"I have a dream" speech‏

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

I have a dream today. (Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr)

I have added the title (Rev.) to Dr. King’s name because I want us to look at this section of his speech as if he was the pastor who delivered this sermon at your church yesterday. Through his study of scripture, especially the promise of the prophets that the Savior would come to emancipate God’s people from captivity and oppression, Rev. King was convinced of the rightness of this cause. It was not his personal crusade, nor even of a race and culture but it was God’s cause. As Mary sang of the redeemer of Israel, that he would “put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of low degree.”

Our congregation is a fellowship of believers who have given their complete trust to God and his provision for our life and welfare. So we should always stand for what is right and just even when it is costly. We can sense a brotherhood with people who struggle for rights and freedom because it is our cause, too.

On this sacred day, let us devote ourselves to prayer and study of God’s Word so that we may live as he has called us to live. Amen.