Second Sunday after Epiphany / Prayer for the Week (January 15 - 21)

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him,“Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” John 1: 43-51 (ESV)

I will eventually begin to add some substantial commentary to these passages that I post, especially in regards to the current season of the calendar. At the moment, I am not only trying to establish the habit of blogging on a regular basis, but also establish the Sunday posts as one that references one of the selected passages from the Lectionary as well as gives the Prayer for the Week laid based on the Book of Common Prayer. Fun? Yes, I believe so.

As a little teaser, I am reading an interesting book that was referred to me by none other than good ole Ross Guthrie called "Evangelical is not Enough" by Thomas Howard. I just read a very intriguing section on the the Flesh and the Spirit that I will share with you later this week. So stay tuned for further developments. For now, toodles.

Prayer for the Week:

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the Earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and forever. Amen.

First Sunday after Epiphany / Prayer for the Week (January 8 - 14)

"Battesimo di Cristo"

By El Greco, 1568

"John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. "And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. "Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. "And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 'I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.'
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.'” Mark 1:4-11 (ESV)

Prayer Appointed for the Week:

Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Epiphany

Good Evening friends,

I know it has been awhile (a long while actually) since my last post. I'm sure many were beginning to wonder if I was actually going to post on "Musings of a Married Man" as an actual married man. Alas though, here is another attempt to begin blogging on a regular basis.

I thought that a good time to pick up this "habit" again would be on the day we observe the Epiphany. For those of you that read my blog (or happen to stumble upon it) that do not know about the season of Epiphany, it is simply the celebration of the coming of the Magi to worship the God-Man, the Word made flesh, Jesus the Christ.

Matthew records the account in the second chapter of his Gospel:
"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way."

As I have mentioned before (I think), I love the liturgical calendar for many reasons but one is because we are allowed the opportunity to celebrate and study these different moments in the life of our Lord. It allows us a chance to look again at certain passages of Scripture and to also show how Christ's birth was predicted in the Old Testament. Isaiah writes:
"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD." Isaiah 60:1-6

Another fun thing about this day is that it gives me an opportunity to plug a great website that a friend of mine operates. You may know what a wonderful resource his website is, but if not, I would like to direct your attention to some of the art on there. This piece is one of my favorites (as well as the song that accompanies it), I highly recommend it and the piece in question fits within our discussion. You can find it here.

There is quite a bit more that could be said about the beginning of this season in the Church, but I will need more content to post so you'll just have to wait until next year for a more in-depth discussion. As has been my custom on here, I will end this year's post on the Epiphany with the Evening Office:
"Oh God, who by the leading of a star did manifest your only begotten son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence where we may behold your glory face to face, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, now and forever. Amen."

Prayer Appointed for the Week (June 19-25)

My apologies for this being two days late.

Lord, make me have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Relient K

Ok guys, so I have to admit, I LOVE Relient K. These guys are nothing short of musical geniuses. With each new album they release they continue to be better and better. With that said, I don't know if it is a good sign or a death omen for a band to be making a cover CD, but Relient K has an EP coming out this year called "Relient K is for Karaoke" and it is an album of cover songs. The video below is has short clips from each song throughout it, so check it out. All of them (oddly enough including the Beiber one) seem to have great potential.

Click HERE to enjoy Relient K awesomeness!

Prayer Appointed for the Week (June 12-18)

Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast love, that through your grace each of us may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, now and forever. Amen

Guess who's back?!?!

That's right folks, Nick is back and he's here to stay! Boo ya!

My sincerest apologies for the LONG hiatus, but a lot has gone on as of late:
- Sharon and I were finally married (4 weeks ago today to be exact)
- Sharon and I both started new jobs in Georgia
- Because of said jobs in previous statement, Sharon and I moved to Georgia (2 weeks ago as of yesterday)
- My blog name is now accurate and no longer a lie! Maybe now Kevin Adelsberger will read my blog? Who knows, stranger things HAVE happened.

Anywho, so as I said, a lot has gone on. Married life in grand, the jobs are going (we're both still in training so there is a lot of information to take in) and I believe we are about to adopt a puppy here in about a month. Tomorrow we begin the search for a church here in Georgia... I pray that goes well and smoothly. We both loved Christ Community in Jackson and were (and still are) sad to have to leave. I can honestly say that we both made some lifelong friends and I know that I grew in discipleship more in the last 4 years than I ever have before. Alas, I shall move on before I start to get all weepy and emotional, but MAN I loved that place and the people and community of believers. Sweet times.

The main purpose of this post was to make you all aware that I once again roam the vastness of the Realm of the World Wide Web and will, hopefully, be bringing you regular updates throughout the week once more.

Until next time Gadget


- Nick



Currently:

Reading Affirming the Apostle's Creed by J.I. Packer