Relationships and Community on Valuing Others

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The True Test of Faith

Author

Keywords

Scripture

1 Samuel 16:7, Micah 6:8, Proverbs 22:2 , James 2:1-4, Luke 14:12-14 , Psalm 146:3-7

Impostors draw their identity not only from achievements but from interpersonal relationships. They want to stand well with people of prominence because that enhances a person’s résumé and sense of se...

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Listening to God and Others

Author

Adam S. McHugh

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Isaiah 55:3, Matthew 11:15, Luke 8:8, James 1:19-20, Psalm 46:10

The very first word of the Rule of St. Benedict, that famous text that has guided the life of monastic communities since the sixth century, is listen . I want for us to put listening back where i...

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Author

Justin Giboney

Keywords

Scripture

Leviticus 19:18, Proverbs 11:25, Isaiah 58:6-7, John 13:34-35, Matthew 5:16, Psalm 133:1

If you never left your home and avoided all interaction with other people, you couldn’t be characterized as a loving person. Instead, you might even be unloving because of your lack of concern for oth...

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Gracious and loving God—Father, Son and

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 9:1-19, Acts 10:, John 8:1-11, Philippians 2:3-4, Matthew 5:44

Gracious and loving God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit: We praise you for how wide, how high, and how deep is Your vast love for all people. Incarnate in Jesus, You offered Your life for the healing ...

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More Value than a Coffee Pot

Author

Bradley Long

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 10:29-31, Luke 12:24, Matthew 6:26, Matthew 12:11-12, Romans 5:8

A missionary in a Muslim-majority country got a call one day from his wife. Their local house-helper (a common practice in that country) had accidentally dropped and broken their carafe from the coffe...

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The Value of Discourse

Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 16:12–15, 1 Kings 3:9–12, Isaiah 6:6–7, Luke 7:15–16, Ephesians 2:8–9, Psalm 100:4

The point of discourse is to learn with and from one another. I used to tell my students that at least 20 percent of what I was telling them was wrong, but I didn't know which 20 percent it was: I...

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Seeing the Value of Their Work

Author

Tom Nelson

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 2:15, 1 Kings 5:13-18, Colossians 3:23-24, Ephesians 4:28, Matthew 25:31-40, Psalm 90:17

After attending a conference in New York City, a pastoral colleague, Reid Kapple, was flying home to Kansas City on US Airways flight 745 when the plane suddenly lost cabin pressure. As the plane desc...

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Empathy Defined

Author

Richard J. Mouw

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 23:9, Job 2:11–13, Isaiah 58:6–7 , Hebrews 4:15, Romans 12:15 , Psalm 103:13–14

“Empathy” literally means “in-feeling”—it is to project myself into another person’s feelings so that I begin to understand what it is like to have his experiences. If I want to gain empathy for a nei...

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You have Called Me Brother

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 25:31-46, Galatians 3:28, 1 John 3:17-18, James 2:15-16, Romans 12:10, Genesis 1:26-31, Psalm 8:, Matthew 10:24, Mark 12:31

One day, as Leo Tolstoy, the renowned Russian author, was walking down the street when he encountered a man in worn, shabby clothing. The homeless man asked him if he had any money to spare. Tolstoy s...

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Author

Timothy Keller

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 133:1, Romans 12:4-5 , John 17:20-23, Exodus 17:12, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Genesis 1:26-27

If this world was made by a triune God, a being of community, then relationships of love are what life is really all about.

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Author

D. A. Carson

Keywords

Scripture

Leviticus 19:18 , Ruth 1:16–17, 1 Samuel 18:1–4 , John 13:34–35, Luke 7:36–50 , Psalm 136:

The new command is simple enough for a toddler to memorize and appreciate, profound enough that the most mature believers are repeatedly embarrassed at how poorly they comprehend it and put it i...

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Harming Another Person’s Soul

Author

Richard J. Mouw

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 12:18, Exodus 20:16 , Leviticus 19:16–18, James 3:6–10, Ephesians 4:29 , Psalm 34:13–14

All that I ever really needed to know about uncivil language I learned in the fifth grade. At a small Dutch Calvinist school in a New Jersey city, I was playing with other students just before classes...

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The Greatest Sacrifice

Author

Richard J. Mouw

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 31:8–9, Exodus 1:15–21, Isaiah 58:6–7, John 15:13, Matthew 25:35–40 , Psalm 82:3–4

In The Hiding Place Corrie ten Boom tells of the time she and her father needed to find a safer place for a Jewish mother and child they had been concealing from the Nazis. A local clergyman cam...

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The Essential Confession

Author

Paul David Tripp in John Piper & Justin Taylor

Keywords

Scripture

James 3:5-10, Matthew 12:34-37, Psalm 141:3, Proverbs 15:1, Genesis 3:12-13, Isaiah 6:5

I actually want to believe that when it comes to communication, my biggest problem is outside of me, not inside of me. I want to think that it’s my kids, my wife, my neighbors, my boss. I want to thin...

