Arts and Culture on Trouble

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Psalm 20:1-5, "In times of trouble"

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Scripture

Psalm 20:1-5

In times of trouble, may the Lord answer your cry. May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm. May he send you help from his sanctuary and strengthen you from Jerusalem. May he remem...

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Author

Jerome Bruner

Keywords

Stories

Stories are about the vicissitudes of human intention. Trouble is what drives the drama.

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We ask you, Lord and master, to be our

Author

Clement of Rome

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 46:1, Matthew 5:3-4, Isaiah 61:1, James 4:10, Psalm 145:14

We ask you, Lord and master, to be our help and support. Save those in trouble; have mercy on the humble; raise the fallen; reveal yourself to the needy; heal the ungodly; return the wanderers of your...

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Father God: It is sometimes hard for us

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Father God: It is sometimes hard for us to understand what You do. We are in trouble. We want You to come rescue us right now, like the cavalry riding over a hill or the Lone Ranger appearing out of n...

liturgy

Prayers of the People, Form VI

Scripture

Luke 15:11-32, Psalm 51:10, 1 John 1:9, Psalm 103:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, John 17:21, Ephesians 4:3-6

The Leader and People pray responsively In peace, we pray to you, Lord God. Silence For all people in their daily life and work; For our families, friends, and neighbors, and for those who are...

liturgy

Almighty God–Father, Son and Holy, You Tell

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Psalm 136:1, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Isaiah 40:31

Almighty God–Father, Son and Holy Spirit: You tell us to pray with thanksgiving...and we do; giving thanks for Your daily provision and care, for the birth of a child, for new jobs and new friends, fo...

liturgy

Adapted from Psalm 9

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 9:null

Leader: But the LORD is enthroned for ever; he has set up his throne for judgment. People: The LORD will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in time of trouble. Leader: Sing praise to the LORD...

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We bring before you, O Lord, the

Author

Anselm of Canterbury

Keywords

We bring before you, O Lord, the troubles and perils of people and nations, the sighing of prisoners and captives, the sorrows of the bereaved, the necessities of strangers, the helplessness of the we...

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Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems

Author

Randy Alcorn

Keywords

At the airport, Hugh Maclellan Jr. saw an acquaintance who looked troubled. “What’s the matter?” Hugh asked. The man sighed. “I thought I was finally going to have a weekend to myself. But now I have ...

illustration

The Stalker

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 13:6, Matthew 7:15-16, Matthew 10:28, Ephesians 6:12, 1 Peter 5:8, 2 Corinthians 11:14, Proverbs 14:12

Editor’s Note: This story is often told as a true story, when in fact it is probably fictitious. Nevertheless, there is a significant illustrative point: sometimes the things we fear most may in fact ...

liturgy

Inspired by Psalm 10:1-7

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 10:1-7

Leader: Heavenly Father, I confess that I have sinned against you. I have delighted my soul in other things more than I have in you. Why, then, is it any surprise to me that you feel far off from me? ...

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Heavenly Father, we confess that we too often

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 43:1, 1 Peter 2:9, Matthew 25:31-46, Isaiah 6:1-8

Heavenly Father, we confess that we have too often forgotten that we are Yours. At times, we live our lives as if there was no God and we fall short of being who You created us to be. We have lived fo...

liturgy

Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

1 Timothy 2:1-2, Micah 6:8, Psalm 24:1, Matthew 25:35-40, Revelation 21:3-4

Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit: You taught us to pray not only for ourselves but for people everywhere, so now hear us as we pray for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord...

illustration

When Helping Hurts: An American in the Philippines

Author

Duane Elmer

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 28:26, Proverbs 3:5-6, Proverbs 14:12, Philippians 2:3-4, John 9:2-3

An American woman visiting the Philippines, observed an elderly woman on the outskirts of Manila. She looked poverty-stricken and walked with the help of a cane down into a ditch alongside a main road...

Quote

Author

Brother Lawrence

Keywords

We must do our business faithfully; without trouble or disquiet, recalling our mind to GOD mildly, and with tranquility, as often as we find it wandering from Him.

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Racial Division in America

Author

Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith

Keywords

While I was sitting at a stoplight a few blocks from my [Emerson’s] home in Minneapolis, reflecting on the recent rash of drive-by shootings in the area, three African-American teens clad in the urban...

Quote

Author

J. K. Rowling

Keywords

Money

As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.

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Stuck in Deadline Mode

Author

Carl Honoré

Keywords

Of course, speed has a role in the workplace. A deadline can focus the mind and spur us on to perform remarkable feats. The trouble is that many of us are permanently stuck in deadline mode, leaving l...

liturgy

Adapted from Psalm 107

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 107:null

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east...

liturgy

Inspired by Proverbs 15:1-16

Author

Dustin Ray

Scripture

Proverbs 15:1-16

Pastor: O wise and wonderful God, in our quick temper and selfish pride, we have not followed your example—you are slow to anger, abounding in love, and show steadfast faithfulness to your children. ...

liturgy

Prayer for our Country

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:5, 1 Timothy 2:8, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Proverbs 29:2, 2 Chronicles 7:14

Modern Language Version Almighty God, who has given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly ask that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of your favor and glad to do your will. Bles...

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Mr. Average Man

Author

Hal Donaldson

Keywords

In 1965 Billy Graham wrote a bestselling book titled World on Fire. In it, he wrote, “Mr. Average Man is comfortable in his complacency and as unconcerned as a silverfish ensconced in a carton of disc...

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Separate But Unequal

Author

John M. Perkins

Keywords

Segregation

Desegregation was one of the big goals of the civil rights movement. “Separate but equal” in the South became “separate and unequal.” The disparities were in things as small as water fountains and as ...

illustration

How Hurry Sick Are You?

Author

Tim Chester

Keywords

In The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness , Tim Chester has come up with twelve diagnostic questions to determine if and how much we’ve become sick with “hurry sickness.” “Do you regularly work ...

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No Food, No Riot

Author

Charles Duhigg

Keywords

I had been in Iraq for about two months when I heard about an officer conducting an impromptu habit modification program in Kufa, a small city ninety miles south of the capital. He was an army major w...

illustration

Jesus from a Strange, Foreign Country

Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

Culture

For most of us, Jesus’s world is a strange, foreign country. I don’t mean just the Middle East, a major international trouble spot then as now. I mean that people in his day and in his country thought...

illustration

Justice is Personal

Author

Andy Crouch

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:40, Leviticus 19:15, Galatians 3:28, James 2:8-9, Amos 5:24, Micah 6:8, Isaiah 1:17

When did the topic of justice become important to you?” Gideon Strauss posed that question to two dozen people crammed into our living room one fall evening in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Some of us wer...

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Born Again Bodies and Christian Weight-Loss

Author

Liuan Huska

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 1 Timothy 4:8, Matthew 6:25, 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, John 9:1-3, 1 Timothy 4:8

In recent decades, many Christians have tried to make sense of the tension between our bodies and spirits by swinging to the opposite pole. Instead of saying, “The body doesn’t matter,” they have said...

liturgy

Adapted from Psalm 6 and “Morning Needs” in The Valley of Vision

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 6:null

Pastor: “O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. All: “My soul also is grea...

liturgy

Abba – Father: Because of Your love and

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6, Psalm 23:1-4, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Philippians 4:6-7, Jeremiah 29:11

Abba – Father: Because of Your love and strength, we trust You … believing You are faithful, true and gracious. Thank You for coming into our world when we could not and would not come to You. You wal...

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