Relationships and Community on A Fresh Start

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A Terrible Accident

Author

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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Joyful, joyful we adore Thee, God of glory

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 145:1-3, Psalm 51:10-12, Isaiah 1:18, Lamentations 3:22-23, 1 John 1:9, Romans 5:8

Prayer of Adoration Joyful, joyful we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love – Holy and wonderful are You: Your grace is without measure, and Your purpose sure and true; Your power is unequaled and Y...

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Everyone: Holy God, we live our lives

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 5:8, Luke 15:11-32, Luke 10:25-37, John 4:1-26, John 3:16, Ephesians 4:32, 2 Timothy 1:9

Everyone: Holy God, we live our lives struggling in our own burdens and failing to trust You with all the things that hold us down. Leader: Your Scripture says, "Come to Me all you who are wear...

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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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God of grace, love, and hope: Your

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 5:3-5, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Micah 6:8, Philippians 1:6, Luke 15:11-32

God of grace, love, and hope: Your grace comes when we least expect and don’t deserve it. Your love comes when we can’t comprehend why but we need it the most. Your hope comes at just the right time t...

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Free to Love and Be Loved

Author

Lisa Sharon Harper

Keywords

Scripture

Hosea 1:null, Hosea 2:null, Hosea 3:null, Matthew 16:18, Mark 10:13-16, John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:9-10, Ephesians 2:4-5, Acts 4:9-10, Acts 13:9

Here’s a testimony from Lisa Sharon Harper, author of The Very Good Gospel: Harper grew up as a child of a single mother. After her parents divorced, she and her mother moved from Philadelphia where ...

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Embracing Failure

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 43:18-19, John 21:17, Luke 22:61-62, Romans 5:3-5, Micah 7:8, Psalm 73:26, Proverbs 24:16

A common trait of human beings is a fear of failure. Most of us find ways of coping with it, but whenever failure rears its ugly head, it’s difficult not to experience the sting of feeling like we are...

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The Power of Hope in Troubled Marriages

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Zechariah 4:10, Genesis 8:1, 1 Kings 18:44 , Matthew 13:31–32, Romans 5:3–5, Psalm 42:11

Ray Johnston, in The Hope Quotient , shares a remarkable insight from a leading psychologist who had spent his career helping deeply troubled married couples rebuild their relationships after yea...

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Kindness flows from you, Lord, pure and

Author

Gregory of Nyssa

Scripture

Romans 5:8-11, Genesis 3:8-21, Isaiah 61:10, Ephesians 2:13-14, Revelation 22:14, Hebrews 10:19-22

Kindness flows from you, Lord, pure and continual. You had cast us off, as was only just, but mercifully you forgave us; you hated us and you were reconciled to us, you cursed us and you blessed us; y...

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Inspired by John 8 and Romans 5

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

John 8:12, Romans 5:null

Lord God, we know that you are life, the life which is the light of the world But sometimes we allow the darkness to close in We find ourselves driven apart from you We confess that we do not ...

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Gracious and Merciful God—Father, Son

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Romans 5:8-9, Romans 8:1-17, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, John 14:27, James 5:14-15, Philippians 4:6-7

Gracious and Merciful God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit: When we wouldn’t love—You did. When we couldn’t do right—you could. When we wouldn’t give—You gave and gave all of yourself. So we come to You w...

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Gracious God, we know that You have

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 5:10, 1 John 1:9, James 5:16, Matthew 6:14-15, Romans 12:18, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Gracious God, we know that You have forgiven us in Jesus Christ, but we often remain slow to forgive one other. You have sent Your Spirit to reconcile us to each other, but we resist Your work to bind...

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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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Author

Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

Keywords

Scripture

John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Psalm 103:10-12, Ephesians 2:4-5, Romans 5:8, 1 John 1:8-9, Romans 3:23-24

I am more sinful and flawed than I ever dared believe, more loved and welcomed than I ever dared hope.

