Relationships and Community on Community

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Author

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Scripture

1 John 1:7, James 5:16, Matthew 18:20, John 15:12-14, Hebrews 10:19-25, 1 Peter 2:9-10, 1 Corinthians 12:25-27, Ephesians 4:1-6, Romans 12:2-8, Galatians 6:1-2, Acts 2:42-47, Colossians 3:11-17, 1 Corinthians 12:12-20, Psalm 133:1, John 13:34-35

Christian community means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. There is no Christian community that is more than this, and none that is less than this.

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Koinonitus

Author

John Ortberg

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Scripture

Ezekiel 47:9, Galatians 6:2, Romans 12:4-5, Matthew 28:19-20, 1 John 1:7

The ancient Greek word for intimate fellowship is koinonia. In the church, we can suffer from what might be called koinonitus: fellowship turned in on itself; cliques and enclaves and tight-knit group...

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What is Fellowship?

Author

James I. Packer

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Scripture

Acts 2:42-47, 1 John 1:3, Hebrews 10:24-25, 1 John 1:7, Romans 12:4-5, Galatians 6:2, 1 Corinthians 1:9

What is meant by fellowship in this verse? Gossip? Cups of tea? Tours? No. What is being referred to is something of a quite different order and on a quite different level. “They met constantly to hea...

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Author

Bob Goff

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Scripture

Matthew 25:40, Genesis 1:27, James 2:8-9, 1 John 4:20, Galatians 6:2, Luke 10:25-37, Luke 19:1-10, John 13:12-15, Luke 17:11-19

What I’ve come to realize is if I really want to “meet Jesus,” then I have to get a lot closer to the people He created. All of them, not just some of them.

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Leader: Arise! Shine! Christ’s Church

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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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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May we be no one’s enemy, and may we be

Author

Eusebius of Caesarea

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Scripture

1 Peter 3:8-9, Philippians 2:3-4, Ephesians 4:32, Luke 6:27-28, Galatians 6:2, Proverbs 17:9, Matthew 5:9

May we be no one’s enemy, and may we be the friend of all that is eternal and abides with Christ. May we never quarrel with those nearest us; and if we do, may we be reconciled quickly. May we love,...

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We thank You, God our Father, for Your

Author

Richard Herman

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Scripture

1 Peter 1:3-4, Romans 15:13, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Isaiah 40:31, Galatians 6:2, Psalm 119:105

We thank You, God our Father, for Your grace, mercy and love, expressed today through Your Word and Sacrament; and we ask You to help us to pray and to know what to pray. You give us all good gifts: Y...

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Aesop's Fables: The Power of Unity

Author

Mia Levetan

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Scripture

Ecclesiastes 4:12, 1 Corinthians 12:12-21, Ephesians 4:3-16, John 17:21, Galatians 6:2, James 5:19-20

In one of Aesop's familiar fables, an old man has several sons who are always fighting among themselves. He had often, but without success, exhorted them to live together in harmony. One day, he c...

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God of mercy, we come before you with open hearts

Author

Keith D. Schroeder

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 6:9, 2 Corinthians 4:1, Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 80:3, Matthew 16:18, Isaiah 43:19

Leader: God of mercy, we come before you with honest hearts. We bring not only our praise, but also our pain. We confess that at times we have lost heart. Hear now our lament, and kindle in us your ho...

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The Two Conflicting Instincts with Shame

Author

Heather Davis Nelson

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 3:7-8, Proverbs 28:13, 1 John 1:7-9, James 5:16, Galatians 6:1-2

Shame has two conflicting instincts. It needs to isolate and hide, and it needs a community in which to be transparent. Hiding, of course, usually wins. It is the easier and more natural of the two. B...

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Settling Accounts

Author

William E. Brown

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 55:8-9, Matthew 6:33-34, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 37:25-26, Ecclesiastes 3:1, Galatians 6:9

The story is told of a farmer in a Midwestern state who had a strong disdain for “religious” things. As he plowed his field on Sunday morning, he would shake his fist at the church people who passed b...

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Author

Brennan Manning

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Psalm 34:18, Ephesians 5:13, Romans 8:28, Galatians 6:2

In a futile attempt to erase our past, we deprive the community of our healing gift. If we conceal our wounds out of fear and shame, our inner darkness can neither be illuminated nor become a light fo...

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The Miser

Author

Landon Parvin

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 6:2, Matthew 6:21, Proverbs 19:17, Hebrews 13:16, Acts 20:35

A notorious miser was called on by the chairman of the community charity. “Sir,” said the fund-raiser, “our records show that despite your wealth, you’ve never once given to our drive.” The man repli...

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Who Determines Your Behavior?

