Isaiah on Humankind

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Scripture

Exodus 3:11-14, Isaiah 6:5-8 , 1 Kings 19:11-13 , John 15:4-5 , Luke 10:38-42 , Psalm 46:10

Historically the West has tended to throw its chief emphasis upon doing and the East upon being. . . . Were human nature perfect there would be no discrepancy between being and doing. The unfallen man...

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Author

Jodi Picoult

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Scripture

Exodus 1:8-22, Job 1:13-22 , Isaiah 40:28-31, 2 Corinthians 4:7-10, Matthew 11:28-30 , Psalm 55:22

The human capacity for burden is like bamboo – far more flexible than you’d ever believe at first glance.

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Author

David G. Benner

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Scripture

Hosea 1:3, Matthew 9:9-13, Psalm 51:, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Isaiah 6:1-8

Far too easily we settle for holiness rather than wholeness, conformity rather than authenticity, becoming spiritual rather than deeply human, fulfillment rather than transformation, and a journey tow...

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Learning Peacemaking Through the Dishes

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

Isaiah 2:4, Matthew 5:9, Romans 12:18, Ephesians 2:14

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks tells a true story in one of his books about peacemaking in what is arguably one of the world's most difficult places to achieve it: the Middle East. One evening in the early ...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Isaiah 65:17-25

Author

C. Hassell Bullock

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Scripture

Isaiah 65:17-25, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Revelation 21:4, Revelation 21:5

Scripture’s proclivity for a new creation Some people have an aversion to describing a future day when the troubles of this world will have passed into oblivion, the kitchen-table expression being “p...

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Author

Shannon K. Evans

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Scripture

Genesis 12:2-3, Isaiah 49:6 , Micah 6:8, Psalm 133:1, John 17:20-21 , Ephesians 2:14-16

We know the Incarnation mysteriously unites all of humankind to God and one another, but so often the lines of Christianity feel like they do nothing but divide us.

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Author

Vicki K. Black

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Scripture

Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2, Genesis 1:1, Psalm 8:3-4, Colossians 1:15-16

“In historical time, Christmas happened over two thousand years ago in Bethlehem; in theological time, Christmas happens now, in the mystery of God choosing to dwell within humankind, a mystery that t...

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Living Faith Through Selfless Service

Author

Oscar A. Romero

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Scripture

Isaiah 53:4-5, 1 Samuel 17:, 1 John 12:24-25, Matthew 16:25, Psalm 116:15

Whoever seeks to avoid danger at all costs may ultimately lose the fullness of life, but the one who, out of love for Christ, dedicates themselves to serving others discovers a life that endures. Arch...

liturgy

Lord Jesus Christ, at your birth the

Author

Chip Hardwick

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Scripture

Luke 2:13-14, Isaiah 9:6, Luke 2:8-20, Proverbs 16:18, John 12:43, Matthew 23:1-12, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, Matthew 5:9, Luke 10:25-37, 1 John 1:9, Psalm 51:10, Luke 22:54-62, Psalm 46:10, Matthew 26:36-46, John 14:13-14

Lord Jesus Christ, at your birth the angels gave glory to God in the highest heaven, and offered peace on earth to all humankind. We struggle to follow the heavenly host. All too often we focus on giv...

liturgy

Creator of heaven and earth, you have

Author

Serapin of Thumis

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Scripture

Psalm 65:9-13, Genesis 1:29-30, Joel 2:23-24, Deuteronomy 28:12, Isaiah 55:10-11, 1 Kings 18:41-45, Leviticus 26:3-4, Psalm 104:13-14, James 5:17-18

Creator of heaven and earth, you have studded the sky with stars and made it bright with lights, enriched the earth with fruits to satisfy our needs, given to humankind the clear light and the shining...

lectionary

23rd Sunday after Pentecost

Author

C. Hassell Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 65:17-25, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Revelation 21:4, Revelation 21:5

preaching commentary Scripture’s proclivity for a new creation Some people have an aversion to describing a future day when the troubles of this world will have passed into oblivion, the kitchen-ta...

lectionary

Third Sunday in Lent

Author

Bud Thoreen

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 13:1-9, Luke 12:51, Job 4:7-9, Matthew 25:31-46, 1 Kings 4:25, Hosea 9:10, Isaiah 34:4, Jeremiah 5:17, Joel 1:7, Matthew 3:10, James 1:22

Preaching Commentary Straight Talk from Jesus Jesus Christ did not mince words. He seems to have always spoken the unvarnished truth, but, I think, with a smile on his face and compassion in his a...

lectionary

Third Sunday of Advent

Author

Austin D. Hill

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Scripture

Zephaniah 3:14-20, 2 Kings 22:, Isaiah 7:null

Check out our video discussion of the text with the author, Austin D. Hill. Click here to view! AIM Commentary Ancient Lens What can we learn from the historical context? Zephaniah’s Context...

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Author

Vinoth Ramachandra

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Salvation

Scripture

Colossians 1:19-20, Matthew 6:10, Isaiah 65:17, Revelation 21:1-4, Romans 8:19-21

[Biblical] salvation lies not in an escape from this world but in the transformation of this world…. You will not find hope for the world in any of the religious systems or philosophies of humankind…....

