2 Kings on Marginalized

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18th Sunday after Pentecost

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 17:11-19, Luke 18:9-14, 2 Kings 5:1-19

Context This Sunday’s passage takes place during Jesus’ long final journey to Jerusalem (which takes up over a third of Luke’s Gospel). In the preceding pericope the disciples have asked Jesus to in...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Luke 17:11-19

Author

Darren Pollock

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 17:11-19, Luke 18:9-14, 2 Kings 5:1-19

Context This Sunday’s passage takes place during Jesus’ long final journey to Jerusalem (which takes up over a third of Luke’s Gospel). In the preceding pericope the disciples have asked Jesus to in...

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Using Jesus as a Model when Negotiating during the Cold War

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 33:4, 2 Kings 5:1-15 , Isaiah 1:18, Matthew 9:10-13, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, Psalm 133:1

Dag Hammarskjöld, a Swedish economist and diplomat deeply committed to his Christian faith, served as the Secretary-General of the United Nations during some of the most turbulent times of the Cold Wa...

blog

Emotions are Divine: Why Pastors Need Biblical Permission to Feel

Author

David Lamb

Keywords

Scripture

John 11:35, Psalm 5:5, Psalm 6:1, Psalm 78:58, Psalm 78:40, Psalm 18:19, Psalm 25:6, Psalm 5:7, Exodus 20:5, Exodus 22:23, Isaiah 15:5, Luke 15:null, Genesis 23:2, Genesis 42:24, 1 Samuel 1:10, 2 Samuel 1:11-12, 2 Kings 8:11-12, 2 Kings 22:18-20, Mark 14:72, John 20:11, Acts 20:37, Revelation 5:4

When the Professor Weeps: A Personal Story About ten years ago, I was teaching a course on the psalms for my seminary students in the midst of a personal health crisis. It wasn’t in my notes, but I ...

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Is our Capacity Set?

Author

John C. Maxwell

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 3:20-21 , Exodus 4:10-12, 2 Kings 4:1-7 , Isaiah 54:2-3 , Matthew 25:14-30 , Psalm 23:1-5

Too many people hear the word capacity and assume it’s a limitation. They assume their capacity is set—especially if they’re beyond a certain age. People give up on the idea that their capacity or the...

Quote

Author

Susan Sontag

Keywords

Scripture

2 Kings 20:1-7 , Job 2:1-10 , Numbers 21:4-9 , Mark 5:25-34, John 9:1-7, Psalm 103:2-4

Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick.

Quote

Author

Gillian Marchenko

Keywords

Scripture

Job 1:2 , Ecclesiastes 9:11, 2 Kings 4:8–37 , John 9:1–3, Romans 8:18–28, Psalm 34:18–19

We probably got a bit too cocky about how well our lives were going. But after disability showed up in our family, we learned that life is not tame. It’s not here to align with our desires and plans. ...

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The United States is Like Samaria

Author

Phillip Yancey

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 29:4-7 , 2 Kings 17:24-33, Isaiah 1:18-20, John 4:4-26, Acts 8:4-8, 14-17, Psalm 46:1-2

The United States retains a basic respect for religion though it may be following European trends: surveys show a steady rise in the “nones” (now one-third of those under the age of thirty), that is, ...

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Defenders Of Children

Author

Ben Lansing and D. J.Marotta

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 1:15–22, 1 Samuel 1:20–28, 2 Kings 4:18–37, Matthew 2:16–18, Mark 10:13–16, Psalm 127:3–5

Pharaoh viewed the Hebrews as a growing threat to the Egyptian way of life, so he ordered all Hebrew baby boys killed. King Herod feared that a future king would arise from Bethlehem, so he ordered al...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Matthew 14:13-21

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 14:13-21, Matthew 13:55, Matthew 14:2, Matthew 16:16, Matthew 17:1-13, Isaiah 55:1, John 6:1-15, Matthew 13:31, 2 Kings 4:42-44, Matthew 26:26, Matthew 8:null, Galatians 6:2

Context The feeding of the 5,000 in Matthew occurs within a section where questions of Jesus’ identity are heightened. Two incorrect answers of who Jesus truly is are given in 13:55 (“isn’t this the...

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Sight without Vision

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

2 Kings 6:15-17, Isaiah 42:18-20, Deuteronomy 9:4, Mark 8:22-25, John 9:39-41, Psalm 119:18

Helen Keller, the blind-and-deaf woman who made history by learning to overcome her disabilities, was once asked if there was anything worse than being blind. She answered, “Oh yes! There is something...

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Missional Ministry: Crossing to the Other Side of the Street

Author

Leonard Sweet

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 18:1-8 , 2 Kings 4:1-7, Micah 6:8, Luke 10:25-37, Mark 10:45, Psalm 82:3-4

Leonard Sweet shares an interesting story in the introduction to Neil Cole’s book, Organic Church , about a parish pastor who lived in a Scottish village near Edinburgh called Davidson’s Mains. ...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, 2 Kings 5:1-14

Author

Allen Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

2 Kings 5:1-14, Luke 4:27, Joshua 12:1-3

Many Israelites Had Leprosy, but Naaman Was Healed As we go from mountains to fresh water, we go from Elijah to Elisha. Despite having a double dose of Elijah’s power and a fraction of his hair, Eli...

lectionary

10th Sunday after Pentecost

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 14:13-21, Matthew 13:55, Matthew 14:2, Matthew 16:16, Matthew 17:1-13, Isaiah 55:1, John 6:1-15, Matthew 13:31, 2 Kings 4:42-44, Matthew 26:26, Matthew 8:null, Galatians 6:2

Preaching Commentary Context The feeding of the 5,000 in Matthew occurs within a section where questions of Jesus’ identity are heightened. Two incorrect answers of who Jesus truly is are given in...

