for why he lost the november election. and he doesn't get credit. ironically enough, most people think seem to think that ronald reagan was the guy, the president, to, with volcker's help, beat inflation. but it really started under carter. well, thank you for those thoughtful answers. and i would like to remind everyone that you can purchase kai bird book at a couple of books, the signed bookplate and thank you again both the kind of joe for this wonderful evening and this wonderful program. it'll be available, i believe, on the us capitol facebook page and. thank you so much. during his time in office, president jimmy carter and his

family attended the first baptist church of washington, d.c. they joined in january of 1977, and president carter attended services there. more than 70 times during his presidency. yes, well, the carters obviously wanted to find a place to go to church. and there are a number of baptist churches in washington. first baptist church is actually the closest to the white house. we're seven blocks north of the front door of the white house. and so they they decided to come here. and we were so grateful and blessed that they did. now, there was a process they had to go through. what was that process? that's right. you know, we we love to invite people. and it's been a baptist practice for a very long time when somebody feels god leading them to step into a congregation, they have to join the church. and it's not like joining a club. it's more like entrusting yourself into the care of a congregation and saying, as long as we're here, we're going to be here, we're going to plunge in.

and so they did on the sunday, i believe, following his inauguration. and they stepped forward and presented themselves for membership. tell us about the documents that you have. yes. well, just like everybody, they they filled out a little blues, simple card. and it's just amazing to see the president's signature. mrs. carter sing. amy also signed one. jimmy and rosalynn came by transfer of letter from first baptist church of plains in georgia. little amy came requesting baptism around once a month. president carter taught us sunday school class at first baptist church. the church has provided american history tv with audio recordings from some of his classes, including this one where he taught in place of his friend, an insurance executive named fred gregg. credit. i've had a great and growing personal friendship, as all of you know, and we see the

personal involvement of all of us and a greatly expanded christian mission program as being an integral part of a person's life. but i thank you for your friendship and what you mean to me. it's good to have a sunday school teacher that becomes an instant part of your personal and family life, particularly when you are living in the white house and you served a lot of your relationships back home that provided stability for you and our personal sunday school teacher who performed that function in the life of my family. he always seems to pick out the difficult subject for me to teach. and this is jesus and the holy spirit. and the spirit and a lot of people who are present this morning, they could do a much better job of teaching this lesson than i can. i'm going to call on them for help. paul tilley.

said that core christian just having to live and to face a certain death creates enough anxiety for a human being and that a church. in its teachings about christ should not add anxiety to a person's consciousness. it we have enough anxiety as it is the ministry of christ, the relationship between us and christ should not be built on a fear that's deliberately instilled in our hearts of god or christ. another theologian that i read

every now and then, his neighbor, he says that anxiety. is a basis for all human creativity. that's a very far reaching statement. and i wonder if anybody can see what niebuhr is trying to say. that anxiety, which is a kind of a negative word, is a basis for all human creativity. you've got to have a thought about that. but i a constant searching for our selves. one aspect of anxiety is in there's an absence of sadness faction all the way. things are right. well those of us attending the lesson we got here early so there would be no disturbance at that stroke of 930 when the the

limousine arrived at the front door here. and they ushered people in of the president's family and all up to the balcony. so there were many people already sitting in the sanctuary. but needless to say, the balcony was full of people eager to hear president carter, if you think about jesus life. and his relationship with people around him, what would be the one word that would come to your mind? i know there'll be a lot of different words, but just call out a few that just one word. but love. okay? yeah. all right. my friendship, compassion and concern. what servant? i'm sorry. devotion. okay. sacrifice. all those are very, very good, inspiring.

most pleasant words. right? friendship. compassion, love, devotion. anybody else? think of a word that doesn't quite fit into that category. suffering. okay. betrayal. i'm sorry. sorry. okay. sacrifice. right line. okay. start to kill him. okay. they're certainly getting close. nobody's got to the word that i won't. yeah, i'm sorry, joy. no, that's not it. but the death. okay. how many of you studied your life. okay, but those a word. there's a word that describes this loss of the day. jesus relationship with the world around him, which is also disciple relationship with the world around them. after christ death, it also is a word. it describes a relationship to

us as christians and the world around us to the degree that we commit our lives to christ. and i think what he tried to accomplish was peace and unity even among church people. and i think he i think he was a winner at it because there never was an i'm a negative remark made about his lesson. everybody just raved about it. of course, people wanted to be in that class. i hear what he was saying, and we did make recordings of it. but he was warm and he preached, the gospel as he saw it, but it was always was and understand that if we were not perfect, the scripture was wanting us to be that there was an answer to that he cared, first of all, about people and taking care of the needs of the people and the people, not just the people in the united states, but people around the world. his heart broke when when there was war and disharmony, you could tell it did.

however, he never brought his problems to the class, although he never stopped asking for prayer. but he didn't burden us with those problems. he wanted us to see the best side of life. president carter took time at some of his sunday school classes to discuss major events during his presidency, like the camp david accords between egypt and israel. in 1978. well, it's always to come back from a two week vacation at camp david and. i think some of the most unpleasant moments my life occurred during the last two weeks. and, of course, also some of the most pleasant. one of the great things about the meeting was that i was meeting with two leaders who are deeply devout and religious men

who spent a great portion of their time at camp david in prayer. who believe that they and i worship the same god. president sadat refers often to his guidance from god almighty. the fact that he didn't begin to build descended from abraham, that their brothers not only in religious beliefs, but. by blood. and that was of the things that i believe gave us so a kind of a clear, unshakable purpose, because we all believe that god wanted us to work toward peace. it was one of the few things on which we agreed first.