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Biblical Salvation

Author

Vinoth Ramachandra

Keywords

Salvation

Scripture

Colossians 1:19-20, Matthew 28:18-20, Revelation 21:, Matthew 6:10, Isaiah 65:17, Revelation 21:1-4, Romans 8:19-21

[Biblical] salvation lies not in an escape from this world but in the transformation of this world…. You will not find hope for the world in any of the religious systems or philosophies of humankind…....

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May This Body Nourish Us in Faithfulness

Author

Jake Meador

Keywords

Scripture

John 15:13, Romans 5:8, 1 John 3:16, Matthew 5:9, Micah 6:8, Isaiah 53:5, Hebrews 12:2

At a funeral Mass for a friend of Archbishop Romero who was murdered by the government because of her faith in Christ, Romero invited those present to follow this Lord who died, this God who sacrifice...

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Author

Clayborne Carson, Kris Shepard

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 3:18, Luke 4:18-19, Proverbs 31:8-9, Romans 12:21, Isaiah 1:17

Martin’s [Luther King] voice was more than the communication of intellectual ideals and spiritual vision. It was a call for action, action which he personally led. . . . [Martin] saw leadership as a p...

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Recovering the Heart of Humanity

Author

Adam S. McHugh

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 1:26-27 , Exodus 33:11-23 , Isaiah 43:1-4, John 10:1-15 , Luke 7:36-50, Psalm 139:1-6, 13-16

I am convinced that the scourge of our scientific and technological age is depersonalization. There is a heartbeat pulsating at the center of the universe, giving life and meaning to everything, but o...

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Author

G. K. Chesterton

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 1:3, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 5:8, Isaiah 53:5, Colossians 1:15-16, Philippians 2:6-8, John 1:14

[I]f we chose to project the human figure forward out of an unhuman world, we could only say that one of the animals had obviously gone mad.

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Joining the Human Race

Author

Parker J. Palmer

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 42:3, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Romans 8:22-23, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Hebrews 4:15

As the darkness began to descend on me in my early twenties, I thought I had developed a unique and terminal case of failure. I did not realize that I had merely embarked on a journey toward joining t...

liturgy

You have wonderfully created us, O God, and yet more wonderfully

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Scripture

Philippians 2:, Isaiah 7:14, Luke 2:1-20, Matthew 1:, Colossians 3:10, 1 John 3:1, 2 Corinthians 5:17

You have wonderfully created us, O God, and yet more wonderfully restored the dignity of human nature. Allow us to share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesu...

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Author

Jonathan Edwards

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Scripture

Psalm 28:7, Isaiah 12:3, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 37:4, Romans 37:4, Romans 15:13

God created man for nothing else but happiness.

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Serbian proverb

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Scripture

Philippians 2:5-7, James 1:9-10, Proverbs 16:19, Daniel 12:3, Isaiah 66:2, 1 Corinthians 15:47

Be humble because you are made of earth. Be noble, for you are made of stars.

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Creation Continued

Author

Albert N. Wolters

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 3:9, Romans 8:19, Matthew 5:14, Isaiah 65:21-22, Psalm 8:6, Genesis 2:15, Genesis 1:28

The earth had been completely unformed and empty; in the six-day process of development God had formed it and filled it—but not completely. People must now carry on the work of development: by being f...

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People are the Key to Organizational Change

Author

Rich Karlgaard and Michael S. Malone

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 12:1, James 1:5, Philippians 1:6, 2 Corinthians 4:16, Romans 12:2, Isaiah 55:8-9

Here is the uncomfortable truth: Humans run to a much slower evolutionary clock than our inventions. To use an engineering term, we are the “gating factor” that keeps a process from running faster. It...

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Author

Lewis Smedes

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 103:12, Isaiah 1:18, Micah 7:18-19, 1 John 1:9, Ephesians 1:7, Romans 5:8

God invented forgiveness as the only way to keep his romance with the fallen human family alive.

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Author

Charles Hodge

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 1:26-27, Psalm 8:3-5, Isaiah 43:1, Luke 15:1-7, Romans 5:8

We could search the world over, but we could not find a man so low, so degraded, or so far below the social, economic, and moral norms that we have established for ourselves that he had not been creat...

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Warped Wood & Crooked Timber

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 18:1-6, Isaiah 64:8, Genesis 6:5-6, Romans 7:18-25, Philippians 3:12-14 , Psalm 51:10-12 , Romans 3:23

The recognition of humanity's flawed nature is not exclusive to Christianity. Aristotle, in his work Ethics , compares human nature to a warped piece of wood. To rectify this warp, a skilled ...

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Modern Man

Author

Tom Howard

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 5:13, John 8:36, Isaiah 30:1, Proverbs 14:12, Genesis 3:6-7

Modern man is “a bleak business…To our chagrin we discover that the declaration of autonomy has issued not in a race of free, masterly men, but rather in a race that can be described by its poets and ...

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The Paradox of Technology

Author

Andy Crouch

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 11:1-9 , Exodus 32:1-6, Isaiah 44:9-20 , Matthew 4:1-4 , 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, Psalm 20:7

Here is the heart of the paradox: Technology is a brilliant, praiseworthy expression of human creativity and cultivation of the world. But it is at best neutral in actually forming human beings who ca...

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