Welcome to a Gathering of EChurch@Wartburg
A first century prayer from the Syrian Clementine Liturgy 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 sakd of Jesus Christ.
AMEN.
This is an oldie that is one of Dee’s favorites. It makes me tear up each time. He arose and the grave (yes, the grave) became a place of hope for all of us.
A 5th century ancient collect. (What is a collect?)
Bless all who worship You, from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same.
Of Your goodness, give us; with Your love, inspire us,
by Your spirit guide us; by Your power, protect us;
in Your mercy receive us now and always.
AMEN
Scripture applicable to the sermon.
Habbakuk 3:19 NIV
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
Wade Burleson: Hinds’ Feet (Habakkuk 3:19) from Emmanuel Enid on Vimeo.
Last Prayer: Columba, c.521 – 597 link
Alone with none but thee, my God,
I journey on my way.
What need I fear, when thou art near O king of night and day?
More safe am I within thy hand
Than if a host did round me stand.
Amen!
1
Habakkuk 3
vs. 13 “You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For the salvation of Your anointed.
You struck the head of the house of the evil
To lay him open from thigh to neck.” NASB
Good news, for those choosing to be in sync with God, as defined by God Himself.
Bad news for those choosing the other side, to do battle with God.
Pastor Wade says that sometimes God is with us through the circumstances and He does not remove the circumstances. True. Both ways God works and we triumph: Stephen was a martyr (suffered, died, went to Heaven) and Peter was delivered out of prison by an angel while the saints were praying for his deliverance, in the account of Acts. In both cases, the church grew. Success both ways.
Asking for deliverance . . . God answers His way and His way is best, which may be miraculous deliverance, or not. (In the end, Stephen went to Heaven, which was eternal deliverance – in the end.) Asking, then trusting. All good.
jyjames,
It is my observation that God, more often than not, lets us go through difficult circumstances. It is the part of the pain of the Fall.
However, He gives us a great gift in Jesus in which is the peace that passes all understanding. I experienced that when my 3 yo daughter had a serious brain tumor. We were told that she had about 10% chance of survival. She did survive but it took 10 years for them to believe that she would survive. Her MRI, 25 years later, still shows a spot that was always thought to be residual tumor. So, she is followed once a year and is part of a long term St Judes study for those who survived what was thought to be a fatal illness.
We are grateful for her survival but it was painful number of years, waiting for the tumor’s likely return. Yet-in the middle of it all,-the peace that passes understanding. One night I woke up after her second neurosurgery and felt warm and embraced. It was a gift of God for that time.
He is there and present. Jesus came and suffered and he is a God of and in suffering.