president sadat, in a private meeting, brought up hope that after a peace treaty is signed and i predict it will be signed without undue delay, that we might meet on mount sinai. and they're going to meet if they agreed that would be a wonderful gesture to combine three different kinds of people, three different races, three different religions and a public demonstration of a commitment to peace among all people. i don't know if it'll work that way, but after the sinai is restored to egypt, sadat will build on top of that mountain, an arab mosque and a jewish synagogue and a christian church, which i think would be a wonderful gesture.

this morning we're talking about a very important thing in the lives of modern people. i also ancient people, we tend to think that tension, concern, worry, burdens. are unique to a fast changing modern world. but as we read paul's letter to the philippians for chapter in a brief book. we see how he dealt with this problem of worry. and the divisions that come among those whom he loved because of the pressures of

their own lives. there's no doubt that they lived in fear. because they were christians and that early days when it was not an acceptable thing to do, they were in effect, religious revolution during a challenge from all sides, perhaps even meeting in secret on occasion. and paul recognized then that one of the causes of the build up in a person's life of uncontrollable fear and tension was rapid change. we all tend to want to maintain the status quo when our lives are uprooted to move to another community or expression of concern and welled up in us no matter how delightful the prospect for the new home might be, might be, the one got to substantial promotion and was

transferred. in spite of that, we would tend to inventory the blessings of our present house and and our neighbors and our church and our children in school and friends don't just just change of locations, but changing times also because of great concern. you all read books recently about not only the times changing, but the rate of change is greater in own lives than ever before. i think that's certainly true. the little book that i wrote before i became president, i pointed out that that my life on the farm as a boy was much closer to farming in the time of christ than it was similar to the farming of today. in just a 30 or 40 year period, you had more change and you had in the previous 2000 years and

that causes us to be upset down about the future. uncertainty, what's going to come next is also a matter of great concern. bonnie jorgensen as a long time member of first baptist church, her uncle a diary recalling some of the serious and more lighthearted moments involving the carters at the church. this is from august the sixth of 1978. he says president and mrs. carter in class today, demonstrators invaded the church and made disturbance is by trying to read statements, a loud voice disrupting the sunday school class that was meeting in the balcony where president carter is. robin clark had advised them that they were welcome to worship with us quietly, but that if any, there were any disturbances they would be ejected. one woman immediately arose,

commenced to shout. robin hustled her and turned her over to the police, waiting outside. as soon as robin had started to take her out, a man who had been sitting next to her rose and started to shout. i came up behind him and locked my arms in his and dragged him out into the aisle. so i. thompson caught the other arm and we took him out the front door and turned him again over to the police. many television cameras were outside. i then returned to my post in the sanctuary. this was june 18th. president and mrs. carter were in class and at church. fred gray asked the president to give an impromptu few highlights of the story of joseph. he did so, and it was given in soft as modest tones, but fully and most interesting, only done one. it was through fred. greg jokingly said, we will now rise and be dismissed,

explaining that the president had so perfectly covered all the points of the lesson. irene, for two, sat behind the carters in church and said that amy tugged at her tooth during the service. when she pulled it out. she crawled over two or three people and handed it to the president. he took it and after a few minutes, handed it over to mrs. carter, examined it, and then put it in her purse. after the 1980 presidential election to ronald reagan, president carter received a letter of support from first baptist church, approved unanimously by its members. i'm not going to get emotional because we'll be here two more months and i can't sustain it that long. it is always remarkable when baptists pass something unanimously.

and that makes a beautiful and the proclamation even more dear to us because it's so rare. i'm very grateful for a chance to. be a member of this church. it's been an exhilarating and a. calming and a satisfying, gratifying experience for us to make friends here who have accepted us not as special people. who live in the white house, but as neighbors and as fellow believers in christ. you've let me teach. and the fumbling way was hoping when fred was saying what a great president history would judge me to be, that he would say something about my teaching ability. but i noticed he didn't mention that. but it has given me a chance to study and to stay in touch with god's word and my own deep faith in christ.

the day is the sun is that we're not here. we are nearly at camp david somewhere else. we always have church services at camp david. there's a there's a chaplain who comes in from a nearby military base. and he has a service for us. i have family in just a few people. and when we're out campaigning or out traveling around the world, we always make a point to go to a church on sunday morning to worship. i think that, among other things, what this church to them during what we all imagine, was just an incredibly stressful time, was this sense of normalcy. in fact, that's what they told the congregation upon their leaving in a in a. they said, you have made our lives normal lives. and we that that meant a great deal to our congregation. amy carter was actually baptized here. tell us the story of the baptism. so she was baptized in the baptist tree behind me.

we parted the curtains, the pool was full of water, and the pastor baptized her. i am told by dear man who ran the sound system that day, that the secret service agent was pretty nervous about her being put under the water. so he was watching very closely and our member had to assure him that the pastor would indeed raise her up again. president carter stood here in front of the pillar for security reasons and so this plaque says president jimmy carter standing next to this column, taught the couple's class assembled in this balcony on numerous occasions during the period of january 1977 through january 1981. his last statement in this final teaching role on january the fourth, 1981, and this is his

last statement, if i may read it, quote, if we just act like jesus, we'd be good. christian students and if we try hard and and the understanding god will forgive us if we fail, that unquote. president jimmy carter, his last ailment in the balcony. good evening. in a few days, i will lay down my official responsibilities in this office to take out once more the only title in our democracy superior to that of president. the title of