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You Know Most Everybody

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 , 1 Samuel 8:4-22 , Jeremiah 9:23-24, Mark 8:36-37 , John 17:3, Psalm 73:25-26

Mark Twain’s travels through Europe became something of a triumphal tour, with the most distinguished figures on the continent eager to host him. He dined with royalty, intellectuals, and statesmen, h...

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A Pastor’s Regret

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

1 Thessalonians 5:11, 2 Corinthians 2:7-8, Isaiah 40:1-2; 2, Isaiah 40:1-2, 1 Kings 19:3-9, Lamentations 3:22-23 , Matthew 11:28-30 , 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 , Psalm 34:18

The Scottish pastor Ian MacLaren (1850–1907), renowned for his stories set in rural Scotland, was once asked near the end of his career what he would have done differently. His response was both simpl...

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Death in the Cul-de-Sac

Author

Gary A. Haugen

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 11:1-9, Isaiah 30:1-5 , Proverbs 14:12, Matthew 7:24-27, James 4:13-17, Psalm 127:1-2

Take the cul-de-sac, for example, which is my metaphor for the world of suburban monotony and triviality that so many Western Christians find themselves trapped in. The literal cul-de-sac (i.e., a dea...

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Missional Ministry: Crossing to the Other Side of the Street

Author

Leonard Sweet

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 18:1-8 , 2 Kings 4:1-7, Micah 6:8, Luke 10:25-37, Mark 10:45, Psalm 82:3-4

Leonard Sweet shares an interesting story in the introduction to Neil Cole’s book, Organic Church , about a parish pastor who lived in a Scottish village near Edinburgh called Davidson’s Mains. ...

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Author

Thomas Merton

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 , Isaiah 6:8, Jonah 1:1-3 & 3:1-3 , Matthew 16:24-26 , Philippians 3:7-14, Psalm 139:13-16

If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I think I am living for, in detail, and ask me what I think is keeping me from living...

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When Rulers Refuse to Listen

Author

Adam S. McHugh

Keywords

Scripture

1 Kings 12:6-16 , 2 Chronicles 24:17-22 , Jeremiah 36:20-31 , Luke 23:1-25, Acts 7:51-60 , Psalm 2:1-12

The kings Of history are rewarded with many impressive descriptors: majestic, exalted, glorious, sovereign. Men and women bow before such heights of nobility; even the eyes of wealth and status fall t...

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Listening Leads to True Obedience

Author

Adam S. McHugh

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Exodus 19:5-6, Matthew 7:24-27, Luke 11:28, John 14:23, Psalm 40:6-8

It would seem that hearing is but a narrow channel pouring into the deep sea of doing. Yet the etymological dictionary taught me that the sharp distinction between hearing and doing is the result of h...

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Defining the Parish System

Author

Don Everts

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 29:4-7, Micah 4:3-4, Matthew 5:9 , Romans 12:18-21 , Psalm 34:14

This concept [the parish system] has helped Christians understand how interconnected all the pieces within a community are and the importance of pursuing the common good there. Jesus’ call to be peace...

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Author

Ashley Hales

Keywords

Relationships

We value people for what they do for us rather than as fellow human beings created to enjoy God and made in his image.

liturgy

Gracious and loving God, Father, Son

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

James 5:15, Psalm 147:3, Galatians 3:28, Matthew 5:44, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, Ephesians 4:32

Gracious and loving God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit: We praise you for how wide, how high, and how deep is Your vast love for all people. Incarnate in Jesus, You offered Your life for the healing of ...

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The Value Remains the Same

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 1:6, 1 John 3:1, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:29, Ephesians 2:10, Jeremiah 31:3

Garry Smalley was a Christian counselor and prolific author. He was known for one particular illustration about the intrinsic value each of us has as children of God. Speaking at a large event, he ask...

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Author

Marilynne Robinson

Keywords

Protection

To value one another is our greatest safety, and to indulge in fear and contempt is our gravest error.

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A Gift’s Value

Author

Mike Cosper

Keywords

Gifts

Scripture

Matthew 25:40, Acts 4:32, Proverbs 3:27, 1 Corinthians 13:3, Romans 12:13

A gift’s value is in the way it makes and reaffirms bonds between people. It’s an expression of a relationship. This isn’t to say that the cost of a gift doesn’t matter, but it certainly isn’t the mos...

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Author

Myles Munroe

Keywords

The value of life is not in its duration, but in its donation. You are not important because of how long you live, you are important because of how effective you live.

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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

Gracious Father, too often we base our

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:10, Romans 8:38-39, Titus 3:4-5, Isaiah 55:1, Psalm 103:10-12, John 15:9

Gracious Father, too often we base our worth on our performance. We believe if we do well, your love grows, and if we falter, your love lessens. Our God, how far this is from the truth. We confess our...

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