God. Our strength is in our religious preparation, in our commitment primarily not to the military but to spiritual resources available to us. Some worship false gods of horses and chariots, but ours is the living Lord of history, the God of Jacob.

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And the more we rely on God, the more we see his strength manifested through us. So our strength as a nation is in God. God bless America is a prayer that we must continue to pray no matter how prosperous we may become, no matter how many modern means of weaponry we may be able to employ, whether we have Star Wars

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or whatever we may have, our defense is in God. Our strength as a people is in our allegiance to God's justice, God's peace, God's love. Our protection is in God, our Father's God, to thee author of liberty, to thee we sing. Long may our land be bright with freedom's holy light, protected by thy might, great God our

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our king. Human action without divine participation is doomed to failure. Prior to the battle Israel bows in the worship of God there is a relationship between war and religion. When When we honor this relationship, we can joyfully sing, "I am on the battlefield for my Lord." You recognize that you have a battle to fight.

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Recognize that there are conflicts in which you must engage. Not only do we have that as a nation, but as individuals. And we recognize that we have difficult situations to encounter and dangerous situations that we must deal with that one must, in making that supreme commitment to God, be able to

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say in his or her heart of hearts, "I am on the battlefield for my Lord." What do we boast about when we face the difficult and the dangerous? we boast of our strength? Some people do. Do we boast of our human weapons? Some people do. What do we boast about? Well look at Paul. Paul says, "I glory in my

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afflictions." I don't boast of the fact that I have carnal weapons that I can employ. That's not really what he is boasting about. But he says, "I boast in my weakness. That's a strange way to boast but he says I boast of my weakness because my weakness makes more pronounced the power of God because I

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know that God is able to work through my weakness. His grace is made perfect in human weakness. Trust in God. Boast of the fact that that your trust is in God. Boast of the fact that that your commitment, your allegiance, your faith is in the God of Jacob. That's what the psalmist is saying. He is King. Our

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strength is in him. God forbid that I should glory, says the Apostle Paul, except in the cross of Christ. In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o'er the wrecks of time, all the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime to glory in the cross of Christ. That's the thing to boast about. That's the way that

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the pilgrim of the upward way is to live, to boast of commitment to Jesus Christ God is our protector. Sure there are the kings of the nations of the world. Sure there is the king of Israel. But God is the king of kings. He's Lord of lords. He is our king and we post of the fact that he rules heaven and earth. We post of his presence, we

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post of his power, we post of his protection. That's what we post about, says the psalmist. Well, many years ago, in fact it was back in 1897, that the British Empire celebrated the time of jubilee of Queen Victoria. A great deal of preparation was made for that celebration. And Rudyard Kipling was commissioned to write a poem for the celebration

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of that occasion. And he wrote the poem, Recession. God of our fathers, known of old, God of our far-flung battle line for whose awful hand we hold dominion over palm and pine. Lord, God of hosts, be with us yet, lest we forget, lest we forget. shouting and the tumult dies, the captains and the kings depart, still

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stands thine ancient sacrifice, a humble and a contrite heart. Lord, God of hosts, Be with us yet, lest we forget, lest we forget. What do we boast about? All of our pomp and all of our pageantry, with all of the things at our disposal, what most of all do we boast about? The thing that we can really boast about above everything else

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that matters is our relationship to God. That's the thing to boast about, that and that alone. Some boast of chariots, some boast of horses, but what do you boast about? Chariots become old and broken and decay. Horses grow old and they become crippled and they die and they become corrupt. But God lives on.

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He's as up-to-date today as he was 5,000 years ago. We will boast in the Lord our God. In other words, we're gonna put our trust in God. Oh God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home. Some boast of chariots, some boast of horses, what do you boast about? Where is

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your trust. For where we put our trust determines the outcome of the battles in which we engage. I trust in God. I trust in God. Wherever I may be, that's the commitment that we should make anew this day. If you have not made that commitment we invite you to do so. If you've already made it and you want to make

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Ebenezer your church home we invite you to join with the family of God here while we extend now the invitation to Christian discipleship. We invite you to come as I sing we invite you to come. And we want the audience and the choir to join in on the chorus as we sing these two

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verses. The door is open for you to come. My heavenly Father watches over me. I invite you to come this morning.

