DukeChapel RSS
Sunday Service - 7/15/2012 - Joel Marcus
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. Dr Joel Marcus delivers a sermon entitled "The Prophet, the King, and the Dancing Girl."Sermon Begins at (38:00)
Opening Excerpt from the Sermon: (38:00)
Bulletin: http://bit.ly/NpWwkS
Published 11 months ago
Sunday Service - 7/8/2012 Jennifer Copeland
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Dr Jennifer Copeland delivers a sermon entitled "Once Upon a Time . . ."Sermon begins at (24:20)
Opening Excerpt from the sermon: (24:20)
"Once upon a time, or maybe this is a better opening, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..., perhaps the more literary among us would prefer this opening; 'sing in me, muse, and through me tell the story'. The truth is it doesn't really matter which line we use because these and many others, in them we recognize the formula for a tale of meaning and majesty.
So the opening line for today's tale, for today's story, you've already heard today is, all the tribes of Israel gathered together with David and at Hebron. Now like every good story that involves people, there's background for this one. The background goes all the way back to the earliest promises about living on the land. It turns out that Jacob's children, now known as Israel, both the ancestors and the children, have been working their way back to this land that David now stands for more years than most of us can count. You've probably heard parts of the story. God had promised all the land to Abraham, Jacob's grandfather and there, some jealous brothers; Jacob's children sold their dandy brother Joseph off to some traders headed east, next they went home and told their father along with Joseph's bloodied cloak, 'your son is dead', but lucky for them, he wasn't dead and also lucky for them, he had gone to Egypt with those traders where he was now in charge of that life-saving grain provided for all those 'naughty' brothers when they showed up a few years later after famine settled over their own land, this land that David is now standing and they all had to move to Egypt for some generations".
Closing Excerpt from the Sermon: (43:20)
"So yes, once upon a time all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron. They didn't exactly live happily ever after, but they have passed on to us how to live faithfully ever after. Along with them and all the faithful who followed, we are now in line to live faithfully ever after. Not by pining for the past, but by facing the future with the sure and certain truth, that is where we will meet God. Thanks be to God who call us forward in faith. Amen"
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10
Bulletin: https://chapel.duke.edu/node/379/attachment
Published 11 months ago
Sunday Service - 7/1/2012 - Willie Jennings
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Dr Willie Jennings delivers a sermon entitled "A Place of Healing."Sermon begins at (43:53)
Purity is both an abiding theme and anxiety in culture and religion.
Jesus profoundy reshapes our notions of purity. For him, purity comes
not from avoiding guilt, dirt, or shame but from receiving forgiveness
and healing. Our gospel from Mark 5 describes two women facing ritual
impurities of death and menstruation; both find a deeper holiness in
Jesus. Paul's words in 2 Corinthians focus on purity of motives.
Mark 5:21-43
Published 11 months ago
Sunday Service - 6/24/2012 - Luke Powery
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. The Rev. Dr. Luke Powery delivers a sermon entitled "Why Are You Afraid?" Mark 4:35-41 Bulletin: http://bit.ly/LLIIyK
Published 11 months ago
Sunday Service - 6/17/2012 - Meghan Feldmeyer
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Meghan Feldmeyer delivers a sermon entitled "The Good Earth."Opening Excerpt from the sermon:(31:20)
"Not too long ago I heard a joke about some scientists who learned how to create a human being. So they call God to let God know. And God pays a visit to see what's up. The scientists go into their labs with all their equipment and materials and lo and behold...before too much time passes, out they come with a human baby! They thank God for the many years of service and assure the Creator of all time and eternity that they can take it from here. God pauses...reaches down and scoops up a handful of dirt and says, "No, no, no, you have to start with THIS."
