Romans on Growth

liturgy

Gracious God, you forgive us whenever

Author

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 1:9, Romans 7:15-20, Galatians 5:16-17, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 2:8-9, James 1:22-25, Lamentations 3:22-23

Gracious God, you forgive us whenever we ask, and so we ask you now to forgive all of our sins. We need your grace again, for we often return to the same sins, over and over again. Your Spirit longs t...

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Author

John Stott

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Titus 3:5, Acts 2:38, John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 3:17, Joel 2:13, Galatians 2:20

The new life is not a matter of mere moral reformation, but of spiritual transformation.

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Rewiring Our House is Painful

Author

Ken Costa

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 1:6, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 12:2, Isaiah 40:31, 1 Peter 1:6-7, James 1:2-4

God stretches our faith in order to prepare us to receive his promises. That often requires painful rewiring. We need updating, just as an old house may need rewiring. The old electrical wires might b...

Quote

Author

Andrew Murray

Keywords

Scripture

James 5:15, Philippians 2:12-13, Galatians 2:20, Romans 8:11, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Peter 1:2

The more we allow ourselves to personally experience sanctification by faith, the more we also experience healing by faith. These two doctrines walk together. The more the Spirit of God lives and acts...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Author

Bud Thoreen

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1, 2 Corinthians 4:13-18, 2 Corinthians 5:1, Acts 9:1-18, Hebrews 12:2, Psalm 116:null, Romans 12:2, Colossians 3:9-10

Notes on the Passage Besieged from All Angles: The context of this passage is best summed up with the words recorded throughout the letter: Trouble, Distress, Suffering, Hardship, Death at work, Ja...

Quote

Author

Richard J. Foster

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18, John 15:4-5, Romans 12:2, Titus 3:5, 2 Corinthians 5:17

The needed change within us is God's work, not ours. The demand is for an inside job, and only God can work from the inside. We cannot attain or earn this righteousness of the kingdom of God: it i...

liturgy

Eternal God, we praise You for stepping

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:17, Colossians 3:10, Ephesians 4:22-24, Romans 12:2, 1 Peter 2:21

Eternal God, we praise You for stepping out of eternity to enter this world through Your Son, Jesus. In so doing, You gave us the perfect example for Christian life. You gave of Yourself so that other...

blog

Working with God through Our Work

Author

Kara Martin

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 5:16-17, Colossians 1:17-20

Note from TPW: Kara Martin addresses life in the secular workplace, sharing insights to help you lead your congregations to understand their faith and work and also to bring the Kingdom into your o...

Quote

Author

Curt Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:7, Psalm 37:5, Romans 15:13, Jeremiah 17:7-8, Hebrews 11:1

We are invariably made for faith, to operate out of a need to trust something we cannot control.

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Revelation 21:10, 22:1-5

Author

Gabe Fung

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 21:10, Revelation 21:2, 10, 22-27, Revelation 22:1-5, 1 Kings 6:20, Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 2:9, Genesis 3:23-24, Genesis 1:28, Genesis 2:15, Genesis 3:17-19, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Ephesians 6:5-9, Colossians 3:23, Genesis 1:26-27, Exodus 33:20-23, John 14:9, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3, Mark 15:34, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Exodus 28:15-21, 29-30, John 4:13-14, John 7:37-38, Matthew 27:46, John 3:2, Romans 8:29

Pulling Back the Curtain The Revelation of Jesus Christ is a “pulling back of the curtain” to reveal both the unseen realities of the present (what is really going on in the world from God’s perspect...

Quote

Author

Harold Best

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 1:27, John 15:4-5, Galatians 2:20, Luke 24:13-35, Acts 2:1-4, Romans 12:1, 2 Corinthians 5:17-20

Nonetheless, this singular fact, full to the bursting, remains. It is a fact grounded in infinite outpouring: Christ is in me; I am in Christ. . . . Christ in me is not some narrow, introspective, dis...

illustration

Would Christianity Make My Life Smaller?

Author

Mark Labberton

Keywords

The Kingdom of God

Scripture

Psalm 16:11, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Peter 1:8-9, Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 14:17

When I was considering the possibility of embracing Christian faith as a young college student, what I feared most was that it would make my life smaller rather than larger—less love, less joy, less c...

liturgy

Baptism: Eternal Life in Christ

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 6:3-4, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Colossians 2:12-13, Ephesians 4:22-24 , Galatians 3:26-27 , Titus 3:4-7, Acts 2:38-41

Almighty God, by our baptism into the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ, you turn us from the old life of sin: Grant that we, being reborn to new life in him, may live in righteousness a...

liturgy

We bring before God those times when

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 4:4, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Colossians 3:2, John 15:5, Psalm 51:10

We bring before God those times when God’s Kingdom and love have not shaped our lives, asking to be forgiven and made new. Lord Jesus, too often this week you have only been a small part of our live...

liturgy

Gracious God, we are called to be a

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 51:10-12, Hebrews 4:16, Romans 5:8, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 1:7, Psalm 103:12, 1 John 1:9

Gracious God, we are called to be a joyful people, giving thanks for You and Your good gifts. There are times, however, when sin and sorrow grow, pushing joy to the side. We lose sight of Your grace, ...