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The invitation is extended. I trust in God. ♪ Wherever I may be ♪ ♪ Upon the land ♪

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♪ On the rolling sea ♪ ♪ Rolling sea ♪ ♪ Oh, come what may ♪ ♪ From day to day ♪

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♪ My heavenly Father ♪ ♪ My Father watches over me ♪ Would you join in? ♪ I trust in God ♪

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♪ I know He cares for me ♪ ♪ There's farthing ♪ ♪ On mountain lake ♪ ♪ On starry sea ♪

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♪ Oh willow rose ♪ ♪ He keeps my soul ♪ ♪ He keeps my soul ♪ ♪ My heavenly Father ♪

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♪ Watches over me ♪ He makes the rose an object of his care. He guides the eagle through the pathless air. And surely he remembers me.

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♪ ♪ My heavenly ♪ ♪ Father ♪ ♪ Watches over ♪

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♪ Me ♪ ♪ I, I trust in God ♪ ♪ God, I know, he cares for me ♪ ♪ O mountain range ♪

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♪ On the starry seas ♪ ♪ Home below, home below ♪ ♪ Where is my soul ♪ ♪ My heavenly Father ♪

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♪ Lord, hear our prayer ♪ ♪ Oh, Barbie ♪ - Every time we come on the first Sunday, it's a time when we gather together as a family

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around the table of the Lord and renew our commitment. We can say today, as we renew our commitment, Yes, the psalmist is right, I know he's right.

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Some trust in chariots and some trust in horses, but I trust in the Lord. I know what he's done for me, I know how he's helped me, I know how he's strengthened me,

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I know how he's protected me. We can say that as we gather around. I know how he's raised me up time and time again. That's our testimony as we gather around

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And we sort of say thanks, it's sort of a feast of gratitude and recommitment as we come to the table of the Lord. That's by our heads now. Oh Lord our God, we thank you that you are our God, that you're king of our lives, that

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you rule, that you are the great commander in chief, the Lord of hosts. every battle we have to fight, every conflict we have to face, we have the abiding assurance of your power and that victory is ours with you. We bless your name as we come to the table that you have prepared for us because you have

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promised to prepare a table for us in the presence of our enemies and that table is Jesus Christ's body and his blood. He's the diet, his spirit is our way of life and it is by that cross and by that spirit that we are to conquer and with him you have made us more than conquerors. We thank you as we ask you

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now to forgive us of our sins and grant that we may commune together today, aware the fact that we are not alone, that we commune not only with you but with that number of, that's too great to number of saints that have gone on before who are in the balcony now who look down upon us and bid us run with patience the race

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that you set before us. Oh bless us now we ask in Jesus name as we partake of this wine and this cup representing the body and blood of our Lord. Amen. Jesus took bread, blessed it, gave it to his disciples, and ministered it in his name. I give you this bread, representing the fruit of the body of our Lord. [INAUDIBLE]

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There is a fountain filled with blood. Where does it come from? It's drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Sinners plunge beneath that blood,

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lose all their guilty stains. (clears throat) (eerie music) (eerie music)

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(eerie music) (eerie music) (eerie music) (eerie music)

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(eerie music) (eerie music) (eerie music) (eerie music)

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(eerie music) (suspenseful music) (suspenseful music) (dramatic music)

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♪ (ominous music) [Music] To anyone who desires to be served, who has been overlooked, so would you raise your hand. Let us commune together.

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[MUSIC] Would you turn to the communion hymn in your. ♪ Come on, let's all stand together and sing, we rise to respond ♪ ♪ We rise to respond with the heart of home ♪

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♪ The God divine, who gives us his word ♪ ♪ Is truly following by his way of good ♪ ♪ And all to his record, the meaning of love ♪ ♪ He comes once to heal us, to heal us ♪

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♪ In our land ♪ ♪ Through the fields of land ♪ ♪ Each one of you will find ♪ ♪ Each one of us has sinned ♪

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♪ But to be a friend of ♪ ♪ To share with the healing ♪ ♪ Whose strength is found ♪ ♪ In Christ Jesus' name ♪

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♪ How great it to be ♪ ♪ The way to go out ♪ ♪ With all that we ♪ ♪ From Sunday to Monday ♪

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♪ The challenge we lay ♪ ♪ With the challenge open ♪ ♪ The journey begins ♪ I would look into the face of the person that's near you and repeat after me,

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God loves you. >> God loves you. >> I love you. >> I love you.

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>> Shake hands with the person at your excuse. >> Thank you, sir. [BLANK_AUDIO] >> All the deacons have to meet at 5 o'clock.

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All deacons meet at 5 o'clock. And Brother Austin. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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

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[ Music ] [BLANK_AUDIO]