Christian Living on Commitments

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What I Can Do

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 18:12-14, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, 1 Peter 4:10, Philippians 4:13, Luke 12:48

Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909), an American Unitarian minister and writer, who lived and worked in Boston, Massachusetts, and inspired many by his story Ten Times One Is Ten : I’m only one, but I ...

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Author

John Calvin

Keywords

Healing

Scripture

Philippians 1:6, Galatians 3:28, John 17:21, 1 Corinthians 12:12, Colossians 1:17-18

It is a promise which eminently deserves our observation that all who are united to Christ and acknowledge Him to be Christ and Mediator will remain to the end safe from all danger, for what is said o...

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Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 4:16, John 15:12-13, Romans 8:38-39, Ephesians 2:19-22, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, John 17:21

The vision that Jesus gives us is this: That I am unconditionally loved, that I belong to God, and that I am a person who can really trust that. When I meet another person who also is rooted in the he...

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Trust and Belonging

Author

Stanley Hauerwas

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 2:42-47, 1 Thessalonians 5:11-15, 1 Corinthians 12:27, Romans 12:4-5, Galatians 6:2

We were created to communicate, to speak truth fully to one another, so that we might be members of one another. To be members of one another means we must learn to trust one another. Trust, like trut...

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Reflecting on Shusaku Endo’s Novel and Film, Silence

Author

Nikki Toyama-Szeto

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:12, Galatians 3:26-28, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, John 13:34-35, Acts 2:42-47, Matthew 28:19-20, James 2:17-18

In Silence, Shusaku Endo writes of the journey of Portuguese Jesuits journeying to Japan. It is a conversation about those who intend to take the path of Jesus, only to find they are on the path of Ju...

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A Professor’s Question

Author

Source Unknown

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, James 2:1-4, Matthew 25:40, Proverbs 17:17, 1 Corinthians 12:26

A college professor met his new class on the first day of school. He stood before the students and gave a nice introduction to the class and about himself. Upon completion of his monologue, he looked...

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A Balancing Act

Author

Sam Metcalf

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 2:24, 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, Ephesians 4:15-16

I remember playing a game as a child in which we would bend one knee and grab our foot behind us and then try to race—limping, stumbling and falling over as we struggled across the grass toward a fini...

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Why Starbucks is so Successful

Author

Donald Miller

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 139:13-16, Isaiah 43:1-4, Luke 15:3-7, Luke 15:11-32, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, 1 John 3:1

Starbucks exploded by not just offering customers a cup of coffee but by giving them a comfortable, sophisticated environment in which to relax. Customers felt good about themselves when they walked i...

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Goodwill or God’s Will?

Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

Keywords

God's Will

Scripture

1 Corinthians 12:4-7, Isaiah 6:8, Romans 12:6-8, Ephesians 2:10, Proverbs 3:5-6, Jeremiah 29:11

A lesson often learned the hard way in each of our spiritual journeys is mistaking goodwill for vocation. Sometimes we feel deeply about an experience we have, whether it be on a mission trip or even ...

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The Prime Sacrament

Author

Martin Luther

Keywords

Baptism

Scripture

Romans 6:3-4, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:27, Colossians 2:12

Baptism is the prime sacrament, the foundation of them all…There are two things which baptism signifies, namely, death and resurrection…We call this death and resurrection a new creation, a regenerati...

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Aesop's Fables: The Power of Unity

Author

Mia Levetan

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 4:12, 1 Corinthians 12:12-21, Ephesians 4:3-16, John 17:21, Galatians 6:2, James 5:19-20

In one of Aesop's familiar fables, an old man has several sons who are always fighting among themselves. He had often, but without success, exhorted them to live together in harmony. One day, he c...

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Author

Dan B. Allender & Larry Crabb

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 18:21–22, Nehemiah 8:1–3, Isaiah 61:1–2, Acts 2:44–47, 1 Corinthians 12:12, 26, Psalm 133:1

The more I understand people and their needs, the more I am persuaded that God has uniquely designed the local church to respond to those needs.

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Changing Direction

Author

Fred Rogers

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:3-4, Galatians 6:2, Matthew 20:26-28, 1 John 3:18, 1 Corinthians 12:25-26

There was a story going around about the Special Olympics. For the hundred-yard dash, there were nine contestants, all of them so-called physically or mentally disabled. All nine of them assembled at ...

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Author

Lesslie Newbigin

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 6:2, Acts 2:42-47, Matthew 22:37-40, Ephesians 4:15-16, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, Genesis 12:3

From its very beginning the Bible sees human life in terms of relationships...The Bible does not speak about "humanity" but about "all the families of the earth" or "all the n...

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Author

Lauren F. Winner

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 3:5-6, Philippians 4:6-7, 2 Corinthians 12:9, James 1:5-6, Hebrews 11:1, Ephesians 4:11-13, 1 Corinthians 12:4-6

Maybe God has given some people belief like a pier, to stand on (and God has given those people’s steadiness to the church, to me, as a reminder, as an aid), and maybe God has given others something e...