Quote

Author

Jean Pierre de Caussade

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 15:21-39, John 4:4-42, 2 Kings 5:1-14, 1 Samuel 16:1-13, Luke 2:1-7, John 9:1-3, 2 Corinthians 12:9

[God’s grace is] always hidden under the strangest appearances.

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What Keeps us from Experiencing Renewal

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:4-5, 2 Kings 22:23, Isaiah 58:6-7, Psalm 119:105, Matthew 5:17-20 , Acts 2:42-47

There’s a quote by H. Richard Niebuhr that I believe is absolutely true. “The great Christian revolutions,” he argued, “come not by the discovery of something that was not known before. They happen w...

liturgy

Dear Lord, I am filled with anger born of frustration

Author

Stanley Hauerwas

Keywords

Scripture

2 Kings 22:11–13, Amos 5:23–24, John 2:13–17, Mark 10:13–14, Romans 12:21, Psalm 4:4

Dear Lord, I am filled with anger born of frustration. I confess I know not whether my anger is of you. I just know I am filled with hope, which makes me angry that others are not so filled. Take away...

series

Lakes and Streams: 1, 2 Kings 5:1-14

Author

Allen Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

2 Kings 5:1-14, Joshua 12:1-3, Joshua 12:1-3, Luke 4:27

For purposes of practicality and relatability, this series considers the Sea of Galilee to be a lake and classifies other fresh or mostly fresh water locations together under the same banner. Th...

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Caught on Camera

Author

Matt Chandler

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 12:14, Genesis 39:6-12 , 2 Kings 5:19-27 , Luke 12:2-3, Psalm 139:1-4, Acts 5:1-11

Several years ago I saw a television show called Caught on Camera . It featured clips of people being secretly filmed doing all manner of horrific things, precisely because they thought they were...

Quote

Author

Aldous Huxley

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 28:10-17, Exodus 3:1-6, 2 Kings 6:15-17 , Luke 24:13-32, 1 Corinthians 13:12, Psalm 119:18

There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.

scripture guide

Scripture Guides, Luke 4:21-30

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 4:21-30, Mark 6:2-3, 1 Kings 17:7-34, 2 Kings 5:

Leaving Home I moved away from my hometown for graduate school when I was just shy of 30. I never went back. When I struck out from home, I lived in cities larger and more diverse than anything I had...

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The Paradox of a Healing God and a Sick World

Author

Andy Reimer

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:25-27, Hebrews 9:27, Romans 8:22-23, John 11:25, Revelation 21:4, 2 Kings 13:14

I believe that it is the paradox between serving a healing God and the persistence of illness and even death that ultimately lies behind most theological debates about divine healing in the Church. ...

blog

Naaman: A Parable of Leadership

Author

Nicholas Rowe

Keywords

Scripture

2 Kings 5:, Hebrews 13:17, 1 Timothy 4:12, Isaiah 30:21, Psalm 32:8, James 1:5

Leadership Trauma is Taking a Toll The word is out. According to Barna, as of March 2022, the percentage of pastors considering quitting full-time ministry within the past year sits at 42 percen...

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The DIfficulty of Grasping the Unsearchable Riches of the Gospel

Author

Jerry Bridges

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 3:8, Exodus 14:21–31, Isaiah 55:1–3 , 2 Kings 4:1–7, Luke 15:11–32, Psalm 23:1–6

Some years ago our pastor told an unusual story about a Southern plantation owner who left a $50,000 inheritance to a former slave who had served him faithfully all his life. That was quite a sum of m...

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An Invitation to Act

Author

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 14:15-16, 2 Kings 5:9-14, Deuteronomy 30:19-20, John 5:1-9, Mark 10:46-52, Psalm 107:19-20

I am struck by all the things Jesus didn’t say or do in response to the litanies of pain and defensiveness he heard from people. Jesus didn’t say to the man, “You sound like a victim to me; what are y...

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A Theology of Interruptions

Author

Christopher H. J. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 18:1–8, 2 Kings 4:8–10 , Ruth 2:10–12, Luke 8:43–48 , Matthew 15:21–28, Psalm 145:8–9

I have a friend who says he wants to write a book on the life of Jesus and call it “a theology of interruptions.” Because, he says, so many of the things that Jesus said or did in the Gospel stories h...

liturgy

Gracious God, you receive us in your gentle arms

Author

Steve Garnaas Holmes

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 61:1-3, 2 Kings 20:1-5, Exodus 15:25-26, Mark 5:25-34, Luke 4:18-19, Psalm 147:3

Gracious God, you receive us in your gentle arms. You anoint us with your healing presence. Help us to be mindful of your mercy, your deep compassion for the wounds of the world, and your willing pres...

lectionary

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 4:21-30, Mark 6:2-3, 1 Kings 17:7-34, 2 Kings 5:

Preaching Commentary Leaving Home I moved away from my hometown for graduate school when I was just shy of 30. I never went back. When I struck out from home, I lived in cities larger and more dive...

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The Kindest Family in America

Author

Mia Levetan

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8 , 2 Kings 4:8–37 , Genesis 50:15–21 , Luke 6:35–36, Matthew 5:4, 7 , Psalm 34:18

In 2021, I heard a story on the radio about the “Kindest Family in America”. As far as I can see, this is the only year Parents magazine awarded such a prize. When I first heard this headline I rolled...

Quote

Author

Oscar Wilde

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 5:10-12 , 2 Kings 5:15-27, Isaiah 55:1-2, Matthew 16:26, Luke 12:16-21 , Psalm 49:6-8

A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

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