Relationships and Community on Change

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Preparing for Change

Author

Keywords

Scripture

1 Thessalonians 5:11, James 1:19-20, Philippians 4:6-7, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Psalm 34:18

Change invariably leads to loss, loss to grief, grief to anxiety and, finally, anxiety to hostility. We need therefore, to acknowledge grief. We need to understand and choose to walk with the grieving...

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Lord Jesus—the same yesterday, today

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Matthew 5:9, Ephesians 4:32, James 5:15-16, John 14:27, Psalm 34:18

Lord Jesus—the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, and the author of change, who’s constantly doing “a new thing,” which makes us sit up and take notice. We admit, we’d be more comfortable with a pred...

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A Change of Nuisance

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:2-4, Romans 5:3-5, John 16:33, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Psalm 34:17-19

While serving as British Prime Minister, Lloyd George had to deal with World War I, an economic depression, and the Sinn Fein movement attempting to effect Irish liberation, as well as many other smal...

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Precious Lord, take our hand, Lead us

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

James 1:5, John 14:27, Psalm 34:18, Philippians 3:6-7, Matthew 6:31-33

Precious Lord, take our hand, Lead us on, help us stand; We’re tired, we’re weak, we’re worn; Thru the storm, thru the night, Lead us on to the light, Take our hand, precious Lord, Lead us home. The o...

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Finding Grace after Contracting Leprosy

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, 1 Kings 19:11-13 , Genesis 16:13, Luke 14:11, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Psalm 34:18

Peter Greave (1910-1977) was a British national who endured a challenging and tumultuous life, which took a severe turn in 1939 when he contracted leprosy while stationed in India, also his birthplace...

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Turning from Conflict to Conversion

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Jonah 1:4, Luke 15:11-32, Matthew 18:21-35, Psalm 34:8, Romans 8:28

Maltbie D. Babcock, author of This Is My Father’s World and a Presbyterian pastor in Brooklyn, introduced a free pew system in his church, upsetting a wealthy woman who found strangers in her us...

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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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Author

A Franciscan Blessing

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 1:27, Romans 12:15, Luke 4:18-19, Psalm 34:18, James 1:27

God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts. God bless us with righteous anger at injustice, oppression, and exp...

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A Terrible Accident

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Job 1:2; 38–42 , Genesis 50:15–21, Lamentations 3:19–26, 2 Corinthians 12:7–10, Psalm 34:18, Romans 5:3–5

When John Stuart Mill—the influential philosopher and political economist—arrived at Thomas Carlyle's door that evening, his face drained of color, bearing the devastating news that the manuscript...

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Lord Jesus–You’ve come, are coming and

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Revelation 22:12, Titus 2:13, John 8:12, Psalm 119:105, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 34:18, Matthew 5:44

Lord Jesus–You’ve come, are coming and will come again. Whether we know it or not, we live on the edge of Your advent every moment of every day either with anticipation or with anxiety. As if stumblin...

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Prayer for Times of Conflict

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:9, Romans 12:17-18, Psalm 34:14, Ephesians 4:2-3, John 14:27, Romans 14:19, 2 Corinthians 13:11, James 3:18, Isaiah 26:3, Philippians 4:6-7

O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual...

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Jesus–our Lord, Savior and Friend: Come

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, James 5:14-15, Matthew 11:28, Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 9:6

Jesus–our Lord, Savior and Friend: Come into our hearts to save us and to rule. Come into your Church to direct and empower us with Your Gospel and Your Spirit. Come into your World to redeem the Lost...

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Father, Son, Holy Spirit–our God,

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Romans 8:28, Psalm 34:18, James 5:14-15, Jeremiah 29:11, Isaiah 26:3, Philippians 4:6-7

Father, Son, Holy Spirit–our God, Mysterious, Awe-Inspiring, Wonderful, One-in-Three/Three-in-One: You surprise us not with flashing lights, loud crashing noises, and constant activity. You surprise u...

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Author

Charles F. Stanley

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:2-4, Romans 5:3-5, 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, 1 Peter 1:6-7, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 34:19

Adversity is not simply a tool. It is God's most effective tool for the advancement of our spiritual lives. The circumstances and events that we see as setbacks are oftentimes the very things that...

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Consolation Defined

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Romans 12:15, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 34:18, Matthew 5:4, Psalm 46:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Ruth 1:16-18, John 11:32-35, John 14:1-4

The etymology of certain words can profoundly enrich our understanding and experience of life. Consider the word “consolation.” Its roots lie in the Latin words “con-” meaning “ “to be ” and “solus,...

