Christian Living on Secularism

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40 Million People Dechurched in 25 Years

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Matthew 24:12, Hebrews 10:25, John 6:66, Proverbs 18:1, Isaiah 53:6

[R]eliable quantitative research around this has brought some helpful insights to light. Jim Davis, Michael Graham, and Ryan Burge have released the largest study ever done on dechurching in America i...

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Author

Sam Allberry

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Genesis 3:, Philippians 2:6-8, Romans 5:8, Isaiah 53:5-6, 2 Corinthians 5:21

The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to ...

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Existential Brokenheartedness

Author

Austin Fischer

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1 Peter 1:6-7, Habakkuk 1:2-3, John 16:33, 2 Corinthians 4:17, Isaiah 53:3, Psalm 22:1, Romans 8:18

In this short excerpt, pastor and author Austin Fischer describes a surprising dynamic that sometimes occurs in the life of a Christian: believing so strongly in a loving God that one cannot fathom th...

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Author

Stanley Hauerwas

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Matthew 11:28-30, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Romans 5:8, John 13:14-15, Isaiah 53:3-5, Matthew 20:26-28, 1 John 4:9-10

Only the one true God can take the risk of ruling by relying on the power of humility and love.

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Most holy God, we continuously lose

Author

C. Hassell Bullock

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Ephesians 2:8-9, Lamentations 3:22-23, John 1:14, Isaiah 53:5, Psalm 46:10

Most holy God, we continuously lose sight of your sovereign rule over our world and in our lives, and our failing vision obscures every aspect of our lives. So we come to you for grace. Forgive us for...

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Where are the Nails?

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Deuteronomy 13:1-3, 1 Kings 22:19-23, Isaiah 53:3-5, Matthew 24:23-25, John 20:27, Psalm 34:18, John 20:25, 1 Corinthians 1:23; 2:2, Galatians 1:8-9

St. Martin of Tours was a Frankish soldier in the Roman army who abandoned his military post to follow Jesus at a time when Christianity had only begun to take root in France. He later became the bish...

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Author

Charles Colson

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Scripture

Galatians 2:20, James 1:2-4, Isaiah 53:5, Romans 8:28, Matthew 16:24-25

It is not what we do that matters, but what a sovereign God chooses to do through us. God doesn't want our success; He wants us. He doesn't demand our achievements; He demands our obedience. T...

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Author

N. T. Wright

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Scripture

Revelation 5:9-10, Matthew 26:53-54, Isaiah 53:10, John 19:11, 1 Corinthians 1:18, Romans 5:6-8, Colossians 1:19-20

The point is this. If you want to know what it means to talk about God being ‘in charge of’ the world, or being ‘in control’, or being ‘sovereign’, then Jesus himself instructs you to rethink the noti...

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Author

G. K. Chesterton

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Scripture

John 19:38-42, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 6:4, Acts 2:24, Colossians 2:12, Isaiah 53:9, Luke 24:6-7

They took the body down from the cross and one of the few rich men among the first Christians obtained permission to bury it in a rock tomb in his garden the Romans setting a military guard lest there...

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Why a Colt and Not a War Horse?

Author

Mia Levetan

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Scripture

Zechariah 9:9, Isaiah 53:3–5, Exodus 12:1–28, Matthew 21:1–11 , Luke 22:24–27, Psalm 118:25–26

I heard a woman named Veda Gill who is the Executive Director, Presbyterian Education Board in Pakistan preach on a Palm Sunday. Perhaps you’ve heard this story before, but it is so powerful that I th...

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Lord–Creator, Savior and Sustainer:

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Matthew 5:14-16, Luke 10:25-37, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, John 17:20-21, Isaiah 53:5

Lord—Creator, Savior and Sustainer: You called our names and we answered. When we were lost—You found us. When we were sick—You healed us. When we were blind—You opened our eyes. When we were dea...

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Author

Augustine of Hippo

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Scripture

John 3:16-17, Numbers 21:4-9, 1 Peter 2:24, Isaiah 53:5, Numbers 21:8-9, John 3:14-15

The Jews looked upon a serpent to be freed from serpents; and we look upon the death of Christ to be delivered from death.

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Author

William Barclay

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Matthew 20:28, Philippians 2:5-8, John 13:14-15, Mark 14:36, Isaiah 53:7, Matthew 14:13-21, Luke 7:1-10

He did not desire to dominate men; He desired only to serve men. He did not desire His own way; He desired only God’s way.

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God of our hearts, we come to You

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

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Scripture

Luke 19:10, Ephesians 2:1-5, Ephesians 2:8-9, Isaiah 53:6, 1 John 1:9, Proverbs 3:5-6

God of our hearts, we come to You admitting that we are lost. In our lives of chaos, we have lost our peace. In our selfishness, we have lost our ability to care for others. In our self-reliance, we h...

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My Part in my Salvation

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

Isaiah 53:6, Genesis 3:8–9, Hosea 11:7–9, Ephesians 2:8–9, Luke 15:4–7, Psalm 23:6

The 19th and 20th century Canadian-American pastor Harry Ironside once told a story of a new Christian who gave his testimony during a church service. Beaming with joy, the man spoke of how God had re...

