Relationships and Community on Ambassadors

liturgy

Adapted from 2 Corinthians 5:17-20

Author

Keywords

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconci...

illustration

Ownership Parenting vs. Ambassador Parenting

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Paul Tripp argues in Parenting that a common cause of dysfunction in families is that parents (often unconsciously) adopt a view he calls the “ownership view” of parenting. In effect, it is acting a...

liturgy

Almighty God, from the very beginning,

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Almighty God, from the very beginning, You have designed us for glorious work. You have given us Your Spirit and spread before us limitless resources. Because You have made us a royal priesthood, we n...

liturgy

Loving God, you are always ready to

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

Loving God, you are always ready to forgive our sins. We are much less eager to forgive those with whom we disagree. So often when we have something against our friends, family, or strangers, we escal...

liturgy

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...

liturgy

Jesus: You gave us Your love at a high

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

1 Timothy 2:1-4, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Hebrews 13:20-21, Philippians 4:13, 2 Corinthians 5:20

Jesus: You gave us Your love at a high price – Your own death on the cross in our place! By Your grace you give us eternal life and entrust to us Your creation. Thank You, Lord! We come today as Y...

liturgy

Loving God: Abba—our Father; Jesus—our

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6, Hebrews 10:24-25, John 14:27, James 1:5

Loving God: Abba—our Father; Jesus—our Savior; Spirit—our Comforter. As Advent begins ... we take a deep breath, we grit our teeth and steel our nerves anticipating the fast pace of the next few week...

liturgy

Risen Lord, Loving Father ... and

Risen Lord, Loving Father ... and Ever-Present Spirit: Thank You for reaching into our doubts, giving us the faith we lack. Thank You for Your gracious condescension reaching from the glories of heave...

illustration

Open Seating

Author

Scott Bowerman

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 14:7-11

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson wanted to make a point. The new British Ambassador had just come to Washington - the representative of the aristocratic government the new Republic had defeated in ...

liturgy

Go now as people who bear witness to the power

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 6:1-13, Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Matthew 10:, Mark 3:14, 2 Corinthians 5:20, Luke 10:

Go now, as people who bear witness to the power of God in the world. Go, bearing God’s peace to the places and people who you will encounter. Go, as representatives of Christ’s salvation, in the power...

illustration

Using Jesus as a Model when Negotiating during the Cold War

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 33:4, 2 Kings 5:1-15 , Isaiah 1:18, Matthew 9:10-13, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, Psalm 133:1

Dag Hammarskjöld, a Swedish economist and diplomat deeply committed to his Christian faith, served as the Secretary-General of the United Nations during some of the most turbulent times of the Cold Wa...

illustration

Giving a Glimpse of God

Author

Bob Goff

Keywords

If you’ve ever run a business or led a team of people, you know what it’s like to send someone in your place. You know they’re going to interact with a person who might not know you, and that person w...

illustration

Learning Peacemaking Through the Dishes

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 2:4, Matthew 5:9, Romans 12:18, Ephesians 2:14

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks tells a true story in one of his books about peacemaking in what is arguably one of the world's most difficult places to achieve it: the Middle East. One evening in the early ...

Quote

Author

Nelson Searcy

Keywords

Not one person who comes through your door comes haphazardly. By sending that guest to you, God is giving you the privilege of cooperating with Him to move someone forward in their journey toward Jesu...

Quote

Author

Edmund Burke

Keywords

Popularity

When the leaders choose to make themselves bidders at an auction of popularity, their talents, in the construction of the state, will be of no service. They will become flatterers instead of legislato...

illustration

Welcoming, Hospitality, Parable of the Great Banquet

Author

BBC News

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 14:15-24

A man named Jim Haynes died last year at 87 years old, in Paris where he’d lived for decades. Jim Haynes was known as the “man who invited the world over for dinner.” Why? Because for more than 40 yea...

Quote

Author

Andy Johnson

Keywords

Many of us don’t have to board international flights to reach people from other religions and cultures. We just need to open our eyes, look around, and engage the nations in our own cites and towns….8...

Quote

Author

Larry Crabb

Keywords

A vision we give to others of who and what they could become has power when it echoes what the spirit has already spoken into their souls.

illustration

The Power of Invitations

Author

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 12:1-3, Exodus 3:10-12, Isaiah 55:1-3 , Luke 14:16-24, Matthew 11:28-30 , Psalm 23:5

Invitations are powerful. Like tides, they ebb and flow, shaping the contours of our existence. Some invitations we desperately want but never get—“Will you marry me?” or “Would you consider a promoti...

Quote

Author

Benedict of Nursia

Keywords

Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ.

liturgy

Gracious God, we admit that though You

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Gracious God, we admit that though You have sent each of us out with the task of raising disciples, we often neglect that task. We remain content, stagnant, in our Christian calling, while we regularl...

illustration

Released or Sent?

Author

Sam Metcalf

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 16:6-10, Acts 15:1-35, Acts 13:14, Acts 9:1-19, Acts 13:4

”Paul and his band were “released,” not sent. Let’s get the exegesis right. First, the operative agent here is the Holy Spirit, not the local church or any other human entity. Second, what those aroun...

illustration

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,...

Quote

Author

Paul DeNeui

Keywords

As a missionary … it was always comforting to realize that I did not bring God along with my physical and cultural baggage to my new host country.

illustration

In the Midst of Abundance

Author

Adam S. McHugh

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 30:19-20, Joshua 24:15, Matthew 6:24, Luke 10:41-42, Matthew 7:13-14 , Psalm 16:11

I had a memorable lunch a few years ago with my friends Mike and Claudia, who had recently returned from Malawi, a small country in southeastern Africa. We were sitting in a booth at one of those chai...

illustration

Evangelists Are Seen as Salesmen

Author

Don Everts and Doug Schaupp

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:14-16, John 13:34-35, 1 Peter 2:12, Titus 2:7-8, 2 Corinthians 5:20, Matthew 10:16

In another day and age, God, religion and church enjoyed the general respect of the culture. Not today. Religion is suspect, church is weird, and Christians are hypocrites. Distrust has become the nor...

Quote

Author

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

Keywords

Invitations shape who we know, where we go, what we do and who we become. Invitations can challenge and remake us. They can erode and devastate. And they can also heal and restore us. Being wanted, we...

illustration

The Principle to Persuasive Christian Communication

Author

Willowbank Report

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 10:1, Ephesians 4:2-3, Romans 12:3, Colossians 4:6, Matthew 23:11-12, Proverbs 11:2, James 1:19

In a statement created by Christian leaders across the world, the Lausanne Willowbank Report calls for church leaders to return to the humility and servanthood that Jesus manifested in His earthly min...

Quote

Author

Lee Strobel

Keywords

I've seen far too many Christians who are more than willing to travel halfway around the world to volunteer for a week in an orphanage, but who cannot bring themselves to take the personal risk of...

liturgy

Adapted from John and Ephesians

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

John 15:26, John 16:15, 1 John 2:1, Ephesians 2:null, Philippians 2:13, Titus 3:5

The Spirit of truth has been given to a people who lacked truth. The Advocate has been sent. We who were once without life have been given new life. For it is by grace we have been saved through faith...

relationships and community on Ambassadors

liturgy

illustration

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

illustration

liturgy

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

liturgy

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

liturgy

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

1 Samuel

2 Samuel

1 Kings

2 Kings

1 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

Ezra

Nehemiah

Esther

Job

Psalm

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Solomon

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

Hosea

Joel

Amos

Obadiah

Jonah

Micah

Nahum