Christian Living on Stuff

liturgy

Gracious God, we are called to be a

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 51:10-12, Hebrews 4:16, Romans 5:8, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 1:7, Psalm 103:12, 1 John 1:9

Gracious God, we are called to be a joyful people, giving thanks for You and Your good gifts. There are times, however, when sin and sorrow grow, pushing joy to the side. We lose sight of Your grace, ...

Quote

Author

Brian O’Connell

Keywords

The season of Epiphany is an invitation to follow Jesus into the ways of gratitude and joy,. We are no longer bound by the dissatisfaction of our consumer culture that tells us to keep striving for mo...

illustration

Holding on to Everything

Author

W. Tamra Chandler

Keywords

Baggage

Scripture

Psalm 55:22, Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 43:18-19, Ephesians 4:31-32, 1 Peter 5:7

Poet Donald Hall told the story of a hermit in New Hampshire, a man who passed away leaving behind sheds full of hoarded stuff. In one of the sheds was a box labeled, “string too short to be saved.” ...

illustration

All That Good Stuff

Author

Mark D. Roberts

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 1:null, Revelation 21:18-19, John 1:14, 1 Timothy 4:4, Colossians 1:16, Psalm 24:1, Genesis 1:31

Sometime in the last decade or so I started hearing the phrase “all that good stuff.” I think it happened first when I was ordering dinner at a restaurant. The waitress summarized the menu briefly, en...

Quote

Author

William Barclay

Keywords

Joy has nothing to do with material things, or with a man's outward circumstance ... a man living in the lap of luxury can be wretched, and a man in the depths of poverty can overflow with joy.

illustration

Looking to Be Filled In All the Wrong Places

Author

Ashley Hales

Keywords

The more I use stuff to fill up my hungers, the more distance I put between God and myself. And as I continue to fill up my infinite hungers with finite things (when I run through the Starbucks drive-...

illustration

Your Sense of Awe will Shape Your Life

Author

Paul David Tripp

Keywords

Awe

Where you look for awe will shape the direction of your life. It just makes sense that your source of awe will control you, your decisions, and the course your story takes. If you live in awe of mater...

liturgy

Holy God, we come to You confessing

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Holy God, we come to You confessing that we never have enough. We are never satisfied with what You have given us. We look at others with envy and we want more, even when our homes are overflowing wit...

Quote

Author

Matt Groening

Keywords

Bart Simpson says Grace: “Dear God, we paid for all this stuff ourselves, so thanks for nothing.” (for contrast)

illustration

A Birth Of Hope

Author

Joshua Becker

Keywords

“The reason I am a minimalist today,” Troy began, “is because of the color of my house.” I’d never heard that one before, so I asked Troy to explain what he meant. Troy was a tall man of about forty w...

illustration

#Blessed

Author

Uche Anizor

Keywords

I have a nagging sense that when we read the word blessed , we either feel indifferent or suspicious. Both of these responses are likely the result of the way the term is (over)used in our day-to...

illustration

Ratatouille and Surrendering to God

Author

Casey Clark

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:6-11, 1 Corinthians 2:16, Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:3, Philippians 2:5

When we watch cartoons, it is fun to see the way we can so easily allow some of the craziest stuff to just be taken at face value. Movements that don’t follow the laws of physics? Sure. Talking animal...

illustration

Deus ex machina

Author

Casey Clark

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 5:1-11

While there are an infinite number of ways for a movie to fall short, a common complaint is if the inciting incident of the drama is solved in a way that comes out of nowhere, even breaking the logic ...

illustration

What Keeps us from Experiencing Renewal

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:4-5, 2 Kings 22:23, Isaiah 58:6-7, Psalm 119:105, Matthew 5:17-20 , Acts 2:42-47

There’s a quote by H. Richard Niebuhr that I believe is absolutely true. “The great Christian revolutions,” he argued, “come not by the discovery of something that was not known before. They happen w...

illustration

Harry Potter’s Dementors & Depression

Author

Mark Meynell

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 40:29-31, Job 3:25-26, 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, John 16:33, Psalm 34:17-18

When J. K. Rowling created the Harry Potter universe, she naturally drew on her own experiences to flesh it out. This is true even for such alarming creatures as ‘dementors’. These are soulless beings...

