EChurch@Wartburg – 5.20.12

Welcome to Our Gathering of EChurch@Wartburg


Enhanced Rainbow by Barb Ver Sluis

Here is our order of worship

A Prayer of Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) Link

O merciful God, fill our hearts, we pray, with the graces of Your Holy Spirit, 
With love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. 
Teach us to love those who hate us, to pray for those who despitefully use us,
That we may be the children of our Father, 
Who makes Your sun shine on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 
In adversity, grant us grace to be patient; in prosperity keep us humble; 
May we guard the door of our lips; may we lightly esteem the pleasures of this world, 
And thirst after heavenly things; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen.”



This is a prayer from the church father Irenaeus (died 202 C.E.) Link

"Give growing maturity to beginners, 
O Father; give intelligence to the little ones; 
Give aid to those who are running their course. 
Give sorrow to the negligent; give fervor of spirit to the lukewarm.
Give to the mature a good end; for the sake of Christ Jesus our Lord. 
Amen.” 

The Lord's Prayer

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 trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us. 
And lead us not into temptation, 
But deliver us from evil. 
For thine is the kingdom,
The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever.
Amen.

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

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 10:28-29 (NASB Bible Gateway)

Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.  How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?


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.

Thank you for spending your precious time worshipping the Lord.

Comments

EChurch@Wartburg – 5.20.12 — 19 Comments

  1. Wade, Dee & Deb – I mentioned eChurch on my blog post today. eChurch is such a good stepping stone and perhaps a place of refuge for those precious souls who have been trampled by spiritual authority.

    Reading through the myriad of comments on my recent news story and seeing the amount of hits on my blog only show that spiritual abuse is rampant.

    Thank you again for doing this!

  2. Julie Anne,

    Thanks for mentioning eChurch@Wartburg on your blog.

    For those of you here at TWW, this is what Julie Anne wrote:

    “I want to let you know that each week, Pastor Wade Burleson offers an eChurch – a pre-recorded church service which is posted each Saturday at the Wartburg Watch blog. Take a look at the new service here. There are praise songs, prayers, and a video sermon. I’ve watched two services and found them very good and uplifting. Wade Burleson has a blog and has posted about spiritual abuse and pastors who abuse their authority. He has a sensitive heart for people like us. If you are one who has no desire to go to church after your experience, give this a try. It could just be the balm to soothe your soul for this season of healing.”

    You are getting a lot more traffic than we are, and I pray that your recommendation to participate in our eChurch worship experience will help some who have been hurt in churches.

    Praying for you!

  3. Julie Anne,

    It’s kinda ironic that Wade Burleson is preaching on the topic of “HELL” this week. I hope our newcomers to eChurch aren’t put off by that! I think he did an excellent job of explaining this passage in Hebrews.

  4. When you commit to preaching straight through a book of the Bible as Wade does, you can’t just dodge the passages that are hard to hear. I appreciate his heart for those who face a Christless eternity. Without bombast or brimstone he appeals to people to come to Christ.

  5. Lee, I’m not kidding you, I have literally seen a “verse by verse” type skip over a passage he did not want to address. Nobody caught it but me. IMO, I think a lectionary or prescribed cycle of readings does more to confront us with passages we might consider slightly less than convenient. The verse-by-verse types cover very little ground and often hide out in their favorite areas (the epistles).

  6. Julie Anne,

    Appreciate the shout out. My wife and I have been out of state this week and a little out of touch, but I was able to catch up a little with what has been going on in your life. Hard to believe. In the end, I think your story will help countless people who are under the thumb of authoritative control and manipulation under the guise of spiritual leadership. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

  7. Lee,

    Thanks for your comment. I can honestly say that your perspective is precisely what I strive for in teaching. I appreciate your words.

    Miguel,

    I know what you mean about “camping out” in the epistles. I try to alternate between OT and NT books. I have preached through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Joshua, Psalms, Proverbs, Jonah (my favorite), and many of the prophetical books, as well as the gospels and most all of the New Testament books. It is just as easy, in my opinion, to camp out with a lectionary. 🙂 Thanks for your comment.