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:1, Matthew 5:44, Proverbs 15:1, 1 Peter 3:9, Luke 6:31, Galatians 6:9, Colossians 3:12-13, 1 Corinthians 13:4-5, Genesis 50:20, Philippians 2:3-4, James 1:19-20, 1 Samuel 24:17

Some years ago, the syndicated newspaper columnist Sidney J. Harris shared an interesting anecdote from one of his friends. Each evening, this friend would stop at the same newsstand to buy a newspape...

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Kingdom-Based Coffee

Author

Jonathan Walton

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:23-24, Galatians 6:9-10, Philippians 2:4, Matthew 5:16, Proverbs 31:8-9, James 1:27

Brandon and Faith Lee, who started Bird and Branch Coffee, are what faithful witnesses look like. When they sat down across from my wife and me, they had a dream to start a coffee shop that would serv...

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See Something, Say Something

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Leviticus 19:18 , Micah 6:8, Ruth 2:, Luke 10:25–37, Galatians 6:2, Psalm 82:3–4

What is our responsibility to our neighbor? This is a question many have asked, including the Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas. Meditating on the topic he observed, “To patiently endure wrongs done ...

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Trust and Belonging

Author

Stanley Hauerwas

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 2:42-47, 1 Thessalonians 5:11-15, 1 Corinthians 12:27, Romans 12:4-5, Galatians 6:2

We were created to communicate, to speak truth fully to one another, so that we might be members of one another. To be members of one another means we must learn to trust one another. Trust, like trut...

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Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:9, Galatians 6:2, Colossians 3:16, Romans 12:4-5, Acts 2:42-47, Ephesians 4:15-16

Far too many people, especially within evangelicalism, think that the individual is all that matters, and that the corporate dimension is a distraction or diversion. Of course Christianity is deeply p...

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Incarnation Essential to Reconciliation

Author

Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 6:9-10, Proverbs 19:17, Hebrews 13:2, 1 John 3:17-18, James 2:15-16

In their thoughtful book on reconciliation, Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice share how Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement showed up in the lives of the working poor, which ultimately enable...

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Political Membership: Dependent on "Good Behavior"

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:10-12, Luke 6:22-23, Luke 12:51-53, Galatians 6:9, Galatians 1:10, Proverbs 29:25

Jane Addams (1860–1935), a leading American social reformer, was a dedicated advocate for racial equality, women’s suffrage, and pacifism. In 1931, she was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1900,...

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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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Blessed be the tie that binds

Author

John Fawcett

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:14, 1 John 4:7-21, Psalm 133:1-3, Hebrews 4:16, 1 John 5:13-15, Galatians 6:2

Blessed be the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian love; The fellowship of kindred minds Is like to that above. Before the throne of God We pour our impassioned prayers; Our fears, our hopes, ...

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An Unexpected Friendship

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 6:2, Psalm 34:18, Proverbs 19:11, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:32, Luke 6:37

Sometimes moments of forgiveness and friendship come from unexpected places. In 2018, the comedian Pete Davidson appeared on the “Weekend Update” segment of Saturday Night Live (SNL). Davidson made a ...

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For the times we neglect to care for

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 6:2, Romans 12:13, Hebrews 13:2, James 2:1, Romans 15:7

For the times we neglect to care for our brothers and sisters in Christ, please forgive us, Lord. For the times we fail to welcome new people who look or act different from ourselves, please forgiv...

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Labor Day Prayer

Author

Walter Rauschenbush

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:40, Isaiah 58:10, Colossians 3:23-24, Proverbs 31:8-9, Micah 6:8, Galatians 6:9-10, James 2:45-17

O God, Father of us all, we praise you for so binding humanity together that we must each lean upon the strength and labor of others. We ask your blessing on all men and women who have worked to build...

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Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

James 2:17, Hebrews 6:10, Ephesians 2:10, Galatians 6:9, Matthew 5:16

What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neig...

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Author

Mother Teresa

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 6:10, Ephesians 5:25, Exodus 20:12, Psalm 127:3-5, Colossians 3:13

The way you help heal the world is you start with your own family.

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Father–Father of the Lord Jesus and our

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 2:9, James 5:14-15, 2 Corinthians 5:20, Matthew 9:37-38, Galatians 6:9-10, Romans 12:5, 1 John 3:1

Father–Father of the Lord Jesus and our Father: You’ve blessed us beyond imagination. You redeem us, forgive us and lavish Your gifts on us: Thank You. You choose us, when we wouldn’t choose ourselves...

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Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 1:3-4, James 2:14-17, Galatians 6:9, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Romans 8:11

The point of the resurrection…is that the present bodily life is not valueless just because it will die…What you do with your body in the present matters because God has a great future in store for it...

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Author

Alexander Pope

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 7:1-2, Galatians 6:2, Colossians 3:13, James 5:16, 1 John 3:17

Teach me to feel another's woe, to hide the fault I see, that mercy I to others show, that mercy show to me.

relationships and community on Community

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