I want to talk today about dirt. Because humanity has a relationship to dirt in the Bible. In Genesis, God gathers soil and breathes into it. Adam comes to life, and God calls it good. At creation, humans are this beautiful mix of earth and divine, planted in a garden of abundance, bounty, and plenty. The soil of the earth and the soil of humanity have a rich and bountiful and beautiful connection. You can feel the promise. But the beauty and harmony don't last for long. The Adam-and-Eve-apple-incident happens and God says to Adam, "cursed is the ground because of you."
Cursed is the ground. Boom. The curious kinship of earth and humanity is broken. I'm reminded of Paul's letter to the Romans in chapter 8 where he says that creation waits with eager longing...all of creation is groaning in labor pains, longing for redemption. The ground will now require toil and sweat...and even then it may not cooperate...it will put forth weeds and thorns and thistles. There is fundamental estrangement...the primal material from which we were created is now cursed beneath us.We haven't exactly been on good terms with dirt ever since. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, after all! You can
even hear the degradation of dirt and its synonyms in many common phrases. That family is dirt poor. My friend hit rock bottom. This information really muddies the waters. Oh man, I bit the dust. His reputation was soiled. She treated her employees like dirt".
Closing Excerpt from the Sermon: (47:10)
"Ours is an underground and mysterious faith...it involves patient waiting and hoping...for the God of mud and messes to breathe new life into the places where we struggle to see signs of hope. And in the parables of the growing seed and mustard seed, we can be assured of one thing: new life is gonna come. The mysteries of the automatic soil, messy though it may be, and the gift of the itty bitty mustard kernel won't let us down. The overwhelming, earth-shattering, life-transforming love of God is a love that will not stay buried. There is no place so dirty or muddy or wrecked that the roots of God's grace cannot reach. There is no place so dry or hardened or cold that won't soften and live and produce new growth. God is in the business of growing new and beautiful things out of the dirt of our lives. And our faith isn't only underground and mysterious, it is also vibrant and green, visible and growing...God is rooted in the dirt, but generates and nourishes a kingdom that grows and reaches out and extends its branches and shares itself with the world.
So if you're in a place where you know regret and shame, confusion and sadness...or if you are in a place of patient waiting through a long winter...I'm here to say: stay tuned. You might not be able to see it, but the mustard seed is there...nestled in your life in the dirt, waiting to hatch and grow...maybe already cracking open something new that you can't yet see. The soil is churning. The seed is turning. We may not understand how
the kingdom of God will come to life in us, or in what ways it will be unleashed...but grace, with all of its mystery, reveals that new life is ready to burst. The amazing, unmerited, overwhelming grace of Christ scatters and shatters the dirt as it enfolds and upholds the branches. All of creation has been groaning. The ground is being transformed. So are you. The next time you reach down and gather soil in your hands, remember you are the dirt nestled in God's hands, and God is nestled in you. Yes, yes, yes...recreation starts with THIS".
Mark 4:26-34
Sermon: http://bit.ly/LZCHkC
Bulletin: http://bit.ly/LfCQiT
Published 1 year ago
Sunday Service - 6/3/2012 - Craig Barnes
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Dr Craig Barnes delivers a sermon entitled "Cries in the Night." Bulletin: http://bit.ly/LDuFxI
Published 1 year ago
Sunday Service - 6/10/2012 - David Stubbs
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Dr David Stubbs delivers a sermon entitled "Rescue and Release." Bulletin: http://bit.ly/KLOhk7
Published 1 year ago
Sunday Service - 5/27/2012 - Anna Carter Florence
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Dr. Anna Carter Florence delivers a sermon entitled "Wind and Fire and Galileans"Opening Excerpt from the Sermon: (44:49)
"When the day of the Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place, and suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind and it filed the entire house where they were sitting. Pentecost, it's a funny kind of holiday it isn't exactly a traditional family time for Christians as in, so where are you celebrating Pentecost this year? We don't gather in homes for big meals, we don't exchange presents, we don't get vacation days, and the post office isn't closed tomorrow in commemoration of Pentecost. You can make a case for setting off fireworks given the story but I don't think the congregation of Duke Chapel has any plans for that today, and what to cook. Did you inherit any treasured family recipes from your grandmothers for red Pentecost cupcakes or tongues of flamed barbeque sauce? I didn't and the magazines and grocery store is not exactly brimming with ideas."
