Relationships and Community on Old Testament

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In the Old Testament there is no timeless space, but there is also no spaceless time. There is rather storied place, that is a place which has meaning because of the history lodged there. There are st...

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Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

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It is possible for men and women and obligatory for Christians to offer an open and hospitable space where strangers can cast off their strangeness and become our fellow human beings…If there is any c...

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The Covenants of Scripture

Author

Merrill F. Unger

Keywords

Covenant

Scripture

Hebrews 13:20, Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 1:26, Genesis 3:14-19, Genesis 3:14, Genesis 8:20-9, Genesis 9:5-6, Genesis 12:1-3, Galatians 3:16, John 8:56-58, 2 Corinthians 3:7-9, Deuteronomy 30:1-10, Deuteronomy 30:1, 2 Samuel 7:4-17, Luke 1:31-33, Acts 1:6, Revelation 19:16, Matthew 26:28, Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20, Hebrews 8:8-12, Galatians 3:13-20

Eternal covenant, Heb 13:20—The redemptive covenant before time began, between the Father and the Son. By this covenant we have eternal redemption, an eternal peace from the ‘God of peace’, through th...

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Author

Christopher J. H. Wright

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Scripture

Psalm 72:12-14, Zechariah 7:9-10, Ezekiel 34:16, Proverbs 31:8-9, Micah 6:8, Leviticus 19:9-10

Yahweh demanded justice for the poor, compassion and equality for foreigners and refugees, systemic redress for poverty, structural mechanisms to protect the homeless and family-less from abuse and de...

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Author

H. W. Robinson

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Scripture

James 1:22, Matthew 26:36-46, Genesis 22:1-19, Romans 12:1-2, John 14:15, 1 Samuel 15:22, Deuteronomy 6:4-5

This is salvation in the deeper and more spiritual sense of the Old Testament. . . . But even in the religion of the Law, . . . obedience to the revealed will of Yahweh is recognized as the supreme en...

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Author

Belden Lane

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Scripture

2 Samuel 7:null

Yahweh, unlike the mountain and fertility gods of the ancient Canaanites, refuses to be bound by any geographical locale. All of the 'high places' pretending to capture the divine presence mus...

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A Distinctive Kind of Contract

Author

Mark D. Roberts

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Scripture

Genesis 1:null, Genesis 6:18, Genesis 9:null, Genesis 9:11, Jeremiah 31:31, Luke 22:20

Contracts. We all have them, by the dozens. In business, government, and in our personal lives, contracts provide structure and order for relationships that are essential to all of life. Contracts tel...

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Author

John Eldredge

Keywords

Covenant

Scripture

Jeremiah 17:9

Most Christians are still living with an Old Testament view of their heart. Jeremiah 17:9 says, 'My heart is deceitfully wicked.' No, it's not. Not after the work of Christ, because the pr...

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The Problem of Forgetfulness

Author

Eugene H. Peterson

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One of humanity’s problems is forgetfulness. Forgetfulness can happen at multiple levels, from a simple problem of recall to a posture of hard-heartedness and disobedience toward the command-giver. Wh...

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Humanity's Problem of Forgetfulness

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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One of humanity’s problems is forgetfulness. Forgetfulness can happen at multiple levels, from a simple problem of recall to a posture of hard-heartedness and disobedience toward the command-giver. Wh...

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Love Songs All Address God

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 42:1-2, 1 Samuel 1:9-18, Psalm 63:1, Luke 15:11-32, Lamentations 3:19-24, Romans 8:22-23, Exodus 2:23-25, Hosea 3:1, John 20:11-18

In 1998, Nick Cave*, an Australian rock/pop artist, was asked by the Vienna Poetry Academy to give a series of talks on the nature of song-writing. A year later he gave a slightly revised version of t...

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Writing out our Faith

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 15:4, Isaiah 55:11, Hebrews 4:12-13, 2 Peter 1:19-21, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 24:35

We all desire to learn from our role models, but some take this ambition to the next level. The writer Hunter S. Thompson was so obsessed with the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and specifically his...

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Author

Darren Oldridge

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The Devil has many names, and these reflect the many roles he has played in human history and imagination. The ‘Satan’ of the Hebrew Old Testament refers to a being who acts as an opponent or an obsta...

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Adapted from Nehemiah 9:6-15

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Nehemiah 9:6-15

Pastor: You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; ...

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Love Self, Brethren, and Strangers

Author

Terry A. Smith

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 14:12-14, Deuteronomy 10:19, Titus 1:8, Matthew 25:35, 1 Peter 4:9

Scripture calls us to offer a radical welcome to strangers, but we are not able to give what we do not have. Before we can love our neighbor, we must love and care for ourselves so we can have somethi...

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Author

James I. Packer

Keywords

Fathers

If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that promp...

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Understanding God as Father

Author

James I. Packer

Keywords

Scripture

John 1:12-13, Romans 8:14-16, Galatians 4:4-7, 1 John 3:1, 2 Corinthians 6:18, Isaiah 64:8

If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts a...

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Author

Brian Fikkert and Kelly M. Kapic

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 58:1, 1 John 3:17

Both the Old and New Testaments indicate that caring for the poor is one of the primary indicators of saving faith (Isa. 58:1–12; 1 John 3:17–18). Doing nothing is simply not an option for a follower ...

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Adapted from Deuteronomy 7:6-11

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 7:6-11

Pastor: For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was no...

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Let Him Rest

Author

Benedicta Ward

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The following story comes from the collection of sayings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers in Egypt, teaching that would have first been transmitted orally (around 350-450 A.D.) and later written down...

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The Power of a Grateful Heart

Author

John Kavanaugh

Keywords

Scripture

Habakkuk 3:17–19 , Nehemiah 8:10 , Isaiah 61:1–3 , Philippians 4:11–13, James 1:2–4, Psalm 16:11

Gratitude has a ripple effect, spreading warmth and positivity to those around us. It is nearly impossible to hold onto resentment or self-pity while maintaining a grateful heart. John Kavanaugh share...

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The Costly Love of the Father: Sermon Illustration Tuesday

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 15:11-32, Psalm 23:null, John 21:15-19, Luke 19:1-10, Genesis 45:4-7, Psalm 23:5, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

In the old American South (and in many places in the American North) a European American who invited an African American as a guest to an expensive restaurant in a white section of town would subject ...

liturgy

Adapted from Numbers 23:19-22

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Numbers 23:19-22

Leader: God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. All: Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Leader: The LORD...

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Inspired by Psalm 106

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 106:null

Pastor: Both we and our ancestors have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness. In the trials of this past week, I have not praised you but have forgotten your wondrous works. Al...

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Adapted from Psalm 119:1-5

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 119:1-5

Leader: Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! People: Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, Leader: Blessed are thos...

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Adapted from Psalm 11:4-7

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 11:4-7

Pastor: The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. All: The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the o...

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Adapted from Isaiah 2:3-5

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 2:3-5

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob. That he may teach us his ways, and that we may walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, An...

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Adapted from Isaiah 25

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 25:1-9

Pastor: O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. All: Therefore, strong peoples will glorify you...

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Inspired by Leviticus 26:14-46

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Leviticus 26:14-46

Pastor: Oh God, we have not listened to you, and we have not walked in all of your commandments. We have spurned your statutes, and our souls have abhorred your laws. All: I have not followed you in...

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Adapted from Psalm 111

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Scripture

Psalm 111:null

Leader: Praise the Lord! People: I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. Leader: Great are the works of the Lord. People: They are st...

relationships and community on Old Testament

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