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Living and present Lord (Extended)

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Hebrews 12:1-2, Matthew 6:33, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Psalm 34:17, John 14:27

Prayer of Adoration Living and present Lord: You often surprise us, coming when we least expect it; or, You simply fold back the curtain to show us You’ve been there all along to give us hope and to ...

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Author

Bryan Stevenson

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 57:15, Matthew 5:3, Matthew 5:7, 2 Corinthians 12:9, James 4:6, Micah 7:18

There is a strength, a power even, in understanding brokenness, because embracing our brokenness creates a need and desire for mercy, and perhaps a corresponding need to show mercy. When you experienc...

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Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:1, Isaiah 61:7, Hebrews 12:2, Psalm 34:5, Romans 10:11, 1 John 1:9, 2 Timothy 1:7

I sometimes think that shame, mere awkward, senseless shame, does as much towards preventing good acts and straightforward happiness as any of our vices can do.

Quote

Author

Terry Tempest Williams

Keywords

Scripture

Job 1:13-22, Genesis 45:4-8, Ruth 1:16-17 , Mark 5:21-43, John 11:1-44 , Psalm 34:18

An individual doesn’t get cancer, a family does.

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Almighty and loving God, all of us here

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:13, Romans 5:8, Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 34:18

Almighty and loving God, all of us here today are hurting. Some of us are hurting as the result of circumstances beyond our control. Some of us are hurting because of our own choices. Some of us are f...

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Dear Christ, hasten to me. Release me

Author

Aelred of Rievaulx

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 46:1, Philippians 4:19, James 4:8, Hebrews 4:16, Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 34:18, 1 John 1:9

Dear Christ, hasten to me. Release me from my sins. Free my arms from the chains of evil, that I may embrace you. Lift the scales of ignorance from my eyes, that I may see you. Why do you delay? What ...

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Author

Martin Luther

Keywords

Gentleness

Scripture

Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 66:2, Matthew 5:7-8, Exodus 32:11-14, 2 Samuel 9:6-7, 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8, Colossians 3:12-13, Ephesians 4:32, Titus 3:2

The higher people are in the favor of God, the more tender they are.

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God of the common and of the uncommon.

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:17, Matthew 5:16, Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 43:18-19, James 5:14-15

God of the common and of the uncommon. You meet us in the ordinary routines of life–when we play and when we rest, while we work and while we worship. And You reveal yourself in the extraordinary, too...

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God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit: We Need

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

1 Timothy 2:1-2, Isaiah 58:10-11, Psalm 34:18-19, Isaiah 41:10, James 5:14-15, Psalm 32:8

God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit: We need to hear Your invitation and promise to come to us when we are weary and burdened, and you’ll give us rest ... rest for our souls. So we come. We come with our...

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God of grace, power, and peace: This is

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:27, Isaiah 58:6-7, Psalm 34:18, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Matthew 5:9

God of grace, power, and peace: This is Your world—not ours. You are the hope of all people—not us. Your love is infinite and eternal—ours is small and short-lived. We pray for a world bigger than jus...

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Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 3:11, Philippians 4:8, Romans 12:18, Micah 6:8, Psalm 34:18, James 1:27, Isaiah 61:1-2

When God wants to sort out the world, as the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount make clear, he doesn’t send in the tanks. He sends in the meek, the broken, the justice hungry, the peacemakers, the ...

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Lord—You are good and You are strong.

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 121:1-2, James 5:13-16, John 14:27, Psalm 34:18-19, Philippians 4:6-7, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Lord—You are good and You are strong. You are faithful and You are loving. All that we have comes from Your hands: Hands that … hold us when we are weak, heal us when we’re wounded, protect us w...

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Defining the Parish System

Author

Don Everts

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 29:4-7, Micah 4:3-4, Matthew 5:9 , Romans 12:18-21 , Psalm 34:14

This concept [the parish system] has helped Christians understand how interconnected all the pieces within a community are and the importance of pursuing the common good there. Jesus’ call to be peace...

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The Echo of an Argument

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:18, Psalm 34:18, Romans 12:18, James 1:19-20, Proverbs 15:1, Matthew 6:14-15, Colossians 3:13

Philip Yancey writes of a friend whose marriage was choked by hostility. One night the friend reached the breaking point: “I hate you!” he screamed at his wife. “I won’t take it any more. I’ve had eno...

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Author

Joshua Choonmin Kang

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Psalm 34:18, 1 Peter 5:6-7, Proverbs 22:4, Philippians 4:7

Humility brings peace, for when we reach the low place, we needn’t worry about falling down anymore.

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