Christian Living on Salt

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Salt Left in the Shaker?

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:null, 1 Peter 2:9, Galatians 5:22-23, James 2:17, Romans 12:1, Mark 4:21, Philippians 2:15

Jesus describes his followers as being “salt” and “light” in the world in Matthew 5. When you think about salt, it doesn’t really have a whole lot of value when it’s just sitting in a salt shaker. Si...

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Without an Outlet

Author

Billy Graham

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 9:6-8, 1 Peter 4:10, Philippians 2:12-13, 1 Timothy 4:8, Galatians 5:6, Matthew 5:16, James 2:17

Just as our bodies need exercise to be strong physically, our faith needs exercise if we are to be strong spiritually. It has often been noted that several rivers flow into the Dead Sea, but no river ...

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Three Dollars Worth of God

Author

Wilbur Rees

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 5:17, James 2:14-17, John 3:3, Philippians 3:10, Romans 12:2

I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk, or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of God t...

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All: Gracious God, we have become

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:40, Matthew 25:31-46, Micah 6:8, James 2:15-17, Luke 6:27-36, Isaiah 58:6-7, 1 John 3:17, Zechariah 7:9-10, Colossians 3:12, Proverbs 21:13

All: Gracious God, we have become callous to those in need, holding back compassion yet unsparing with judgment. We defend our motivations, rather than using all you have given us to love and care for...

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Almighty God, too often we settle for

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:18, Psalm 51:10, Isaiah 1:17, James 2:13, Micah 6:8, Matthew 5:6

Almighty God, too often we settle for brokenness in our lives. Rather than offering forgiveness, we hold onto offense. Rather than pursuing justice, we turn away . Rather than offering mercy, we c...

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Author

Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 4:3-10 , 1 Samuel 15:13-24 , Isaiah 29:13-15 , Luke 18:9-14, James 2:10-13 , Psalm 32:3-5

We readily confess our little faults in order to suggest that we have no big ones.

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Author

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Keywords

Scripture

John 4:7-26, John 21:15-19, Matthew 9:9-13, Mark 10:17-22, Matthew 16:24-25, Romans 6:1-2, James 2:17

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace ...

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Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Matthew 5:7, James 2:13, Psalm 85:10, Zechariah 7:9, Proverbs 21:21, Luke 6:36

Mercy, detached from Justice, grows unmerciful.

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Putting the Saints into Circulation

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:16, James 2:17, 2 Corinthians 4:7

There's an intriguing story about Oliver Cromwell, who, while serving as Lord Protector of England, faced a tricky cash flow issue. When he found himself short on precious metal for coins, he sent...

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You have Called Me Brother

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:31-46, Galatians 3:28, 1 John 3:17-18, James 2:15-16, Romans 12:10, Genesis 1:26-31, Psalm 8:, Matthew 10:24, Mark 12:31

One day, as Leo Tolstoy, the renowned Russian author, was walking down the street when he encountered a man in worn, shabby clothing. The homeless man asked him if he had any money to spare. Tolstoy s...

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Love in Action

Author

Dawn Pick Benson

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:34-40, John 13:14-15, 1 John 3:17-18, James 2:15-16, James 2:15-16, 2 Corinthians 3:2-3

When I was growing up, my dad was a farmer, not a Christian. He had little interest in faith, having been told by his father that the Bible was a fairy tale. But then a local pastor took an interest i...

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Holy God, we confess that we have been

Author

Cody Sandahl

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:1-2, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 5:22-23, James 2:17, Romans 12:1-2, Revelation 3:15-16

Holy God, we confess that we have been lukewarm about living our faith in Jesus each day. We put off to tomorrow what we know in our hearts you want to happen today. We go through the motions of relig...

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Gracious God, you have given us great

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:7, Luke 5:36, Ephesians 4:32, James 2:13, Colossians 3:12-13, Micah 6:8, Lamentations 3:22-23

Gracious God, you have given us great mercy through Jesus, yet we have withheld mercy from others. Our hearts have been hardened by the world and our sin. Would you soften our hearts? And give us a de...

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Not Heeding the Call

Author

Jeff Volkmer

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Hebrews 13:16, Galatians 6:9-10, Proverbs 3:27, 1 John 3:17-18, James 2:14-17

Just the other day, I was out on a bike ride for some exercise. Because I work for a high-end cycling company, I had the opportunity to test ride one the bikes we make – a bike that comes with a price...

