Christian Living on Sinners

illustration

The Real Scandal of Jesus’s Ministry

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:35-40, John 8:1-11, Luke 19:1-10, John 4:1-26, John 8:10-11, Luke 19:10

In these acts of love Jesus created a scandal for devout, religious Palestinian Jews. The absolutely unpardonable thing was not his concern for the sick, the cripples, the lepers, the possessed . . . ...

Quote

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...

liturgy

Heavenly Father, we confess that we too often

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 43:1, 1 Peter 2:9, Matthew 25:31-46, Isaiah 6:1-8

Heavenly Father, we confess that we have too often forgotten that we are Yours. At times, we live our lives as if there was no God and we fall short of being who You created us to be. We have lived fo...

illustration

The Sin of Doing the Wrong Job

Author

Arthur F. Miller Jr. and Bill Hendricks

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:14-30, Ecclesiastes 9:10, Proverbs 16:3, Colossians 3:23-24, 1 Corinthians 7:17, Romans 12:6-8

Does God take our work seriously? Consider these words from Arthur F. Miller: It is wrong, it is sin, to accept or remain in a position that you know is a mismatch for you. Perhaps that’s a form of ...

liturgy

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...

liturgy

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...

Quote

Author

J. Richard Middleton

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:34-40, Acts 2:42-47, Matthew 21:12-13, Luke 10:25-37, Romans 12:2, Matthew 5:13-16

To focus our expectation in an otherworldly salvation has the potential to dissipate our resistance to societal evil and the dedication needed to work for the redemptive transformation of this world.

liturgy

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...

illustration

Dirty Boots

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 13:4, Ecclesiastes 9:10, Matthew 25:14-30, Philippians 3:13-14, James 1:22-25, 1 John 1:9, James 5:16

Pope John Paul I recounted a story about Jonathan Swift and his servant. One morning at an inn, Swift asked his servant why his boots hadn’t been cleaned. The servant replied, “I didn’t see the point,...

liturgy

Even as we eagerly await your return,

Author

Bud Thoreen

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 24:1-12, Luke 15:11-32, Acts 7:54-60, John 21:15-19, Matthew 25:1-13, Revelation 22:12

Even as we eagerly await your return, Lord Jesus, we must confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart, with our entire mind, nor with all of our strength. We have loved our rituals and our...

Quote

Author

Miroslav Volf

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 7:21, Ephesians 2:10, Titus 1:16, Matthew 25:40, Romans 12:21, Isaiah 1:17, Micah 6:8

There is something profoundly hypocritical about praising God for God’s mighty deeds of salvation and cooperating at the same time with the demons of destruction, whether by neglecting to do good or b...

liturgy

Heavenly Father, forgive us when we

Author

Allen Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:31-46, Ephesians 4:29, Matthew 6:33, Luke 10:38-42, Ephesians 5:15-17, Haggai 1:5-9, 1 Corinthians 10:31

Heavenly Father, forgive us when we become so consumed with the details of life that we do not see the opportunities that you have placed before us. Open our eyes to your call to extend love, by commu...

liturgy

Through the grace of Christ Jesus who gave

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 72:12-13, Romans 5:10, Proverbs 19:17, 2 Corinthians 8:9, James 2:5, Matthew 25:40, Luke 4:18

Leader: Through the grace of Christ Jesus who gave His body and shed His blood for our forgiveness, hear and believe that “he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He h...

Quote

Author

Esau McCaulley

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:1-21, Matthew 5:16, Luke 6:20-21, Matthew 25:34-36, Mark 12:41-44

Yes, we mark our heads with ashes—public shows of piety are not in themselves evil. But we must guard our motivations and do most of our spiritual work in private, because the privacy of those acts re...

Quote

Author

Algernon Charles Swinburne

Keywords

Scripture

John 14:2-3, Revelation 21:4, Revelation 22:1-2, Matthew 25:34, 1 Corinthians 2:9, Philippians 3:20-21

No sign that ever was given To faithful or faithless eyes Showed ever beyond clouds riven So clear a paradise. Earth’s creeds may be seventy times seven And blood have defiled each creed But if such b...

illustration

Christians Ought to be Different

Author

James Bryan Smith

Keywords

Christians

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Galatians 6:9-10, Matthew 25:35-36, Romans 2:21-24, Matthew 5:14-16, 1 Timothy 3:2-3, James 3:1

If a CEO or an accountant is caught in an adulterous affair, it is not likely to make the news at all. But when a pastor is caught in an affair or embezzling money, it is a big deal. Which leads us to...

illustration

These Impious Galileans

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 22:37-39, Matthew 25:35-40, Luke 3:11, Ephesians 5:2, Acts 2:42-47, James 2:14-17, Galatians 2:10, Psalm 72:12-14

A passage often referred to in order to describe the sacrificial, countercultural quality of the early church comes to us interestingly enough, from one of its strongest critics, known later to histor...

