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Sunday Service - 1/22/2012 - Sam Wells
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Dr Samuel Wells delivers a sermon entitled "I'm a Prophet, Get Me Out of Here."Opening excerpt from the sermon: (25:24)
"I was on a Christian radio show a week or two ago and the presenter was asking me about one of my books. He said, "I guess you found yourself asking these questions and having these wonderings, and you thought, 'I'll go look at the Bible and see what God wants to say about these things.'" I wasn't looking to be argumentative, but I replied, "In fact, it was the other way around. I was reading the Bible and it made me ask all these questions and have all these wonderings." I quickly realized that was the wrong answer, and before I knew it I wasn't talking to the presenter but to the producer and she was thanking me for being on the show and I was off air and gone.
There's a way of talking about the Bible that turns it into a self-help manual, that's full of good advice about how to navigate all of life's problems. That approach was clearly what my radio interviewer was looking for. But that approach ends up looking silly when confronted by a story like the Book of Jonah. The Book of Jonah pushes us into a lot of questions and a lot of wonderings. You can't quickly turn it into a moral fable. It makes us laugh and it makes us cry. Somewhere along the way it makes us Christians.
Today I want explore how. I'm going to tell the story of Jonah four times, once for the bare bones of the narrative, a second time to see what the story means to Jews, a third time to see what this strange story meant to the early church, and a fourth time to see what it might mean to Christians today. So here we go with the bare bones."
Closing excerpt from the sermon: (43:50)
"And here's the personal example. The story of Jonah is pushing us to identify who we're in the business of worshiping, serving, following, and loving: some faceless, arbitrary, coldhearted and distant God, or the LORD, made known in Jesus Christ. Which is it? Which was it, when you got out of bed this morning? Which is it, right this second now? Which will it be, when you face the week tomorrow morning? I'm going to ask you one question. I wonder, when you look back on your life, do you feel, like Jonah, that at a certain stage, maybe more than once, you've been in the belly of a whale, and somehow, astonishingly, the LORD has given you another chance when it looked like you were swallowed up and gone? And now, like Jonah, do you have the choice between whether to continue to see God as faceless, arbitrary, coldhearted and distant, and resent the LORD's mercy to those as undeserving as you, or whether to worship, serve, follow, and love the LORD, the one who repays evil with good, mistrust with mercy, and fear with joy? Is this the moment when you say, "At last I've found out what my story means and what I'm here for. God made and preserved me for this one thing: that my life should be a blessing."
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Bulletin: http://bit.ly/x7nnMZ
Sermon: http://bit.ly/wHGTpW
Published 1 year ago
Choral Vespers - 1/19/2012 - The Duke Vespers Ensemble
A service of Choral Vespers in Duke University Chapel. Officiated by The Rev. Meghan Feldmeyer. The Duke Vespers Ensemble directed by Dr. Allan Friedman. On HURON CAROL. Organist: Davis Arcus. Genesis 11:1-9, Hebrews 6:13-20, John 4:1-15.http://www.chapel.duke.edu/media/documents/01-19-12_V_2up.pdf
Published 1 year ago
MLK Celebration 2012 - Donna Brazile
Duke University's 2012 service of Celebration in honor of The Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sunday, January 15, at 3:00 p.m. in Duke Chapel. Donna Brazile, Political Commentator and Vice Chair of Voter Registration and Participation of the Democratic National Committee was the keynote speaker. The service included the 100 Men in Black Choir and the Collage Dance Company.Speech begins at 1:12:59.
Opening excerpt from the speech: (1:12:59)
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I want to thank Kyle Jones for that generous introduction and I am pleased to have the president of the Duke chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity currently introducing me; you make me feel young again sir. --First my friends as vice chair of the Democratic Party, the former interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, I would like to bring greetings on behalf of President Barrack Obama and the first lady of the United States of America Mrs. Michelle Obama. -- As I was leaving Washington DC this morning, of course I got up early, I went to the 8:30 am mass, I didn't want to be late, I knew that at 10:30 the choir would sing, and let me just tell you, if you all weren't singing this morning I would probably still be in Washington DC...Praise to the Lord"
Closing excerpt from the speech: (1:53:43)
"So as you continue your observance of this remarkable moment in celebration of this great man, a prophet--some us believe he was a prophet, please reach out, lend a hand, act, engage and believe in one another. Believe that our best and brightest days are still ahead of us and that we can match together for truth, for justice, for peace, for love. Thank you all and may God continue to bless this great university and God bless this great nation the United States of America."