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Gracious God, we are called to be a

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 51:10-12, Hebrews 4:16, Romans 5:8, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 1:7, Psalm 103:12, 1 John 1:9

Gracious God, we are called to be a joyful people, giving thanks for You and Your good gifts. There are times, however, when sin and sorrow grow, pushing joy to the side. We lose sight of Your grace, ...

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Prayer of Adoration Father God … our

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6, 1 John 1:9, Micah 7:18-19, Ephesians 1:7, Psalm 32:5, Romans 5:8

Prayer of Adoration Father God … our Abba: You seek us with relentless love – coming after us in Your Son, Jesus. When we are in the pits – You draws us up and out; When we are broken – You fix u...

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Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 18:13-14, Romans 5:8, Mark 2:17, 1 John 1:8-10, Isaiah 53:6, Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 3:23

A recovery of the old sense of sin is essential to Christianity. Christ takes it for granted that men are bad. Until we really feel this assumption of His to be true, though we are part of the world H...

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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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“I am Buying Your Soul”

Author

Victor Hugo

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 45:1-15, Titus 3:5, Romans 5:20, Ephesians 2:8-9, Luke 19:1-10, Luke 15:11-32, John 8:1-11

One of the most powerful illustrations of grace and mercy in all of western literature has to be the great scene between Monseigneur Bienvenu and Jean Valjean in the stirring epic Les Miserables by Vi...

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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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Jesus, we bless you and honor you for

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 10:46-52, Hebrews 4:16, Acts 2:1-4, Romans 5:5, John 6:1-14

Jesus, we bless you and honor you for your unending mercy, a flood of grace, pouring out and spilling over. We receive your mercy. We receive your blessings and pray for the Holy Spirit to make them r...

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Ash Wednesday and St. Valentine

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 107:null, John 21:15-19, Ruth 1:16-17, Matthew 22:37-39, Isaiah 61:3, Romans 5:8

A Valentine’s Day Tradition What better way to say, “I love you,” than passing your beloved some sugar, corn syrup, dextrose, and glycerin wrapped in a chalkly Necco wafer heart? Maybe some of you re...

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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...

Quote

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 5:8, Psalm 103:10-12, Mark 11:25, Luke 6:37, 1 John 1:9

To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.

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Through the grace of Christ Jesus who gave

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 72:12-13, Romans 5:10, Proverbs 19:17, 2 Corinthians 8:9, James 2:5, Matthew 25:40, Luke 4:18

Leader: Through the grace of Christ Jesus who gave His body and shed His blood for our forgiveness, hear and believe that “he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He h...

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Nelson Mandela and a Presidency of Reconciliation

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:18, Philemon 1:15-16, Matthew 18:15, Romans 5:10, Colossians 1:20, Matthew 5:23-24

What does true forgiveness and reconciliation look like? The world was given such an image the day Nelson Mandela was sworn in as President of South Africa. What was so significant was not just that a...

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Hardships Force our Roots to Go Deep

Author

Our Daily Bread

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 2:6-7, 2 Corinthians 4:16-17, Ephesians 3:17-18, Isaiah 58:11, Romans 5:3-5

A. Parnell Bailey visited an orange grove where an irrigation pump had broken down. The season was unusually dry and some of the trees were beginning to die for lack of water. The man giving the tour ...

Quote

Author

Stanley Kunitz

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 5:3-4, Lamentations 3:31-32, Psalm 73:26, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Philippians 4:6-7, Matthew 11:28-30, Isaiah 61:3

How shall my heart be reconciled to its feast of losses?

Quote

Author

Charles Wesley

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 2:13-14, Isaiah 9:6-7, Ephesians 2:13-14, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, Romans 5:10-11

Hark the herald angels sing, "Glory to the new-born king." Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!"

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Eating With Sinners

Author

David Schuringa

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 7:36-50, Romans 5:8, John 4:7-26, Matthew 11:19, Luke 19:5-10, Mark 2:15-17

Why did it disturb the religious leaders that Jesus ate with “sinners”? To eat with someone is an important symbol of fellowship. And in those days, the Jews had a rule: one is not to have such fellow...

relationships and community on A Fresh Start

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