James 4:3, 1 John 5:14, Matthew 6:8, John 15:7, Isaiah 55:8-9, Luke 11:11-13
Have you ever thought to yourself, "I'm glad I'm not God!" Too much responsibility! In the 2003 movie "Bruce Almighty," Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey) gains God’s divine powers b...
How good it is to center down! To sit quietly and see one’s self pass by! The streets of our minds seethe with endless traffic; Our spirits resound with clashing, with noisy silences, While some...
Many of us may have wondered what types of prayers Jesus would have prayed during his time on planet earth. In his book Praying with the Church , Scot McKnight notes that Jesus and his disciples,...
Deuteronomy 1:6, Isaiah 40:11, Proverbs 3:5–6, Matthew 19:14, John 10:27–28, Psalm 23:1–3
Be kind to Your little children, Lord; that is what we ask of You as their Tutor, You the Father, Israel’s guide; Son, yes, but Father as well. Grant that by doing what You told us to do, we may achie...
1 Samuel 17:45–47, Isaiah 41:10, Matthew 8:23–26, Acts 16:25–26, 2 Corinthians 4:8–9, Psalm 3:1-7a, 8
Leader: Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me,“ God will not deliver him.” People: But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my he...
1 Kings 19:11-13 , Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 , Isaiah 30:15 , Luke 10:38-42, Matthew 6:6, Psalm 46:10
But it’s not so simple, that sort of “quiet hour”. It has to be learned. A lot of unimportant inner litter and bits and pieces have to be swept out first. Even a small head can be piled high inside wi...
James 5:13-16, Philippians 4:6, Colossians 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Matthew 26:41, Romans 12:12, Ephesians 6:18, Matthew 6:9-13, Matthew 5:44, 1 Timothy 2:8, Luke 6:27-28, Luke 11:1-4, Mark 6:9-13
Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work.
Deuteronomy 6:16 , 1 Kings 18:20-40, Job 1:20-22, Matthew 4:5-7, John 20:24-29, Psalm 73:1-3, 16-17
Nine-year-old Leo Tolstoy , convinced God would help him fly, dove headfirst out a third-floor window and had his first major crisis of disappointment with God. Fortunately, Tolstoy survived the cr...
Genesis 18:22-33 , 1 Kings 3:5-14, Daniel 6:10-23, Matthew 6:9-13 , Luke 18:1-8 , Psalm 119:9-16
When our will wholeheartedly enters into the prayer of Christ, then we pray correctly. Only in Jesus Christ are we able to pray, and with him we also know that we shall be heard. And so we must learn ...
Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:1-2, Deuteronomy 6:6-9 , Matthew 4:4, Luke 10:38-42, Psalm 119:15-16
As fundamental a step as we can take . . . is learning to meditate on Scripture—learning first to hear God’s word, and let it inform and take root in us. This may be extremely difficult, for the churc...
Micah 6:8, Isaiah 58:6-12, Matthew 25:31-46, Romans 12:1-2, Psalm 34:14-18
Pastor: Let us turn in prayer to our God who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. We pray for the Church, marked with the sign of the cross, as we begin the jour...
Isaiah 55:8-9, Micah 6:8, Matthew 6:9-13, Romans 8:26-27, Psalm 23:
Pastor: Friends in Christ, I urge you all to lift up your hearts to God and pray with me as Christ our Lord has taught us and freely promised to hear us. People: Our Father, who art in heave...
Isaiah 9:6-7, Micah 5:2, Luke 2:8-20, Matthew 2:1-12, Psalm 9:1-2
O come, Emmanuel. Ignite in us the awe of a child, Looking into a manger scene As we wait on the promise Of the coming infant King In a humble stable. TO LIGHT THEIR WAY
Genesis 1:1-5, Job 37:6-13, Matthew 5:16, Luke 2:8-14, Psalm 147:8
O God, Creator of all seasons, We thank You for the wonder of winter. As the earth is blanketed with soft snow, Help us to feel the warmth Of Your embrace. As ice coats bare branches, Glittering...
Matthew 14:22-33, 1 John 4:18, Romans 12:2, Luke 10:25-37 , Matthew 5:43-48, Philippians 4:6-7
Gracious God, we come before you with humility, recognizing that doubt has led our decisions. We have allowed fear to lead, rather than love. Because of this, we have been unkind to our families, ou...
Matthew 9:27-30, Matthew 8:5-13, James 5:16-18, Mark 11:22-24, Matthew 4:28-31
Agnes Sanford relates how, as the young wife of an Episcopal minister, her child came down with a serious ear infection. It lasted for six weeks while she prayed fearfully and fruitlessly. Then a neig...
Leader: Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; People: for his steadfast love endures forever! Leader: Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: People: ...
Pastor: O God, You desire not the death of sinners, but rather that we turn from our evil way and live. We come before You, although we have sinned and deserve only Your wrath; yet we flee to Your m...
Psalm 118:25a, John 8:31-59, Zechariah 9:9, Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:8-11, Luke 19:36-44, John 12:16-19
Pastor: Heavenly Father, as Your Son humbled Himself for our salvation, give to each of us and to every member of Your Church a confident faith in Christ’s Passion for us, so that during this Holy W...
Psalm 118:26a, 25a, John 12:12-19, Zechariah 9:9, Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:8-11, Luke 19:36-44, John 12:16-19
Pastor: O Lord, with the Palm Sunday crowd, we cry to You this day: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” People: “Hosanna! Save us, we pray, O Lord!” Pastor: Save us, ...
Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19), Hosea 1:2-10, Luke 11:1-13, Psalm 85:, Matthew 18:23-35, Colossians 3:13, James 1:2-3
Context Jesus’ lesson on prayer in Luke’s gospel comes not in the context of a longer sermon (as with Matthew’s parallel in the Sermon on the Mount), but rather in response to a request from one of h...
John 14:14, Luke 11:9-13, Matthew 21:21-22, Matthew 7:11
Lord Jesus Christ, you have said to us “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” We admit those times when we fail to ask you for good things – that it can be easier to trust you wit...
Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered toget...
John 8:12, Jeremiah 32:17, Matthew 19:26, Isaiah 55:8-9, Romans 12:15, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Psalm 119:10-11
God of Love and Lord of Hope: Nothing is too difficult for you ...while so much is beyond our abilities to understand, to do, and to care for. Therefore we turn to You knowing that you do all things w...
God our Father, Lord our Shepherd, Spirit of the Living God, One in Three … and Three in One: We praise You our Creator, Savior, and Provider. By Your grace, we lack nothing. You feed us in body...
Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered toget...
I’m not the first to say it, but Jesus is an absolute genius. I remembered this yet again in a recent conversation with a Christian leader with whom I meet regularly. We were talking about how one of ...
Psalm 22:null, Mark 15:34, Matthew 27:46, Psalm 30:5
What is “Good” about Friday? For the work-a-day world in the United States of America, Fridays are good. TGIF, “Thank God It’s Friday!” is an interjection we use to convey relief that the work week i...
Psalm 22:null, Hebrews 10:16-25, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, John 18:1-19:42, Psalm 22:, Mark 15:34, Matthew 27:46, Psalm 30:5
Preaching Commentary What is “Good” about Friday? For the work-a-day world in the United States of America, Fridays are good. TGIF, “Thank God It’s Friday!” is an interjection we use to convey reli...