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Author

John Stott

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:14-15, James 2:13, Micah 6:8, Luke 6:36-37, Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:12-13

If I withhold mercy, I have lost touch with the gospel. I have lost touch with God’s undeserved kindness and pardon.

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Be a Catalyst for Change

Author

David Peterson

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 3:7-8, James 2:15-17, Luke 10:25-37, Proverbs 3:27, Micah 6:8, Matthew 5:16

At the 5-mile mark in the Old Kent Riverbank Run a guy passing me said, “Hey buddy, you dropped your key.” There was no getting home without my key. Like a salmon swimming upstream I headed back into ...

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The Showdown Between Ambrose & Theodosius

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 3:8, 1 Samuel 16:7, Isaiah 1:17, Micah 6:8, James 2:1

In the Christian faith, we frequently take for granted how radically Jesus evens the playing field. No matter your wealth, your position, let alone your race or gender, all of us are equal in God’s ey...

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Hearing the Confessions of the Poor

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

John 13:14-15, James 2:13, Isaiah 58:7, Matthew 5:3, Psalm 34:18, Luke 7:47-48

Angela’s Ashes took the publishing world by storm when it was released in September 1996. It won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize in the category of Biography/Autobiography. It was also a...

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Author

Thomas Aquinas

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 13:13, Mark 10:17-22, Luke 10:25-37, Matthew 22:34-40, Galatians 5:6, James 2:26

Love takes up where knowledge leaves off.

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Author

Pope Francis

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:13, Proverbs 19:17, Isaiah 58:10, Galatians 6:2, 1 John 3:17-18, James 2:15-17

Like the Good Samaritan, may we not be ashamed of touching the wounds of those who suffer, but try to heal them with concrete acts of love.

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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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This-Sidedness and Other-Sidedness

Author

Thomas Kelly

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Colossians 3:2, Isaiah 58:10, John 6:27, James 2:15-17, Matthew 6:33

In his excellent little book, A Testament of Devotion , written almost a hundred years ago, Thomas Kelly describes the tension that all ministries must live in; the focus on this world or the wor...

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Pickup Basketball and Assurance of Salvation

Author

J. D. Greear

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 2:19, Mark 10:17-22, John 21:15-19, James 2:17, Hebrews 6:4-6, Philippians 1:6, John 10:28-29

One afternoon I was at a local basketball court and started a pickup game with a guy I’d seen there a few times. He was quite a character—he cursed like a sailor and had so many tattoos on his body I ...

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Author

Mark Batterson

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 13:16, Matthew 25:40, 1 Peter 2:12, Galatians 5:13, Matthew 5:16, James 2:17, James 4:17

We fixate on sins of commission far too much. We practice holiness by subtraction-don't do this, don't do that, and you're okay. The problem with that is this: you can do nothing wrong and...

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Labor Day Prayer

Author

Walter Rauschenbush

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:40, Isaiah 58:10, Colossians 3:23-24, Proverbs 31:8-9, Micah 6:8, Galatians 6:9-10, James 2:45-17

O God, Father of us all, we praise you for so binding humanity together that we must each lean upon the strength and labor of others. We ask your blessing on all men and women who have worked to build...

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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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God of mercy, we ignore the needs of

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:35-36, James 2:15-17, Proverbs 19:17, 1 John 3:17-18, Isaiah 58:6-7

God of mercy, we ignore the needs of people around us all too often. We get caught up in our own issues and forget that there are millions of people who struggle for basic necessities on a daily basis...

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For the times when we fail to notice

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:35-40, James 2:15-17, 1 Peter 5:2-3, Galatians 6:2, Matthew 7:12, Deuteronomy 15:11, Galatians 2:10, James 1:27

For the times when we fail to notice others’ needs, we repent. For our apathy for those you’ve entrusted to us, we repent. For the amount of time we spend focused on ourselves, we repent. For fa...

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Moving the Fence: A Sermon Illustration

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 9:9-13, James 2:13, Mark 7:24-30, Ephesians 2:13-14, Luke 15:1-7

In the Second World War, a group of soldiers were fighting in the rural countryside of France. During an intense battle, one of the American soldiers was killed. His comrades did not want to leave his...

liturgy

For the times we neglect to care for

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 6:2, Romans 12:13, Hebrews 13:2, James 2:1, Romans 15:7

For the times we neglect to care for our brothers and sisters in Christ, please forgive us, Lord. For the times we fail to welcome new people who look or act different from ourselves, please forgiv...

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