Christian Living on Practices

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The Meaning of Rituals

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 12:14, Exodus 13:8-9, Joshua 4:6-7, Acts 2:42, Joel 2:15-16

Rituals are procedures or routines that are fused with meaning. Ritual actions include various rites of passage (birth, marriage, death) or calendrical rites (religious holy days, national holidays), ...

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The Threat of the Christians

Author

Michael Frost

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:27, Hebrews 13:2-3, 1 Peter 2:12, Galatians 6:10, Romans 12:13, Acts 2:44-45

The fourth-century emperor Julian (AD 331-336) feared [Christians] might take over the empire. Referring to Christians as “Galileans” and Christianity as “atheism” (because of their denial of the exis...

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Author

Karl Barth

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 8:1-4, Luke 7:36-50, Acts 2:44-47, John 13:12-15, Luke 10:25-37

Grace must find expression in life, otherwise it is not grace.

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The Flow of Abundance

Author

Mark Scandrette

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 19:16-30, Acts 2:42-47

We are meant to be part of the flow of abundance: to open our hands to receive what we need and share what we have with others. Jesus taught his followers to be radically generous when he said: “Sell ...

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Adapted from Acts 2:42-46

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 2:42-46

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread; and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ...

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Eating Together as a Family

Author

Terry A. Smith

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 3:20, 1 Corinthians 10:16, Proverbs 15:17, Isaiah 25:6, Deuteronomy 6:6-7, Acts 2:46, Psalm 128:3

We become who we are in the environment of home. We are shaped by our families. Home is formative. Sociologist Cody C. Delistraty explored the most recent scientific literature for Atlantic Monthly an...

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Prayers of the People, Form I

Scripture

Romans 8:38-39, Acts 2:42-47, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 17:11-19, Psalm 68:19

Deacon or other leader With all our heart and with all our mind, let us pray to the Lord, saying "Lord, have mercy." For the peace from above, for the loving-kindness of God, and for the ...

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The Payoff

Author

Philip Graham Ryken

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 22:19-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Matthew 26:26-28, Acts 2:42, Acts 20:7, John 6:35

If we are honest with ourselves, for many of us who celebrate the sacraments on a regular basis, at times we take them for granted. We lose sight of their nature to inspire and remind us of our covena...

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This Intention

Author

William Law

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:23-24, Matthew 6:33, Psalm 90:12, Romans 12:1-2, Philippians 3:13-14, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Proverbs 16:3, Revelation 2:10, Matthew 5:10-12, Philippians 1:27, Acts 2:42

It was this…intention that made the primitive Christians such eminent instances of piety, that made the goodly fellowship of the Saints and all the glorious army of martyrs and confessors. And if you ...

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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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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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Author

Andrew Murray

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 3:18, Ruth 1:16, Acts 2:42-47, James 2:14-17, Galatians 5:14, John 13:34-35, 1 John 4:20-21

Our love to God is measured by our everyday fellowship with others and the love it displays.

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What is Fellowship?

Author

James I. Packer

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 2:42-47, 1 John 1:3, Hebrews 10:24-25, 1 John 1:7, Romans 12:4-5, Galatians 6:2, 1 Corinthians 1:9

What is meant by fellowship in this verse? Gossip? Cups of tea? Tours? No. What is being referred to is something of a quite different order and on a quite different level. “They met constantly to hea...

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What Keeps us from Experiencing Renewal

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:4-5, 2 Kings 22:23, Isaiah 58:6-7, Psalm 119:105, Matthew 5:17-20 , Acts 2:42-47

There’s a quote by H. Richard Niebuhr that I believe is absolutely true. “The great Christian revolutions,” he argued, “come not by the discovery of something that was not known before. They happen w...

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These Impious Galileans

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 22:37-39, Matthew 25:35-40, Luke 3:11, Ephesians 5:2, Acts 2:42-47, James 2:14-17, Galatians 2:10, Psalm 72:12-14

A passage often referred to in order to describe the sacrificial, countercultural quality of the early church comes to us interestingly enough, from one of its strongest critics, known later to histor...

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Prayers of the People, Form IV

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 2:15, Acts 2:1-41, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 10:25-37, John 11:25-26, Revelation 21:4

Deacon or other leader Let us pray for the Church and for the world. Grant, Almighty God, that all who confess your Name may be united in your truth, live together in your love, and reveal your glo...

