EChurch@Wartburg – 3.22.15

Welcome to a Gathering of EChurch@Wartburg

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Spring Yellow

Here Is Our Order of Worship

A Prayer of Augustine, 354-430 from
The Complete Book of Christian Prayer, p.4

"Look upon us, O Lord,
and let all the darkness of our souls vanish
before the beams of your brightness.
Fill us with holy love,
and open to us the treasures of your wisdom.
All our desire is known to you,
therefore perfect what you have begun,
and what your Spirit has awakened us to ask in prayer.
We seek your face,
turn your face unto us and show us your glory.
Then shall our longings be satisfied,
and our peace shall be perfect.

A Prayer of Benedict link

Gracious and Holy Father,
Please give me:
intellect to understand you,
reason to discern you,
diligence to seek you,
wisdom to find you,
a spirit to know you,
a heart to meditate upon you,
ears to hear you,
eyes to to see you,
a tongue to proclaim you,
a way of life pleasing to you,
patience to wait for you
and perseverance to look for you.
Grant me a perfect end,
your holy presence,
a blessed resurrection
and life everlasting.
Amen.

Scripture Reading:  Ephesians 2:1-9 (Bible Gateway)

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,  in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),  and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Morning prayer link

Dear Lord, I give you my hands to do Your work;
I give You my feet to go Your way;
I give You my eyes to see as You see;
I give You my tongue to speak Your words;
I give You my mind that You may think in me;
I give You my spirit that You may pray in me.
Above all, I give You my heart that You may love in me
– love the Father and love all humankind.
I give You my whole self,
Lord, that You may grow in me, so that it is You who lives,
works and prays in me.
Amen."

Benediction

The Lord bless you, and keep you;

The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance on you,

And give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26 NASB

 

Comments

EChurch@Wartburg – 3.22.15 — 16 Comments

  1. I needed to hear this. Thank you Wade. I thank you God for bringing this very timely message to me when I have needed it most. My family are all in heaven. For the last two years since my sister has died, I have felt like an orphan alone in an evil world. No one here who understands me or love me. Your message, Wade, is exactly what I needed to give me some strength to face each day. I pray that I can remember your words when I need them. Thank you again.

  2. Scooter’s Mom wrote:

    No one here who understands me or love me.

    Scooter’s Mom, if you lived anywhere near SW Florida, I’d be your friend and visit with you. If you don’t, know that there are lots of people here to love you even if we can’t meet face-to-face.

    We care.

  3. @ Victorious:
    That’s not meant to minimize Wade’s message and it’s blessing for you, Scooter’s Mom. I haven’t listened to it yet (I normally save that for Sunday 🙂 but his messages strengthen me as well.

  4. Scooter’s Mom – It is always an encouragement to know the Word of God continues to impact people the way you described. Victorious’ offer to you is genuine. Your family may be gone for a season (until you meet them again), but you have a far bigger spiritual family ready to help any way we can.

  5. Thank you, Victorious. I live in central florida and don't like to drive too far alone. But I would truly appreciate your prayers. I think Wade is a special preacher that "gets it". Wish we had a church here like Enid.@ Victorious:

  6. What a wonderful message today! While you were referencing Psalm 139 (one of my favorites) and David asking “where can I go from your presence?”, I was reminded of a time when that became a reality for me. I may have posted it before, but it’s so appropriate here that I feel led to tell it again.

    I was divorced. I lived in a 50-yr. old, 3 story farmhouse and was responsible for two teenage boys. The divorce required me to go to work after being a stay-at-home mom for 17 yrs.

    It was 2 a.m. and I couldn’t sleep from stressful thoughts. I went to the window of my second story bedroom and looked out at the soft-falling snow. There wasn’t a footprint anywhere…just soft snow. I wanted to cry out to the Lord, but because of the time, I figured He was too busy with murders, home invasions, rapes, bar-room brawls, etc. to bother Him with my petty problems.

    In a flash…a revelation as only He can reveal at the right time, in the right place…I knew that He knew I was standing at that window at that very moment! I didn’t even feel a need to cry out any more so safe and comforted I was by that awareness that I crawled into bed and slept peacefully. I’m safe..He knows and He cares. He doesn’t lose track of us regardless of what’s happening around the world. How great is our God??

    Thank you, Wade for such a beautiful sermon. P.S. Are you still denying you have a photographic memory? I’m convinced once again by your referencing a Ben Johnson stone and lunar rocks without even looking at sermon notes!

    I hope my revelation might be comforting to Scooter’s Mom as it was for me.

  7. @ Victorious:

    I want so much to have a revelation like you had so I too can feel safe and totally trust that God is all He says he is. As Wade said, I know it in my head but feeling it in my heart is difficult. I shall keep going hoping that one day I will pass on an experience like yours.

  8. Scooter’s Mom wrote:

    I know it in my head but feeling it in my heart is difficult.

    That’s where I was when I was standing at the window, Scooter’s Mom. You see, God knows when to reveal certain things to us and sometimes our timetable is different than His. Nevertheless, knowing it in your head is half the battle when you think of how many are in dire circumstances and don’t even believe in God.

    Unfortunately central Florida is too far for me to drive at my age, but I’m always available to be a “pen pal” or email pal if you wish. Dee can do the email exchange if you’d like. Regardless, please know that I’ll be praying for you.

    Love, blessings, and a “virtual hug” coming your way!

  9. @ Deb:
    I believe you might have my email address from a while back. If you still have it, please let me know when you come to town and we’ll see. Also, please give my email to Victorious. Thank you.

  10. Scooter’s Mom, I write good letters and would be pleased to write to you as well as support you in prayer – if you would like.

  11. @ Lin:
    You will have to excuse me. I am taken back from the response of people I don’t know. I don’t know what to say except Thank You All. Thank you Lin for your prayers.

    FYI – I am not a big blogger. I enjoy reading posts but for some reason don’t respond really. Since I don’t have a computer at home, just a kindle that I don’t enjoy typing on, My replies will be slow coming. I can only check my emails, etc from work and not that often.

  12. @ Scooter’s Mom:

    I love paper writing so if you decide you could do with a real mail correspondent, I would be happy to oblige. Just let me know and we’ll figure out how to connect.