Welcome to a Gathering of EChurch@Wartburg

North Carolina and American Flags

Here is our Order of Worship

Independence Day Prayers link

Dear Lord,

There is no greater feeling of liberation than to experience this freedom from sin and death
that you have provided for me through Jesus Christ.
Today my heart and my soul are free to praise you. For this I am very thankful.

On this Independence Day I am reminded of all those who have sacrificed for my freedom,
following the example of your Son, Jesus Christ.
Let me not take my freedom, both physical and spiritual, for granted.
May I always remember that my freedom was purchases with a very high price.
My freedom cost others their very lives.

Lord, today, bless those who have served and continue to give their lives for my freedom.
With favor and bounty meet their needs and watch over their families.

Help me to live my life in a way that glorifies you, Lord.
Give me the strength to be a blessing in someone else's life today,
and grant me the opportunity to lead others into the freedom that can be found in knowing Christ.
Amen

THE PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING link
From the Book of Hours: the main prayer book used in medieval Europe

Let us give thanks to the beneficent and merciful God,
the Father of our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ
 for He has covered us, helped us, guarded us, accepted us unto Him,
spared us, supported us, and brought us to this hour.
Let us also ask Him, the Lord our God, the Almighty,
to guard us in all peace this holy day and all the days of our life.

O Master, Lord, God the Almighty, the Father of our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
we thank You for every condition, concerning every condition, and in every condition
 for You have covered us, helped us, guarded us, accepted us unto You,
spared us, supported us, and brought us to this hour.

Therefore, we ask and entreat Your goodness, O Lover of mankind,
to grant us to complete this holy day, and all the days of our life, in all peace with Your fear
 All envy, all temptation, all the work of Satan, the counsel of wicked men,
and the rising up of enemies, hidden and manifest,
take them away from us, and from all Your people, and from this holy place that is Yours.

But those things which are good and profitable do provide for us;
for it is You Who have given us the authority to tread on serpents and scorpions,
and upon all the power of the enemy.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,
by the grace, compassion and love of mankind of Your Only-Begotten Son, our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
through Whom the glory, the honor, the dominion, and the adoration are due unto You,
with Him, and the Holy Spirit, the Life-Giver, Who is of one essence with You,
now and at all times, and unto the ages of all ages.
Amen.

Scripture Reading: Luke 3:1-6 (Bible Gateway)

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,

‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight.
‘Every ravine will be filled,
And every mountain and hill will be brought low;
The crooked will become straight,
And the rough roads smooth;
And all flesh will see the salvation of God.’”

A prayer from the Taize Community link

For all those who faithfully announce your Word, Lord, we pray.

Enable us to recognize your presence in our neighbors;
make us attentive to the poor and the unfortunate.
Lord, we pray for those who suffer in their workplace and for those who are without work,
that their dignity may be respected.

For prisoners and those forgotten by society,
keep us in solidarity with their suffering, O Source of comfort, we pray.
For abandoned children,
that they may find peace with those who welcome them, Lord, we pray.

For scholars and researchers,
that their work may benefit all humanity, Lord, we pray.
For those who have responsibilities in public life,
that they may act with integrity and for the good of all, Lord, we pray.

Our Father God of all the living, enable us to surrender ourselves to you in silence and in love.
Surrendering ourselves to you does not come easily to our human condition.
But you intervene in the deepest recesses of our being and your will for us is the radiance of a hope.
Bless us, Christ Jesus; you always come to us wherever we may be.
Amen

 

A Celtic Blessing of Light link

‘May the blessing of light be on you, light without and light within.

May the blessed sunlight shine upon you and warm your heart till it glows,
Like a great peat fire, so that the stranger may come
and warm himself at it, as well as the friend.

And may the light shine out of the eyes of you,
like a candle set in the windows of a house,
Bidding the wanderer to come in out of the storm.

And may the blessing of the rain be on you – the soft sweet rain.
May it fall upon your spirit so that all the little flowers may spring up,
And shed their sweetness on the air.

And may the blessing of the great rains be on you,
that they beat upon your spirit and wash it fair and clean,
and leave there many a shining pool, and sometimes a star.

And may the blessing of the earth be on you – the great round earth;
May you ever have a kindly greeting for people you pass
as you are going along the roads.

And now may the Lord bless you, and bless you kindly."
Amen