Current Affairs and Causes on Tree Of Life

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Broken Trees and Unbroken Hope: In the Path of Hurricane Helene

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Keywords

Landmarks Lost For those of us who have been in the path of Hurricane Helene—quite surprisingly, I might add, since the hurricane models even a few hours before landfall had it going about 100-200 mi...

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Why does a tree bear fruit?

Author

Christopher H. J. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 17:7–8, Deuteronomy 30:19–20, Ezekiel 36:26–27, John 15:4–5, Romans 7:4–6, Psalm 1:2–3, John 15:1-8, Matthew 7:17-23, Galatians 5:22-23, Colossians 1:10, Galatians 5:22-23

Why does a tree bear fruit? Not because there is some law of nature that says it must. But simply because of the life within it, rising up from the soil and water that feed its roots and flowing in th...

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The Lord is our Shepherd. He is aware

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 23:1-3, Isaiah 53:5, John 10:11, Romans 5:8, 1 Peter 2:24, Ephesians 1:7

The Lord is our Shepherd. He is aware of our wanton hearts. He has rooted out our sin and reversed its dire consequences upon His cross. The tree of life has become the cross of Christ. Although we ha...

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Aspens and the Body of Christ

Author

Eunice McGarrahan

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32, Luke 13:18-19, 1 Corinthians 12:, Romans 12:4-8

With their striking white bark and shimmering leaves (green in spring and summer, bright gold in fall), aspens are beloved in the Mountain West. They are a remarkable image of the body of Christ. From...

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We Are Citizens of One Kingdom

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 2:17, Romans 8:38-39, Philippians 3:20, Colossians 3:1-2, John 15:5, Jeremiah 17:7-8

A Tree in Which to Perch An impressive California Sycamore tree used to grace our village. It rose majestically by the water’s edge, a few yards away from the wooden bridge that spans the lake whi...

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God–our Father, Lord and indwelling

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Psalm 133:1, 2 Corinthians 9:13-14, Matthew 28:19-20

God–our Father, Lord and indwelling Spirit of grace and power: Thank you for hearing us when we pray whether in songs of rejoicing or through tears of sorrow. Thank you for gifts–for the gifts of musi...

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Author

Peggy Noonan

Keywords

The life of people on earth is obviously better now than it has ever been—certainly much better than it was 500 years ago when people beat each other with cats. This may sound silly but now and then w...

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Bless Christ Through Whom All Things Are Made, Inspired by Colossians 1:11-28

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 1:11-28

Bless Christ through whom all things are made. Join seen and unseen in their praise of One who both creates, sustains who goes before, in justice reigns. Who makes the lion and the lamb, the farthest...

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The Cross and the Lynching Tree

Author

James Cone

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 61:1, Jeremiah 22:3, Micah 6:8, James 1:27, Matthew 25:35-36, Psalm 82:3-4, Isaiah 58:6-7

In the wake of slavery and the Civil War, there was so much ugliness in black life that one would have had to be blind not to see it. And nothing, absolutely nothing, was uglier than lynching in all o...

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Setting Down Roots

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 4:16 , Psalm 92:12-14, John 15:5, Exodus 17:8-13 , Jeremiah 17:7-8, Isaiah 41:10

Consider the banyan tree, a remarkable species found in India and other subtropical regions. As it grows, its sprawling branches become increasingly heavy. But instead of breaking under their own weig...

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A Prayer and Poem for Earth Day

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Scripture

Colossians 1:16-17, John 1:3, Psalm 19:1-2, Psalm 8:3-4, Isaiah 40:28, Revelation 4:11, Job 38:4-7

Glorious One Maker of galaxies Maker of mountains Maker of me Thank you for your grace Thank you for reaching out For speaking through the majesty of your creation For speaking into the smallness of ...

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Defining Crisis

Author

Jonathan K. Dodson

Keywords

Crises

Scripture

Matthew 10:15, John 5:22, Genesis 2:null, Judges 4:4-5, Matthew 10:15, Genesis 2:9, Judges 4:4-5

The word krisis was used by the Greeks to refer to “a legal process of judgment.” Aristotle used it to refer to a legal procedure that secured civic order. In his case, it was a judgment that helped k...

