Relationships and Community on Environment

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Recovering the Heart of Humanity

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 1:26-27 , Exodus 33:11-23 , Isaiah 43:1-4, John 10:1-15 , Luke 7:36-50, Psalm 139:1-6, 13-16

I am convinced that the scourge of our scientific and technological age is depersonalization. There is a heartbeat pulsating at the center of the universe, giving life and meaning to everything, but o...

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Author

Wendell Berry

Keywords

It is only on the condition of humility and reverence before the world that our species will be able to remain in it.

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The Enemy is Us

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 5:17, 1 John 1:8, Proverbs 4:23, Romans 7:18-19, Mark 7:21-23, James 1:14-15

In a famous Earth Day 1971 Pogo comic strip by Walt Kelly, the titular Pogo and his companion Porkypine are enjoying nature when they come upon a clearing filled with trash. Pogo says the iconic line,...

liturgy

Adapted from Psalm 80

Author

Kimberly Bracken Long

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 80:null

Shepherd of Israel, God of hosts, we have turned away from you, neglecting the welfare of your creation, ignoring the plight of your people, trampling on the creatures and the plants you have made, t...

liturgy

Gracious God, you tend to the earth as

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 1:9, James 5:4, Psalm 24:1, Isaiah 5:7, Micah 6:8

Gracious God, you tend to the earth as your vineyard, longing for it to bring fruit. You want our society and our lives to look more and more like the Kingdom of Heaven. We work against your plans, so...

liturgy

Prayers of the People, Form IV

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 2:15, Acts 2:1-41, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 10:25-37, John 11:25-26, Revelation 21:4

Deacon or other leader Let us pray for the Church and for the world. Grant, Almighty God, that all who confess your Name may be united in your truth, live together in your love, and reveal your glo...

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Meals in Heaven and Hell

Author

Matthew Sleeth

Keywords

I once heard a description of what meals are like in heaven. The saints are seated on either side of a four-foot-wide banquet table. The table is set with delicious foods on every plate. The only thin...

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Sympathy With Everything

Author

Ryan Holiday

Keywords

In 1879, the preservationist and explorer John Muir took his first trip to Alaska. As he explored the fjords and rocky landscapes of Alaska’s now famous Glacier Bay, a powerful feeling struck him all ...

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The World, a Definition by Eugene Peterson

Author

Eugene H. Peterson

Keywords

Scripture

John 2:15-16, Romans 12:2, Ephesians 2:1-2, John 15:18-19, James 4:4

The world, though, is protean: each generation has the world to deal with in a new form. World is an atmosphere, a mood. It is nearly as hard for a sinner to recognize the world’s temptations as it is...

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Author

Norman Wirzba

Keywords

To grow food and eat in a way that is mindful of God is to collaborate with God’s own primordial sharing of life in the sharing of food with each other. It is to participate in forms of life and frame...

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O God, grant us a deeper sense of care

Author

Basil the Great

Keywords

O God, grant us a deeper sense of care and responsibility with all living things, our little brothers and sisters, to whom in common with us You have given this earth as home. We recall with regret...

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Almighty God, we have fractured your

Keywords

Almighty God, we have fractured your church, we have wasted the resources of this earth, we have corrupted our culture, Forgive us, we pray, renew us by the power of your Spirit, and draw us to y...

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Sacred Space: Lessons from Ethiopia’s Church Forests

Author

William Rowley

Keywords

Too Busy for God? American work culture is all-pervasive. For many members of your congregation, it can be a real fight to get actual time off—and cell phones and the internet has made it possible to...

liturgy

Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

1 Timothy 2:1-2, Micah 6:8, Psalm 24:1, Matthew 25:35-40, Revelation 21:3-4

Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit: You taught us to pray not only for ourselves but for people everywhere, so now hear us as we pray for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord...

