Sunday, April 30, 2006

Living Room Big Gathering

During the Living Room Big Gathering on Wednesday, we had a time of communion, and we used the following communal prayer that I found very meaningful.

[Call:]What does it mean to be the Body of Christ?
[Response:]It means we incarnate the Gospel, the Word made flesh, who sent us the Spirit, becoming flesh again in us
[Call:]We live as the visible community that carries the Gospel Jesus gave us to the world around us,to the neighbour next door, across the oceans, to the wealthy and the middle class, the working class, the homeless and the oppressed
[Response:]We pursue peace and God’s justice for the broken, the orphan and the widow, the wrongfully accused,the imprisoned, the abused, speaking Truth to Power in Love
[Call:]We practice unity in diversity, with every tribe, tongue, nation, and people praying and pleading for God’s reconciling grace in one resounding voice
[Response:]We enter into the Kingdom life which Jesus declared, the beautiful life where the last shall be first and every tear is wiped away
[Call:]We worship the Living God, declaring the Kingdom is here but not yet,breaking bread and pouring wine, sharing Life or sharing burdens
[Response:]Bearing witness to the presence of Jesus in our lives, in our relationships,in the world throughout history forever and ever, Amen

Kim Hammond, the Victorian Director of Forge , came to share with us his story, and his community. Kim leads an organic missional church planting project called The Junction. And you can read more about it here.

9 comments:

Kc said...

While I might argue the theology I can't argue with the spirit of the prayer. ;-)

Godwyn Lim said...

I truely agree with Kc:-)

The spirit of the Lord reigns in you sister Kitty, it amazes me...

I'm back, after I learn to arise again with Grace in Christ Jesus!

Have a good week ahead! God Bless:-)

Matthew Celestine said...

Kitty, how do you think the metaphor of the Body of Christ relates to the metaphor of the Bride of Christ?

I would be interested to know.

God Bless

Matthew

Kitty Cheng said...

Hehe Kc so what's the argument you have regarding the theology of the prayer? I'd be interested to know.

Kitty Cheng said...

Godwyn, welcome back! Yes God's Grace is always sufficient for us.

You have a good week ahead too dear brother.

Kitty Cheng said...

Matthew, I think your question deserves a post on its own. And I'll do that soon.

Kc said...

I understand the analogy of the Church as the body of Christ to be useful for and limited to understanding our interdependence in Him. I don't find it was offered to intend that we are literally His body anymore than being the Bride is intended to assign gender to the Church. Both ideologies create a host of theological implications that go contrary to scripture. From a historical perspective this thinking is aligned to the Roman church and was adopted by the High church movement as well. I also see it gaining a strong foothold in the EC along with liturgical worship and Sacramental theology, which both have their origin in the Roman church.

Matthew Celestine said...

Kc, those are very important points.

Kitty Cheng said...

Wow Kc your comments on the body of Christ and the Bride of Christ are great! Matthew I am in total agreement with Kc, and don't think I need to post further on what he has commented here.