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Leader: Arise! Shine! Christ’s Church

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 60:1, Matthew 5:14-16, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, Colossians 1:18, Ephesians 2:19-22, Galatians 6:2, 1 Peter 2:9

Leader: Arise! Shine! Christ’s Church has assembled. People: We are one body, with Christ as our head. Leader: What kind of body is this? People: The Body of Christ, brought together not by huma...

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Christian Love: The Antithesis of Envy

Author

Robert C. Roberts

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:1, Galatians 5:26, 1 Corinthians 13:4, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Philippians 2:3-4

The Christian’s self-understanding is that she is precious before God—however much a sinner, however much a failure (or success) she may be by the standards of worldly comparisons—and that every other...

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Your torture puts hostility to

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 2:14, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Galatians 3:28, 1 Peter 2:24, Romans 5:8

Your torture puts hostility to death Your broken body breaks down every dividing wall Your blood makes us blood What wondrous truth What dazzling grace Bring us near again, Jesus Help us remember an...

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The Mandelbrot Set

Author

Mark Batterson

Keywords

Blessing

Scripture

1 Corinthians 12:4-6, Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 139:13-14, Ephesians 2:10, Romans 12:6-8, Luke 24:50-51

In fractal geometry, there is a complex set of numbers that produces an infinitely intricate shape when plotted on a plane. It’s called a Mandelbrot set, after the founder of fractal geometry, Benoit ...

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Jesus Christ, the love that gives

Author

Hildegard of Bingen

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 3:17-19, Ephesians 5:25-27, John 15:15, 1 Corinthians 12:27, John 1:1-2, Genesis 2:7, Romans 8:11

Jesus Christ, the love that gives love, You are higher than the highest star; you are deeper than the deepest sea; You cherish us as your own family; You embrace us as your own spouse; You rule over u...

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God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – You (A)

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:14-16, John 17:20-23, Galatians 3:26-28, Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, Ephesians 4:4-6

God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – You know what it’s like to be many and one at the same time. In You, we too are many … yet one. You’ve made us _one body—_a single family unified for one purpose;...

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Author

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 1:7, James 5:16, Matthew 18:20, John 15:12-14, Hebrews 10:19-25, 1 Peter 2:9-10, 1 Corinthians 12:25-27, Ephesians 4:1-6, Romans 12:2-8, Galatians 6:1-2, Acts 2:42-47, Colossians 3:11-17, 1 Corinthians 12:12-20, Psalm 133:1, John 13:34-35

Christian community means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. There is no Christian community that is more than this, and none that is less than this.

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God of justice and mercy, we come

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Thanksgiving (General)

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Isaiah 1:17, Matthew 23:23, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 2 Chronicles 7:14

God of justice and mercy, we come before you tonight in humility. We consider the first Thanksgiving meal, a time of celebration and unity, yet our country is filled with division. All too often, we d...

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The Power of the Worldwide Church

Author

Gerald L. Sittser

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 1 Corinthians 12:27, Isaiah 43:2, 1 John 4:7, Romans 12:5, James 5:14-15

It is a phone call no parent wants to receive. “Jerry,” Bethany said, “Catherine’s had a little accident.” “Accident! How bad?” “She’s going to be okay. You want to talk to her? We’re in a kind of am...

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O God, we thank you that you have not

Author

William Barclay

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Colossians 3:23-24, Psalm 119:105, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, Lamentations 3:22-23, 1 Samuel 1:24-28, Acts 2:42-47

O God, we thank you that you have not treated us as we deserve. We thank you that, though you are Creator, Judge and King, you are also Father, so that, though we are wandering children, there is alw...

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Author

Tom Howard

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 2:23-24, Ephesians 4:, 1 Corinthians 12:12-21, 1 Corinthians 14:26-28, 1 Peter 2:1, John 17:21, 1 Corinthians 3:3, 1 Corinthians 12:25, 1 Corinthians 1:11-13, Matthew 12:25-26

Christian disunity is and remains a massive impediment to the gospel itself—the proclamation of which is and should be evangelicalism’s strong suit.

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Playing Second Fiddle

Author

Andy Cook

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 5:5, 1 Corinthians 12:25-26, John 3:30, Galatians 5:13, Ephesians 4:2-3, Mark 9:35, Romans 12:10

An Admirer once asked Leonard Bernstein, celebrated orchestra conductor, what was the hardest instrument to play. He replied without hesitation: “Second fiddle. I can always get plenty of first violin...

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Why They Were Invited

Author

Stanley Hauerwas

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 6:3-4, 1 Corinthians 12:13, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 3:26-27, Ephesians 1:11-14

Peter Storey, the former Methodist bishop and president of the South African Council of Churches, a white man who opposed apartheid, tells a story about a party at which he and Archbishop Desmond Tutu...

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Paul and Onesimus

Author

Melinda Joy Mingo

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 15:7, Matthew 18:21-22, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Romans 12:10, Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:13

One of my favorite Bible illustrations of someone willing to go against the norms of society to befriend another based on love and forgiveness is found in the New Testament book of Philemon. It is a m...

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Even the Little Parts are Necessary

Author

Eunice McGarrahan

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32, Luke 13:18-19, 1 Corinthians 12:, Romans 12:4-8

One could imagine a comparison between a car’s oil drain plug and its electronic ignition system. One is as low-tech (and unimpressive) as could be, while the other is highly sophisticated. But a car ...

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