Christian Living on Relationships

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Jesus, Lord—because you took on flesh,

Author

Scripture

Isaiah 53:4-5, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Romans 12:15, 1 Peter 5:7, Psalm 34:18, Hebrews 4:15-16

Jesus, Lord—because you took on flesh, You know what it’s like to be us. You know what keeps us awake at night, or yanks us out of sleep in the early morning. You know what it’s like to have good days...

liturgy

Gracious God, we are called to be a

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 51:10-12, Hebrews 4:16, Romans 5:8, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 1:7, Psalm 103:12, 1 John 1:9

Gracious God, we are called to be a joyful people, giving thanks for You and Your good gifts. There are times, however, when sin and sorrow grow, pushing joy to the side. We lose sight of Your grace, ...

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Finding a Private Relaxation Activity

Author

Stephen W. Smith

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 23:1-3, Psalm 62:1, Matthew 11:28-30, Hebrews 4:9-10

In his highly insightful work, Inside Job , Stephen W. Smith shares the importance of finding ways to rest and relax as part of a healthy, balanced life: I once read a book in which the author sa...

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God’s Inexhaustible Mercies

Author

Paul David Tripp

Keywords

Mercy

Scripture

Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 103:17-18, 2 Corinthians 4:16, Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 23:3, Romans 8:38-39, Hebrews 4:16

One of the stunning realities of the Christian life is that in a world where everything is in some state of decay, God’s mercies never grow old. They never run out. They never are ill timed. They neve...

liturgy

Father: Thank You for always being

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Psalm 34:14, Luke 15:20, Hebrews 4:14, Romans 6:4, Acts 1:8, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Psalm 25:4-5, Matthew 11:28-30, Isaiah 41:10, John 14:13, James 1:5, 2 Corinthians 9:8, Habakkuk 3:2, Isaiah 6:8, Matthew 28:19-20

Father: Thank You for always being ready to welcome us and listen to us. Thank You for sending Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Savior: born like us, experiencing all that we experience yet sinless, who d...

liturgy

Lord and God, Father of our Lord Jesus

Author

C. Hassell Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 22:37-39, Ephesians 1:17-18, Colossians 1:19-20, 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, Romans 5:8, Hebrews 4:15

Lord and God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have only begun to comprehend the wonder of the Incarnation, that you in Christ would become one of us, that you in Christ would live among us and be ...

liturgy

Forgive us for our many sins. Like Eve,

Author

Barbara Duguid

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 3:23-24, Hebrews 4:15=-16, Psalm 51:10-12, Philippians 3:13-14

Forgive us for our many sins. Like Eve, we are easily captivated by the objects that our eyes desire. We fall so often, and when we do, we run and hide in shame instead of running to you to confess ou...

liturgy

Adapted from the Parable of the Sower

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 13:18-23, Jeremiah 17:8, Colossians 3:16, Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 119:11

Pastor: “Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what wa...

liturgy

Adapted from Hebrews 4:12-13

Author

Charles Teixeira

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 4:12-13

Leader: The word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the hea...

Quote

Author

Karl Barth

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 4:19, Psalm 46:1-2, Romans 5:6-8, Isaiah 41:10, Hebrews 4:16, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Matthew 14:13-21

Total need requires total help

liturgy

Adapted from Hebrews 4:14-16

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 4:14-16

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with o...

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Writing out our Faith

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 15:4, Isaiah 55:11, Hebrews 4:12-13, 2 Peter 1:19-21, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 24:35

We all desire to learn from our role models, but some take this ambition to the next level. The writer Hunter S. Thompson was so obsessed with the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and specifically his...

Quote

Author

Julian of Norwich

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 37:23-24, Hebrews 4:15-16, Isaiah 1:18, Micah 7:18-19, Romans 8:38-39

Our courteous Lord does not want his servants to despair because they fall often and grievously; for our falling does not hinder him in loving us.

liturgy

Jesus, we bless you and honor you for

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 10:46-52, Hebrews 4:16, Acts 2:1-4, Romans 5:5, John 6:1-14

Jesus, we bless you and honor you for your unending mercy, a flood of grace, pouring out and spilling over. We receive your mercy. We receive your blessings and pray for the Holy Spirit to make them r...

liturgy

Heavenly Father, we come before you as

Author

Charles Teixeira

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 119:105, John 10:27, Hebrews 4:14-16, Romans 8:26-27, Lamentations 3:22-23, Ephesians 2:4-5, 1 Samuel 3:1-10

Heavenly Father, we come before you as beggars in need of your voice. As we lift up our thoughts, songs, and prayers, we lean in to hear how you would speak back to us. We yearn to hear the voice of J...