Closing Excerpt from the Sermon: ( 1:04:07)
" Show me Jesus more clearly than I have ever seen him. If that's what pentecost is, well that totally changes the whole picture for me. That means I am going to have to go home and rethink everything I thought I knew about God and the world and our place in it and everything else actually I am going to have to go back to square one and start over. Can the holy spirit do that, reshuffle the whole deck as far as life and faith are concerned? Is it allowed to do that? Because that's not why I came to church this morning, to be violently interruppted, even by grace. May be the church.-- Maybe the church is born again every time we gather together in one place to hear what we know, only to be addressed by what we never imagined and if that's true, (If that's true), then heck yeah Pentecost happens, you know it, go with the flow! You might as well, since it's going to interrupt you with the big huge noisy fuss anyway reconfigure all your boundaries, make you overflow your space, move over for street preachers and other galeleians might as well enjoy it , might as well go wild, pass the peace, AMEN."
Published 1 year ago
Sunday Service - 5/20/2012 - Bruce Puckett
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Bruce Puckett delivers a sermon entitled "Just Be." Bulletin: http://bit.ly/KOHgde
Published 1 year ago
Pratt Master of Engineering Management and Master of Engineering Commencement, Duke University
Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University Commencement CeremonyPublished 1 year ago
Pratt Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy
Pratt School of Engineering, Duke UniversityPublished 1 year ago
Duke University Baccalaureate Service 2012, 3pm
Duke University Baccalaureate Service 2012, 3pmPublished 1 year ago
Goodbye to Dean Wells
"Fare Thee Wells"A Goodbye for Samuel Wells, Dean of Duke University Chapel
May 6, 2012
Bulletin: http://bit.ly/FareWells
Program:
0:34 - Greeting and Welcome - Dean Richard Hays, Duke Divinity School
2:47 - "He's Not That Attractive" Video
8:32 - Hannah Ward - PathWays Chapel Scholar, Trinity '14
14:44 - Karen Witzleben - President, Congregation at Duke Chapel
21:33 - "A Visit to Cranford Abbey" - Axe of the Apostles comedy team, Duke Divinity School
29:15 - Marcia Owen - Director, Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham
35:34 - "A Humorous Take on the Dean" - Axe of the Apostles
44:40 - Stanley Hauerwas - Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke Divinity School
50:15 - Rodney Wynkoop - Director of Chapel Music
59:30 - Chapel Choir Tribute Medley
1:04:57 - Richard H. Brodhead - President, Duke University
1:15:14 - Samuel Wells
1:20:03 - Closing Congregation Song
1:21:47 - Closing Words and Benediction - Richard Hays
Choir Tribute to Sam Wells: A Medley (with apologies to Hubert Parry, Joseph Haydn, Johannes Brahms and René Clausen)
I was sad,
sad when the Wells said to me:
"We will go, we will go
into the land of the Queen!"
Archbishop Williams is telling
our Dean to be a Vicar,
This thought has us all feeling
sicker and sicker!
St. Martin-in-the-Fields
is taking him away.
Duke Chapel is your home;
We're begging you to stay!
How lovely is thy dwelling-place
in Durham on Buchanan Street.
Thy dwelling-place, O Sam
should be here with us!
Softly and tenderly
Durham is calling,
calling for you and for Jo.
Softly and tenderly
Durham is calling,
calling, O Samuel, stay home!
Stay home,
stay home,
don't go to London, stay home!
Softly and tenderly
Durham is calling,
calling, O Samuel, stay home!
Closing Congregational Song:
God save our gracious Dean,
Oh what a joy it's been,
With him as Dean!
He leaves victorious,
Pity on sorry us!
Tears reigning o'er us
Without our Dean!
When you take Jo with you,
Stephie and Laurence too,
We'll miss you all.
