Christian Living on Waters

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Baptism: Out of the Watery Chaos

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Titus 3:5-6, John 3:5, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Matthew 3:16-17, Genesis 1:1-2

At the very beginning of creation, the book of Genesis tells us, there was watery chaos. And over that watery chaos there was, depending on how you read the Hebrew, the Holy Spirit hovering or a great...

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Adapted from John 3:17 and Psalm 46:1-3

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

John 3:17, Psalm 46:1-3

Pastor: "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." (Jn 3:17) All: His love endures forever Pastor: "...

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Jesus and Iron Man

Author

Casey Clark

Keywords

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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Based on John 4 (1)

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

John 4:null, John 3:5, John 3:3

Jesus, you pour yourself out for us and the world So we may be born again of water and the Spirit So we may never thirst again We thank you and praise you for your eternal blessing and forgiveness He...

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Author

Gregory of Nyssa

Keywords

Scripture

John 3:5-8, Titus 3:5-6, Matthew 3:13-17, Romans 6:4, Matthew 3:11, Acts 2:38, John 3:8

For ‘the Spirit breathes where He wills, and thou hearest His voice, but canst not tell whence He cometh or whither He goeth.’ He blesses the body that is baptized, and the water that baptizes. Despis...

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Baptism: A New Beginning out of the Watery Chaos

Author

Rowan Williams

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 1:1-2, Genesis 8:6-12 , Isaiah 32:14-17, Matthew 3:13-17, John 3:5-8, Romans 6:3-4

At the very beginning of creation, the book of Genesis tells us, there was watery chaos. And over that watery chaos there was, depending on how you read the Hebrew, the Holy Spirit hovering or a great...

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Adapted from John 3:5-8

Author

Bud Thoreen

Keywords

Scripture

John 3:5-8

Leader: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. People: That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Sp...

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Gracious God, our hearts are often

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 51:10, Jeremiah 17:9-10, Matthew 5:8, Romans 7:21-23, James 4:8, Ezekiel 36:26, 1 John 3:3, Psalm 73:1, Psalm 24:3-4, Matthew 15:19-20, Romans 12:2, Psalm 139:23-24, Titus 1:15, James 1:2-8, Matthew 12:25

Gracious God, our hearts are often divided between what is good and what is evil. Not one of us is pure in heart yet we long to have a whole heart.

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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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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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Falling in Love with a Pronoun

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

John 3:16, Romans 8:38, 1 John 4:7-10

John Newton, the former slave ship crewman turned pastor and writer of Amazing Grace, fell in love with a particular pronoun in the well-known passage of John 3:16. He put it this way, “If I read ‘Go...

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“I love you, my son. I will answer your prayers.”

Author

Tod E. Bolsinger

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 3:1

One evening after a class in seminary, guest lecturer and Vineyard pastor John Wimber offered to have a prayer session for anyone in the class who needed prayer. Even though I was a student, I was alr...

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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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Make Me Your Love

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

John 13:1-17, 31b-35, Ephesians 5:1-2, Acts 1:8, John 3:16, Romans 5:8, Galatians 2:20

Son of God Savior Sacrifice Your love is Fierce and Forever Abounding and Intimate Generous, Goodness, and Grace Fill me with your Spirit Make me your love It is your command It is your way It is ...

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Adapted from Ephesians 3:18-19

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 3:18-19, Acts 2:42-47, John 13:1-17, Luke 15:11-32, Psalm 103:11-12, 1 John 3:1, Romans 8:38-39

I pray that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and heig...

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Giving Away What Wasn’t His

Author

The Chicago Tribune

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 3:17-18, Malachi 3:10, Proverbs 22:9, James 2:15-17, Matthew 6:21, Acts 20:35

When 67-year-old carpenter Russell Herman died in 1994, his will included a staggering set of bequests. Included in his plan for distribution was more than two billion dollars for the City of East St....

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Heavenly Father, blessed Son, eternal

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 5:8, Matthew 26:36-46, Ephesians 2:8-9, John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Matthew 28:19

Heavenly Father, blessed Son, eternal Spirit, We adore you as one Being, one Essence, one God in three distinct Persons, for bringing sinners to the knowledge of you and your kingdom. O Father, you ha...

