Arts and Culture on Greatness

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Author

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Our cities’ gleaming spires point to the greatness that mankind can achieve, but also to our hubris.... Urban innovation can destroy value as well as create it.

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What Did Jesus Leave to Grow?

Author

H. G. Wells

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Scripture

Isaiah 9:6-7, Philippians 2:9-11, Mark 1:16-20, Matthew 11:28-30, John 10:10

H.G. Wells, himself an atheist, makes this point about the nature of greatness as it relates to Jesus: A historian like myself, who doesn’t even call himself a Christian, finds the picture centering...

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The Value of a Stradivarius & our Answering our True Calling

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 35:39, Ecclesiastes 9:10, Colossians 3:23, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Psalm 127:1-2

Have you ever heard of a Stradivarius violin? It’s the gold standard of violins—instantly recognizable and famously expensive. These aren’t $29.95 instruments. One sold for $1 million, another for $4 ...

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Adapted from 1 Chronicles 29:10-13

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Scripture

1 Chronicles 29:10-13

Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in h...

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The Magnificat, Luke 1:46b-55

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Scripture

Luke 1:46-55

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty ha...

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Adapted from Psalm 150

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Scripture

Psalm 150:null

People: Praise the Lord in His mighty heavens! Leader: Praise the Lord for His mighty deeds! People: Praise the Lord according to his excellent greatness! Leader: Praise the Lord with trumpet sound...

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Bright Spark, Shot from a Higher Place

Author

Fleming Rutledge

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Scripture

Exodus 24:15-18 , Malachi 3:2-3, Isaiah 6:5-7, Psalm 51:10-12 , 2 Corinthians 3:18, Revelation 22:5

Thus the incomparable George Herbert writes of our glorification in his poem “The Star”: Bright spark, shot from a brighter place, Where beams surround my Saviour’s face, Canst thou be any where ...

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Adapted from Psalm 104

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 104:1, Psalm 104:31, Psalm 104:33

Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord our God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty. May the glory of the Lord endure forever; We will sing to the Lord, all our lives, W...

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Holy God, we forget you are near. We

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Holy God, we forget you are near. We forget that you are everywhere. We are so wrapped up in our own worlds that we cannot see beyond ourselves. God, you are so much greater! Lift up our heads. Lift u...

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Great and gracious God, we have run

Author

Mark Brewer

Keywords

Great and gracious God, we have run after things and others instead of coming home to You. We have lived as though we were the centers of our universe. We have avoided the harder issues in life so o...

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Great and loving God, we know that one

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

Great and loving God, we know that one day all peoples will worship you on your mountain. We struggle to live into that reality. We turn inward, thinking mostly of ourselves rather than giving you glo...

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Titus 2:11-14

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Scripture

Titus 2:11-14

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present ag...

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Adapted from Psalm 86 (ESV)

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Scripture

Psalm 86:null

Leader: Come, let us enter into God's presence. People: Lord, I am here, waiting. Let me hear Your voice; for I am poor, and needy in spirit. Be gracious to me, gladden the soul of Your servant,...

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Adapted from Psalm 96

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Scripture

Psalm 46:null

Leader: Sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord! Bless his name! Proclaim his salvation from day to day! Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works...

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Lord, You are a great and holy God, and

Author

Bud Thoreen

Keywords

Lord, You are a great and holy God, and you have asked us to pursue you as the object of our worship and devotion. But Lord, we have fallen short of what you ask of us, we are a sinful people. We have...

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Adapted from Psalm 48

Author

Austin D. Hill

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Scripture

Psalm 48:null

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised His holy mountain is the joy of all the earth. We have thought on your steadfast love, O God. Walk about Zion, that you may tell the next generation t...

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Holy and gracious God, may your Holy

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Holy and gracious God, may your Holy Spirit give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that, with the eyes of our hearts enlightened, we may know the hope to which Christ has called us, the riches ...

Quote

Author

Iranian Proverb

Keywords

Great needs grow from great possessions.

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Acknowledging the Pain: Thoughts From the Founders Desk

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

This past week I have been at a reunion with college friends (this is the main reason I missed last week's update). It's been significant for a number of reasons. I hope to unpack a few other ...

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Adapted from Ephesians 1:17-19

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Scripture

Ephesians 1:17-19

Lord our God, we pray these same words written in Ephesians may true of us as we come to your Word today, we pray that you might give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation as we come to know you, so th...

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Independence Day to the African Slave

Author

Esau McCaulley

Keywords

When Frederick Douglass asked his famous question, “What to a Slave Is the Fourth of July?,” he didn’t simply ask a question about the United States of America . He asked a question about Amer...

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The Ted Lasso Effect on Bros

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

**Spoiler Alert:**This review contains some minor spoilers about the plot of Ted Lasso . Content Alert: Ted Lasso contains adult themes, sexual content, and strong language. I’ve read at least ...

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Being a Master of Maneuverability

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

The great San Francisco 49ers football coach Bill Walsh, when asked about legendary wide receiver Jerry Rice said, “Rice was considered too slow for NFL greatness.” But, when you studied the film fr...

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Beethoven is Everything

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Scripture

1 Chronicles 29:10-13 , Daniel 2:19-23, Philippians 2:3-11, 1 Corinthians 3:5-7 , Psalm 115:1

The renowned conductor Arturo Toscanini once led a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in London. His mastery and the orchestra’s precision resulted in thunderous applause from the audience. At ...

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One Great Competition

Author

Joan Chittister

Keywords

Everything we do is about winning something or measuring one person against another or garnering goods in great quantity, not because we need them but in order that others can’t have them. We make lif...

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Author

Bernard of Clairvaux

Keywords

We are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical distinction, bu...

Quote

Author

Victor Hugo

Keywords

Man's greatest actions are performed in minor struggles. Life, misfortune, isolation, abandonment and poverty are battlefields which have their heroes - obscure heroes who are at times greater tha...

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ONE MORE LAP!

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 4:7-8, Hebrews 12:1-3, Philippians 3:13-14, Romans 5:3-5, Philippians 1:6

I recently heard a story about a race in which one runner had a significant lead over the rest of the field. As the man rounded the final turn, the crowd roared as he inched closer and closer to the f...

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To Be One of the Great Ones Is Not What It Seems

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

1 Samuel 16:7, Isaiah 53:2, Micah 6:8

For those of us who live in the shadow of self-doubt, who may wonder what meaning a life of relative anonymity may have in a society filled with the cult of celebrity in which likes, reposts, and digi...

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Getting Unstuck with a Grand Gesture

Author

Mark Batterson

Keywords

In 2007, author J. K. Rowling was struggling to finish the final novel, The Deathly Hallows , in her seven-part Harry Potter series. She was feeling stressed, trying to connect the dots in a way ...

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