Relationships and Community on Fathers

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“Dear Paco,”

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:13, Matthew 6:14-15, Ephesians 4:31-32, Romans 5:10, Colossians 1:20, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Ernest Hemingway grasped some of the difficulty that characterizes relationships between fathers and sons in his short story, The Capital of the World . The story revolves around a father and his t...

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Heavenly Father, we stand in awe of

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

John 14:6, Genesis 1:1, Psalm 19:1, Isaiah 40:28, John 14:6, Psalm 100:3, Colossians 1:16, Romans 5:8

Heavenly Father, we stand in awe of Your creation. You are the master of design. You know the change of seasons, You know the orbit of planets, and You know exactly what human beings were made for: a ...

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The Reconciling Love of the Father

Author

Jen Pollock Michel

Keywords

Scripture

John 1:12-13, Romans 8:15-17, Galatians 4:4-5, Ephesians 2:12-13, Colossians 1:21-22, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

In her book Keeping Place: Reflections on the Meaning of Home , Jen Pollock Michel reflects on the nature of home in a transient age. In this short excerpt, Michel reflects on the Biblical doctrine...

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Holy Father, You are perfect and just,

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 1:13-14, Psalm 103:12, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 5:8, Titus 3:5, 1 John 1:9

Holy Father, You are perfect and just, but we are sinful and unworthy. We intend the best in how we live our lives, Yet sin remains in us. Through Your Son, we are able to have redemption and a reconn...

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The Curious Incident of the Fig Tree

Author

Eunice McGarrahan

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 1:8, Romans 6:4, Colossians 1:10, Matthew 7:16-20, Galatians 5:22-23, Luke 13:6-9

My mom studied horticulture and could make a dead stick grow leaves. I do not have her genes. So what I am telling you know comes from sources who do know about fig trees. Here’s what they tell me. Fi...

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Colossians 1:9b-12

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 1:9

May you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work ...

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Jesus, you are our peace You proclaim

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

2 Thessalonians 3:16, Matthew 11:28-30, Philippians 4:6-7, Isaiah 9:6, Romans 5:1, John 14:27, Colossians 1:19-20

Jesus, you are our peace You proclaim it You create it You bring us near Without you there is No safety No belonging No nurturing No identity rooted beyond this dust Without you we are Anchorless St...

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Lord and God, Father of our Lord Jesus

Author

C. Hassell Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 22:37-39, Ephesians 1:17-18, Colossians 1:19-20, 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, Romans 5:8, Hebrews 4:15

Lord and God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have only begun to comprehend the wonder of the Incarnation, that you in Christ would become one of us, that you in Christ would live among us and be ...

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Inspired by Colossians 1:15-20

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 1:15-20

Let us enter into worship, acknowledging the Lordship of Christ and his work of reconciliation by proclaiming together the words of Colossians 1:15-20, “He is the image of the invisible God, the first...

Quote

Author

Kevin DeYoung

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 1:10, 1 John 3:18, Titus 3:8, John 15:5, Galatians 5:6

Faith and good works are both necessary. But one is the root and the other the fruit.

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Lord of yesterday, today, and tomorrow

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Hebrews 13:8, Revelation 1:8, Isaiah 44:6, Psalm 90:2, Malachi 3:6, Colossians 1:17, 2 Peter 3:8, Isaiah 41:4, Romans 11:36

Consider using the prayer of adoration by itself or as a prelude to the prayer of confession. Prayer of Adoration Lord of yesterday, today, and tomorrow: You alone rule the universe; setting time...

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King Jesus, We confess that we are

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 1:13-14, 1 Peter 5:6-7, James 4:10, Isaiah 26:3-4, Philippians 4:6-7, Matthew 6:33, Proverbs 3:5-6

King Jesus, We confess that we are quick to put our hope in places other than You. We are often more driven by our fears than by our faith in You and Your Kingdom. We place our trust in health, jobs, ...

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God of mercy, in your gracious presence

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:32, Micah 7:18-19, Psalm 32:5, Colossians 1:13-14, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Isaiah 1:18, 1 John 1:9

God of mercy, in your gracious presence we confess our sin and the sin of this world. Although Christ is among us as our peace, we are a people divided against ourselves as we cling to the values of a...

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Jealous Juno

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 9:6-7, Hebrews 1:1-3, Colossians 1:15-17, Philippians 2:6-8, John 3:16-17, John 1:1-4, Luke 1:30-35

In the ancient world, a place where the veil between the earthly and spiritual was easily pierced, rumors and gossip about great leaders being born of the gods, especially amongst royals, was somewhat...

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Gracious God, You have called us out of

Author

Allen Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:9, Colossians 1:13-14, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 4:22-24, Matthew 16:24, Philippians 3:20-21, John 8:36

Gracious God, You have called us out of darkness and into the light of Your love. You have redeemed us and made us whole in order to set us free from bondage. The challenge You place before us is to d...