Quote

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Proverbs 24:16, James 1:12, Philippians 3:13-14, Psalm 103:13-14, Hebrews 4:15-16, Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 18:1-8, Exodus 16:, Mark 5:25-34, Romans 5:3-5

God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them.

Quote

Author

Dallas Willard

Keywords

Scripture

Ruth 2:, Matthew 14:28-31, Nehemiah 2:17-20, Matthew 25:14-30, 1 Corinthians 15:10

Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone.

liturgy

Sisters and brothers, if the torch of

Author

Cody Sandahl

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 5:8, Ephesians 6:10-11, Romans 12:11-12, Philippians 2:14-16, Hebrews 10:23, 1 Thessalonians 5:6, Matthew 25:1-4

Sisters and brothers, if the torch of your faith is lit right now, it might fizzle out within fifteen minutes of leaving here today. So refill the oil of your faith. Trim the charred ends away from yo...

liturgy

We praise and thank you, O Lord, that

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 119:103, Luke 22:19, Psalm 34:18, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Matthew 28:19-20, John 14:16-17, Matthew 6:9-13, Numbers 6:24-26, Matthew 25:36, Psalm 33:12, Romans 8:26, Acts 1:8, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Acts 2:42

We praise and thank you, O Lord, that you have fed us with your Word [and at your table]. Grateful for your gifts and mindful of the communion of your saints, we offer to you our prayers for all pe...

liturgy

Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

1 Timothy 2:1-2, Micah 6:8, Psalm 24:1, Matthew 25:35-40, Revelation 21:3-4

Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit: You taught us to pray not only for ourselves but for people everywhere, so now hear us as we pray for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord...

liturgy

Lord, you came to dwell among us, yet

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 1:9, Psalm 51:10, Isaiah 53:3, Luke 24:15-16, Hebrews 13:2, Matthew 25:37-40, John 1:10-11

Lord, you came to dwell among us, yet we did not recognize you. We still fail to recognize you. You show up in unexpected places and through unexpected people. We fail to see you in the people who are...

illustration

The Wedding of the Lamb

Author

Quest Study Bible

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 21:2-3, John 2:1-11, Matthew 25:1-13, John 14:2-3, Revelation 19:7-8, 2 Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 5:25-27

There were two important steps to a Jewish marriage: the betrothal (the promised agreement to marry) and the actual wedding ceremony. These two events were often separated by an extended period of tim...

illustration

Sheep Over Goats… Literally?

Author

Allen Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:32-33

While in seminary I did some research and editing work for a missiology professor, and I came across a story of a missionary who took Jesus’s illustration of sheep and goats quite literally when worki...

illustration

Throwing Back the Big Fish

Author

Tony Evans

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 3:20, Acts 10:9-16, Numbers 13:25-33, Matthew 25:14-30, Genesis 15:1-6, Luke 14:15-24

A man who was fishing one day noticed that the fisherman next to him threw the big fish he caught back into the water, while keeping the small ones. This went on all day until the first man couldn’t h...

liturgy

God, the fact that we feel

Author

Mark D. Roberts

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 24:1, Genesis 1:26, James 1:27, Matthew 25:40, Amos 5:24, Isaiah 1:17

God, the fact that we feel uncomfortable is evidence that we perceive the injustices in our world. We don’t ask you to help us hear the cries of injustice, but rather to give us courage to act against...

illustration

Kissing a Leper

Author

Francis of Assisi

Keywords

Mercy

Scripture

Matthew 25:40, Luke 10:33-34, James 1:27, Philippians 2:3-4, Isaiah 58:6-7

Francis of Assisi was riding a horse down the road that went by a leper hospital situated far from Assisi, for then, as in biblical times, lepers were a rejected lot. Francis was not yet the saint of ...

illustration

“It is Not the Healthy Who Need a Doctor”

Author

Ann Voskamp

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 6:2, Romans 12:15, Matthew 25:40, Isaiah 53:3-5, Psalm 34:18, Luke 5:31-32

Ann Voskamp, in her book The Broken Way, describes what it was like to have mental illness trivialized from the pulpit, as someone who identified with similar struggles: I was eighteen, with scars a...

Quote

Author

Augustine of Hippo

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 12:1-4, Matthew 14:22-33, Acts 9:1-22, Matthew 25:14-30, 2 Corinthians 9:8

For grace is given not because we have done good works, but in order that we may be able to do them.

illustration

liturgy

illustration

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

illustration

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

illustration

illustration

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

illustration

illustration

illustration

liturgy

illustration

illustration

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

1 Samuel

2 Samuel

1 Kings

2 Kings

1 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

Ezra

Nehemiah

Esther

Job

Psalm

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Solomon

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

Hosea

Joel

Amos

Obadiah

Jonah

Micah

Nahum