John on Health

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Author

Thomas Fuller

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 9:12, James 5:14-15, Psalm 147:3, 3 John 1:2, Isaiah 53:5

Health is not valued till sickness comes.

liturgy

Lord Jesus Christ, You tell us to love

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Isaiah 53:4-5, 1 Kings 19:9-13, John 21:15-17, Psalm 103:2-4, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Pastor: Lord Jesus Christ, You tell us to love one another, for when we do so, we are loving You. People: By Your Spirit, help us love more fervently, to love when love is hard to do, an...

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God invites us into his healing presence

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 15:26, Isaiah 6:10, 3 John 1:2, Psalm 147:3, Jeremiah 17:14, Isaiah 53:5

God invites us into his healing presence with these words: “I am the Lord, who heals you.” Diseased, depressed, dysfunctional, defeated, we come hungering for health that only God can provide. God c...

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Jesus Did This Too

Author

James Martin

Keywords

Scripture

John 1:14, Hebrews 4:15, Luke 8:43-48, Isaiah 53:3-5, Matthew 8:17, John 11:1-44, Psalm 103:13-14

A few years ago, a vicious stomach bug swept through our community. (When you live in a religious community and one person gets sick, it’s just a matter of time before everyone else does too.) And one...

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A Remote Village

Author

Timothy Jennings

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 4:9-10, Romans 8:3, Colossians 1:19-20, 2 Corinthians 8:9, Isaiah 53:4-5, Hebrews 2:14

Imagine a remote village in Africa. No modern Westerner has ever set foot there. The natives live off the land, using the same ancient methods and tools as their forefathers used for the last thousand...

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40 Million People Dechurched in 25 Years

Author

Ian Harber

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 24:12, Hebrews 10:25, John 6:66, Proverbs 18:1, Isaiah 53:6

[R]eliable quantitative research around this has brought some helpful insights to light. Jim Davis, Michael Graham, and Ryan Burge have released the largest study ever done on dechurching in America i...

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Almighty and most merciful Father, we

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Scripture

Psalm 51:1-2, Isaiah 53:6, 1 John 1:9, James 5:16, Romans 3:23-24, Ephesians 1:7

Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws....

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What is Wrong with the World Today?

Author

John Blanchard

Keywords

Scripture

James 4:8, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:10-12, 1 John 1:8, Isaiah 53:6, Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 3:23

“What is wrong with the world today?” a Times newspaper editorial once asked. G. K. Chesterton wrote in reply, “Dear sirs, I am. Yours faithfully, G.K. Chesterton.”

lectionary

Third Sunday of Advent

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 126:, Psalm 126:1, Ezra 3:12, Luke 19:41-44, Isaiah 40:1-5, Malachi 3:1, Isaiah 53:3, John 1:11, Isaiah 53:4, Psalm 22:null, 1 Corinthians 15:20

Advent 2023: Make some noise! Echoes of a Dream AIM commentary Ancient lens What's the historical context? A Song Celebrating the Return from Babylonian Exile The book of Ezra recount...

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The Difference between Success & Fruitfulness

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 17:7-8, Genesis 41:50-52, Isaiah 53:2-3, John 15:4-5, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Psalm 1:1-3

There is a great difference between successfulness and fruitfulness. Success comes from strength, control, and respectability. A successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control o...

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Humanity’s Sinfulness & a Toll Experiment

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 6:5, Jeremiah 17:9 , Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:23, Titus 1:15-16 , Psalm 14:2-3 , Psalm 53:3, Isaiah 53:6; 64:6, John 1:8

There’s a somewhat naïve belief among some that, in general, most people are inherently good. While many Christians may not fully embrace John Calvin’s doctrine of total depravity (which I believe is ...

lectionary

Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

John 1:29-42, Revelation 17:14, Isaiah 52:13-15, Isaiah 53:, Ephesians 6:12

Preaching Commentary Summary of the Text Our lectionary text can be fairly easily broken into two major sections, with verses 29-34 concerned with John the Baptist testifying to Jesus’ ministry and...

liturgy

Hear the good news: For the joy set

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 53:5, Romans 5:8, John 14:27, 1 John 1:9, Colossians 1:13-14

Hear the good news: For the joy set before him, Jesus Christ endured the shame of the cross, taking all our weakness and failure. Jesus went to the cross for the joy of having you as part of God’s Kin...

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Author

G. K. Chesterton

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 5:18, Isaiah 53:6, 1 John 1:8-9, Ephesians 2:1-2, Romans 3:23, Genesis 3:6

The fact [is] that original sin is really original. Not merely in theology but in history it is a thing rooted in the origins. Whatever else men have believed, they have all believed that there is som...

