Christian prayer and chat thread Open to all

[Dutchoma]

The old thread was nearly full, so here is a new one. Oldies and newbies, chat or prayer, all welcome.

Praying especially for MHD and JanFeb’s daughter.
Also praying for all who are preparing Holy Week/Easter services.

That last bit was for coffeecup obviously

Thanks @Dutchoma can I ask what sort of thing you were used to before you found your high church home?

I’ve not been there long. My DH and I had been in the church where I moved fromfor 20 years, but it was no longer a good fit. I waited quite a long time, about 4/5 years before I moved, went to a service of Choral Evensong and felt that this was right for this time. Churches change and sometimes you need to change too.
The reason for the move was on the one hand that the choir they had collapsed and that there was a theology of: “If you do not accept Jesus as your Saviour, you will be lost for all eternity”, and I just could not go with that any more.

Thank you for the warm welcome. Listening in mainly, following the chat for a while. Will join in more as my confidence grows. For now, just sitting with you all. Will pray for all here.

There are wonderful corners in this thread Oshikundu where you can sit uno bserved for as long as you like.

Thank you Dutchoma
(Your name reminds me of my Aunt's grandmother from long ago)

Ahhh thanks @applesandpears33, that makes so much more sense now. Although I used to be Church of Scotland I also regularly attended a local Episcopalian church for various things and it makes sense that that would be considered the nearest thing to "high" . Actually, now I think of it, in my town its referred to as "the English Church" in the same way we'd say the West Church (kirk!), Catholic Church etc and it never made any sense to me why. D'oh...

Was she an Oma (grandmother) too?

Hi all. OK so here’s a starter for debate:

Are all children, 0-18, capable of sin?

I often think about this when singing carols etc about “Little Jesus meek and mild” etc. Obviously He was without sin. (I wish we had stories to tell us what that childhood looked like.)

Am particularly wondering about this at the moment as looking into how to parent traumatised children. The theory explains every tantrum/ rebellion / theft / episode of misbehaviour in terms of them in some way trying to communicate a need or the result of them having had their development affected adversely.

How does this sit with Christian theology?

Obviously tomes could be written about this.... or at least a separate MN thread....

Very interesting @JanFebAnyMonth I have no idea. Looking forward to reading others thoughts on it

@Dutchoma Sorry for the delay in replying.

Yes, she was an Oma. She lived in Drenthe province Netherlands. My (English) Uncle married her grand daughter. We travelled there for the wedding. There was an Opa too.

They were very old when I met them. Well they seemed to be, probably younger than I am now!
Oma was a charming, very religious woman. Decades ago now, but your user name made me smile when I saw it.

My apologies for cutting across the discussion JanFeb. I'm late looking in on the thread today.

Oshikunda where in Drenthe did she live? I lived in Diever, where my father was the burgomaster until I moved to Amsterdam where I was married to an Englishman, who was grandad, not Opa.
About JanFeb’s question: One way of thinking is that we are ‘born into sin’, so ‘sinful’ from birth, through the fall of Adam and Eve. I do think that the relationship between us as a human race and God has been broken and restored in Christ. At what age a child becomes aware of its own personality and its power to excercise its will is a matter for debate. Nature or nurture? How to parent a child? Some people are better at it than others, none of us perfect. I see that I reaise more questions than I give answers.

@Dutchoma
In fact the same questions / arguments apply in the main to adults too. (Does modern psychology ‘explain away’ sin? Obviously I don’t believe so. In general I’d say we all have a choice about how we behave.

There’s also the predestination / free will link.

Big topic!

Dutchoma It was Emmen. An old house/small shop with a little orchard.I spent a lovely week there. I recall being told that it was later bulldozed to make way for a motorway/ large road. It must have been so sad for them, rest their souls.

Yes, Emmen was much further East than we were. There is a zoo there that we would visit on school trips, I think there is still something there.

Yes ‘predestination’ is another hot chestnut. In how far do we really have ‘free choice’? Children say: “I didn’t MEAN to”’ and I would say: “It would be the limit if you did’”.

By mentioning predestination I was thinking of the idea that we all have free will, at any point. We can make bad choices or good choices. But I believe it can be very hard for (eg) an abused child to choose not to eg be a bully themselves.
The concept of sin can often be used to sound like the options (do the right thing/do the wrong thing) are equally open to us, when sometimes they’re not.

I think. Am rambling! And simplifying, obviously.

Yes, and because we have limited vision (hindsight is always 20/20) it is almost impossible to know what the right choice is. And I think that God knows and honours that.

But when a child becomes aware of right and wrong is impossible to know. For an abused child, who has no good example of love that will be even harder and such a child should have the benefit of the doubt until good behaviour can be modelled.

I think ultimately it doesn't really mater that much what we think, because we're not sitting in judgement. God sees what it in people's hearts and I have no doubt that He is perfectly placed to put people's actions into the context of their previous experiences. Ultimately we are all sinners but thankfully we are all also able to avail of forgiveness.

I think you are right peachgreen How are you doing?

Up and down, as always! Prayed for guidance last night before reading my Bible and ended up at Psalm - "I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow" but then went back and read "In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety". Seemed very appropriate and I managed to get to sleep quite well afterwards.

It is amazing how the psalms speak for us in so many circumstances. I’m glad you were able to sleep with those words from Palm 4 in your head.

Hello, I hope you don't mind me joining you with a question but I thought this might be the best place to ask:
Can you recommend a good present for a teenage boy who is being confirmed. He was baptised as a young child but is getting confirmed soon before his 19th birthday. I wondered if I should get him a simple cross on a gold chain, or a crucifix. Or a beautiful edition of the King James bible (he's High Anglican) or a hymnal (he sings in the choir) or a book of common prayer.
Is there a traditional confirmation present?

Hello Cowbells, you are very welcome. Unfortunately I have no idea how to answer your question, so I hope someone comes along with some ideas soon.