Christian Living on Struggles

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Waiting is Not Wasting Time: Advent 2024

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Keywords

Scripture

Luke 2:29-32

God’s dealings with us are always on the order of what he did with Abram and Sarai. He makes his promises, and he will keep his promises; but just how and when he will keep them is something for which...

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Almighty God, you have surprised us

Author

Scott B. Bullock

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Scripture

Isaiah 55:8-9, Matthew 13:44, Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 139:7-10, 1 John 1:9, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Luke 2:1-20, John 4:7-26, John 21:1-14, Luke 24:13-35, Matthew 17:1-8, Luke 2:25-38, Luke 1:35-38, Hebrews 13:2, Isaiah 43:19

Almighty God, you have surprised us with your presence in unexpected ways. In the expectations of our routine, we have missed the treasure that you place before us. We come to worship you in community...

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The Child Born in the Night Among Beasts

Author

Frederick Buechner

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Scripture

Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2-4, 1 Kings 19:11-13, Luke 2:6-7, Philippians 2:5-8, Psalm 22:6-8 , Matthew 1:22-25

In this excerpt, Frederick Buechner shares a meditation on the vulnerability of Jesus’ birth: The child born in the night among beasts. The sweet breath and steaming dung of beasts. And nothing is...

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Author

Meister Eckhart

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Scripture

Luke 2:49

What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action.

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Author

Jean Pierre de Caussade

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Scripture

Mark 15:21-39, John 4:4-42, 2 Kings 5:1-14, 1 Samuel 16:1-13, Luke 2:1-7, John 9:1-3, 2 Corinthians 12:9

[God’s grace is] always hidden under the strangest appearances.

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A Saxophonist's Spiritual Revelation

Author

Ryan Bundrick

Scripture

Luke 2:1-35, 2 Timothy 4:6-7, Colossians 3:23-24, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Ephesians 2:10

John Coltrane stands out as one of the giants of 20th-century jazz. His legacy is a generation of hearts touched and the light of God shining through his songs. Yet, for years, his work was haunted by...

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Author

Henry Ward Beecher

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:2, 1 Thessalonians 3:12, Genesis 37:50, Exodus 3:11–12 , Isaiah 40:29–31 , John 15:1–5, Romans 5:3–5, Psalm 1:1–3, Luke 2:40, 52; 1

Christian character is not an act but a process, not a sudden creation but a development. It grows and bears fruit like a tree; it requires patient care and unwearied cultivation.

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Psalm 133 | Unity

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 133:, Luke 2:41-52, Zechariah 9:9

Ancient lens What’s the historical context? Packed with Singular Meaning, A Pilgrim Song We have three verses packed with singular meaning⸺unity. “How good and pleasant it is when brothers and si...

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Adapted from Psalm 29:1, 3-5, 7-9, Luke 2:14, Revelation 4:8,11

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Scripture

Psalm 29:1, Luke 2:14, Psalm 29:null

Leader: Then let us wait for the Lord, and in this season of Lent, let us wait by the cross. "Ascribe to the Lord, glory and strength." Glorify God's holy name. People: We worship the L...

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O Simplicitas

Author

Madeleine L'Engle

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 2:19, John 1:14, Matthew 2:9-11, Luke 2:8-12, Matthew 2:1-2, Luke 2:6-7

An angel came to me And I was unprepared To be what God was using. Mother I was to be A moment I despaired, Thought briefly of refusing. The angel knew I heard According to God’s word, ...

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The Psalmist declares: Praise be to

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 95:1-2, Luke 2:8-20, Acts 16:25-34, 2 Samuel 6:12-15, Colossians 3:16-17, Revelation 4:11, Psalm 103:1-2

The Psalmist declares: Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens, our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death. Therefore, Come let...

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O Merciful God, who came in Jesus

Author

Ernest Fremont Tittle

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 9:2, John 1:4-5, Jeremiah 1:7-8, Micah 6:8, Psalm 27:1, Luke 2:25-32

O Merciful God, who came in Jesus Christ with saving power to a world that walked in darkness and in the shadow of death, we praise and bless you for all those your servants who helped prepare the way...

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Incarnation is a Dirty Business

Author

William Rowley

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 14:19-20, John 9:6-7, Mark 2:3-4, John 13:4-5, Mark 1:40-42, Luke 2:7, John 1:14

The gospels are earthy. People are close to the earth. They travel here and there by foot. They eat the live heads of grain growing from the soil as they walk through the fields. They get grubby and h...

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Humble

Author

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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Your grace, O God, has appeared for the

Author

James G. Kirk

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 1:25, Luke 10:25-37, Ephesians 2:10, Luke 2:25-32, Titus 3:4-5, 1 Kings 18:39, Titus 2:11

Your grace, O God, has appeared for the salvation of all, calling us to renounce false gods and irresponsible love. In the midst of our sin, Christ has appeared as a sign of our hope, redeeming us and...

