Personal Development on Church

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The church is a community that exists because something has happened that makes the entire process of self-justification irrelevant. God’s truth and mercy have appeared in concrete form in Jesus and, ...

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Author

Oscar A. Romero

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Hebrews 12:11, Galatians 6:1, 2 Timothy 4:2, Ephesians 5:11, 1 Peter 4:16, John 15:18-19, 2 Timothy 3:12

The church must suffer for speaking the truth, for pointing out sin, for uprooting sin. No one wants to have a sore spot touched, and therefore a society with so many sores twitches when someone has t...

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Thomas Fuller

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Many come to bring their clothes to church rather than themselves.

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The Church Losing its Place as the Center of Attention

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Tim Wu

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The Church was the one institution whose mission depended on galvanizing attention; and through its daily and weekly offices, as well as its sometimes-central role in education, that is exactly what i...

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Adapted from Hebrews 10:19-25

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Hebrews 10:19-25

Leader: Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, All: by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, t...

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Author

Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson

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The majority of church members need to be involved in the change or it will soon produce resistance.

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The Bar and the Church

Author

Keith Miller and Bruce Larson

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Scripture

Matthew 9:10-13, Luke 15:11-32, Romans 3:23-24, 1 John 1:8-9

The neighborhood bar is possible the best counterfeit there is to the fellowship Christ wants to give his church. It’s an imitation, dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality, but...

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Not Going to Church

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Source Unknown

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Scripture

Hebrews 10:24-25, Psalm 133:1, Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 12:27, Matthew 18:20, Acts 2:42

As was the normal routine on a Sunday morning, a wife got ready for church. She got up, had breakfast, showered, got dressed, put on makeup and was ready to go. It was just as she was ready to leave t...

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Author

Craig Blomberg

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Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, Acts 10:34-35, Galatians 3:28, Romans 1:16, John 4:21-24, Psalm 22:27-28

[Speaking of the early church] A cosmopolitan spirit grew, particularly in the cities, that transcended national barriers. Old tribal distinctions and identities were breaking down, leaving people rip...

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In the days of the early church,

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Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

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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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Author

T. R. Glover

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Matthew 5:38-42, Luke 6:27-28, 1 Peter 2:12, Acts 5:40-42, Revelation 12:11, Hebrews 11:36-38, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, Romans 8:35-37, Psalm 118:6-7

The early Christian church conquered because the Christians of those days out-thought, out-lived, and out-died the pagans.

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O God, we pray for the church, which is

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John E. Skoglund

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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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Author

Matt Chandler

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Courage

The church before Christendom was made up of individuals who had a courage that could not be quenched by the fires nor torn apart by the lions. It was made up of ordinary people who together unleashed...

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Meister Eckhart

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As thou art in church or cell, that same frame of mind carry out into the world, into its turmoil and its fitfulness.

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God–Father, Son and Holy Spirit–You

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Richard Herman

Scripture

Ephesians 1:3, Matthew 28:19, John 10:30, Matthew 3:16-17, 1 Corinthians 8:6, 1 Corinthians 8:6, 1 Peter 1:2

God–Father, Son and Holy Spirit–You know what it’s like to be many and one at the same time. In You, we too are many ... yet one. You’ve made us one body—a single family unified for one purpose; with ...

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Adapted from Colossians 3:12-17

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Colossians 3:12-17

Leader: Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience All: bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against an...

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Author

François Fénelon

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To just read the Bible, attend church, and avoid “big” sins— is this passionate, wholehearted love for God?

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Author

Chuck DeGroat

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Scripture

Colossians 3:5, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, 1 John 2:16, James 1:14-15, Romans 8:1-2, Galatians 5:16-17

The early church fathers named the primary sin patterns “passions,” borrowing a Latin term that could also be translated “sufferings ” As we live out a unique pattern or “face” of sin, we begin to thi...

