Welcome to a Gathering of EChurch@Wartburg
Here Is Our Order of Worship
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The Praises of God from Saint Francis link
You are holy, Lord, the only God,
and your deeds are wonderful.
You are love, you are wisdom.
You are humility, you are endurance.
You are rest, you are peace.
You are joy and gladness.
You are all our riches, and you suffice for us.
You are beauty, you are gentleness.
You are our protector,
You are our guardian and defender.
You are courage,
You are our haven and hope.
You are our faith, our greatest consolation.
You are our eternal life, great and wonderful Lord,
God almighty, merciful Saviour.
Amen
A Morning Prayer from the First Century Syria link
O God, Who are the unsearchable abyss of peace, the ineffable sea of love,
the fountain of blessings, and the bestower of affection,
Who sends peace to those that receive it; open to us this day the sea of Your love,
and water us with the plenteous streams from the riches of Your grace.
Make us children of quietness, and heirs of peace. Kindle in us the fire of Your love;
sow in us Your fear; strengthen our weakness by Your power;
bind us closely to You and to each other in one firm bond of unity; for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Amen
This message is from William Paul Young, author of The Shack and Cross Roads, who recently addressed the Emmanuel Enid congregation.
"My Life Story"
A Prayer for Forgiveness by Clement of Rome-1st century link
You did make to appear the enduring fabric of the world by the works of Your hand;
You, Lord, did create the earth on which we dwell,
You, who are faithful in all generations, just in judgments, wonderful in strength and majesty,
with wisdom creating and with understanding fixing the things which were made,
who are good among them that are being saved and faithful among them whose trust is in You;
O merciful and Compassionate One, forgive us our iniquities and offenses and transgressions and trespasses.
Reckon not every sin of Your servants and handmaids, but You will purify us with the purification of Your truth;
and direct our steps that we may walk in holiness of heart
and do what is good and well-pleasing in Your sight and in the sight of our rulers.
Yes, Lord, make Your face to shine upon us for good in peace,
that we may be shielded by Your mighty hand and delivered from every sin by Your uplifted arm.
and deliver us from those who hate us wrongfully.
Give concord and peace to us and all who dwell upon the earth,
even as You gave to our fathers, when they called upon You in faith and truth,
submissive as we are to Your almighty and all-excellent Name.
Amen
Benediction Romans 15:3 (NIV-Gateway)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
loved, loved, loved….thank you for your transparency, Paul
O, my heart… I am Speechless. I had a song spring to mind as I was listening to Paul.
Sadly, I had to stop listening at the half hour mark. I will come back tomorrow to listen to the rest, but for now I am floored and stunned.
Instead of the lyrics in the original song, “I heard he sang a good song”
I changed it up to this version: I heard He preached a good message & wrote a book.
However.
Paul Young didn’t preach, he talked, shared, conversed. The way he communicated with me/us was by the power of sharing his story, his heart. All I can say at the moment is I can hardly believe what my ears are hearing. Thank You Paul.
http://youtu.be/O1eOsMc2Fgg
I felt all flushed with fever Embarrassed by the crowd I felt he found my letters And read each one out loud I prayed that he would finish But he just kept right on
Strumming my pain with his fingers Singing my life with his words Killing me softly with his song Killing me softly with his song Telling my whole life with his words Killing me softly with his song
Strumming my pain with his fingers Singing my life with his words Killing me softly with his song Killing me softly with his song Telling my whole life with his words Killing me softly with his song
Strumming my pain with his fingers Singing my life with his words Killing me softly with his song Killing me softly with his song Telling my whole life with his words
The church universal needs more human beings like Young. Real humans who tell real stories and not mini-gods who ****(ed.) alabaster. I especially loved his narrative of Abraham and Isaac, not your standard Augustinian fare.
Gail – like you, I am speechless. I cried and hurt for Paul while listening. I think all “Shack” critics need to listen to his life story, told by him, and then tell me how heretical his writings are. Shame on them.
“Let me tell you, one of the things that saved my life is that I married a woman who is not a meek, mild, submissive Christian woman” minute 52:55
Have read that before but enjoyed the further details about what a process it was for Kim. Timely for me as I’m rather stuck at regret for sticking with my wayward H.
Pulled out my copy of “The Shack” and gave it to my 13 yo homeschooled son to read and I’m going to have to look up Paul Young’s new book (didn’t know he had one).
Loved the song “I will Change Your Name” too.
Scooter’s Mom wrote:
Amen or I agree, shame on them! I cried too.
I didn’t cry, but was amazed by how the Holy Spirit was behind the scenes orchestrating the healing process for Paul. My spirit was in agreement when he recognized forgiveness as a process “with pieces leftover that you don’t know about” having experienced that same type of recognition myself over a long period of time.
I was horrified at the conditions and experiences at the boarding school and wondered how anyone could recoup from damage to their souls following that. But knowing God is able, I pray they did recover.
An amazing testimony for sure. I’ve long believed our personal testimonies are the most powerful witness to the existence of Jesus and the spiritual rebirth.
Thanks to all for this E-church!