Published 1 year ago
Duke Vespers Ensemble Concert - 1/14/2012
Duke Vespers Ensemble Concert - 1/14/2012Published 1 year ago
Sunday Service - 1/15/2012 - J. Kameron Carter
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. Dr J. Kameron Carter delivers a sermon entitled "When God Calls."Opening excerpt from the sermon (38:49)
"Today is the eve of the day in which across this land we celebrate the life and the legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. So significant is Dr. King's life for the meaning of this nation with the recently opened memorial in Washington DC. A memorial in the midst of other memorials and monuments, King has now officially entered the pantheon of American saints. But is there not a danger in this? The danger is that King's legacy might become sanitized. His witness for justice deodorized, his call for righteousness watered down..."
Closing excerpt from the sermon: (59:49)
"But one thing is for sure, one thing we can know in light of King's life and in light of our Samuel texts--and that is this, "When God speaks, a change is gonna come". In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen."
Bulletin: http://bit.ly/xkDuoH
Published 1 year ago
Choral Vespers - 1/12/2012 -- The Duke Vespers Ensemble
A service of Choral Vespers in Duke University Chapel. Officiated by The Rev. Dr. Samuel Wells. The Duke Vespers Ensemble directed by Dr. Allan Friedman. On ES IST EIN ROS. Organist: Davis Arcus. Genesis 3:1-24, Hebrews 2:1-10, John 1:19-28.http://www.chapel.duke.edu/media/documents/01-12-12_V_2up.pdf
Published 1 year ago
Duke Vespers Ensemble: Verbum Caro Factum Est
The Duke Vespers Ensemble, a group focusing on sacred, polyphonic choral works, presents the first of two concerts this year. This concert features music tracing the life of Jesus through the church calendar, beginning with the Annunciation and ending with the Presentation. The group is led by Allan Friedman.Published 1 year ago
Sunday Service - 1/8/2012 - Sam Wells
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Dr Samuel Wells delivers a sermon entitled "Solidarity."Opening excerpt from the sermon: (36:07)
"When I was 19 I spent a summer living in an intentional Christian community. We would rise at 5.30 for an hour of silence, share Morning Prayer and the Eucharist together, and then have breakfast. There would be community prayers at midday before lunch for those who were around and not out at work, and evening prayers before supper at 6.30. At 9 o'clock there'd be night prayers and then most days we'd keep silence till the morning. My favorite moments were the times when after supper and before night prayers one of the community members would pick up a guitar and play some Joni Mitchell or Neil Diamond or Carly Simon songs. Whenever I hear the words "I've looked at life from both sides now" it takes me straight back to those precious evenings. Several times during those vibrant back-porch moments I found myself possessed by an overwhelming need to walk away, to go to my room and write up the experience in my journal rather than keep on living it. I recall that urge to withdraw almost more intensely than the music and laughter themselves. Why on earth would anyone leave the room when it felt so warm, so accepting, as earthy and affirming as a great big group hug? I now look back and see that what I was confronting was a microcosm of the predicament facing every human being: what we might call the essence of the human condition."
Closing excerpt from the sermon: (56:23)
"So this is how Jesus addresses the human predicament. Not through preserving life. Think of Jerzy Popiełuszko: preserving the life of the Polish people would have simply condemned them to continued oppression. It was no different for Jesus. And not through escape. Think again of Fr. Popiełuszko: there was nowhere that the Polish people could escape to, that wouldn't leave them right back where they started. Jesus addresses the human predicament through solidarity. He is with us in our struggle, our suffering, our searching, our striving. As the Polish government so vividly discovered, that's a solidarity that sin and death can no longer break. And in the process, Jesus redefines our predicament. It turns out our real problem, as human beings, is not the prospect of death, or the reality of sin: it's our alienation from God and one another. It's the fact that our links with God and one another are so intangible, so invisible, so thin, so ... practically nonexistent. That's what changes in Jesus. Jesus is the solidarity between us and God that makes those links tangible and visible and permanent and unbreakable. Jesus is God saying, "I've looked at life from both sides now." Jesus is God saying to us,"I'm totally immersed in you." When we're baptized, God says to us, "Will you be totally immersed in me?"