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God of Grace–Father, Son, and Holy

Author

Richard Herman

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Scripture

Psalm 62:8, Isaiah 53:4-5, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Matthew 28:18-20, James 1:5

God of Grace–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: You are good and You are almighty. You alone are worthy of our faith and trust and so we come to You with our hopes and hurts, our disappointments and dreams...

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Almighty and most merciful Father, we

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Scripture

Psalm 51:1-2, Isaiah 53:6, 1 John 1:9, James 5:16, Romans 3:23-24, Ephesians 1:7

Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws....

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May This Body Nourish Us in Faithfulness

Author

Jake Meador

Keywords

Scripture

John 15:13, Romans 5:8, 1 John 3:16, Matthew 5:9, Micah 6:8, Isaiah 53:5, Hebrews 12:2

At a funeral Mass for a friend of Archbishop Romero who was murdered by the government because of her faith in Christ, Romero invited those present to follow this Lord who died, this God who sacrifice...

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I am a Christian

Author

Christian Wiman

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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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Preference for the Christ-Child Over the Cross

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Luke 19:10, Luke 2:7, John 19:18, Philippians 2:8-9, Isaiah 53:5, 2 Corinthians 5:17

In the sixteenth century, Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci journeyed to China, bringing religious art to share the Christian story with those unfamiliar with it. The Chinese readily embraced images of t...

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The Cross Set-Apart

Author

Dan Baumgartner

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Scripture

1 Corinthians 1:18, Isaiah 53:3-5, Matthew 27:45-46, Romans 5:8, Luke 24:6-7, Romans 6:4, 1 Peter 1:3, Ephesians 1:7

Our church has a large open field next to it, with a tall wooden cross in the middle– perhaps 15-feet high or so. I love that cross. I’m always struck by its isolation, abrupt in the midst of land wi...

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St. Matthew’s Passion: Not Theater But Prayer

Author

N. T. Wright

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Scripture

Philippians 2:8, John 12:32, Isaiah 53:4-6, Luke 23:39-43, Hebrews 12:2

Another example struck me forcibly during the 2014 season of Promenade Concerts in the Albert Hall in London. (The “Proms,” as they are known, make up a major annual festival, offering world-class mus...

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What Are We Grasping For?

Author

N. T. Wright

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Scripture

John 11:35, Romans 8:26, Psalm 42:3, Isaiah 53:3, Matthew 26:38

Our culture is afraid of grief, but not just because it is afraid of death. That is natural and normal, a proper reaction to the Last Enemy. Our culture is afraid because it seems to be afraid of the ...

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Jesus and Iron Man

Author

Casey Clark

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Scripture

Numbers 21:4-9, Isaiah 53:, John 3:14-15 , Matthew 12:38-41, Psalm 107:23-32

The symbol of judgment and death, the serpent, is lifted up as Israel’s symbol of life. Jesus draws this parallel for us in John, hinting toward the way the tool of Roman execution, the cross, will be...

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Using Aslan to Explain the Gospel

Author

Scott McKnight

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Scripture

Colossians 2:15, Acts 2:24, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Isaiah 53:5, John 10:27-28

If I am asked to break the gospel and a gospel culture down into simple statements, I would borrow imagery from the man from Northern Ireland, from Belfast, C. S. Lewis. From The Lion, the Witch and t...

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Author

Dane C. Ortlund

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 53:7, John 13:5, John 11:33-35, Mark 10:13-14, Luke 8:44-48

In the one place in the Bible where the Son of God pulls back the veil and lets us peer way down into the core of who he is, we are not told that he is “austere and demanding in heart.” We are not tol...

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Humble

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Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:5-8, Luke 2:6-7, Isaiah 53:2-3, John 13:4-5, Hebrews 2:14-17, Luke 22:27, Mark 10:42-45

Humble. Before Jesus, almost no pagan author had used “humble” as a compliment. Yet the events of Christmas point inescapably to what seems like an oxymoron: a humble God. The God who came to earth ca...

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O Lamb of God, you take away the sin of

Author

Irenaeus of Lyons

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 7:17, Ephesians 1:7, 1 John 2:2, Hebrews 9:14, Isaiah 53:7, Revelation 5:12

O Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, look upon us and have mercy on us; you who are yourself both victim and priest, yourself both reward and redeemer. Keep safe from all evils those who...

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Reading the Bible: Examining Each Leaf

Author

R. C. Sproul

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 22:1–19, Exodus 3:1–15 , Isaiah 53:, Luke 15:11–32, Psalm 23:, Romans 5:6–11

Martin Luther said that every Christian ought to read the Bible from cover to cover every year. But, likening the Bible to a forest, he also said that reading the Bible doesn’t become really enjoyable...

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Author

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 53:4-6, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 8:1-3, Colossians 1:19-20, Exodus 12:1-30, Leviticus 16:, John 18:28-19

In Christ as sacrifice, God our judge is judged in our place, reveals our perpetration of and collaboration with sin, ends our rebellion, forgives our guilt, cleanses us, makes us righteous, and estab...

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