Relationships and Community on Sacrifice

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Author

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 4:8, Acts 7:, Luke 15:11-32, Ephesians 4:32, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Jesus said you are to love one another as I have loved you, a love that will possibly lead to the bloody, anguished gift of yourself, a love that forgives seven times seven, that keeps no score of wro...

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More Alive With This Friend

Author

Andy Cook

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 17:17, 1 Peter 4:10, John 13:14-15, Galatians 6:9-10, Philippians 2:3-4

In his book, The Enormous Exception, Earl Palmer tells about a pre-med undergrad at the University of California, Berkley, who became a Christian after a long journey through doubts and questions. A b...

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A Nice Theory

Author

Lynn Anderson

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 4:10, Matthew 5:16, James 2:17-18, Galatians 6:9, Proverbs 11:25, Luke 6:38

Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than receive.” “Well,” you say “that is a nice theory—but is it really true?” There is really only one way to find out: Give! Give generously and consistently, ...

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The Faithfulness of a Few

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 28:20, Revelation 2:10, Matthew 5:10-12, Matthew 10:22, 2 Corinthians 4:8-10, 1 Peter 4:12-14, Romans 8:35-37, John 15:18-20, Psalm 31:23, Matthew 25:21, 1 Corinthians 4:2, 1 Timothy 6:12, Matthew 24:45-46

Pliny, a Roman Governor serving around 112 AD, faced a challenging situation regarding Christianity. Many Church historians believe that by his time, it had become illegal to profess the Christian fai...

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Author

John Oxenham

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 4:8, Luke 10:25-37, Ephesians 4:32, John 3:16, 1 John 4:7-8, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love ever gives, Forgives, outlives, And ever stands with open hands, And while it lives it gives. For this is love’s prerogative, To give – and give – and give.

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A Crown of Thorns

Author

Our Daily Bread

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 4:13-14, Acts 7:59-60, Hebrews 11:36-38, Matthew 5:10-12, Romans 8:18

John Huss, the Bohemian reformer, was burned at the stake in 1415. Before his accusers lit the fire, they placed on his head a crown of paper with painted devils on it. He answered this mockery by say...

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The Boodle Feast

Author

Rick Love

Keywords

Scripture

John 13:34-35, Galatians 3:28, 1 Peter 4:9, Matthew 25:35, Luke 14:12-14, Romans 12:13, Hebrews 13:2

In his helpful book Peace Catalysts , Rick Love shares a poignant example of how sharing a meal can break down the familiar walls of status, power, and economics: In 2011, my wife, Fran, and I we...

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Author

Minucius Felix

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 4:8, 1 Samuel 18:20, Acts 2:42-47, Ephesians 4:2-3, Romans 12:10, 1 John 4:20-21

Our bond, which you resent, consists in mutual love, for we know not how to hate; we call ourselves ‘brethren’ to which you object, as members of one family in God, as partners in one faith, as joint ...

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The Crucial Importance of Stewarding the Gift

Author

A. J. Swoboda

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 5:19, Proverbs 3:9-10, Luke 16:10-11, Matthew 25:21, 1 Peter 4:10

The story is well known in the family: my grandparents had driven up from California the evening before. Stopping at a gas station along the Oregon border, they purchased some snacks, gas, and, as the...

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Author

Augustine of Hippo

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 4:1-12, 1 Peter 4:8-10, Acts 9:36-42, John 13:1-17, Luke 10:25-37, Matthew 25:35-40, Galatians 6:2

What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. Th...

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An Attitude of a Servant

Author

Millard Erickson

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:3, Romans 12:10, Colossians 3:12, Galatians 5:13, 1 Peter 4:10, Matthew 23:11-12

What he [Jesus] was attempting to instill in his disciples was the attitude of a servant: humility and a willingness to put others ahead of oneself. In that culture, washing the feet of others would s...

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Be of Good Comfort

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:10-12, Revelation 2:10, Acts 5:41, Philippians 1:29, 1 Peter 4:12-14

Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, two men burned at the stake for their faith in Oxford in 1555. According to sources, as the flames leaped up, Latimer was heard to say calmly, “Be of good comfort, Mr...

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Author

Thomas à Kempis

Keywords

The Kingdom of God

Scripture

1 Peter 4:12-13, 2 Corinthians 4:8-10, Romans 8:17, John 15:18-20, 2 Timothy 3:12, Philippians 1:29, Luke 9:23

Jesus has many who love the kingdom of God, but few who bear a cross. He has many who desire His comfort, but few who desire His suffering. All want to rejoice with him, but few are willing to suffer ...

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Author

John of Kronstadt

Keywords

Mercy

Scripture

1 Peter 4:8-10, Romans 12:13, James 1:27, Proverbs 11:25, Matthew 5:7, 2 Corinthians 9:8, Luke 6:36

Your Lord is a God of mercy and bountifulness: be a source of mercy and bountifulness to your neighbors. If you will be such, you will find salvation yourself with everlasting glory.

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Haters of Humanity?

