Christian Living on Trials

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Skin is Meant to be Touched

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 9:21-22, James 5:14-15, Jeremiah 17:14, Isaiah 53:5, Psalm 147:3

Brenda Peterson is an author whose work crosses multiple genres, including fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books. In an essay entitled In Praise of Skin, Peterson shares a true story from her own ...

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Author

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

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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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Mercy and Minivans

Author

Jen Wilkin

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Scripture

Romans 3:23-24, Isaiah 53:5, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:24, Galatians 3:13

My husband, Jeff, is an excellent driver. He has never had an accident, excepting two incidents in high school which hardly bear mentioning— Several years ago, I was driving across town to get to a sp...

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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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Adapted from “The Precious Blood” in The Valley of Vision

Author

Arthur Bennett

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Scripture

Psalm 51:1-2, Luke 23:39-43, Luke 15:11-32, Ephesians 2:4-5, Romans 5:8, Isaiah 53:5

Leader: Blessed Lord Jesus, before your cross I kneel and see the heinousness of my sin, my iniquity that caused you to be made a curse, the evil that provokes divine wrath. All: Show me the enormit...

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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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Where are the Nails?

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

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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As we call ourselves to worship, let us

Author

C. Hassell Bullock

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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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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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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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Dear Lord, I pray that You would open

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Scripture

John 12:1-8, Acts 9:1-19, Luke 24:13-35, Isaiah 53:5, Philippians 2:6-8, Hebrews 12:2

Dear Lord, I pray that You would open my mind to the truth of Your Word by means of the Holy Spirit. Open my eyes to see Jesus. Open my heart to love Him more and more. Open my will to do only that wh...

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Hear the good news: For the joy set

Author

Jacob Traeger

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Scripture

Isaiah 53:5, Romans 5:8, John 14:27, 1 John 1:9, Colossians 1:13-14

Hear the good news: For the joy set before him, Jesus Christ endured the shame of the cross, taking all our weakness and failure. Jesus went to the cross for the joy of having you as part of God’s Kin...

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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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Everyone’s Guilty

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 17:9, Isaiah 53:6, Romans 7:18-19, Proverbs 28:13, James 5:16

A few years ago, HBO released a gritty (surprise!) crime drama called True Detective . The show starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as the two detectives responsible for catching a serial...

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Lord and God, you know what we are

Author

C. Hassell Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 51:3-4, Romans 8:34, Isaiah 53:4-5, Hebrews 7:25, Lamentations 3:22-23

Lord and God, you know what we are about to say in prayer, you know what we ought to say, and even what we need to say but cannot. Our sins trouble us, though they don’t trouble us as much as they sho...

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God so loved the world, that he gave

Author

Joseph E. McCabe

Keywords

Scripture

John 3:16, Isaiah 53:5-8

God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our...

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Almighty and most merciful God, we have

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Scripture

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

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

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Author

Oswald Chambers

Keywords

Forgiveness

Scripture

1 John 2:2, Hebrews 10:10, Colossians 1:13-14, Ephesians 1:7, Isaiah 53:5

We trample the blood of the Son of God if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only explanation for the forgiveness of God and for the unfathomable depth of His forgetting i...

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Adapted from Isaiah 53:2-7

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 53:2-7

Pastor: For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised ...

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Author

William S. Stoddard

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24, Hebrews 12:2, Romans 5:8, Colossians 3:13, Luke 23:34

Forgiving the unforgivable is hard. So was the cross: hard words, hard wood, hard nails.

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Author

James H. Aughey

Keywords

Healing

Scripture

James 5:15, Exodus 15:26, 1 Peter 2:24, Luke 4:18, Matthew 9:12, Isaiah 53:5

Christ is the Good Physician. There is no disease He cannot heal; no sin He cannot remove; no trouble He cannot help. He is the Balm of Gilead, the Great Physician who has never yet failed to heal all...

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Playing the Part in Oberammergau

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Scripture

Exodus 20:3, Isaiah 53:4-6, Matthew 16:24, John 19:17, Psalm 22:14

An American businessman went to Oberammergau to witness the famous passion play, just before the outbreak of World War II. Enthralled by this great drama that depicts the story of the cross, he went b...

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Author

Malcolm Muggeridge

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Scripture

1 Corinthians 1:18-25, Isaiah 53:3-5, John 12:32-33, Colossians 2:13-15, Mark 15:39

Precisely how a man nailed to a cross 2,000 years ago, who claimed to be the Son of God, came to signify reality, in contradiction to the sawdust men of destiny with their fraudulent wars and revoluti...

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O Lamb of God, you take away the sin of

Author

Irenaeus of Lyons

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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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Author

Stanley Hauerwas

Keywords

Scripture

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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Jesus, our Great Physician, our sins

Author

Charles Teixeira

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 5:21-43, Mark 2:17, Luke 5:31, Matthew 9:12, Isaiah 53:5, Psalm 147:3, 1 Peter 2:24

Jesus, our Great Physician, our sins have brought wounds on ourselves and others. Heal our hearts first, that we would no longer desire the sins that have only brought us and others pain. Go on to hea...

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May Jesus Christ who chose the path of

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

John 10:17-18, Philippians 2:8, Isaiah 53:5, Romans 5:8, 2 Corinthians 12:9

May Jesus Christ, who chose the path of crucifixion and death for us and for all, strengthen you and save you. Amen.

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God invites us into his healing presence

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 15:26, Isaiah 6:10, 3 John 1:2, Psalm 147:3, Jeremiah 17:14, Isaiah 53:5

God invites us into his healing presence with these words: “I am the Lord, who heals you.” Diseased, depressed, dysfunctional, defeated, we come hungering for health that only God can provide. God c...

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Who Should Minister to the Suffering?

Author

John Piper

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 4:17-18, Isaiah 53:3-4, Psalm 34:18, James 1:2-4, Romans 8:18, Hebrews 2:18

A Chinese Christian who heard me speak once asked me if I would write a tract about suffering for his fellow believers in the Orient. I told him I would think about it. But when I did, I realized that...

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Almighty God, who because of your great

Author

W. Walsham How

Keywords

Scripture

John 3:16, Romans 5:8, Galatians 2:20, Hebrews 12:2, 1 Corinthians 11:24-25, Isaiah 53:4-5, 1 John 4:7-21

Almighty God, who because of your great love for humanity, gave your beloved Son to die for us upon the cross: Grant us a living faith in our Redeemer, and a grateful reminder of his death. Help us to...

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