EChurch@Wartburg – 3.9.14

Welcome to a Gathering of EChurch@Wartburg

http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=21030&picture=cathedral-in-york

Cathedral in York

A Prayer of Ambrose (c 339-97) link

O Lord, who hast mercy upon all, take away from me my sins,
and mercifully kindle in me the fire of thy Holy Spirit.
Take away from me the heart of stone,
and give me a heart of flesh,
a heart to love and adore thee,
a heart to delight in thee,
to follow and to enjoy thee,
for Christ’s sake.
In Jesus name,
Amen

The Lord's Prayer

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.

Amen.

(Matthew 6:9-13 KJV)

Scripture Reading:  Luke 1:34-38 (NASB Bible Gateway)

 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.  And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.  For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

A Prayer for Lent link

Lord, grant us simplicity of faith
and a generosity of service
that gives without counting cost.
A life overflowing with Grace
poured out from the One
who gave everything,
that we might show
the power of love
to a broken world,
and share the truth
from a living Word.
Lord, grant us simplicity of faith,
and a yearning to share it.
Amen

Benediction: Jude 1:24-25

To him who is able to keep you from stumbling
And to present you before his glorious presence without fault 
And with great joy to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, 
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! 
Amen.

Comments

EChurch@Wartburg – 3.9.14 — 11 Comments

  1. "Expect an internal & emotional battle with God until you can trust He really loves you."

    Fresh inspiration to continue on, trusting in God and by faith, believing. Thank you.  Just what I needed!

  2. What a beautiful passage in scripture. Mary found favor with God just as He found favor with David and chose him to be king over Israel; and chose Solomon to build the house of the Lord. He chose Samson to be a Nazarite unto Him and begin to deliver the Israel from the Philistines. Mary found favor in God’s eyes just like the apostles found favor among the people in Acts 2.

    The Holy Spirit had not yet been sent to all people, but was sent for a special anointing, empowering, purpose throughout the OT. Strong’s definition of “overshadowing” implies this may have been a wonderful experience for Mary similar to the glory of God’s presence in the cloud that Moses experienced on the mountain and the priests ministered in the Holy Place.

    episkiazō
    From G1909 and a derivative of G4639; to cast a shade upon, that is, (by analogy) to envelop in a haze of brilliancy; figuratively to invest with preternatural influence: – overshadow.

    The beauty of Mary’s favor with God has, in my opinion, been greatly minimized because of the erroneous teachings of being sinless and assumed body and soul into heaven. The honor bestowed upon her part in the fulfillment of the very first prophecy of the coming of a Savior is worthy of our attention. A personal visit and announcement by an angel was no small matter I would imagine.

    And as you mentioned God’s orchestration, Wade, God surely did orchestrate this historic event in the life of Mary. And I agree that God does not orchestrate evil but saying that He permits it for a greater good implies the outcome is more important than the evil incident. The reason evil is “allowed” by God is because He recognizes and honors the free will and choices made by mankind as well as our encounters with evil circumstances beyond our control. It’s not that He necessarily agrees or approves of them. In the end, He is able to bring good out of evil even though He does not always intervene in the natural occurrences of life. To me, the most valuable truth in God’s orchestrations is that He is grieving along with us during our tribulations and will work it out for good in the end.

    Thank you Deb and Wade for EChurch! Always a blessing for me.

  3. @ Victorious:

    I am so glad you are enjoying EChurch. I appreciate your thoughts on evil. It's a difficult topic to contemplate. I find myself agreeing with much of what you wrote.  Blessings!

  4. @ Victorious:

    Much agreement here Victorious. I know of no other holy book that fills me with hope the way Luke’s Magnificat does. I’m someplace in between the extremes of Roman Catholic teaching on Mary and some Protestant schools of thought which minimize her almost to insignificance.

    And as for the problem of evil? Earthquakes, category five tornadoes, tsunamis, decrepitude and death are beyond my pay grade and they happen to the good, the bad, and the ugly alike. But the rest of the stuff? The meanness, the cruelty, the incessant desire for more and the willingness to do anything to get more, is all on our own dime, the Almighty has nothing to do with it, and more often than not, he lets us reap our own consequences.

  5.   __

    Party Hatz,  Pizza, n’ Ice Cream in lit’l plastic cupz, perhaps?”

    hmmm…

      Wade, some 1984 years ago, Jesus offered God’s kingdom to the Hebrew people. As you are well aware, [bonk…] that offer was rejected. 

    (Krunch)

    Some time after his  resurrection, Jesus raised up a Jewish official named  Saul from Tarsus, to present that same offer to the gentile nations. Some really, really, liked the idea. (This is where we stand now.)

    Shod you feet with the preparation of the Gospel, – the good news?

    What?

    This offer has gone out faithfully, to the whole wide world…

    (bump)

    Those who receive Jesus’s offer are at once translated from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God, (yes, you heard me!) they receive the down payment of God’s Holy Spirit, they are no longer considered children of wrath, but they pass from death to life. Jesus offers to each who will believe in him and accept his wonderful invitation, to receive the gift of eternal life shared with him in his kingdom. 

    The following assortment of gifts are given ‘now’ by the Almighty, for all those who will believe on his Son, Jesus:

    (Lõõk, He has been very generous!!!)

    The Holy Spirit is now.
    The new nature is now.
    The translation from Satan’s kingdom, to God’s us now.
    The promise of eternal life is now.
    A thriving health giving relationship with the living God is now!

    ‘Good deal’, huh?

    …kind folk are ‘Waitin’?

    hmmm…

    4What?

    Skreeeeeeeeeeeetch!

    excuse me,

    Oh, Yeah!

    For somebuddy ta tell um!

    (smiley face goes here)

    ATB

    Sopy
    __
    Intermission: The Wartburg Choir: “A Mighty Fortress is Our God…”
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBVYzrCpYdA
    comic relief: The Muppet Show. Swedish Chef : “Living Dough”
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR2WMN1qYJc

    ;~)