Thought Exercise on Community Service

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Pursuing the Common Good in Community

Author

Keywords

In 2017 Rebekah Morris was teaching English and journalism at Cross Keys High School, a public high school in Atlanta. Noticing that her students had really important, insightful things to say about t...

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Atheist Community?

Author

Justin Brierley

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 14:1, Ephesians 4:18-19

Part of the problem was that the atheist movement had primarily rallied around what it was against —religion. Consequently, it had struck a negative tone ever since its inception. Aware of this, ...

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Missional Ministry: Crossing to the Other Side of the Street

Author

Leonard Sweet

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 18:1-8 , 2 Kings 4:1-7, Micah 6:8, Luke 10:25-37, Mark 10:45, Psalm 82:3-4

Leonard Sweet shares an interesting story in the introduction to Neil Cole’s book, Organic Church , about a parish pastor who lived in a Scottish village near Edinburgh called Davidson’s Mains. ...

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Sarah Smith of Golder's Green

Author

Eunice McGarrahan

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 3:18, Mark 10:43-45, Colossians 3:12-14, 1 Peter 4:10, Galatians 5:13

One of the most powerful expressions of humble, servant-like caring for others is found in C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce , in the character of Sarah Smith of Golders Green. Her quiet life of love tra...

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Knowing God’s Will Will Pack the House

Author

Dallas Willard

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 26:36-39, Acts 16:6-10, 1 Kings 3:5-14, Isaiah 6:1-8, Matthew 6:9-13

Within the Christian community this leads to a prominence of teaching on the will of God and how to know it. Russ Johnston draws upon his own wide experience to remark how this continues to be one of ...

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The Origins of “Servant Leadership”

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:5-8, Mark 10:45, John 13:3-5, 12-15 , Matthew 25:21, Colossians 3:23-24, Matthew 6:3-4, 1 Peter 5:5-6

The Swiss-German novelist Hermann Hesse published a short story in 1932 called "Journey to the East." In it, a group of men go on a long journey. Throughout their trip, they are accompanied ...

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The Success of Every Culture Hinges…

Author

Philip K. Howard

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 16:14, Romans 12:10, Hebrews 13:16, Galatians 6:10, Titus 3:2

The success of every culture hinges not on big points of morality—there will always be issues like abortion or school prayer over which people differ—but on smaller values, like being considerate of o...

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Pursuing the Common Good Throughout History

Author

Don Everts

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 22:39, Philippians 2:3-4, 1 Corinthians 10:24, Romans 15:1-2, Galatians 6:10, Romans 12:10, Acts 20:35, Matthew 25:35-40, Isaiah 58:6-7, Proverbs 19:17, Luke 10:30-37, James 2:15-16, 1 John 3:17, Proverbs 31:8-9, Matthew 25:40, Acts 11:29-30, 2 Corinthians 8:13-15, Acts 2:44-45, Acts 4:32-35, 1 Corinthians 12:25-26

Pursuing the common good has been a strong marker of the Christian church from the very beginning. The early church had many habits that they became known for, of course—including meeting frequently, ...

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The Philanthropist's Tomb

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:34-40, Luke 10:25-37, Isaiah 58:6-7, Proverbs 11:25, James 1:27, Acts 9:36-42, Hebrews 6:10, Matthew 5:16

John Howard (1726-1790) was a British philanthropist and reformer who, based on his Christian convictions, dedicated his life to the improvement of hospital conditions and prison reform. On his tomb...

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A People is Made by Making

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Scripture

Exodus 25:, Exodus 26:, Exodus 27:, Exodus 19:5-6, Exodus 35:21-29, Ezra 3:8-13, Ezra 6:13-22, Nehemiah 2:17-18, Nehemiah 4:6, 1 Corinthians 3:9, Exodus 35:

The Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in his book The Home We Build Together , points out to the reader that in scripture the description of the creation of the universe in Genesis is given a mere thirty-fou...

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To the Roofs

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Joshua 1:9, Psalm 27:1, Ezekiel 22:30, Nehemiah 4:13-14, John 1:5, John 15:13, Romans 12:1, Isaiah 61:4

On the evening of October 15, 1940, London experienced one of the fiercest attacks of the Blitz. A total of 480 German aircraft dropped approximately 386 tons of high explosives and 70,000 incendiary ...

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A Reservoir or a Canal?

Author

Bernard of Clairvaux

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 23:5, John 7:38, John 15:5, 2 Corinthians 9:8

The man who is wise, therefore, will see his life as more like a reservoir than a canal. The canal simultaneously pours out what it receives; the reservoir retains the water till it is filled, then di...

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Disconnected from the Vine

Author

Sharon Hodde Miller

Keywords

Abiding in Christ

Scripture

Matthew 23:1-12, Isaiah 29:13, Matthew 7:21-23

Christianity can be such a pretty faith. God calls us to wonderful things, to noble deeds, and to be a people of love. We are meant to be kind, joyful, brave, and good. These are attractive qualities ...

