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illustration
A Debt We Couldn’t Pay Ourselves
Suppose I sell you a piece of commercial property on which I am already behind in my mortgage payments. You not only pay me a fair price for the property but also pay my overdue payments. Now the prop... -
illustration
The Two House-Hunters from Quadora
Sam and Pam, two friends, both arrived in the United States as immigrants from the country of Quadora. Each one wanted to buy a house, and it so happened they each found one for sale by a certain weal... -
illustration
Poverty and Indebtedness: Ibu Emptat’s Story
Consider the following summary of an interview conducted by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, two of the world’s leading researchers on poverty: In a village in Indonesia we met Ibu Emptat, the wif... -
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Preying on the Poor
One of the most challenging and complex economic realities faced by many of our neighbors who live paycheck to paycheck is finding financial resources to cover immediate and unexpected expenses. To ad... -
illustration
Sleeping Well
Caesar Augustus, the first Roman emperor, had quite the sharp wit. After hearing about a Roman nobleman who had passed away with enormous debts (which were kept private throughout his lifetime), he se... -
illustration
The Debt Must Be Paid
Mercy goes beyond justice, it does not undercut it. If I forgive you the hundred dollar debt you owe me, that means I must use one hundred dollars of my own money to pay my creditors. I cannot really ... -
liturgy
Holy and merciful God, in your presence
Holy and merciful God, in your presence we confess our sinfulness, our shortcomings, and our offenses against you. You alone know how often we have sinned in wandering from your ways, in wasting your ... -
liturgy
Lord, You are a great and holy God, and
Lord, You are a great and holy God, and you have asked us to pursue you as the object of our worship and devotion. But Lord, we have fallen short of what you ask of us, we are a sinful people. We have... -
Quote
If you owe the bank $100 that's your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that's the bank's problem. -
illustration
Made to See
In her engaging treatment, Teach us to Want , Jen Pollock Michel describes both the beauty and pain of seeing our own sinful nature: It is often true that once we are made to see, we don’t like w... -
Quote
The blunt fact is that America's grand promotion of debt-leveraged consumerism has stood Max Weber's famous thesis about the rise of capitalism on its head. It has scorned the early-American s... -
liturgy
James 5:16 invites us to confess our
James 5:16 invites us to confess our sins so that we might be healed. Let us go before our Creator in humility and confession. Lord Almighty, we come to you in humility today. We have sought security... -
illustration
The Death Pledge
Mortgage is a French word. It’s a combination of two Old French words, mort meaning “death” and gage meaning “pledge.” Yep, signing a mortgage means you are signing a death pledge. It was named this a... -
liturgy
The grace of God overflows for us
The grace of God overflows for us through Christ Jesus, who came into the world to save sinners. We therefore, confess, holy and merciful God, our failure to be what you created us to be. You alone kn... -
liturgy
Almighty God, you love us, but we do
Almighty God, you love us, but we do not love you fully. You call, but we do not always listen. We often walk away from neighbors in need, wrapped in our own concerns. We often condone evil, hatred, w... -
liturgy
Heavenly Father, we come before Your
Heavenly Father, we come before Your throne of grace to confess our sin. We have been selfish instead of generous; we have been proud instead of humble; we have held grudges instead of forgiving; we h... -
liturgy
Let us pray. Almighty, powerful,
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 ... -
liturgy
Almighty God of creation, please
Almighty God of creation, please forgive us for the times when we’ve squandered the gifts you’ve given us. You give so freely, so abundantly, that we sometimes take your gifts for granted. For the tim... -
illustration
The Issue of Money
In his book on the subject, Philip Yancey describes the tension he himself deals with as a Christian related to money: Many Christians have one issue that haunts them and never falls silent: for som... -
liturgy
Inspired by Judges 2
Pastor: Oh God, you have been so gracious to us. You have given us so many wonderful gifts—they outnumber the stars in the sky! You have kept your promises to us, and you have been faithful! All: But ... -
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The Origins of the Prosperity Gospel
Russell Conwell, founder of Temple University and half the namesake of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, was an American minister who began his ministry in 1880. While he wrote and preached countle... -
liturgy
Gracious God, you shower us with so
Gracious God, you shower us with so many blessings, yet we struggle to share them with others. You love a cheerful giver, but we sometimes give grudgingly. We forget that all we have is yours, and tha... -
illustration
Lending to the Lender
While most of us probably avoid borrowing money, there are cases in which people actually enjoy borrowing from other people. For instance, the Austrian poet Peter Altenberg loved to borrow money from ... -
Quote
It’s a cultural disability in America that we worship pleasure, leisure, and affluence. I think the church is doubly damned when they use Jesus as a vehicle for achieving all of that. Like, if you giv... -
Quote
Hence, whatever certain people have in superabundance is due, by natural law, to the purpose of succoring the poor. -
liturgy
Jesus, we receive your blessings and
Jesus, we receive your blessings and pray for the Holy Spirit to make them real in our lives. Renew a right spirit within us, a poor spirit, a spirit that knows our deep need of your grace and deliver... -
liturgy
Generous God our Father – who gives us
Generous God our Father – who gives us all good gifts: Gifts of life, love and, relationships; gifts of work and leisure, effort and rest; and, most of all, gifts of Your Son and our salvation, yo... -
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The generosity and the magnanimity of God are so great that he accepts nothing from us without rewarding it beyond all computation. . . The vast disproportion existing between our work and God’s rewar... -
Quote
Deeds of giving are the equivalent to the entirety of God’s commandment. -
liturgy
Gracious God, you are the giver of
Gracious God, you are the giver of every good and perfect gift. You give us our talents, our freedom, and our financial resources. We struggle to give back to you from these gifts. We often worry that...
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A
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C
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D
- Darkness
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E
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- Evil
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F
- Face of God
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G
- Gardening
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- Gifts
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- God the Father
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H
- Hands
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I
J
L
- Labor
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- Lust
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M
- Magnificat
- Mammon
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- Marital Problems
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N
O
P
- Pain
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- Purity Of Heart
- Putting God First
- The People of God
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Q
R
- Race
- Race and Reconciliation
- Racial Reconciliation
- Racism
- Real Estate
- Receiving
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- Receiving Gifts
- Receiving the Word
- Reconciliation
- Redeemer
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- Relationships
- Relaxation
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- Renewing our Minds
- Repentance
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- Resources
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- Resurrection of the Dead
- Revelation
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- Rich and Poor
- Riches
- Righteousness
- Risks
- Rivers
- Romantic Relationships
- Royalty
- The Rich
- The Risen Lord
S
- Sabbath
- Sacrifice
- Sacrificial Giving
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- Safety
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- Scarcity
- Schedules
- School
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- Sea
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- Second Chances
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- Self-Care
- Self-Centeredness
- Self-Control
- Self-Examination
- Self-Gratification
- Self-Love
- Self-Reliance
- Selfishness
- Sense of Smell
- Separation
- Servanthood
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- Settling
- Sex
- Shame
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- Shortcomings
- Sight
- Simplicity
- Sin
- Sinfulness
- Singing
- Sinners
- Sins of the Church
- Slander
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- Sleep
- Social Class
- Social Justice
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- Solitude
- Solving Problems
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- Sowing Seeds
- Speaking Truth to Power
- Spending Money
- Spiritual Gifts
- Spiritual Growth
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- Spiritual Poverty
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- Sports
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- Stealing
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- Stubbornness
- Stuff
- Suburbs
- Success
- Suffering
- Superficiality
- Supply and Demand
- Surplus
- Sustainability
- Sweetness
- The Saints
T
W
Y
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