For Light to Follow You: A Collect 440 AD link
O Lord,
direct our steps this day
into the way of peace,
and strengthen our hearts
to obey your commandments.
May the Dayspring visit us from on high,
and give light
to those who sit in darkness
and the shadow of death,
that they may adore you for your mercy,
follow you for your truth,
desire you for your sweetness,
for you are the blessed Lord God of Israel,
now and forever.
Amen.
Clement’s Prayer –96 AD
We ask you, Master, be our helper and defender.
Rescue those of our number in distress; raise up the fallen;
assist the needy; heal the sick; turn back those of your people who stray;
feed the hungry; release our captives; revive the weak;
encourage those who lose heart.
Let all the nations realize that you are the only God,
that Jesus Christ is your Child, and that we are your people and the sheep of your pasture.
Amen
Jerome’s Prayer: 342-420 AD link
Lord, thou hast given us thy Word for a light to shine upon our path;
grant us so to meditate on that Word, and to follow its teaching,
that we may find in it the light that shines more and more until the perfect day;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Benediction: Prayers of the Church of Scotland link
“O God, eternal and ever blessed,
Order what is disordered in our lives.
Bring our minds to Thy truth, Our conscience to Thy law,
And our hearts to Thy love. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Amen.
Thank you, Dee. It’s always a pleasure to hear from Dr. McKnight.
One of the “biblical” (I use quotes to indicate that I recognize that the meaning of this term is a subject of disagreement; also later in this comment) reasons for christian gatherings is mutual encouragement toward “love and good works.”
I have the impression that in at least some of the more theologically conservative portions of the Protestant movement, the imperative of not relying on “works of the Law” as the ground of one’s “justification” makes preachers reluctant to exhort to perform “good works.” (There have been exceptions; in one congregation, the preacher exhorted us that the most loving good work we could do would be to invite people to hear his preaching.) It’s safer to stick to preaching doctrine and to rely on the Holy Spirit to make application in the hearers’ lives. Effectively, the purpose of christian gatherings becomes to encourage one another to adhere to “sound doctrine.”
Perhaps we do need exhortation toward “love and good works.”
Samuel Conner(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)
If I Lose my Faith in You by Sting is an excellent example of deconstruction without losing total faith.
Casey G(Reply & quote selected text) (Reply to this comment)