EChurch@Wartburg – 12.23.12

Welcome to Our Gathering of EChurch@Wartburg


 http://www.ForestWander.com

Here is our order of worship

The Nativity Prayer of St. Augustine link

Let the just rejoice,
for their justifier is born.
Let the sick and infirm rejoice,
for their saviour is born.
Let the captives rejoice,
for their Redeemer is born.
Let slaves rejoice,
for their Master is born.
Let free men rejoice,
for their Liberator is born.
Let All Christians rejoice,
for Jesus Christ is born.
Amen

The Nativity Prayer of St Ephraim the Syrian (AD 306-373) link

The feast day of your birth resembles You, Lord
Because it brings joy to all humanity.
Old people and infants alike enjoy your day.
Your day is celebrated
from generation to generation.
Kings and emperors may pass away,
And the festivals to commemorate them soon lapse.
But your festival
will be remembered until the end of time.
Your day is a means and a pledge of peace.
At Your birth heaven and earth were reconciled,
Since you came from heaven to earth on that day
You forgave our sins and wiped away our guilt.
You gave us so many gifts on the day of your birth:
A treasure chest of spiritual medicines for the sick;
Spiritual light for the blind;
The cup of salvation for the thirsty;
The bread of life for the hungry.
In the winter when trees are bare,
You give us the most succulent spiritual fruit.
In the frost when the earth is barren, 
You bring new hope to our souls.
In December when seeds are hidden in the soil,
The staff of life springs forth from the virgin womb.
Amen
 

If you are new to EChurch, please click on this link for an explanation

Scripture Reading:  Isaiah 66:13  (NASB Bible Gateway)
“As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you;
And you will be comforted in Jerusalem.”

Liturgy of the Hours Link
Lord God
we praise you for creating man,
and still more for restoring him in Christ.
Your Son shared our weakness:
may we share his glory,
for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God
for ever and ever.
Amen.

Feel free to dance around during the next song!

Advent Benediction link

May you live this week with an eternal perspective.
Live as if God has come among us,
because He has.
Live as if God has revealed himself to you and called you to love and good works
because He has
Live in anticipation of the reconciliation of all creation to God
because it is coming.
Live as if your life depended upon God’s grace
because it does.
Amen.

Comments

EChurch@Wartburg – 12.23.12 — 7 Comments

  1. Those 1st two prayers are especially beautiful!

    Thanks so much for finding and posting them. 🙂

  2. This was very good, but very hard. A nurturing mother and a serving father seem foreign to me. I’ve had some amazingly intimate seasons with the Lord, but I believe I imagined Him as male Jesus. Finding that intimacy with Him as nurturing and affectionate seems impossible right now.

  3. Tammy,

    Give it some time to soak in. I would encourage you to read my latest blog post entitled Missing Metaphors Makes Men Mad.

    It might help you with some of the struggles you have. Know this: Whereas in the past you looked to God as a MALE, now you are beginning to understand He is spirit and is formless and has no body and knows no end. He is with you right now, and not only is intimate with you because He formed you in the secret places of your mother’s womb, He is intimate with you because HE UNDERSTANDS YOU intimately. He made you in His image.

  4. Tammy – I can very much relate with you about having difficulty even having the idea of God as nurturing. The two dads I had in my human life abandoned or abused me and so I have a hard time fathoming what it means to hold a daddy’s hand, to sit in daddy’s lap, to cry on his shoulder, to tell him my concerns. Yet, we’re told that God loves us with a love that is so much more than that. Wow – if we’ve never experienced the human kind, how can we even hope to ever achieve the supernatural kind of love? It’s too foreign.

    I wanted to share with you something. During my court battle, when I hardly slept, when things were so overwhelming around me, I saw a new way that God ministered to me and became real to me – – – it was through His people. I think sometimes we put God “out there” when He is actually right here with us, among us, working through people He has placed in our midst – and even through people online. Love you, Tammy! Big hugs to you, friend.

  5. Nicholas, how right you are that this needs to be heard by the whole church. This is why I am so excited for the internet where they can be. @ Nicholas:

  6. Pastor Wade: I just read your post. Thank you for explaining the metaphors. I think I might need to do some reading. Not that I doubt your message. I just think that I may be in a position of not quite understanding when the bible is/isn’t using metaphors. And, I’m not sure what to do with “Eve from Adams rib” now. In my head, I honestly do understand God as Spirit and as nuturing. I think my heart and ability to apply it to my life is difficult because of human fathers and mothers.

    Julie Anne: Yea, I believe I have trouble with understanding the nuturing, compassion and servanthood of Gods characteristics because of lack of that in childhood. I also think it is due to abusive father(and alcoholic). And, at this point, realizing my mom was not nuturing. She was a little on the “tough” side and in her defense, she was dealing with too much with my dad being the worst husband. Oh, and I have been a little overwhelmed by the online community lately. Thankful that God let me come across you and Barb’s sites and that you have been SO encouraging in my healing journey! Love you too! Thank you for all that you do for the Kingdom!