Quote

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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Incarnational Ministry: The Life of Father Damien

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:24, Romans 8:3, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Isaiah 53:4, John 1:14, Philippians 2:6-8

Father Damien was a priest who became famous for his willingness to serve lepers. He moved to Kalawao, a village on the island of Molokai in Hawaii that had been quarantined to serve as a leper colony...

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Lord–Creator, Savior and Sustainer:

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Matthew 5:14-16, Luke 10:25-37, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, John 17:20-21, Isaiah 53:5

Lord—Creator, Savior and Sustainer: You called our names and we answered. When we were lost—You found us. When we were sick—You healed us. When we were blind—You opened our eyes. When we were dea...

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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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His Stigma became His Glory

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

Scripture

Leviticus 13:45-46, Isaiah 53:3-5, 2 Samuel 9:3, 6-7, Mark 1:40-42, Luke 7:37-38, John 20:27

Sociologist Erving Goffman wrote in his classic study Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity that the term stigma originated with the ancient Greeks, roughly during Jesus’ tim...

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The Choreography of Childbirth

Author

Lauren F. Winner

Keywords

Scripture

John 1:14, Isaiah 53:3-5, Luke 2:7, Psalm 22:9-10, Revelation 12:4-5, Genesis 35:16-20

I don’t have the nerve to stand up on Christmas Eve and preach about the choreography of childbirth, but I wish I did. I wish I had the nerve to preach about Mary’s increased estrogen production, a...

Quote

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 18:13-14, Romans 5:8, Mark 2:17, 1 John 1:8-10, Isaiah 53:6, Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 3:23

A recovery of the old sense of sin is essential to Christianity. Christ takes it for granted that men are bad. Until we really feel this assumption of His to be true, though we are part of the world H...

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Living Faith Through Selfless Service

Author

Oscar A. Romero

Keywords

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

God of our hearts, we come to You

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 19:10, Ephesians 2:1-5, Ephesians 2:8-9, Isaiah 53:6, 1 John 1:9, Proverbs 3:5-6

God of our hearts, we come to You admitting that we are lost. In our lives of chaos, we have lost our peace. In our selfishness, we have lost our ability to care for others. In our self-reliance, we h...

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The Shape of Your Pain

Author

Ashley Hales

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 37:23–24, 28, Exodus 3:7–8, Isaiah 53:3–5, John 11:33–35, 2 Corinthians 12:8–10, Psalm 34:18

What is the shape of your pain? Is your pain a gaping wound? Is it stuffed into the back corner of a closet, or is it neatly categorized and filed away with annotations that no one but you understand?...

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An Unlikely Story of Redemption

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

2 Kings 5:1–14, Isaiah 53:4–5, Exodus 15:26, Mark 2:1–12, John 11:25–26, Psalm 103:2–3

David (Yonggi) Cho would go on to lead what is recognized as the largest church in the world (the Yoido Full Gospel Church), but his spiritual journey began far from Christianity. Raised as a Buddhist...

Quote

Author

Irenaeus of Lyon

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 1:26–27, Exodus 19:5–6 , Isaiah 53:4–5 , John 1:14, 2 Peter 1:3–4, Psalm 8:4–5

Because of His measureless love He became what we are in order to enable us to become what He is.

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Mistaking Pretty for Beauty

Author

Barbara Brown Taylor

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 53:2-3, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Lamentations 3:22-23, 2 Corinthians 4:7-10, John 11:35-36, Psalm 34:18

I think the mistake most of us make about beauty is that we expect it to be pretty—to please us with its proportions, its balance, its harmony, its rhyme. If those are your requirements, I doubt I wil...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Psalm 126

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 126:null, Psalm 126:1, Ezra 3:12, Luke 19:41-44, Isaiah 40:1-5, Malachi 3:1, Isaiah 53:3, John 1:11, Isaiah 53:4, Psalm 22:null, 1 Corinthians 15:20

Ancient lens What's the historical context? A Song Celebrating the Return from Babylonian Exile The book of Ezra recounts the return of 50,000 exiles and their entourage from Babylon after Cy...

liturgy

Eternal Life Through Jesus Christ

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 118:26, Isaiah 53:, Zechariah 9:9, Matthew 21:1-11, John 12:12-19

Pastor: Let us pray. Most merciful God, as the people of Jerusalem, with palms in their hands, gathered to greet Your dearly beloved Son when He came into His Holy City, grant that we may ever hail ...

liturgy

The Lord is our Shepherd. He is aware

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 23:1-3, Isaiah 53:5, John 10:11, Romans 5:8, 1 Peter 2:24, Ephesians 1:7

The Lord is our Shepherd. He is aware of our wanton hearts. He has rooted out our sin and reversed its dire consequences upon His cross. The tree of life has become the cross of Christ. Although we ha...

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