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 8:1-3, 2 Timothy 3:12, 1 Peter 4:12-16, Matthew 5:10-12, Luke 6:41-42, Genesis 3:8-19, Genesis 39:6-20, Job 2:11-13, Job 42:7-9

Most of us are aware of various persecutions that took place during the first few centuries of the church’s existence. One particularly brutal local persecution took place during the reign of Nero, wh...

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Author

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Keywords

Forgiveness

Scripture

1 Corinthians 13:4-5, Romans 12:9-10, Matthew 6:14-15, Luke 6:37, 1 Peter 4:8, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:31-32

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.

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Author

Original Author Unknown

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 13:, 1 Peter 4:8, Ephesians 4:2, 1 John 4:18, Proverbs 10:12

A true relationship is two unperfect people refusing to give up on each other.

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Author

Mike Krzyzewski

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 4:4-5, Titus 3:4-7, Philippians 2:8, Hebrews 2:14-15, 17-18, Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 4:8, Matthew 5:9

[I] try to get into their world a little bit [by listening to hip-hop], because if they’re only adapting to you and you’re not adapting to them in some way, I don’t think you’ve developed a relationsh...

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Author

E. M. Cioran

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 18:1-3, Romans 16:3-4, 1 Samuel 18:20, Ephesians 4:2, Philippians 2:3-4, 1 Peter 4:8

Love is an agreement on the part of two people to overestimate each other.

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Love Does not Insist on Its Own Way

Author

Dave Peterson

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Philippians 2:3-4, Colossians 3:12-14, John 13:1-17, Luke 10:25-37, Genesis 37:50, 1 Peter 4:8

Once, while on vacation, on our way to church, Terri and I got into a disagreement over something. When I felt I was losing, to make my point, I stopped the car and got out. We were on a country road....

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Stories of Hospitality from Ancient Cultures

Author

Dorothy C. Bass

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 4:9, Matthew 25:34-46, Leviticus 19:34, Acts 28:2, Isaiah 58:7

A Catholic priest recently told a gathering of friends about a time when he arrived in Israel late on a Friday afternoon, just as everything was about to shut down for the Sabbath. Public transportati...

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Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 4:8, 1 Samuel 18:20, Luke 15:11-32, John 4:1-26, Jeremiah 31:3, 1 John 4:16-18, 1 Corinthians 8:3

To be fully known and fully loved is the most healing gift one human being can give another.

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Author

G. Campbell Morgan

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:12, John 15:18-19, Matthew 5:10-12, 1 Peter 4:12-14, James 1:2-4, Romans 8:31, Acts 14:22

If you have no opposition in the place you serve, you're serving in the wrong place.

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Author

John Stott

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 13:16, 1 Peter 4:10, Luke 10:27, Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 5:14, 1 John 4:20, Matthew 22:37-40

Social responsibility becomes an aspect not of Christian mission only, but also of Christian conversion. It is impossible to be truly converted to God without being thereby converted to our neighbor.

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Discovering Your Unique Purpose

Author

Max Lucado

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:5, 1 Peter 4:11

Da Vinci painted one Mona Lisa. Beethoven composed one Fifth Symphony. And God made one version of you. He custom designed you for a one-of-a-kind assignment. Mine like a gold digger the unique-to-you...

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Author

Dorothy L. Sayers

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:4-8, 1 Corinthians 12:, 1 Corinthians 14:12, Ephesians 4:4-6, Romans 12:4-6, 1 Peter 4:10

The Power—the Spirit—is thus a social power, working to bring all minds into its own unity, sometimes by similarity and at other times by contrast. There is a diversity of gifts, but the same spirit.

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Eating Your Gift

Author

Tony Evans

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:17, Matthew 25:14-15, 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, Romans 12:6, 1 Peter 4:10, James 1:17

A man who was well-to-do enjoyed buying his father unusual and exotic presents for Christmas.… But one particular Christmas this man found a gift for his father that was truly unique: a talking bird t...

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Christian Persecution & The Real Power

Author

John Dickson

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:10-12, John 15:18-20, 2 Timothy 3:12, Acts 14:22, Romans 8:35-37, 1 Peter 4:12-14, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Acts 1:8, Romans 8:11, Isaiah 41:10

What is the witness of the church in times of persecution? The historical record demonstrates that persecutions of Christians were regular and prolific in the first centuries of the church, especially...

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What is Your Purpose?

Author

J. D. Greear

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 12:7-12, Ephesians 4:16, Romans 12:4-5, 1 Peter 4:10, 1 Corinthians 3:9

A pastor friend of mine once brought about ten people onto the stage at his church and assigned them roles to play on an imaginary fire truck. One person was assigned to drive; another controlled the ...

liturgy

The Psalmist draws us into prayer

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 66:16-19, Matthew 6:6-8, 1 Peter 4:10, Matthew 5:14-16, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 103:1-5

The Psalmist draws us into prayer saying: Come and hear, all you who honor God and let me tell you what he has done for me. I cried out to him and God has surely listened and heard my prayer. Praise ...

relationships and community on Sacrifice

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