Christian Living on Discipleship

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The Art of Followship

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:16, Philippians 2:5-7, John 13:34-35, Matthew 11:29, Mark 8:34-35, Luke 9:23

Editor’s Note: The following illustration came from one of my own (Stu’s) sermons, as I was trying to help the congregation make a paradigm shift from the church as a building, to the people of God: ...

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An Invitation

Author

Dallas Willard

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 62:1, Isaiah 30:15, Romans 12:2, Galatians 5:1, John 15:4, Hebrews 4:9-10

He invites us to leave our burdensome ways of heavy labor—especially the “religious” ones—and step into the yoke of training with him. This is a way of gentleness and lowliness, a way of soul rest. It...

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Author

Richard J. Foster

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 5:1, 2 Corinthians 3:17, Colossians 2:20-23, Matthew 11:28-30, Luke 10:41-42

The purpose of the Disciplines is freedom. Our aim is the freedom, not the Discipline. The moment we make the Discipline our central focus, we will turn it into law and lose the corresponding freedom....

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In the days of the early church,

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 7:21, Matthew 11:28-30, Romans 10:9, Philippians 2:10-11, Acts 4:12, John 14:6

In the days of the early church, believers affirmed their faith by saying, “Jesus is Lord.” We give lip-service to that same affirmation, but find it difficult to surrender control of our lives. Inste...

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Eating With Sinners

Author

David Schuringa

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 7:36-50, Romans 5:8, John 4:7-26, Matthew 11:19, Luke 19:5-10, Mark 2:15-17

Why did it disturb the religious leaders that Jesus ate with “sinners”? To eat with someone is an important symbol of fellowship. And in those days, the Jews had a rule: one is not to have such fellow...

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Sometimes Easy, Sometimes Hard

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 3:7-8, Galatians 2:20, Romans 12:1-2, John 12:24-25, Matthew 7:14, Luke 14:27, Matthew 11:28-30

You have noticed, I expect, that Christ Himself sometimes describes the Christian way as very hard, sometimes as very easy. He says, “Take up your Cross”—in other words, it is like going to be beaten ...

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A Deeper Faith

Author

Bob Goff

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 11:28-30, Hebrews 10:24-25, 1 John 3:18, Romans 12:15, John 15:12-13, James 5:16, Galatians 6:2

In his introduction to Scott Sauls’ Book, Irresistable Faith, Bob Goff tells a story about a summer adventure hitchhiking across New England, which would ultimately lead to staying with a hermit in Ma...

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Leader: The word of the Lord to the

Author

Jacob Traeger

Scripture

Matthew 13:14-15, Matthew 11:4-6, Psalm 51:17, Hebrews 3:15, Isaiah 6:9-10

Leader: The word of the Lord to the prophet Isaiah says: You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with the...

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A Child Entering the Kingdom

Author

James Bryan Smith

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 11:25, Isaiah 66:2, Proverbs 3:5, 1 Peter 5:5-6, James 4:10

Being childlike does not save us, nor is it meritorious in itself. One can be childlike and be very far from the kingdom. Jesus is telling us that in order to enter the kingdom we need to have the tru...

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Christian Maturity and Gentleness

Author

John E. Biersdorf

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 15:1, 2 Timothy 2:24-25, Isaiah 42:3, Philippians 4:5, Galatians 5:22-23, Matthew 11:29

Compassion is expressed in gentleness. When I think of persons I know who model for me the depths of spiritual life, I am struck by their gentleness. Their eyes communicate the residue of solitary bat...

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Like the crowds who followed Jesus, we

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 11:28, Galatians 3:28, Isaiah 55:1-2, Matthew 5:6, Psalm 34:18, Mark 2:3-5, 2 Corinthians 12:9

Like the crowds who followed Jesus, we come today from different places. We’ve had different weeks, different challenges, and different joys. And yet we come united by the risen Lord Jesus, who meets ...

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Jesus–our Lord, Savior, Friend and

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Matthew 11:28-30, Isaiah 41:10, Ephesians 2:8-9, Psalm 23:1-2

Jesus–our Lord, Savior, Friend and Companion: To be “in” You is to no longer be strangers to Your Father, or to one another. In You–we are brought near. In You–we are redeemed and forgiven. In You–we ...

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Gentleness: The Indespensable Trait of True Christians

Author

Ray Ortlund

Keywords

Gentleness

Scripture

Matthew 11:29

One of Christianity’s most brilliant theologians, Jonathan Edwards, taught us that gentleness—he called it “a lamblike, dovelike spirit”—is not an optional extra but instead is “the true and distingui...

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Author

Dane C. Ortlund

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 11:28-30, John 4:13-14, Matthew 20:32-34, Luke 7:44-47, Matthew 14:14, John 8:7-11

“Gentle and lowly.” This, according to his own testimony, is Christ’s very heart. This is who he is. Tender. Open. Welcoming. Accommodating. Understanding. Willing. If we are asked to say only one th...

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Come to the Table

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 11:28-30, Revelation 19:9, Psalm 23:5-6, Isaiah 55:1-2, Luke 14:16-17, Luke 22:19-20, John 6:35, Psalm 34:8, Isaiah 25:6, Matthew 22:2-4, Proverbs 9:5-6

In the midst of all you are facing Your burdens Your responsibilities Your hustle Hear the invitation “Come to the Table” In the midst of all you are facing Your longing Your ambition Your distractio...