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Prayers of the People, Form V

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Luke 15:11-32, Psalm 51:10, 1 John 1:9, Psalm 103:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, John 17:21, Ephesians 4:3-6

Deacon or other leader In peace, let us pray to the Lord, saying, "Lord, have mercy" ( or "Kyrie eleison"). For the holy Church of God, that it may be filled with truth and lov...

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God—Father, Son and Spirit; You are a

Author

Richard Herman

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Scripture

Acts 4:32-35, Luke 10:25-37, Matthew 14:13-21, 1 Kings 17:8-16, Exodus 16:1-36, John 6:35, 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

God—Father, Son and Spirit; You are a God of compassion and love. Like the Israelites in the wilderness, we’ve known Your love, and experienced Your care and provision. Repeatedly You’ve answered our ...

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O God, we thank you that you have not

Author

William Barclay

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Micah 6:8, Colossians 3:23-24, Psalm 119:105, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, Lamentations 3:22-23, 1 Samuel 1:24-28, Acts 2:42-47

O God, we thank you that you have not treated us as we deserve. We thank you that, though you are Creator, Judge and King, you are also Father, so that, though we are wandering children, there is alw...

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Father: Thank You for always being

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Psalm 34:14, Luke 15:20, Hebrews 4:14, Romans 6:4, Acts 1:8, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Psalm 25:4-5, Matthew 11:28-30, Isaiah 41:10, John 14:13, James 1:5, 2 Corinthians 9:8, Habakkuk 3:2, Isaiah 6:8, Matthew 28:19-20

Father: Thank You for always being ready to welcome us and listen to us. Thank You for sending Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Savior: born like us, experiencing all that we experience yet sinless, who d...

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Loving God—who’s with us always and

Author

Richard Herman

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Scripture

Matthew 5:16, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 147:3, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Ephesians 4:2-3, Romans 8:28

Loving God—who’s with us always and everywhere; who knows all our hurts and sorrows, our joys and celebrations ...and goes through them with us: Thank you for the hope we have in you—nothing is imposs...

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God ~ Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Your

Author

Richard Herman

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God ~ Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Your grace welcomes us. Your faithfulness gives us hope. Your love invites us to come as we are—not as we think we ought to be, nor, even, as we want to be. While s...

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Institutional Inertia

Author

Tod E. Bolsinger

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Scripture

Exodus 16:3, Numbers 14:4, Luke 5:37-38, Isaiah 43:19, Joshua 1:9

Churches, seminaries, and nonprofit organizations are notorious for saying they need change and then resisting the very leader they called to bring it. One of my consulting clients told me that he cal...

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God of Grace–Father, Son, and Holy

Author

Richard Herman

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Scripture

Psalm 62:8, Isaiah 53:4-5, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Matthew 28:18-20, James 1:5

God of Grace–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: You are good and You are almighty. You alone are worthy of our faith and trust and so we come to You with our hopes and hurts, our disappointments and dreams...

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O Lord and Father of the household of

Author

Hughes Oliphant Old

Scripture

1 Timothy 2:1-2, Galatians 6:2, Romans 12:10, Micah 6:8, James 5:16

O Lord and Father of the household of faith, we thank you for the gift of faith worked within us by your Holy Spirit. We thank you for having called us to yourself, for consecrating us to your ser...

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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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The Pastor’s Visit

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Source Unknown

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Hebrews 10:24-25, Psalm 150:1-6, Acts 2:42, Psalm 122:1, Galatians 6:2, Matthew 18:20, Colossians 3:16

The story is told of a man who had gone to church for several years but suddenly stopped attending. His pastor dropped by one evening unannounced. The man answered the door and invited him in. Of cour...

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Prayers of the People, Form VI

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Luke 15:11-32, Psalm 51:10, 1 John 1:9, Psalm 103:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, John 17:21, Ephesians 4:3-6

The Leader and People pray responsively In peace, we pray to you, Lord God. Silence For all people in their daily life and work; For our families, friends, and neighbors, and for those who are...

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