Sermon begins at 36:07. Mark 1:4-11
Bulletin: http://bit.ly/xt4ui9
Sermon: http://bit.ly/zHtVZI
Published 1 year ago
Sunday Service - 1/1/2012 - Kori Jones
A service of worship in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Kori Jones delivers a sermon entitled "A Rising Star."Opening excerpt from the sermon: (34:55)
"On this morning a star is born. I can only imagine what it was like that day the star first shone in the sky. Can you imagine it? What would it be like to see this change in the sky literally overnight? Why in the world would these wise men know that there was something different about this star? These wise men of the orient were well accustomed to taking note of the stars. Oftentimes anew star was believed to be closely tied with the births as well as the deaths of important figures..."
Closing excerpt from the sermon: (52:06)
"And when we find a way to pull away or seek another star as though we have never taken part in his death, I pray you find hope in the resurrection because that's not how the story ends; not on a cross, not on a burial tomb but I am so glad that with Christ at his father's right hand in heaven there resides a risen star and yet rising..., to God be the glory"
Bulletin: http://bit.ly/vwxxJf
Published 1 year ago
Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols 2011
Duke Chapel's Annual Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols. December 24, 2011. (11 p.m. service)Published 1 year ago
Sunday Service - 12/25/2011 - Bruce Puckett
A service of Sunday worship on Christmas Day 2011 in Duke University Chapel. The Reverend Bruce Puckett delivers a sermon entitled "All We Want for Christmas."Opening excerpt from the sermon: (28:16)
"Have you ever been so close to someone that you knew exactly what she would say before she said it? My good friend knows her husband in that way. A prime example of this was a few years ago at a Christmas celebration with her family. As a joke, several family members went together on a horrendous-‐looking sweater for their brother-‐in-‐law. When my friend heard about the gift, she said, "I know exactly how my husband will respond. He'll look at it, and in his most cheerful voice and with feigned candor, he'll say, 'I love it.'" The time came for people to open their gifts. With breathless anticipation everyone waited to see the reaction to the ugly sweater gift. There was a glint of horror in her husband's eyes as he opened the box. This was quickly masked by what could only be described as a valiant effort to show excitement and surprise. And then, as if on cue, he exclaimed, "I love it!" We've all experienced something like this story. We've known the tension of wanting to be thankful for the gift someone gives while trying to maintain a semblance of integrity about our likes and dislikes. Deep down we know that both gratitude and transparency are virtues worth embracing. And in our responses to unwanted gifts, some of us have leaned toward gratitude and others have leaned toward personal integrity. In short, some gifts we want and some we don't, but either way, we want to be
thankful."
Closing excerpt from the sermon (47:17)
"Imagine Pilate's response when he heard that the crucified Jesus was no longer in his tomb. Could new life really be found in vulnerability? Imagine the freedom of not needing to be in control, of not having to keep up appearances, of not needing to ensure that everything turns out right. What a gift. I wonder how the gospel story continues for you. Where has Jesus encountered you to transform your wants in light of the gift he is? Maybe this Christmas God is giving you a chance to receive God's gift anew. And isn't that what Christmas is about. Isn't Christmas about God giving people like us another chance for our objections to be overcome by God's transforming gift? Isn't Christmas about God reorienting our wants and desires, our longings and ambitions, our fears and pains, our brokenness and vulnerabilities in the light of this baby, in light of God with us? On Christmas, God gives us a naked, vulnerable, dependent baby Jesus. And this is the good news of God's Christmas gift: because of Jesus, we no longer have to avoid or fear or run from nakedness, and dependence, and vulnerability because in them we meet God who is with us. When you open God's gift this Christmas day, maybe on second look you'll say, "I love it!" and mean it."
Sermon begins at 28:16
Bulletin: http://bit.ly/t4kpO3
Published 1 year ago
Christmas Eve Service of Carols and Communion
Service of Worship in Duke Chapel on December 24, 2011. (5:30 p.m. service)Published 1 year ago