Quote

Author

Meister Eckhart

Keywords

The Incarnation

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:17, Colossians 1:27, Romans 8:10, 1 John 3:24, John 14:20, Galatians 2:20

He who abides always in a present now, in him doth God beget His Son without ceasing.

Quote

Author

John Owen

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:11, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 2:20, Ezekiel 36:26-27, John 3:5-6, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Every time we say we believe in the Holy Spirit, we mean we believe that there is a living God able and willing to enter human personality and change it.

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The Adoption of the Grinch

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 1:5-6, Romans 5:8, Galatians 4:4-7, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Hebrews 13:2, Romans 15:7

How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss could be seen as a story of adoption. In the end, the Grinch leaves his cave, takes off his disguise, makes restitution, and opens himself to a new place an...

Quote

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 4:13, 1 Peter 2:9, Colossians 3:10, Hebrews 11:1, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Galatians 2:20, Romans 10:9

We are what we believe we are.

liturgy

O God who will not let us go, we

Keywords

Scripture

John 4:1-42, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Acts 3:1-10, Romans 10:15, Luke 24:31, Deuteronomy 15:11, Psalm 51:10

O God who will not let us go, we confess that we have been so wrapped up in ourselves that have not loved You with our whole hearts, and we have not loved our neighbors as we love ourselves. By Your g...

Quote

Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 6:null, Acts 9:1-19, Ephesians 2:10, 2 Corinthians 5:17, John 8:1-11

Romans 6 shines a bright spotlight on the dangerous half-truth, currently fashionable, that ‘God accepts us as we are.’ Will ‘God’s acceptance’ do as a complete grounding of Christian ethics? Emphatic...

lectionary

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Author

Gabe Fung

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5, Revelation 21:2, 10, 22-27, Revelation 22:1-5, 1 Kings 6:20, Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 2:9, Genesis 3:23-24, Genesis 1:28, Genesis 2:15, Genesis 3:17-19, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Ephesians 6:5-9, Colossians 3:23, Genesis 1:26-27, Exodus 33:20-23, John 14:9, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3, Mark 15:34, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Exodus 28:15-21, 29-30, John 4:13-14, John 7:37-38, Matthew 27:46, John 3:2, Romans 8:29

Preaching Commentary Pulling Back the Curtain The Revelation of Jesus Christ is a “pulling back of the curtain” to reveal both the unseen realities of the present (what is really going on in the wo...

liturgy

Saved by Grace through Faith

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Colossians 2:12, Philippians 2:13, Romans 8:11

Leader: This week may you remember that it is by grace that you’re saved, through faith. It’s not of your own doing—it’s a gift of God through the work of the Holy Spirit. May the same power that rais...

liturgy

Leader: We are people of the

Author

Jacob Traeger

Scripture

1 Corinthians 15:20-22, Romans 6:4, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Psalm 32:5, 1 John 1:8-9, Philippians 4:6-7, Hebrews 13:5-6

Leader: We are people of the resurrection. Witnesses to God’s glorious victory in Jesus Christ, which brings peace and transforms the power structures of this world. But we also know that we live in ...

illustration

The Holy Spirit Births Faith

Author

Tim Chester and Christopher de la Hoyde

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 1:23, Titus 3:5-6, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 8:15-16, 1 John 5:6-8, John 14:15-17, John 7:37-39

Hannah was one of my wife’s work colleagues. She used to love spending time with our congregation, but she found the gospel message just plain weird. We did some Bible studies with her over the summer...

Quote

Author

Blaise Pascal

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 3:13-14, Romans 12:18, Colossians 3:13, James 5:16, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Psalm 147:3

Time heals griefs and quarrels, for we change and are no longer the same persons. Neither the offender nor the offended are any more themselves.

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How Transformation Happens

Author

James Bryan Smith

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 6:11-14, Galatians 2:20, Romans 8:1-2, Colossians 3:3-4, John 8:34-36, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Ephesians 4:22-24, Romans 8:15-16

In The Good and Beautiful God , James Bryan Smith describes a new Christian he happened to know who came to him one day feeling dejected. He was so excited to be a follower of Jesus, but he just co...

illustration

The Gettysburg Address & Identity Formation

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:17, John 1:12, Romans 6:3-4, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Hebrews 10:24-25, 1 Peter 2:9

Why is it that countless American school-children memorize the Gettysburg Address each year? Is it a simple civics lesson? An opportunity to learn about the Civil War, a turning point in American hist...

liturgy

Confession And Renewal In Christ

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 53:5-6, Jonah 3:10-11, Romans 3:23-24, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Psalm 51:10-13

Pastor: Even in our Easter joy, we confess before our gracious God our failings and sin. ( Silence for reflection and personal confession) Pastor: Merciful Father, People: we con...

illustration

Out of the Center

Author

Michael Frost

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 26:3, 2 Corinthians 5:17, John 15:5, Colossians 3:3-4, Luke 9:23, Philippians 2:3-5, Romans 12:1-2

The word eccentric comes from a combination of the Greek terms ex (out of) and kentron (center). When combined, ekkentros means “out of center.” The term gained currency in the late Middle Ages, when ...

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