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O God, we pray for the church, which is

Author

John E. Skoglund

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 42:3, Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 16:25-26, Proverbs 31:8-9, Micah 6:8, James 1:27, Acts 3:19

O God, we pray for the church, which is set amid the confusion of contemporary life and is face-to-face with a great new task. Be with your church, O God. Grant the church a new birth through the...

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Learned Ignorance: De Docta Ignorancia

Author

A. J. Swoboda

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 1:5, Jeremiah 9:23-24, Matthew 11:25, James 1:21, Colossians 2:3, Matthew 18:3

Becoming a teachable person has two prerequisites: There must be a teacher and a person willing to be taught. Increasingly, Western culture has become an environment that celebrates and platforms the ...

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Letting Jesus Carry Our Burdens

Author

Paul Chappell

Keywords

Abiding in Christ

Scripture

Psalm 55:22, Psalm 38:4, Matthew 11:28-30, Galatians 6:2, Psalm 121:1-8

In the old western days, a man was walking down the road carrying a bag of grain on his shoulder. Another man was riding along the road in a buckboard pulled by a horse. He came up beside the man carr...

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Author

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 11:28-30, Genesis 22:, Acts 9:1-19, Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 19:16-22, Philippians 3:7-8, Romans 6:22

Grace is costly because it compels a person to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

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Context Matters

Author

Christopher West

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 1:8-9, Romans 12:2, Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 42:1-2, Isaiah 30:15, Jeremiah 17:5-6

My friend Mike Metzger of the Clapham Institute once used the following example to demonstrate how important frames are if we are to make sense of reality’s puzzle. This may seem like a head scratcher...

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Breathe Your Way into the New Year

Author

Bill Gaultiere

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 11:30, Matthew 11:25, Matthew 11:28-30, Luke 23:46, Psalm 31:5, Mark 10:13-16, Matthew 11:28-30

Like me, maybe you set aside much of your normal work for the Christmas break and this week you have a lot to do! There’s a gravitational pull to “Hurry and catch up!” But that’s not the best way. ...

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Jesus–our Lord, Savior and Friend: Come

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, James 5:14-15, Matthew 11:28, Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 9:6

Jesus–our Lord, Savior and Friend: Come into our hearts to save us and to rule. Come into your Church to direct and empower us with Your Gospel and Your Spirit. Come into your World to redeem the Lost...

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Author

Bob Goff

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:3-4, Galatians 2:20, James 1:19-20, Romans 12:3, Proverbs 15:1, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Matthew 11:28

Arguments won’t change people. Simply giving away kindness won’t either. Only Jesus has the power to change people, and it will be harder for them to see Jesus if their view of Him is blocked by our b...

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Jesus, the Prodigal Son

Author

Frère Pierre Marie

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:6-8, John 1:10-11, Isaiah 53:3-4, Matthew 11:19, Mark 15:34, Isaiah 53:12, Luke 15:20-24, Revelation 7:13-14

In this excerpt, the French monastic leader Frere Pierre Marie, shares an interpretation of Jesus as the true prodigal son—bringing all of us home with him: He, who is born not from human stock, or ...

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Father God, you come to us in the

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:22-25, Isaiah 30:21, Proverbs 2:1, Hebrews 4:12, Matthew 7:24-25, Romans 10:17, 1 Samuel 3:, Isaiah 55:3, Matthew 11:15, Acts 16:14

Father God, you come to us in the everyday. You give us your Word and your Spirit that we might hear your voice, and follow your ways. We confess that we have neglected your words to us and pretended ...

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A Need to Heal the Past

Author

Ronald Rohlheiser

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 147:3, Jeremiah 30:17, Matthew 11:28-30, James 5:16, Psalm 34:18, Psalm 51:10, Jeremiah 33:6

One of the challenges, at least in the western church, is an inability to deal with our wounds in a healthy way. Our training as Christians has been focused on Bible studies, small groups, and Sunday ...

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Jesus, you are our peace You proclaim

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

2 Thessalonians 3:16, Matthew 11:28-30, Philippians 4:6-7, Isaiah 9:6, Romans 5:1, John 14:27, Colossians 1:19-20

Jesus, you are our peace You proclaim it You create it You bring us near Without you there is No safety No belonging No nurturing No identity rooted beyond this dust Without you we are Anchorless St...

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Based on Matthew 11:28-30

Author

Ellen R. Dawson

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus says, “Are you tired? Burned out? Worn out? Come to me.” He promises rest. When we come before God and confess our sins, We are not only handing over those burdens, We are asking Jesus to give...

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Our heavenly Father: You’ve seen how

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

John 14:27, 1 Peter 5:7, Romans 8:38-39, Isaiah 41:10, Matthew 11:28

Our heavenly Father: You’ve seen how hard life can be for us. You hear our prayers for forgiveness and help. You listen when we cry aloud in pain or when we just weep into our pillow alone in the nigh...

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Heavenly Father, forgive us for delving

Keywords

Scripture

John 20:24-29, John 8:1-11, Luke 15:11-32, Romans 8:26-27, Matthew 11:28-30, Isaiah 41:10

Heavenly Father, forgive us for delving so much into our own lives that we forget the love and purpose with which you have created us. When we are faced with doubt and despair, help us to turn to you ...

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