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John Perkins' Children: Among the Very First Students to Integrate at an All-White School

Author

John M. Perkins

Keywords

Six of my children—Spencer, Joanie, Phillip, Derek, Deborah, and Wayne—were among the first black children to attend the all-white school in Mendenhall. But while they were there, their white teachers...

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God of our hearts, Lord of nations and

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

God of our hearts, Lord of nations and Creator of worlds; Father, Son and Holy Spirit: When You redeemed us and called us each by name, You made us a family—united by your love and grace. Across towns...

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Lord—You’re the God who notices. You

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 5:7, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Psalm 34:15, Mark 4:39-40, Luke 7:12-15, Mark 10:46-52, Luke 19:5-6

Lord—You’re the God who notices. You notice a desperate woman who touches Your garments in a crowd. You notice a lonely, little tax-collector in a tree. You notice a blind man on the roadside, a widow...

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Author

Annie Dillard

Keywords

We don’t know what’s going on here. If these tremendous events are random combinations of matter run amok, the yield of millions of monkeys at millions of typewriters, then what is it in us, hammered ...

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Adapted from Psalm 80 (1)

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 80:null

Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved! You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see;...

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Author

Annie Dillard

Keywords

Soil

The point of the dragonfly's terrible lip, the giant water bug, birdsong, or the beautiful dazzle and flash of sunlighted minnows, is not that it all fits together like clockwork--for it doesn'...

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Adapted from John 6

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Scripture

John 6:32-34

Leader: Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who co...

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The Evolution of the Rose

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 52:8, John 15:1-10, Ephesians 2:19-22, Romans 11:11-24, 1 Peter 2:9-10

A couple years ago I got to take a tour of the Huntington Library in Pasadena, California. The name is a bit misleading because what they are most known for are there amazing gardens. And so we were o...

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God of all nations and peoples, Lord of

Author

Roy Pearson

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God of all nations and peoples, Lord of all places and lands, who didst form man of the dust of the ground, and make of him a living soul, we praise thee for the infinite variety of thy human creature...

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Let us pray. Almighty, powerful,

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Let us pray. Almighty, powerful, creator God So often we think we know best. We confess to you our sin alongside the sin of all humanity. We have tried to master creation rather than care for it. We ...

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Meeting Face to Face with God

Author

Mike Cosper

Keywords

Israel

While many world religions worship gods in temples, Israel’s claim was unique. Theirs wasn’t simply a consecrated center for worship; it was a meeting place where the Lord of the creation actually met...

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Author

Thomas Merton

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 22:1-14, Exodus 3:1-12 , Isaiah 6:1-8, John 12:24-26, Romans 6:3-11, Psalm 46:10

To enter into the realm of contemplation one must in a certain sense die: but this death is in fact the entrance into a higher life. It is a death for the sake of life, which leaves behind all that we...

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The Image of God Is Far too Rich to be Contained in a Single Person

Author

Irwyn L. Ince Jr.

Keywords

This is the beautiful community that Herman Bavinck gets at when he writes, The image of God is much too rich for it to be fully realized in a single human being, however richly gifted that human bein...

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Almighty God, in Jesus Christ you taught us

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Almighty God, in Jesus Christ you taught us to pray, and to offer our petitions to you in his name. Guide us by your Holy Spirit, that our prayers for others may serve your will and show your ste...

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Sacred Space: Lessons from Ethiopia’s Church Forests

Author

William Rowley

Keywords

Too Busy for God? American work culture is all-pervasive. For many members of your congregation, it can be a real fight to get actual time off—and cell phones and the internet has made it possible to...

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Author

Randy S. Woodley

Keywords

Diversity and Inclusion

God has planned since the beginning of time to cultivate diversity among human beings. When people tried to circumvent His plan, God intervened by creating many languages. … [God] is a God of innovati...

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Kindness flows from you, Lord, pure and

Author

Gregory of Nyssa

Scripture

Romans 5:8-11, Genesis 3:8-21, Isaiah 61:10, Ephesians 2:13-14, Revelation 22:14, Hebrews 10:19-22

Kindness flows from you, Lord, pure and continual. You had cast us off, as was only just, but mercifully you forgave us; you hated us and you were reconciled to us, you cursed us and you blessed us; y...

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Yearning for a Higher Answer

Author

David Friend

Keywords

This paragraph from the scientist and atheist David Friend provides a stark contrast to a Christian conception of life, humanity, and the world we inhabit: We are here because one odd group of fishe...

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