Personal Development on Gold

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Author

J. R. R. Tolkein

Keywords

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

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Adapted from Psalm 19:7-11, 14

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 19:7-11, Psalm 19:14

Leader: The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; People: The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment...

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The Gap Between the Promise and the Fulfillment

Author

Ben Patterson

Keywords

It isn’t easy to wait. It demands persistence when common sense says “give up.” It says “believe” when there is no present evidence to back it up. Faith is forged in delay. Character is forged in dela...

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Author

Gwendolyn Brooks

Keywords

Moments

Exhaust the little moment. Soon it dies. And be it gash or gold it will not come Again in this identical disguise.

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Value after Brokenness: The Art of Kintsugi

Author

Hannah Brencher

Keywords

There are going to be broken times when you feel as if everything is under demolition. When things feel unresolved or ruined inside of you. When the only thing you might have the strength to do is thr...

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The Treasure of a Lifetime

Author

Randy Alcorn

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 13:44, Hebrews 14:26, Colossians 2:2-3, Philippians 3:8, Luke 12:33-34

A first-century Hebrew walks alone on a hot afternoon, staff in hand. His shoulders are stooped, his tunic stained with sweat. But he doesn’t stop to rest. He has pressing business in the city. He vee...

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The Shining City

Author

Anthony Campolo

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 16:26, Matthew 16:19-21, Proverbs 3:5-6

Success is a shining city, a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. We dream of it as children, we strive for it through our adult lives, and we suffer melancholy in old age if we have not reached it....

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Author

Thomas Brooks

Keywords

Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst; he promises honor, and pays with disgrace; he promises pleasure, and pays with pain; he promises profit, and pays with loss; he promises life, and pay...

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Adapted from Psalm 135:15-18

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 135:15-18

All: “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breat...

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Success vs. Excellence (Part II)

Author

Jon Johnston

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 16:26, Proverbs 16:3, Matthew 6:19-21

Success offers a hoped-for future goal. Excellence provides a striven-for present standard. Success bases our worth on a comparison with others. Excellence gauges our value by measuring us against ...

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Adapted from Psalm 19:7-10

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 19:7-10

Leader: "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;" People: "the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;" Leader: "the commandment of the Lord is pur...

liturgy

Adapted From Psalm 19

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 19:null

Leader: The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; People: The commandment...

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A Father’s Love brings Hope and Endurance

Author

Wayne Rice

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 28:20

The Barcelona Olympics of 1992 provided one of track and field’s most incredible moments. Britain’s Derek Redmond had dreamed all his life of winning a gold medal in the 400-meter race, and his dream...

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The Forge

Author

Ben Patterson

Keywords

At least as important as the things we wait for is the work God wants to do in us as we wait… Picture a blazing hot forge and a piece of gold thrust into it to be heated until all that is impure and ...

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Adapted from Revelation 3:15-22

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 3:15-22

Pastor: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation: “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you...

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The One Ring and the Failure of Willpower

Author

Ryan Bundrick

Keywords

Scripture

John 8:34-36, Hebrews 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 3:5, Romans 7:15-24, Proverbs 20:9, Numbers 21:

Nearly everybody knows of at least one sin habit in their life that they wish to leave behind them. Yet, no matter what they do, it seems impossible for them to be free of this habit, character flaw, ...

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The Agony & The Ecstasy

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 3:13-14, Hebrews 12:1-2, 2 Timothy 4:7, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Romans 8:18, James 1:12, 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

During the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Japanese gymnast Shun Fujimoto broke his right knee while competing in the floor exercise. At the time, Japan and the Soviet Union fielded the world's ...

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When Rest is Radical: Why the Sabbath Matters for Christian Leaders

Author

Jason Jensen

Keywords

What Eric Liddell Did Not Do Scottish athlete and missionary Eric Liddell, whose story is told in the movie Chariots of Fire , was a favorite to win the hundred-meter sprint in the 1924 Paris Olym...

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Adapted from The Valley of Vision

Keywords

Scripture

Job 1:42, James 1:2-3, 1 Peter 1:6-7, Mark 5:1-20, John 8:36

Pastor: Father in Heaven, I have sinned times without number. I am guilty of pride and unbelief. I’ve failed to delight my heart in your Word and have neglected you in my daily life. All: My transgr...

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A Prayer for Those Who Govern

ALL SINGING: (America the Beautiful, first verse) O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed His grac...

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The Art of Waiting: Sermon Illustration Tuesday

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

This week, we have chosen two illustrations that describe the nature of waiting, and perhaps can inspire each of us to wait well as we long for life to return, at least in part, to normalcy: Hope y...

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Always Make Sure You Are Aiming at the Right Target

Author

Vance Pitman

Keywords

If you were lucky enough to watch the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, you probably remember swimmer Michael Phelps bursting onto the international scene. Phelps won six medals in those ga...

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Lacking Presence

Author

Alan Fadling

Keywords

In his excellent book, An Unhurried Life, Alan Fadling describes the challenge of experiencing God’s presence, even in the relatively slow world (in comparison to our own) of the fourteenth-century: ...

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A Reminder of the Paradox of Christian Power and Authority

Author

Rowan Williams

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 5:1-14, Matthew 25:31, Revelation 21:3-4

When you go into one of the great homes of the late Roman empire and you see a mosaic of Christ enthroned at the far end, you’re looking at the place where the emperor would sit. And the emperor would...

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Thomas Aquinas on Peter’s Wealth

Author

Jake Meador

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 3:null

An old joke can sum up the failure nicely: It’s said that Thomas Aquinas was once brought into a great city where he was to meet the pope. He saw huge churches, clerics in ornate garb, and great armie...

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Finding Your "Why"

Author

Simon Sinek, David Mead, and Peter Docker

Keywords

Every one of us has a WHY, a deep-seated purpose, cause or belief that is the source of our passion and inspiration. You may not yet know what yours is or how to express it in words. But we guarantee,...

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Christopher Parkening’s Search For Happiness and Purpose

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 37:4, Colossians 3:23-24, Matthew 16:26, Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, 1 Corinthians 10:31

Considered perhaps the greatest guitarist alive, Christopher Parkening appeared to have it all. Signed to an international recording deal as a teenager, Parkening traveled across the world playing bea...

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Author

Gene Edward Veith Jr.

Keywords

Thus a Christian finds himself called to drab and lowly tasks, which seem less remarkable than monastic life, mortifications, and other distractions from our vocations. For him who heeds his vocation,...

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Author

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Keywords

Criticism

Once in a golden hour I cast to earth a seed. Up there came a flower, The people said, a weed.”

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Sarah Smith of Golder's Green

Author

Eunice McGarrahan

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 3:18, Mark 10:43-45, Colossians 3:12-14, 1 Peter 4:10, Galatians 5:13

One of the most powerful expressions of humble, servant-like caring for others is found in C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce , in the character of Sarah Smith of Golders Green. Her quiet life of love tra...

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