liturgy

Compassionate God—In Christ, you enter

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

1 Timothy 2:1-4, Psalm 33:22, Philippians 4:6-7, John 14:1, 1 Peter 5:7, Romans 12:15

Compassionate God—In Christ, you enter our condition; you experience our sorrow and our joy ... and redeem them. By Your Holy Spirit, you carry us along: in crisis and celebration, in despair and acco...

liturgy

God of Wonder and Majesty–You are the

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Psalm 46:1, Micah 6:8, Isaiah 40:31, Philippians 4:6-7, James 1:17, Hebrews 13:8, Revelation 1:8

God of Wonder and Majesty–You are the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and End... our past, present and future. You’ve come in the past ...You’re here with us now ...and You’ll come again in power and g...

liturgy

Inspired by 2 Kings 17:7-23

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

2 Kings 1:7-23

All: O God, You have loved us so well. You have been kind to us. You have given us all that we need. You have kept us from danger. You have given us new life and forgiveness in Your Son, Jesus, but we...

liturgy

Jesus: You gave us Your love at a high

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

1 Timothy 2:1-4, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Hebrews 13:20-21, Philippians 4:13, 2 Corinthians 5:20

Jesus: You gave us Your love at a high price – Your own death on the cross in our place! By Your grace you give us eternal life and entrust to us Your creation. Thank You, Lord! We come today as Y...

liturgy

Faithful and Good God–our Father,

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Psalm 46:1, Matthew 11:28-30, Philippians 4:6-7, James 1:5, 1 Peter 5:7, Isaiah 41:10

Faithful and Good God–our Father, Redeemer and Companion. You know all about us–and love us anyhow; nothing we are or do surprises you or puts you off. Therefore, we turn to you with assurance and tru...

liturgy

Father God: It is sometimes hard for us

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Father God: It is sometimes hard for us to understand what You do. We are in trouble. We want You to come rescue us right now, like the cavalry riding over a hill or the Lone Ranger appearing out of n...

blog

The Importance of Listening to God

Author

Alan Fadling

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 5:1-2, John 10:4

Over the years, I have led hundreds of retreats that have at their center a few hours to be alone and quiet in listening prayer. At one such retreat, one participant shared a conversation she had wit...

blog

The Biggest Myth about Illustrating a Sermon: Why Personal Illustrations are not always "the best"

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Preaching

Something I’ve noticed over time is that, while we Protestants try to live “ sola scriptura (by scripture alone) ,” a large number of traditions have crept into our theology and praxis over time. One ...

illustration

The Economics of Child-Sponsorship

Author

Bruce Wydick

Keywords

While I was at a concert in college, I responded to a flyer requesting volunteers to sponsor a child overseas. For years I read the letters from this little girl in El Salvador. Ruth seemed happy to b...

Quote

Author

Fred Rogers

Keywords

It would have been sad for me to spend my life just trying to superimpose stuff on people rather than trying to encourage them to look within themselves for what's of value.

Quote

Author

Robert Louis Stevenson

Keywords

We must accept life for what it actually is - a challenge to our quality without which we should never know of what stuff we are made, or grow to our full stature.

illustration

Joy Makers?

Author

Mary Carver

Keywords

One day an ad from one of my favorite stores showed up in my email inbox. Splashed across the top in big letters was the phrase “JOY MAKERS.” Of course, the ad was pointing shoppers to deals on toys, ...

Quote

Author

Mike Yaconelli

Keywords

Brokenness

I’m unfinished. I’m unfixed. And the reality is that’s where God meets me is in the mess of my life, in the unfixedness, in the brokenness. I thought he did the opposite, he got rid of all that stuff....

illustration

I’ll Be There

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

There’s a wonderful scene in The Grapes of Wrath, where Tom Joad says a final good-bye to his mother and assures her that his presence transcends physical boundaries—even when she can’t see him: W...

illustration

The Cross as an Enduring Image

Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 12:2, Colossians 2:14-15, Philippians 2:8, Galatians 6:14, 1 Corinthians 1:18

In 2000, the National Gallery in London put on a millennial exhibition entitled “Seeing Salvation.” That was a case in point—especially remembering that European countries tend to be far more “secular...

liturgy

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

liturgy

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

blog

blog

illustration

illustration

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