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The Importance of Tattoo Removal

Author

Jill Carattini

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 5:10, Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 4:4-7, Philippians 3:7-14

Father Greg Boyle, founder and director of Homeboy Industries in East Los Angeles, has put together a team of physicians trained to remove the tattoos of ex-gang members. The Service is crucial for th...

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The Danger of Service Alone

Author

Thomas Merton

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:3-8, Colossians 3:23-24, Mark 10:42-45, 1 John 4:19, Luke 10:38-42

The fact that our works are done in the service of God is not enough, by itself, to prevent us from losing our interior life if we let them devour all our time and all our strength. Work is good and n...

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What Trees Can Teach us About Good Neighborhoods

Author

Don Everts

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 1:null

There is a paradigm shift going on in the realm of forestry. For years there had been a consensus among ecologists that all trees were independent operators, each tree an island unto itself, the fores...

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She Didn’t Want to Go

Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

There is an old cliché from the Boy Scout movement in which three Scouts report that they had helped an old lady across the road. “Why did it take three of you?” asks the Scoutmaster. “Because,” they ...

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Small Acts of Beauty

Author

Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice

Keywords

In their excellent book on reconciliation, Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice share a story about how small acts of beauty, done well, can lead to reconciliation: A friend told us of visiting a very ...

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The Community Held Him

Author

Richard Plass and James Cofield

Keywords

Suffering

My first recollection of real suffering occurred when I (Rich) was about eight and my uncle had died of leukemia. When Uncle Art finally succumbed, my parents brought me along with two of my sisters t...

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Performing the Lowliest Task

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

Sometimes service means doing routine tasks even if we could have someone else do them. There is a story about Abraham Lincoln – possibly apocryphal but certainly in character – that a cabinet member ...

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The Causes (& Solutions) of Poverty are Complex

Author

Timothy Keller

Keywords

Poverty

The poverty of an inner-city neighborhood like Sandtown was not initially the product of individual irresponsible behavior or family breakdown. A complex range of structural factors led to the exclusi...

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Experiencing Joy and Sorrow as a Black Man

Author

Jonathan Walton

Keywords

In 2008, I felt like an American for the first time because I saw a leader who looked like me. All my life I hoped my education and accomplishments would free me from the history of my skin color as i...

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Smoke Machines in Worship?

Author

Manuel Luz

Keywords

My teenage son, Justin, had been invited to an area church by a friend. Since he had grown up as a PK (pastor’s kid) and had never been to a megachurch like this before, I wondered what impression it ...

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The Giving Path

Author

John M. Templeton Jr

Keywords

In More Give to Live, Dr. Douglas Lawson provides evidence that the urge toward generosity begins early in life. He describes a continuum that he calls the “Giving Path.” This path begins with parents...

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Of Life that is More than Eating and Drinking

Author

Alexander Schmemann

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 2:42-47, Acts 20:7, Luke 24:30-31, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, Luke 14:15-16

Numerous modern thinkers have noted the spiritual nature of eating meals in community. I wonder if this is why “Sunday Brunch” is such a popular alternative to attending church services. The Orthodox ...

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You Never Know Who’s Listening

Author

William Rowley

Keywords

Lee Strobel tells an amazing story about the power of the Holy Spirit to act apart from our own knowledge. Well, one average and routine day I was packing up my briefcase and getting ready to leave ...

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Power is for Service

Author

Spiritual Disciplines

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 22:27, Matthew 23:11, Philippians 2:5-7, Galatians 5:13, John 13:14-15, Mark 10:45

The way most of us serve keeps us in control. We choose whom, when, where and how we will serve. We stay in charge. Jesus is calling for something else. He is calling us to be servants. When we make t...

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Service over Glory

Author

Chris Stroup

Keywords

When Pearl Harbor was bombed, one of the Americans who volunteered to serve his country was Bob Feller. Bob was a 23-year-old pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, a phenomenon who had already pitched a ...

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An Attitude of a Servant

Author

Millard Erickson

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:3, Romans 12:10, Colossians 3:12, Galatians 5:13, 1 Peter 4:10, Matthew 23:11-12

What he [Jesus] was attempting to instill in his disciples was the attitude of a servant: humility and a willingness to put others ahead of oneself. In that culture, washing the feet of others would s...

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Learning Humility on a Mission Trip

Author

Phillip Yancey

Keywords

Scripture

2 Samuel 7:18-19, Isaiah 66:2 , Matthew 23:11-12, Philippians 2:3-4 , Luke 18:9-14, Psalm 51:17

The priest Henri Nouwen learned humility on a mission trip to South America. He went expecting to pass on his wisdom to the poor and unenlightened. During his six-month stay, Nouwen concluded that a d...

thought exercise on Community Service

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