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The Reason He Never Shared His Vision

Author

William H. Willimon

Keywords

Scripture

John 3:19-20, Luke 5:8, Isaiah 6:5, Hebrews 4:13, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Hebrews 12:29, James 1:22

I am still haunted by a long conversation I had with a man who was a member of one of my early congregations. . . . He had a stunning vision of the presence of the risen Christ . . . [and] had never t...

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My Jesus Mercy

Author

Brian Loritts

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 18:13-14, Psalm 51:1, Ephesians 2:4-5, Titus 3:5, 1 Peter 1:3, Hebrews 4:16

Al Capone, the most notorious gangster in American History, had these three words etched on his tombstone: “My Jesus Mercy”

Quote

Author

Richard Plass and James Cofield

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 4:15-16, James 5:16, Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 147:3, Romans 8:28, Psalm 34:18

What often continues to shape our stories (interpretations) are the implicit emotional responses to our wounds. We must be willing to attend to our wounds and address the emotions embedded in our woun...

Quote

Author

Frederick Buechner

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 4:10-11, Matthew 26:26-28, Hebrews 4:15, Romans 12:1

The Christian faith always has to do with flesh and blood, time and space, more specifically with your flesh and blood and mine, with the time and space that day by day we are all of us involved with,...

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An Invitation

Author

Dallas Willard

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 62:1, Isaiah 30:15, Romans 12:2, Galatians 5:1, John 15:4, Hebrews 4:9-10

He invites us to leave our burdensome ways of heavy labor—especially the “religious” ones—and step into the yoke of training with him. This is a way of gentleness and lowliness, a way of soul rest. It...

Quote

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 51:6, Hebrews 4:13, Luke 12:2-3, 2 Corinthians 4:2, Psalm 32:5, Proverbs 28:13

The strangest thing happens when what we have most wanted to conceal is brought into the open. We don’t die. Instead, we often begin to heal.

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The Crucial Bridge in the 10 Commandments

Author

Walter Brueggemann

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 20:3-7, 12-17, Deuteronomy 5:12-15, Mark 2:27-28, Matthew 12:8, Luke 6:5, Hebrews 4:9-10, Isaiah 58:13-14

Interpretation series editor Patrick Miller has shrewdly observed that the fourth commandment on Sabbath is the “crucial bridge” that connects the Ten Commandments together. The fourth commandment loo...

Quote

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Proverbs 24:16, James 1:12, Philippians 3:13-14, Psalm 103:13-14, Hebrews 4:15-16, Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 18:1-8, Exodus 16:, Mark 5:25-34, Romans 5:3-5

God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them.

blog

A Tale of Two Sermons

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Preaching

Scripture

Hebrews 4:12

August 2018 Recently I had the opportunity to preach at a church located in a residential neighborhood in a large U.S. city. I actually preached two weeks in a row, both on the same topic, both in t...

liturgy

Lord, you tell us in your word that

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 4:16, Isaiah 1:18, Romans 3:23-24, Psalm 51:1-2, Psalm 32:5

Lord, you tell us in your word that when we know the good we ought to do and fail to do it, we are in sin. Can we truly know the extent of our need for your grace? Are we conscious of the multitude of...

Quote

Author

Ashley Hales

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 33:14, Isaiah 30:15, Isaiah 46:10, Mark 6:31, Luke 10:41-42, Hebrews 4:9-10

In the story of grace, the lack of hurry makes room for presence.

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Brother Lawrence and Trusting God in Failure

Author

Ryan Bundrick

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 12:9, Isaiah 40:29, 2 Corinthians 3:5, Hebrews 4:16, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:6-7

Brother Lawrence, a 16th-century Carmelite monk, spent his days scrubbing pots and mending shoes. Largely uneducated, he filled his free time writing letters and notes that, after his death, friends g...

liturgy

As we call ourselves to worship, let us

Author

C. Hassell Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 10:17, Psalm 95:6-7, Philippians 2:6-8, Hebrews 4:15, Matthew 4:1-11, Isaiah 53:5

As we call ourselves to worship, let us remember that our God is an awesome God, who in Jesus Christ has lived in our flesh, faced our temptations, gone to cross for, and lives today in heaven. In thi...

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Drawing From the Infinite Well of Joy

Author

Eunice McGarrahan

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 4:16, 2 Corinthians 12:9, 1 Peter 5:10, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Revelation 2:10

In Jonathan Kozol’s book, Amazing Grace , he tells of the struggles and sufferings of people in a community in the Bronx, New York. He is amazed at the courage and resilience he found there. He then ...

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I am a Christian

Author

Christian Wiman

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 15:39, Hebrews 4:15, John 11:35, Luke 22:44, Psalm 22:1, 2 Corinthians 4:8-10, Isaiah 53:5

I am a Christian because of that moment on the cross when Jesus, drinking the very dregs of human bitterness, cries out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? . . . The point is that he felt huma...

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