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Adapted from “Spiritual Helps” in The Valley of Vision

Author

Arthur Bennett

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 12:10-11, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Psalm 119:103, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 8:26, John 3:16

Pastor: Eternal Father, it is amazing love, that you sent your Son to suffer in my place, that you have given me your Holy Spirit to teach, comfort, and guide me. Because of Jesus’ death in my place, ...

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Sealed With the Spirit

Author

Max Lucado

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:30, Galatians 4:6-7, Romans 8:16-17, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, Ephesians 1:13-14, 1 John 3:24

Seal. You know the verb. You twist a jar lid to seal the pickles. You lick an envelope to seal the letter. You notarize the contract to seal the deal. Sealing declares ownership and secures contents. ...

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Author

Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

Keywords

Scripture

John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Psalm 103:10-12, Ephesians 2:4-5, Romans 5:8, 1 John 1:8-9, Romans 3:23-24

I am more sinful and flawed than I ever dared believe, more loved and welcomed than I ever dared hope.

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A Little Girl and The Founding of World Vision

Author

Soong-Chan Rah

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:35-40, James 1:19-27, Luke 10:33-37, John 21:15-17, 1 John 3:17-18, Ruth 2:8-12, Acts 9:36-42, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Luke 6:38

In 1947 huge crowds came to hear a thirty-two-year-old Californian preach at mass evangelistic rallies throughout China. Although Bob Pierce had no knowledge of Chinese language or culture, his messag...

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We Cannot be Closed to Others and Open to God

Author

Mia Levetan

Keywords

Scripture

John 4:20-21, John 13:34-35, 1 John 3:17, Matthew 5:23-24, Hebrews 10:24-25

We cannot be closed off to one another and be open to God. That’s not how this works. Do you remember the commercial when the woman says “that’s not how this works, that's not how any of this work...

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Dear Lord, we come before You today as

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 1:27-28, Psalm 104:24-25, Romans 8:14-16, 1 John 3:1-3, Genesis 1:1-31, Hebrews 11:3, John 1:1-3

Dear Lord, we come before You today as Your children. We praise You as the God of all creation and the giver of life. You have made us, saved us, and called us to be Your people and to serve in Your K...

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Author

Kevin DeYoung

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 1:10, 1 John 3:18, Titus 3:8, John 15:5, Galatians 5:6

Faith and good works are both necessary. But one is the root and the other the fruit.

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Free to Love and Be Loved

Author

Lisa Sharon Harper

Keywords

Scripture

Hosea 1:null, Hosea 2:null, Hosea 3:null, Matthew 16:18, Mark 10:13-16, John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:9-10, Ephesians 2:4-5, Acts 4:9-10, Acts 13:9

Here’s a testimony from Lisa Sharon Harper, author of The Very Good Gospel: Harper grew up as a child of a single mother. After her parents divorced, she and her mother moved from Philadelphia where ...

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Author

Billy Graham

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 6:16-19, Psalm 5:4-5, Romans 6:23, Romans 3:23, Colossians 3:5-6, Proverbs 15:9, Psalm 7:11, John 3:36

Superficial views of God and His holiness will produce superficial views of sin and atonement. God hates sin. It is His uncompromising foe. Sin is vile and detestable in the sight of God.... The sinne...

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Father–Father of the Lord Jesus and our

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:9, James 5:14-15, 2 Corinthians 5:20, Matthew 9:37-38, Galatians 6:9-10, Romans 12:5, 1 John 3:1

Father–Father of the Lord Jesus and our Father: You’ve blessed us beyond imagination. You redeem us, forgive us and lavish Your gifts on us: Thank You. You choose us, when we wouldn’t choose ourselves...

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Author

Oswald Chambers

Keywords

Scripture

1 Kings 19:12, Romans 8:26, John 14:15-17, John 3:8, 1 Kings 19:11-12

The voice of the Spirit is as gentle as a zephyr… So gentle that unless you are living in perfect communion with God, you never hear it.

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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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Author

Alexandre Dumas

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 103:13, Isaiah 30:18, Lamentations 3:22-23, Lamentations 3:22-23, Luke 15:20, Ephesians 2:4-5, 1 John 3:1

God is full of mercy for everyone, as He has been towards you. He is a father before He is a judge.

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