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Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 15:3-7, John 10:11-15, Luke 2:6-7, Luke 2:8-20, Isaiah 53:6, Psalm 23:1-4

Among the sheep (I like a sheep have strayed) I watch the manger where my Lord is laid; Oh that my baa-ing nature would win thence Some woolly innocence!

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Mary & Joseph were Poor

Author

Ashley Hales

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 2:22-24, 2 Corinthians 8:9, Isaiah 9:6-7, Philippians 2:6-8, John 1:14, Isaiah 61:1

They were poor. We know this because the two young turtledoves Joseph and Mary brought was the smallest offering they were allowed as devout Jews and yet the largest they likely could afford. With tw...

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A Force of Love and Logic

Author

Bono

Keywords

Scripture

John 1:14, Luke 2:6-7, Romans 12:2

The idea that there’s a force of love and logic behind the universe is overwhelming to start with, if you believe it. Actually, maybe even far-fetched to start with, but the idea that that same love a...

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Stooping Down to Our Level

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:6-8, Isaiah 9:6, Matthew 1:23, Luke 2:11-12, Hebrews 2:17, Romans 8:3

One thing we often do as human beings is take for granted how our physical presence can impact those around us. Do you remember how big your parents seemed when you were a kid? They were massive! Over...

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Author

Martin Luther

Keywords

Scripture

John 1:14, Philippians 2:6-8, Luke 2:7, Matthew 1:23, 1 Peter 2:24

The Son of God did not want to be seen and found in heaven. Therefore he descended from heaven into this humility and came to us in our flesh, laid himself into the womb of his mother and into the man...

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Author

Bette Dickinson

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 2:8-11, Matthew 5:3, Philippians 2:6-8, Isaiah 57:15, Micah 5:2

The shepherds show us that we don’t prepare to receive the king of heaven the same way we prepare to meet the celebrities of our day, through earthly displays of showiness. In fact, receiving our King...

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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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Author

Emily Hunter McGowin

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 9:6-7, Micah 5:2-4 , Jeremiah 23:5-6, Luke 2:8-14 , Matthew 2:1-12 , Psalm 96:1-3

We know instinctively that Christmas is more than shopping mall Santas, silver bells, and snow-flocked trees, but such things are so entangled with our impressions of Christmas that it’s hard to kn...

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Author

John Stott

Keywords

Scripture

John 8:1-11, Luke 15:11-32, Luke 10:25-37, Luke 19:1-10, Luke 2:1-20, Titus 3:4-5, Romans 5:6-8

Grace is God loving, God stooping, God coming to the rescue, God giving himself generously in and through Jesus Christ.

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Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:33, Luke 2:16-19, Mark 1:15 , Isaiah 9:6, John 1:15, Matthew 1:23, Colossians 1:15-17

The kingdom of the Christ-child gets to work when we stop, and pause, and look in wonder once more at the baby lying in the manger, and like Mary ponder in our hearts what it all means. Only through d...

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Author

Karl Barth

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 1:23, Matthew 28:20, Luke 2:10-11, John 10:11, Isaiah 41:10, Matthew 14:22-33, Philippians 4:5-7, Mark 2:1-12, John 14:16-17, Hebrews 13:5

“He stands by you:” A drowning man cannot pull himself out of the water by his own hair. Neither can you do it. Someone else must rescue you. This is the good news of Christmas. He who stands by you a...

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The Dicey Side of Christmas

Author

Emily Hunter McGowin

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 2:10-11, Romans 12:2, Luke 2:8-20, Colossians 2:8, Matthew 5:16

Christmas (a shortened form of "Christ’s mass”) has been an embattled holiday for much of its history— and not just because talking heads on TV like to argue about the “war on Christmas” every ye...

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The Worst Good News

Author

Hugh Halter

Keywords

Gospel

Scripture

1 Peter 1:3, Matthew 11:28-30, Romans 10:15, Isaiah 61:1, Luke 2:10-11

What’s the worst good news you’ve ever received? Here are a few that come to mind for me. “Mr. Halter, this is Bill from the Ford service department. I’ve got some good news for you. All the smoke yo...

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Author

Pope Paul VI

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 1:26-38, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-14, Matthew 2:1-12, Luke 2:25-35, John 1:14, Philippians 2:5-8, Matthew 3:13-17, John 3:1-21, Matthew 17:1-8

We consider Christmas as the encounter, the great encounter, the historical encounter, the decisive encounter, between God and mankind. He who has faith knows this truly; let him rejoice.

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The Great Exchange

Author

John Chrysostom

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:6-8, 2 Corinthians 8:9, John 1:14, Luke 2:7, Isaiah 9:6, John 3:16

The incarnation has often been described as “The Great Exchange,” whereupon God took on human form so that we might participate in God's divine life (through the Holy Spirit). In a sermon on the n...

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