  8. Wade,

    Welcome back! Two of the songs were inspired by your church since the Emmanuel congregation sung them last Sunday. 🙂

  9. Thanks to all once again for a beautiful service! As always, my heart, soul, and spirit were blessed!

  10. I believe the following prayer is used by folks in the 12-step programs across this country and around the world. Here is the complete version to share with all:

    Serenity Prayer

    God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
    courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

    Living one day at a time,
    enjoying one moment at a time,
    accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.

    Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.

    Trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your Will,

    That I may be reasonably happy in this life,
    and supremely happy with You forever in the next.

    Reinhold Niebuhr

  11. Out here in California there’s an annular solar eclipse going on right now. I have never had a problem with the supernatural power of the Almighty. That’s where I part company with my skeptical friends over the great darkness that occured when Jesus was crucified. It was NO ECLIPSE on that day. The Almighty literally extinguished the sun for 3 hours just like it says in the Gospels.

  12. Are you sitting in a pew? 

           Hello!

        Former Washington Times Religion Editor Julia Duin writes in 2008 [1]: “Sitting in the pew on Sunday morning seems almost embarrassingly old-fashioned in an era when you can watch a video recreation of the Last Supper on your Palm or get God’s word text-messaged to your cell phone. Bored with your Pastor’s ramblings? Select a peppier sermon from among hundreds of “godcast” online. Just pick a topic: ….Old Testament prophets? Then download it to your MP3 player.” [2]

    “This challenge is not new. The church has been dealing with this issue ever since people decided they got more from staying home Sundays and watching a televangelist than from slogging through the weather to make it to church. The problem is not the high-tech factor; it’s the fact that quality material is available to Christians outside the four church walls. The Times article closes, in fact, with a tale of a family in Shawnee, Oklahoma, who worship in front of their flat-screen computer monitor at their home by listening to a service going on in Oklahoma City, forty-five miles away.” -Julia Duin; “Quitting Church”

    Wade Burleson is providing great TWW EChurch content for the dis-enfranchised former members of spiritually abusive churches. Brovo Wade, top drawer material, GodSpeed!

        Whatever excellence there is; those fit objects of praise, these things make the subject of your careful reflection,

    The God of peace be with you!

    IronClad
    ____
    References:
    [1] Julia Duin, “Quitting Church” -” Why the Faithful Are Fleeing Church and What to Do About it.”; Chapter 3, “Searching For Community”, pp. 54-55.
    [2] “Sitting In The Pew.” Stephanie Simon, ” God’s Call Comes by Cell Phone”, LA Times, May 16, 2006.

  13. IronClad,

    Excellent comment! I hope the Calvinista leaders are paying attention. Christians are not gonna put up with their shenanigans when they discover that there are alternatives. 🙂

    As I have said before numerous times, we are so grateful to be featuring Wade Burleson’s sermons. They are the highlight of my week.

    Blessings to you Wade! I pray for you often.

  14. One last comment. Nowadays we live in an age of uber-rationalism. I think it is the product of Enlightenment Age rationalism carried too far from a fulcrum point. Nothing is admissible unless it comports with a 21st cent. science paradigm.

    Biblical literalism of certain events is often looked upon (even in Conservative Evangelical circles) as quaint and even hokey if not viewed through an acceptable 21st cent. lens.

    Some years back I watched a PBS Nova episode about Isaac Newton’s investigations of alchemy and the Biblical texts of Daniel. There was only one present-day academic in the episode that even acknowledged the futility of trying to impose a 21st cent. mindset onto the world of Newton. The rest displayed hubris at its best (worst?).

  15. Thank you for posting the Il Divo video. Watching it gives me an great – weighty – sense of history. What a wonderful thing to see that hymn sung in the Colosseum…..

  16. Jeannette,

    I remember when I found out about Il Divo. My daughters and I were shopping, and they saw their first DVD. We purchased it; however, and it took me a while to listen to it. I was so blessed! Now they are one of my favorite singing groups.