Relationships and Community on The Pit

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I Know the Way Out

Author

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, John 15:13, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Job 2:11, Proverbs 17:17

I can’t help but recall here a scene from The West Wing. White House chief of staff Leo McGarry reaches out to his deputy, Josh Lyman, who is struggling with PTSD. Leo tells him a parable: This guy’...

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Adapted from Psalm 40:28-29

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 40:28-29

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary And his understanding no one can fathom. He gives st...

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Inspired by Psalm 10:1-7

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 10:1-7

Leader: Heavenly Father, I confess that I have sinned against you. I have delighted my soul in other things more than I have in you. Why, then, is it any surprise to me that you feel far off from me? ...

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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...

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Pastor:Holy God, holy and most gracious Father

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 88:13, Psalm 51:12, Psalm 71:8, Psalm 145:2, Psalm 65:5, Psalm 103:1, 4

Pastor: Holy God, holy and most gracious Father, People: have mercy and hear us. Pastor: I cry to You, O Lord; People: in the morning my prayer comes before You. Psalm...

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Lord–Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Thank

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Nehemiah 1:1-11, Acts 16:25-34, Mark 4:35-41, Acts 2:1-13, Luke 10:25-37, Matthew 11:28-30, Acts 1:8

Lord–Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Thank You that there’s no place we can hide from Your Spirit, no place we can flee from Your presence. We can’t go beyond the reach of Your love, nor out-distance the...

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Inspired by Proverbs 6

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 6:null

Father in Heaven, wisdom has called us to heed her voice. She has implored the simple to turn towards her truth, for the one who lacks sense to eat from her table. We have heard wisdom’s clarion cry, ...

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Our loving Father, You’ve loved us from

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 5:7, John 14:27, Philippians 4:19, Psalm 34:17-18, Matthew 11:28-30

Our loving Father, You’ve loved us from everlasting to everlasting. While looking into the future we see only mist and shadows—you see it all with clarity and precision. That which we can only guess a...

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Adapted from Psalm 103:1-5

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 103:1-5, 2 Corinthians 4:16, Isaiah 40:31, Lamentations 3:22-23, Titus 3:5

Pastor: Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! People: Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, Pastor: who forgives all your iniquity, who h...

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Inspired by Mark 9:42-50

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 9:42-50

Gracious Father, the words of scripture are not without harshness in relation to our sin. We are prone to lead others astray in our words and actions. Knowingly or unknowingly done, we are condemned. ...

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Hope for Rwanda

Author

Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice

Keywords

Reconciliation

In his book Hope for Rwanda, Father Andre Sibomana notes how hard it was in the aftermath of genocide to bring Hutu and Tutsi together to talk about, even less agree on, the history of Rwanda. But the...

Quote

Author

William Shakespeare

Keywords

Grief

Is there no pity sitting in the clouds, That sees into the bottom of my grief?

Quote

Author

Gerard Manley Hopkins

Keywords

No worst, there is none. Pitched past pitch of grief, More pangs will, schooled at forepangs, wilder wring. Comforter, where, where is your comforting? Mary, mother of us, where is your relief? My cri...

Quote

Author

Don Marquis

Keywords

Pity the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Quote

Author

Victor Hugo

Keywords

“This light of history is pitiless; it has a strange and divine quality that, luminous as it is, and precisely because it is luminous, often casts a shadow just where we saw a radiance; out of the sam...

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One Potential Pitfall in Reconciliation Movements

Author

Brenda Salter McNeil

Keywords

Reconciliation. Let’s be honest. Reconciliation has become a trendy topic of conversation . . . which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. People are talking about it and that’s good. There are gatherings, ...

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The Empty Bench

Author

Arthur Miller

Keywords

The character Quentin from Henry Miller’s Play, After the Fall explains a life without God: For many years I looked at life like a case at law. It was a series of proofs. When you’re young you prove ...

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That Wagonload

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 127:3-5, Proverbs 17:6, 1 Timothy 6:17-19, Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, Genesis 2:18, Genesis 2:24, 1 Timothy 5:8

John Fiske, a Harvard scholar, once visited Herbert Spencer, regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of his time in England. During their conversation, Spencer asked about Mrs. Fiske and the chil...

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The Only Opinion That Matters

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Most of us have heard of Babe Ruth, but have you ever heard of Babe Pinelli? Pinelli was an umpire in Major League Baseball who once called The Great Bambino (Ruth) out on strikes. When the crowd bega...

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Sticks & Stones in Your Bed

Author

Timothy Keller

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 12:6-7, James 1:2-4, Psalm 94:12-13, Proverbs 3:11-12, Romans 5:3-5

Years ago, I read an old fairy tale about a wicked witch who lived in a remote cottage in the deep forest. When travelers came through looking for lodging, she offered them a meal and a bed. It was th...

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Groupthink & a Mining Accident

Author

Gregg A. Ten Elshof

Keywords

To be sure, groups, when they are functioning well, can be among our best defenses against vicious self-deception. But when group thinking is replaced by what psychologists call “groupthink,” results ...

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Author

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Keywords

Let him who cannot be alone beware of community...Let him who is not in community beware of being alone...Each by itself has profound pitfalls and perils. One who wants fellowship without solitude plu...

blog

The Gospel and the Other: Preaching in an Age of "Us vs. Them"

Author

Andrew DeCort

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 10:25-37

When conflict and division are driving both politics and media (including social media), the contrast between the way of the world and the way of Jesus stands out more than ever. How can pastors, task...

liturgy

God of all nations and peoples, Lord of

Author

Roy Pearson

Keywords

God of all nations and peoples, Lord of all places and lands, who didst form man of the dust of the ground, and make of him a living soul, we praise thee for the infinite variety of thy human creature...

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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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Prayer for a Person in Trouble or Bereavement

Keywords

Modernized Version O merciful Father, who teaches us in your holy Word that you do not willingly afflict or grieve humanity: Look with pity upon the sorrows of your servant for whom our prayers are ...

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Prayer for the Oppressed

Keywords

Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to eliminate our cruelty t...

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Adapted from “Spiritual Helps” in The Valley of Vision

Author

Arthur Bennett

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 12:10-11, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Psalm 119:103, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 8:26, John 3:16

Pastor: Eternal Father, it is amazing love, that you sent your Son to suffer in my place, that you have given me your Holy Spirit to teach, comfort, and guide me. Because of Jesus’ death in my place, ...

liturgy

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who

Author

Augustine of Hippo

Keywords

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe ...

liturgy

Watch, dear Lord, with those who wake,

Author

Augustine of Hippo

Keywords

Watch, dear Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep [tonight], and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend your sick ones, O Lord Christ, rest your weary ones. Bless your dying one...

relationships and community on The Pit

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