EChurch@Wartburg – 6.8.14

Welcome to a Gathering of EChurch@Wartburg

100_1275Cathedral in Austria (Taken by Deb)

Here is our Order of Worship

Prayer by Jan L. Richardson link

And so we take the ragged fragments,

the patches of darkness
that give shape to the light;
the scraps of desires
unslaked or realized;
the memories of spaces
of blessing, of pain.

And so we gather the scattered pieces

the hopes we carry
fractured or whole;
the struggles of birthing
exhausted, elated;
the places of welcome
that bring healing and life.

And so we lay them at the threshold, God;

bid you hold them, bless them, use them;
ask you tend them, mend them,
transform them
to keep us warm,
make us whole, and send us forth.

Amen

A Prayer of Thankfulness & Gratitude link

God eternal, righteous and glorious One,
We give you thanks
For breath that fills me with your life,
For love that softens my heart,
For beauty revealed at every turn.
Christ redeemer, faithful and forgiving One,
We give you thanks
For renewal, transforming our lives,
For peace calming the chaos of our souls,
For hope restoring our faith.
Spirit sustainer, abiding and compassionate One,
We give you thanks
For caring when our hearts are aching,
For friends supportive in times of need,
For generosity lavish and overflowing.
Eternal One, Redeeming One, Sustaining One,
We give you thanks
For You.
Amen

Scripture Reading:  Luke 2:36-38 (NASB Bible Gateway)

 And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Prayer of Presence link

God of Israel, God of Jesus, your name is Shekinah, Presence.
We feel your saving presence in our bodies, our emotions, our hopes.

You appear in deserts and oases, in crisis and at quiet meals.
Your epiphanies calm our fears and heal our shame.

Help us to recognize you in all your faces –
in the flesh as well as in the spirit, in Eros as well as in Logos.

Help us remember that Jesus is God’s desire in the flesh,
God’s body language.

Make us alive to our world, and through it, alert us to your presence.

Amen

Prayer of Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–547) link

O gracious and holy Father,
give us wisdom to perceive you,
diligence to seek you,
patience to wait for you,
eyes to behold you,
a heart to meditate upon you,
and a life to proclaim you;
through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen

Comments

EChurch@Wartburg – 6.8.14 — 8 Comments

  1. This is a wonderful message. Some of the most beautiful people I have ever know have been the ones who are older in years.

  2. A friend lost her only child last nite to an inebriated driver. That child’s name was Angel. Please pray for my friend. Her daughter was a wonderful person who lived up to her name. So sad.

  3. Mark,

    I will be definitely praying for this family. When I was 12 I was involved in a horrific car crash. We were struck head-on by a drunk driver, and two people in our vehicle were killed instantly. Recently, I met a woman named Angel, and I told her she had such a beautiful name.

  4. Sorry to hear about that tragedy, Mark. What a poignant name for the child to have. 🙁

    Wade, thanks for this thoughtful sermon.

  5. Excellent message Wade! It seems that our whole vapid culture is based on ageism and youth worship. Not much can be done outside church, it is what it is. But inside the church it doesn’t have to be this way. We can build bridges between the generations. I think we can learn much from each other.