Lamentations on Surprise

liturgy

The God we worship is steady and faithful

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

Lamentations 3:22-23, Isaiah 55:8-9, Jeremiah 1:5, 1 John 4:19, Psalm 139:7-10, Psalm 42:11, 2 Corinthians 12:9

Leader: The God we worship is steady and faithful; People: Yet He continues to surprise us. Leader: Before we ever knew about God. People: He knew us and loved us. Leader: Even if we are...

liturgy

Almighty God, you have surprised us

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 55:8-9, Matthew 13:44, Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 139:7-10, 1 John 1:9, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Luke 2:1-20, John 4:7-26, John 21:1-14, Luke 24:13-35, Matthew 17:1-8, Luke 2:25-38, Luke 1:35-38, Hebrews 13:2, Isaiah 43:19

Almighty God, you have surprised us with your presence in unexpected ways. In the expectations of our routine, we have missed the treasure that you place before us. We come to worship you in community...

Quote

Author

Gayle Somers

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 55:8-9, Ephesians 3:20-21, Romans 5:8, Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 103:10-12

All the cards in the deck of revelation about God’s mercy and kindness are stacked in favor of the unthinkable.

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Author

Rainer Maria Rilke

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 23:4, Philippians 3:13-14, Lamentations 3:22-23, Isaiah 43:2, 2 Corinthians 4:16-17, Psalm 30:5, Romans 5:3-5

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.

Quote

Author

John Greenleaf Whittier

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 37:39–50 , Lamentations 3:22–23 , Ruth 1:4, Luke 7:36–50, 2 Corinthians 4:16–18, Psalm 126:5–6

“God pity them both! and pity us all, Who vainly the dreams of youth recall; For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’ Ah, well! for us all some...

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The Fire of Fairy Tales

Author

G. K. Chesterton

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 1:31, Romans 1:20, Psalm 118:24, Job 38:4, Lamentations 3:23

This elementary wonder, however, is not a mere fancy derived from the fairy tales; on the contrary, all the fire of the fairy tales is derived from this…. We all like astonishing tales because they to...

Quote

Author

Charles Wesley

Keywords

Mercy

Scripture

Psalm 86:5, Isaiah 55:7, Lamentations 3:22-23, Ephesians 2:4-5, 1 Timothy 1:15-16, Micah 7:18

Depth of mercy! Can there be Mercy still reserved for me?

Quote

Author

George Herbert

Keywords

Scripture

Hosea 14:7, Jeremiah 31:25, Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 23:3, Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 51:10, Ezekiel 36:26

Who would have thought my shrivel’d heart Could have recovered greenness?

Quote

Author

Emily Dickinson

Keywords

Scripture

Habakkuk 2:3, Romans 12:12, James 5:7-8, Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 130:5, Lamentations 3:25-26

To hope means to be ready at every moment for that which is not yet born, and yet not become desperate if there is no birth in our lifetime.

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The Mandelbrot Set

Author

Mark Batterson

Keywords

Blessing

Scripture

1 Corinthians 12:4-6, Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 139:13-14, Ephesians 2:10, Romans 12:6-8, Luke 24:50-51

In fractal geometry, there is a complex set of numbers that produces an infinitely intricate shape when plotted on a plane. It’s called a Mandelbrot set, after the founder of fractal geometry, Benoit ...

Quote

Author

Ruth Haley Barton

Keywords

Scripture

1 Kings 19:4–13, Lamentations 3:19–26, Isaiah 40:28–31, Matthew 11:28–30, 2 Corinthians 12:7–10, Psalm 42:5–11

One of the dangers of living in a constant state of distraction is that we never go to the bottom of our pain, our sadness, our emptiness, which means we never find that rock-bottom place of the peace...

Quote

Author

Thomas Fuller

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:12, Psalm 77:11, Ecclesiastes 12:1, Lamentations 3:21-23, Psalm 103:2

Leftovers in their less visible form are called memories. Stored in the refrigerator of the mind and the cupboard of the heart.

Quote

Author

Jennie Allen

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 11:1, Romans 15:13, Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 5:3-5, Lamentations 3:21-23

Doubt steals hope. And with no hope, everything that matters doesn’t feel as important anymore.

liturgy

Overcoming Fear with God's Love

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 43:1-3, Lamentations 3:22-23, Hebrews 10:22-23, 2 Timothy 1:7, Psalm 27:1-3

Heavenly Father, we have forgotten your generosity and kindness. Believing you hold back from us, we have held back from others and from you. Gracious God, hear our confessions , and make us mindfu...

liturgy

Loving God, you show us grace and

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Hebrews 12:28, Ephesians 2:4-5, Colossians 3:13, Lamentations 3:22-23, Luke 15:11-32, Jonah 3:1-10

Loving God, you show us grace and mercy, again and again and again. You shower gifts on us that we could never earn, and you are slow to punish us when we most deserve it. All too often, we forget to ...

