EChurch@Wartburg – 2.23.14

Welcome to a Gathering of EChurch@Wartburg

http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=42358&picture=church-with-the-red-doorChurch With The Red Door

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

Here is Our Order of Worship

A Prayer -1 Clement (@AD 96) link

We ask you, Master, be our helper and defender.
Rescue those of our number in distress; raise up the fallen;
assist the needy; heal the sick; turn back those of your people who stray;
feed the hungry; release our captives; revive the weak; encourage those who lose heart
 Let all the nations realize that you are the only God,
that Jesus Christ is your Child,
and that we are your people and the sheep of your pasture.
Amen

COME I THIS DAY: A Celtic Prayer link

Come I this day to the Father,
Come I this day to the Son,
Come I to the Holy Spirit powerful;
Come I this day with God,
Come I this day with Christ,
Come I with the Spirit of kindly balm.
God, and Spirit, and Jesus,
From the crown of my head
To the soles of my feet;
Come I with my reputation,
Come I with my testimony,
Come I to you, Jesu;
Jesu, shelter me.
Amen

Scripture Reading:  Luke 1:18-25 (NASB Bible Gateway)

Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.”  The angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple. But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute.  When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home.

After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, “This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men.”

Intercessory Prayer from the Taize Community link

May your peace shine among us and your love set us free, Lord, we pray.
Keep us persevering in faith and set in our hearts the desire for your Kingdom…
Guide your Church along the way of the Gospel; may your Holy Spirit keep her welcoming…
We pray for the leaders of the nations; may they have the will to promote justice and freedom…
O Christ, you have take our weaknesses upon yourself and taken charge of our illnesses; support those who are going through trials…
For those who work with the oppressed, with foreigners and with the lonely…
We entrust to you our families and friends, all who have asked for our prayers and who pray for us…
For our country, our region (village, town…), that the Christians there may be witnesses to truth and creators of unity, Lord, we pray.
Amen

A Benediction from the 1st Century Clementine Liturgy link

O God Almighty, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Your only begotten Son,
give me a body unstained, a pure heart, a watchful mind,
and an upright understanding, and the presence of Your Holy Spirit,
that I may obtain and ever hold fast to an unshaken faith in Your Truth,
through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord
 through whom be glory to You in the Holy Spirit, forever and ever.
Amen.

Comments

EChurch@Wartburg – 2.23.14 — 9 Comments

  1. Thank you for taking the time to post it. I haven’t tuned in often, but when I do, I am always blessed. @ Deb:

  2. I keep trying to type words to convey the wonderful presence of God I sensed in my living room this morning while worshipping with this Echurch music and message but I think I’m ‘mute’ about it. So good.

    I hope I do not detract from that for anyone when I address the following. Wade, since you did bring up Scott Camp before your message I hope you can hear something in my story. Actually I’ve been listening to you long enough now I know that you have understanding and compassion for us who have stories.

    First, I agree that there can be different styles for different folks and we can applaud a salvation message presented by anyone. In fact in my area a very public mega pastor who I publicly criticize rented out a large stadium for his Easter Service and IMO gave a salvation message that was great and I publicly on Facebook simply said so without any ifs, ands or buts against his integrity, theology or ‘method’ hoping that my unbelieving friends would go away with just what the Holy Spirit would do with the message to their hearts.