liturgy

Adapted from the Brief Statement of Faith

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 1:27, Galatians 3:28

In sovereign love, you, O God, created the world good And made everyone equally in your image, Male and female, of every race and people, To live as one community. But we rebel against you; we hid...

liturgy

Prayer for the Right Use of God's Gifts

Keywords

Almighty God, whose loving hand has given us all that we possess: Grant us grace that we may honor you with our wealth and belongings, and, remembering the account which we must one day give, may be f...

liturgy

Almighty God–Father, Son and Holy, You Tell

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Psalm 136:1, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Isaiah 40:31

Almighty God–Father, Son and Holy Spirit: You tell us to pray with thanksgiving...and we do; giving thanks for Your daily provision and care, for the birth of a child, for new jobs and new friends, fo...

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

Based on I Timothy 4:10 (NEB)

Keywords

We have set our hope on you, our living God, as those who set course for home from distant places. But we need your help if we are to keep on course: we need fresh sight of you, on which to check our ...

liturgy

Litany of Penitence

Scripture

2 Chronicles 7:14, Luke 19:1-10, Luke 15:11-32, Isaiah 1:18, James 5:16

The Celebrant and People together, all kneeling Most holy and merciful Father: We confess to you and to one another, and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth, that we have sinne...

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Author

Clifford Geertz

Keywords

Culture is not inherited like a genetic code. Instead, culture becomes layers and layers added by our society and our surrounding environment.

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The Politics of Ministry Book Review & Quotes

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:21

Picture this: you are just about a year into your first call as a minister. Everything seems to be going swimmingly. You caught up with a seminary friend over the weekend and you slightly brag about h...

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Defining the Secular

Author

David Zahl

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 14 , Judges 21:25 , Genesis 11:4 , Romans 1:21-22, Psalm 14:1 , Acts 17:22-23

In this short (and humorous) excerpt, author David Zahl shares a definition of the secular: Perhaps secular warrants its own explanation, though. My most immediate association comes from the belov...

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The Gift of College Students

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

1 Samuel 3:1-10, Ecclesiastes 12:1 , Proverbs 2:1-11, Mark 10:17-22 , 1 Timothy 4:12 , Psalm 119:9-11

I have been moved to a different course of action, however, inspired largely by my daily exposure to college students in a great university during the course of a preaching and teaching ministry that ...

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5 Steps to Handling Strife Within the Church

Author

Mike Kenyon

Keywords

Scripture

James 4:1, Philippians 2:14, 1 Corinthians 14:33, James 1:5

Conflict in Ministry Have you ever whispered to yourself, “I didn’t sign up for this?” I confess those words have passed through my mind more than once over the years. When I started out in ministry...

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Packing for Passage on the Mayflower

Author

Bill Bryson

Keywords

Many of us struggle to know exactly what to pack when we go on our various travels. The Pilgrims in their voyage to the new world were no different. As Bill Bryson describes in his book Made in Americ...

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The Advantage of the City

Author

Eric O. Jacobsen

Keywords

The Body of Christ

The advantage that cities and traditional neighborhoods have over sprawling suburbs with respect to interdependence is that they allow people of a greater variety of ages to participate meaningfully i...

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The Age of Suspicion

Author

Thomas H. Troeger

Keywords

There are many titles that historians of the future may give our era, but one that they are certain to consider is "The Age of Suspicion." People are suspicious of political authorities beca...

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The Importance of Family Dinners

Author

Terry A. Smith

Keywords

We become who we are in the environment of home. We are shaped by our families. Home is formative. Sociologist Cody C. Delistraty explored the most recent scientific literature for Atlantic Monthly an...

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Why Starbucks is so Successful

Author

Donald Miller

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 139:13-16, Isaiah 43:1-4, Luke 15:3-7, Luke 15:11-32, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, 1 John 3:1

Starbucks exploded by not just offering customers a cup of coffee but by giving them a comfortable, sophisticated environment in which to relax. Customers felt good about themselves when they walked i...

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