Quote

Author

William Stringfellow

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 23:39-43, Romans 4:18-21, Luke 15:11-32, Lamentations 3:22-24, Romans 8:24-25

Hope is reliance upon grace in the face of death: the issue is that of receiving life as a gift, not as a reward and not as a punishment; hope is living constantly, patiently, expectantly, resiliently...

lectionary

Second Sunday of Advent

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 40:1-11, Lamentations 1:2, Lamentations 1:9, Lamentations 1:17, Lamentations 1:21, Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:2-3, Luke 3:4-6, John 1:23

Advent 2020: Tear Down the Heavens Comfort My People Updated & expanded for 2023 AIM commentary Ancient lens What's the historical context? Longing created by exile While crise...

Quote

Author

Robert Ingersoll

Keywords

Hope

Scripture

Psalm 33:18, Jeremiah 17:7-8, 1 Peter 1:3, Isaiah 40:31, Lamentations 3:22-23

Hope is the only bee that makes honey without flowers.

illustration

New Mercies Each Day

Author

Paul David Tripp

Keywords

Mercy

Scripture

Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 103:17-18, 2 Corinthians 4:16, Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 23:3, Romans 8:38-39

One of the stunning realities of the Christian life is that in a world where everything is in some state of decay, God’s mercies never grow old. They never run out. They never are ill timed. They neve...

liturgy

God’s mercies are new every morning

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Lamentations 3:22-23, Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 30:5, Isaiah 43:18-19, 2 Corinthians 5:17

God’s mercies are new every morning. When all hope seems lost, God continues to act. God will see us through. Friends, believe the good news today: In Jesus Christ, our sins have been forgiven. Than...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Isaiah 40:1-11

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 40:1-11, Lamentations 1:2, Lamentations 1:9, Lamentations 1:17, Lamentations 1:21, Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:2-3, Luke 3:4-6, John 1:23, Lamentations 1:2, Isaiah 40:null, Isaiah 40:3, Mark 1:14, Isaiah 40:1-11

Ancient lens What's the historical context? Longing created by exile While crises seem innumerable in the OT, none could compare to the crisis of exile. Babylon, in 587 BC, destroys the city ...

liturgy

jobs concluding, stages finishing

Author

Ted Loder

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 43:18–19, Lamentations 3:22–23, John 12:24, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 4:4–5, Psalm 40:1–3

jobs concluding, stages finishing, grieving over, grudges over, blaming over, excuses over. O God, grant me your sense of timing. In this season of ...

illustration

Is There Any Hope?

Author

Charles R. Swindoll

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 29:11, Psalm 42:5, Romans 15:13, Isaiah 41:10, Lamentations 31:21-23, Hebrews 6:19, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Years ago an S-4 submarine was rammed by a ship off the coast of Massachusetts. It sank immediately. The entire crew was trapped in a prison house of death. Every effort was made to rescue the crew, b...

Quote

Author

J. R. R. Tolkein

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 29:11, Lamentations 3:21-23, 1 Peter 1:3-4, Psalm 27:13-14, Isaiah 40:31

It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. (Spoken by Galadriel)

illustration

Is there any Hope?

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Job 14:7-9, Isaiah 40:31, Lamentations 3:21-23 , Romans 5:3-5, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, Psalm 130:5-6

In his book The Grand Essentials , Ben Patterson recounts the story of an S-4 submarine that sank off the coast of Massachusetts, leaving its entire crew trapped inside. Despite numerous rescue a...

illustration

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...

illustration

Staying Alive

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 40:30–31, Lamentations 3:22–23, 1 Kings 19:11–13, James 5:10–11, 2 Corinthians 4:16, Psalm 92:12–14

An Irish Catholic priest, returning to his old parish in the warmth of spring, was delighted to spot an elderly man he had long known. “Pat!” he called out cheerfully. “You’re still with us—I’m glad t...

illustration

The Same Old Baloney

Author

Kent Crockett

Keywords

Change

Scripture

2 Corinthians 13:5, Proverbs 26:11, Psalm 139:23-24, James 1:22-25, Lamentations 3:40, Romans 12:2

Two construction workers had taken a lunch break and opened up their lunch boxes. One of them looked inside his box and said, “Not baloney again! I can’t believe it. I hate baloney. This is the third ...

Quote

Author

Tertullian

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:14-16, Romans 8:24-25, Hebrews 10:23, Psalm 27:13-14, Lamentations 3:25-26

Hope is patience with the lamp lit.

Quote

Author

Lewis B. Smedes

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 10:36, Habakkuk 2:3, Psalm 37:7, James 5:7-8, Lamentations 3:25-26

Waiting is the hardest work of hope.

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