    Last week I made the snicker comment about Scott Camp’s ‘methods.’ This is where it comes from for me. I grew up in a Baptist School in the Pacific Northwest where every Friday we had chapel. Sometimes we had missionary speakers and area pastors but what seems like most of the time were what they called Fire and Brimstone southern Baptist preachers and they all seemed to sound alike. Some of them were so compelling that I ‘walked the aisle’ many times to get my salvation to stick because I obviously was not showing fruit of a saved life. Several of those evangelists or preachers a bit later would have moral failings which us ‘rebellious’ kids would use to harden our hearts. We had week long revival meetings where we were supposed to burn anything we owned that did not glorify God. One of those evangelists that led us in one of those weeks went home after our week and killed himself because of something he couldn’t handle that his wife had done. I was 13 or 14 at the time. That is just one story of several.
    I of course have no reason to doubt anything about Scott Camp’s integrity and of course I know that if I think I stand then pride goes before a fall. You say that you know him well. Sometimes pastors let people in their pulpits that they do not know well, but only know them in the speaking circuit. They do not ask their families about their characters. I think that happened many times at my school. My dad had a prison ministry. He spoke in many churches about it and sometimes pastors gave him the whole sermon time because he was an ordained minister.
    Out of hundreds of churches did any pastor ever ask me what our home life was like? Nope! How many people would come up to us and say how wonderful it must be to have a dad like him, so dedicated to people. Sure! He was, I don’t fault him for his ministry but sometimes their lives are so unbalanced that they hurt people.
    Again, I am in no way referring to Scott Camp at all here. He just happens to be the person that sparked this conversation since you addressed critics at your service yesterday.
    I thought I was saved, well sort of, I tried real hard to believe and like I said I kept trying to ask Jesus in my heart and all that. There was no shouting from the pulpit in my reformed church I was raised in but it felt ‘dead ‘ as you describe. The theologies and methods were so different between my school week and my Sundays. Both would talk about a hole that unsaved people would feel in their hearts. I couldn’t understand how they could even live because I was saved and had that feeling of emptiness.
    It wasn’t until I was 30 that my heart changed in a split second. I was in a church service where the pastor talked like you did today (the sermon part I mean). I didn’t even want to be there. My heart was hard and I was sitting in the back with my arms crossed in basic defiance. It was a charismatic church but I don’t think that was ‘it.’ The preacher sounded more like you yesterday. I can’t remember what he said. All I knew was that he knew God. I told God, even though at this point I wasn’t sure I even believed in God, in these exact words unspoken but from my heart and mind, “I want to know You like that man knows you.” I still cannot tell anyone that sentence nor can I type it right now without tears streaming down my face. That day was over 22 years ago but that moment changed me forever. I did not walk the aisle or say anything to anyone at that church about it, but I was saved so much more surely than all the times I walked an aisle or signed a a card.
    Taking a detour here…shortly after our new pastor came to our church a few years ago he used a couple of words and phrases that sounded like maybe he might believe a certain thing that I needed to clarify that he did or did not. When I asked him about it I felt like he reprimanded when he said “they just words, you shouldn’t bristle every time you hear …”.I can’t remember exactly what he said next. But my point is that his ‘pastorese’ reprimand before even knowing me or why I ‘bristled’ as he took my questioning put a distance there with me. As I went home with my feathers ruffled a bit, I thought…if there had been a loud bang in the auditorium that night and one of military persons ‘bristled’ and went into action, would they have gotten a reprimand. Well, some of us have religious PTSD which I do know you are already quite sensitive to and I appreciate you for that.
    So, I guess on the one hand there may be people that required your reprimand regarding their attitudes toward your choice in an evangelistic speaker, I’m just saying…

    P.s. I can’t seem to scroll down my Ipad right now in order to proof read this so I apologize if there are errors.

  3. “some of us have religious PTSD”

    I laughed out loud at that one Patti. I COMPLETELY understand. Scott Camp triggered some evangelical, fundamentalist Post Traumatic Stress Disorders in many who heard him. I get that, and completely understand it! Frankly, your comment hit the proverbial “nail on the head.” It could not have been written better.

    What you call a “reprimand” by me toward the folks at Emmanuel (if someone is reading this and not heard it, I would encourage you to listen to the first five minutes so you will not draw conclusions without hearing it), is technically just a reminder. Because we believe in grace, teach grace, and practice grace, and because we believe it is the grace of God in Jesus Christ that makes us strong (and not our works, our commitment, our ‘walking the aisle,’ our promises, etc…) then we extend grace to those who don’t do things the way we do.

    Thanks for your kind words and sharing your experiences. Strong folks, like you, get it. The scars from the past sometimes trigger reactions, but I hope I’ve displayed a respect and love for those who’ve reacted to Scott as much as I’ve displayed love and respect for him.

    Blessings,

    Wade

  4. I had a good chuckle (along with those in attendance obviously) when you outright said you needed their seat so it was alright if they chose not to come. Somehow it made me feel good I wouldn’t be taking up a seat at the Easter service so someone else could use it.

    Another benefit of providing EChurch!

    I agree with Patti about the presence of God I experience during EChurch. Who would think that this medium of technology would be honored by God? I’m so grateful He does!

    Thanks Wade and Deb!

  5.     __

    Wade, 

    Hello,

      Respectfully, your interests have apparently displaced God’s, and you now are viewed as doing his work your own way.  

    (sadface)

      Please prayerfully consider falling back, re-grouping, and possibly re-considering your steps, your calling, and the mission that God has graciously called you to. 

      You only stand to benefit as a result of these actions, as you further attempt to assist Jesus in building his church. 

      Please be reminded, that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against Jesus’ church!

      God bless you, as you endeavor to move forward for Him who is above all.

    Love cuz He does,

    Sopy