We'd love another year
With you among us here,
But still we loudly cheer,
"Long live Sam Wells!"
Published 1 year ago
Sunday Service - 5/6/2012 - Sam Wells
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Doctor Samuel Wells delivers his final sermon as the Dean of Duke Chapel.Opening Excerpt from the Sermon: (37:24)
"Jesus hasn't got long left with his disciples. So he gathers them round for one last conversation. And you feel the disciples' growing sense of panic, because suddenly that wondrous abundance that they'd always felt around Jesus is being displaced by a terrifying sense of scarcity that they don't have him for much longer. And the disciples are saying, 'Show us more! You haven't told us enough!" But at the same time Jesus is saying, 'I've shown you all there is. To say or do more would simply to be showing you more of what you've already felt and seen.' It's as if Jesus has reached into his collection of 1980s soul albums, and started singing, 'If you don't know me by now, you will never, never, never know me...' (to which the only appropriate response from
the disciples would, of course, be ('oooooooooh, ooooh ooooh ooooh ooooh ooooh').
What Jesus does is to give them one last 'I am' saying. He's given six already -- including'I am the resurrection and the life,' 'I am the good shepherd,' and 'I am the way, the truth, and the life' -- and now he's going to make it the perfect seven. He says, "I am the true vine.' Think about the many layers of significance in this phrase. Israel thought of itself as a vine, or a vineyard. Jesus is saying, 'I am the true Israel, the chosen of God, through whom all the nations will find a blessing.' Jesus says, 'I am the trunk, the core, the epicenter of everything God has always been doing.' Remember it all started with a tree in a garden? Humanity's failure to honor that tree symbolized humanity's failure to put God in the middle of all things and let God be the source of abundant life. Jesus says, "I am the heart of it all. I am the original source of life. I am God's renewal of the earth through Israel.' And now, here we are, the night before Jesus is hung on the cross, and Jesus is describing himself as a tree. Surely no coincidence there, you'd think. Jesus is saying, "This tree is what I am -- I am God's arms stretched abroad to restore Israel, humanity, and all creation to life, and to turn the water of life into the wine of eternal life. My Father is pruning me, curtailing my life, to give the fruit of abundant life to the world."
Closing Excerpt from the Sermon: (55:58)
"I'm going to tell you about a family I know very well and you know very well. The children are quite young, not yet ten years old. They've attended a well-known and very large church for most of their lives. The children's father's a well-known preacher. But the two children aren't at all impressed by that. They know what really matters. When they see the procession of choir and bible and servers and lectors and clergy walk forward during the opening hymn, the children are captivated by the one thing that really matters, the one thing that encapsulates the vine in all its life-giving abundance and transforming power and pruning grief. And that one thing is the cross. One of the children habitually takes a small cross out of her worship bag and waves it proudly as the choir and bible and clergy walk by. One day, while everyone else was singing the processional hymn, her brother decided right now was the time to ask their mother for the answers to life's most important questions.
'What does it take to carry the cross, Mommy?'
'You have to be strong, son, because it's heavy, and you have to carry it a long way; but most people find that it gets lighter, because Jesus promised to bear the burden with us."
"Who gets to carry the cross, Mommy?"
"It's often a member of the choir, son, because to be in the choir you have to be incredibly strong; but really, anyone can be invited to do it.' 'Might I carry the cross one day, Mommy?' 'I hope so, son. I hope you'll carry the cross every day of your life.'
'Will Daddy ever get to carry the cross?'
'Maybe he will, son. Maybe, one day, he will.'
I came here to be your preacher. And you have made me a disciple. Thank you."
1 John 4:7-21
John 15:1-8
Bulletin: http://bit.ly/JacDxL
Published 1 year ago
Sunday Service - 4/29/2012 - Sam Wells
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Dr Samuel Wells delivers a sermon entitled "Not of This Fold."Bulletin: http://bit.ly/IBhZaB
Published 1 year ago