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Author

Ambrose Bierce

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 13:34, Ezra 7:10, Acts 2:42, 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, Romans 10:14-15, Luke 4:18-19

HOMILETICS, n. The science of adapting sermons to the spiritual needs, capacities and conditions of the congregation.

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Free us, Lord, from our obsession with

Author

Walter Brueggemann

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 10:25-37, Matthew 16:24, Acts 2:44-45, James 2:14-17, Mark 10:43-45, 1 John 3:17-18, John 13:14-15, Isaiah 58:6-7

Free us, Lord, from our obsession with ourselves long enough to care for others; to be so concerned about the well-being of the human community that me don’t have to worry about our place, our church,...

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The Power of Miracles in the Early Church

Author

Michael Green

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 16:17-20, Acts 14:3, Acts 5:12-16, Romans 15:18-19, John 14:12, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, Acts 2:43, Acts 1:8, Ephesians 1:19-21, Psalm 22:28

One key difference between much of the early church vs. the church of today (at least in the West) was the belief in, and regular experience of, miracles. As Joel Green, the noted professor and writer...

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Three Ways to Make a Salad

Author

Scot McKnight

Keywords

Scripture

1 Timothy 4:4-5, Proverbs 15:17, Acts 2:46, Matthew 5:13, Romans 14:17, Psalm 104:14-15

There are three ways to eat a salad: the American Way; the Weird Way, and the Right Way. The American Way of eating a salad is to fill your bowl with some iceberg lettuce or some spinach leaves, some ...

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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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Invocation of the Holy Spirit

Author

The Northumbria Community

Keywords

Scripture

John 14:26, Acts 9:1-19, Matthew 17:1-8, Isaiah 61:1, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Acts 2:1-4, Acts 2:1-41

Most powerful Holy Spirit, come down upon us and subdue us. From heaven, where the ordinary is made glorious, and glory seems but ordinary, bathe us with the brilliance of Your light like dew.

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We praise and thank you, O Lord, that

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 119:103, Luke 22:19, Psalm 34:18, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Matthew 28:19-20, John 14:16-17, Matthew 6:9-13, Numbers 6:24-26, Matthew 25:36, Psalm 33:12, Romans 8:26, Acts 1:8, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Acts 2:42

We praise and thank you, O Lord, that you have fed us with your Word [and at your table]. Grateful for your gifts and mindful of the communion of your saints, we offer to you our prayers for all pe...

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Living God, Holy Inferno

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 4:4, Exodus 3:1-15, Malachi 3:2-3, Acts 2:1-21, Exodus 13:21, John 1:4-5

Living God Holy Inferno Who revealed yourself as Burning Bush Pillar of Flame Dancing Tongues of Fire Illumine your children, so we may know your will Refine your children, till our souls burn to do...

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The Pastor’s Visit

Author

Source Unknown

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 10:24-25, Psalm 150:1-6, Acts 2:42, Psalm 122:1, Galatians 6:2, Matthew 18:20, Colossians 3:16

The story is told of a man who had gone to church for several years but suddenly stopped attending. His pastor dropped by one evening unannounced. The man answered the door and invited him in. Of cour...

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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...

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Embodying a Decision

Author

Wesley Granberg-Michaelson

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 6:2, Matthew 4:19-20, Hebrews 11:8, Acts 2:37-38, Mark 10:50

Billy Graham had a weekly radio show titled The Hour of Decision. Normally it was a tape recording of the service and message he’d given at a recent evangelistic rally. And at the conclusion of every ...

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Author

Martin Luther

Keywords

Scripture

John 3:5, Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21, Colossians 2:12, Galatians 3:27, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 2:38

Thus, we must regard baptism and put it to use in such a way that we may draw strength and comfort from it when our sins or conscience oppress us, and say: ‘But I am baptized! And if I have been bapti...

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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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Do Christians Live Differently?

Author

Christopher H. J. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 50:20, Leviticus 19:18, Ruth 1:16–17 , John 13:34–35, Acts 2:44–47 , Psalm 133:1

Now of course, none of us is perfect, and all of us fail in all kinds of ways. That is why we often protect ourselves a bit when we say things like, “Don’t look at me, or don’t look at Christians; loo...

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