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Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 1:18-19, Romans 8:30, Colossians 1:13-14, Romans 5:1, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 1:7

Dealing with sin, saving humans from it, giving them grace, forgiveness, justification, glorification-all this was the purpose of the single covenant from the beginning, now fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

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You, oh Christ, are the Kingdom of

Author

Symeon the New Theologian

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 1:13-14, Revelation 21:1-4, John 2:1-11, Revelation 19:9, John 4:14, Matthew 5:5, John 6:35

You, oh Christ, are the Kingdom of Heaven; You, the land promised to the gentle; You the grazing lands of paradise; You, the hall of the celestial banquet; You, the ineffable marriage chamber; You the...

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Author

Oswald Chambers

Keywords

Forgiveness

Scripture

1 John 2:2, Hebrews 10:10, Colossians 1:13-14, Ephesians 1:7, Isaiah 53:5

We trample the blood of the Son of God if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only explanation for the forgiveness of God and for the unfathomable depth of His forgetting i...

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Psalm 116:5 and Colossians 1:13 & 14 "The Lord is

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 116:5, Colossians 1:13-14

The Lord is gracious and righteous. Our God is merciful. He has delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have our redemption, th...

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Your Body

Author

Christopher West

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 1:27, Genesis 1:31, 1 Timothy 4:4-5, Colossians 1:16, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 2 Corinthians 5:1

Think of your own experiences as a human being: your body is not just a “shell” in which you dwell. Your body is not just a body. Your body is not just any body. Your body is somebody—you! Through the...

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Leader: Arise! Shine! Christ’s Church

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 60:1, Matthew 5:14-16, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, Colossians 1:18, Ephesians 2:19-22, Galatians 6:2, 1 Peter 2:9

Leader: Arise! Shine! Christ’s Church has assembled. People: We are one body, with Christ as our head. Leader: What kind of body is this? People: The Body of Christ, brought together not by huma...

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It Goes Without Saying

Author

E. Randolph Richards and Richard James

Keywords

Scripture

John 14:27, Matthew 2:2, Revelation 19:16, John 18:36-37, Revelation 17:14, Zechariah 9:9, Isaiah 9:6, Psalm 24:7-10, Colossians 1:15-20, Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-40, John 12:12-16

In a culture, the most important things usually go without being said. We Westerners don’t talk all the time about being individualists or about the importance of efficiency or why we prefer youth ove...

Quote

Author

Julian of Norwich

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 33:8, Genesis 16:, John 10:11-18, Genesis 1:2, Matthew 6:26, Colossians 1:16-17, Psalm 139:13-14

And in this vision, he showed me a little thing, the size of a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand, and to my mind’s eye it was as round as any ball. I looked at it and thought, ‘What can this be?’...

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Leader: You who trust in Christ Jesus

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 1:18, Colossians 1:13-14, Psalm 32:5, Romans 8:1, Ephesians 1:7, Psalm 103:12, 1 John 1:9

Leader: You who trust in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of sins: hear now and rest in the assurance of your pardon: All: Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are lik...

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Working on Our Muscle Memory

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 18:20, 1 Peter 2:5, Hebrews 10:24-25, Acts 2:42-47, Colossians 1:18, Ephesians 4:15-16, Romans 12:4-5

Editor’s Note: The following illustration came from one of my own sermons, as I was trying to help a congregation see itself not as a building, but the body of Christ. It has been adapted for TPW. No...

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The Daughter of a King

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 19:16, Matthew 2:2, John 18:36-37, Revelation 17:14, Zechariah 9:9, Isaiah 9:6, Psalm 24:7-10, Colossians 1:15-20, Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-40, John 12:12-16

The British novelist George MacDonald loved writing stories about princes and princesses. At one point in his life, someone asked him why he focused so much of his writing on them. His answer was prof...

Quote

Author

Catherine the Great

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:1, Isaiah 43:25, Colossians 1:13-14, Ephesians 1:7, Micah 7:18-19, 1 John 1:9

Dieu pardonerra; c’est son métier; God forgives you — it’s his thing. *for contrast

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The Emperor and the Whipping Boy

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 19:16, Matthew 2:2, John 18:36-37, Revelation 17:14, Zechariah 9:9, Isaiah 9:6, Psalm 24:7-10, Colossians 1:15-20, Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:28-40, Mark 11:1-11, John 12:12-16

In 1987 director Bernardo Bertolucci released the film The Last Emperor to raving reviews. It was based on the autobiography of the last living emperor of the Manchu dynasty in China, Henry Aisin-Gior...

Quote

Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:33, Luke 2:16-19, Mark 1:15 , Isaiah 9:6, John 1:15, Matthew 1:23, Colossians 1:15-17

The kingdom of the Christ-child gets to work when we stop, and pause, and look in wonder once more at the baby lying in the manger, and like Mary ponder in our hearts what it all means. Only through d...

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A Smart-Aleck Question and Answer

Author

William H. Willimon

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 1:8, Hebrews 11:3, Colossians 1:17, Psalm 90:2, Isaiah 57:15, John 1:1, Genesis 1:1

They say that in Martin Luther’s class on Genesis, a smart aleck student asked, “Dr. Luther, since you know so much about the book of Genesis, tell us: what was God doing all that time before God crea...

relationships and community on Fathers

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