Relationships and Community on Weather

liturgy

Prayers of the People, Form I

Scripture

Romans 8:38-39, Acts 2:42-47, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 17:11-19, Psalm 68:19

Deacon or other leader With all our heart and with all our mind, let us pray to the Lord, saying "Lord, have mercy." For the peace from above, for the loving-kindness of God, and for the ...

liturgy

Good and Gracious God, Father, Son, and

Good and Gracious God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: we come to You as an impatient people filled with a multitude of desires and needs. We yearn for simple things--the arrival of warm weather, enough...

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Forget the Thermometer

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 58:6–10, 2 Kings 4:8–37 , Genesis 12:1–4, Philippians 2:3–8 , Matthew 25:34–40 , Psalm 121:

Dr. Albert Schweitzer, who famously left his renowned practice in Switzerland to become a medical missionary in Africa, was hosting a group of European visitors at his hospital in Lambarene, French Eq...

Quote

Author

Jan Johnson

Keywords

It may look like the clouds are gathering for a storm, but I can rest because I have God’s companionship and that is enough. Decisions aren’t so harrowing—because I know the light dawns slowly but wil...

liturgy

Adapted from Psalm. 46; Matt. 7:21–29

Author

Kimberly Bracken Long

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 46:null, Matthew 7:21

God, our rock and refuge, there are plenty of things that we allow to erode our faith in you. When life gets stormy, we let our uncertainty cloud our trust in you. We think we know better and start re...

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Crazy, But True Stories of Criticism at a Christian Radio Station

Author

Brant P. Hansen

Keywords

In his excellent book, Unoffendable, Brant Hansen shares a few humorous, but sadly true, stories of people being critical of his work at a Christian music station: One day, we talked about the local...

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The Value of Not Watering Your Plants

Author

William Rowley

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 37:7, Hosea 12:6, Psalm 27:14, Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 130:5-6, James 5:7-8

An experienced gardener knows the value of not watering their tomatoes. Well, there's a little more to it, but that's the headline. Suppose you go to the nursery in the spring and get a tom...

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A Question of Motivation

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 22:6, Hosea 1:1-4, Matthew 18:1-5, Ephesians 6:4, Psalm 127:3

There’s a story about philosopher John Dewey walking with his young son on a cold, wet, and windy day. The boy, barefoot, was gleefully splashing in a puddle despite the weather. A concerned friend pa...

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The B.C.

Author

Source Unknown

Keywords

Humor

This story deals with a rather old-fashioned lady, who was planning a couple of weeks vacation in Florida. She also was quite delicate and elegant with her language. She wrote a letter to a particular...

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The Peaks and Troughs of our Hypersexual Age

Author

Jonathan Grant

Keywords

Sex

A few years ago, while celebrating our fifteenth wedding anniversary, my wife, Esther, and I stayed at the base of the twin mountains of Whistler and Blackcomb, the mammoth ski resort on Canada’s West...

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Losing Everything

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 3:15, Philippians 3:5-11, Matthew 19:16-30, John 12:20-26, Mark 8:27-38, Hebrews 11:1, Jeremiah 29:11

A ship went down in a storm, and only one man survived. He was fortunate enough to land on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific. With just a few items in his pocket, he was able to build a small...

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Emotional Nanocrafts in the Space Between Us

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:10, Revelation 3:20, Matthew 25:40, Luke 8:43-48, Song of Solomon 2:14, Psalm 42:7

In I’d Like You More If You Were More Like Me , John Ortberg uses an interesting analogy for an aspect of our relationships. In 2015, Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner announced the Starshot Initiati...

Quote

Author

Anne Lamott

Keywords

You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They...

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The Church Losing its Place as the Center of Attention

Author

Tim Wu

Keywords

The Church was the one institution whose mission depended on galvanizing attention; and through its daily and weekly offices, as well as its sometimes-central role in education, that is exactly what i...

Quote

Author

Max Black

Keywords

It remains wonderful that mere puffs of wind should allow men to discover what they think and feel, to share their attitudes and plans, to anticipate the future and learn from the past, and to create ...

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The Power of Wind

Author

Billy Graham

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 2:7, Exodus 14:21, Ezekiel 37:9-10, John 3:8, Psalm 104:3-4 , Acts 2:1-4

It is interesting that in Scripture, in both the original Hebrew and Greek languages, the word used in speaking of the Spirit is the word that can also mean “wind.” In like manner, the Holy Spirit wor...

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The Day of Judgment Is Approaching…Or Not

Keywords

During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives. One day in 1789, the sky ...

liturgy

Adapted from Psalm 90 (3)

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 90:1-4

Leader: Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. All: Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you a...

Quote

Author

Franz Kafka

Keywords

Only our concept of time makes it possible for us to speak of the Day of Judgment by that name; in reality it is a constant court in perpetual session

Quote

Author

Emily Dickinson

Keywords

This is the Hour of Lead— Remembered, if outlived, As Freezing persons recollect the Snow— First—Chill—then Stupor—then the letting go.

liturgy

An Irish Blessing "May the road rise to meet you."

Keywords

May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, And rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm o...

Quote

Author

Haruki Murakami

Keywords

"When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person that walked in. That’s what the storm is all about."

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Our Emotional Lives are Complicated

Author

Marc Brackett

Keywords

So, how are you feeling? It’s not a trick question. But it’s more complicated than it sounds. We’re always feeling something, usually more than one thing at a time. Our emotions are a continuous ...

liturgy

Adapted from Matthew 6:25-34 (WEB)

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:25-26, Matthew 6:25-34

Jesus says, “Therefore I tell you, Do not be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body m...

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Our Mess

Author

Ronald Reagan

Keywords

Status quo, you know, that is Latin for 'the mess we're in'.

Quote

Author

Source Unknown

Keywords

A troublemaker is a man who can rock the boat and persuade everybody there's a terrible storm at sea.

Quote

Author

Arthur Conan Doyle

Keywords

Watson. Come at once if convenient. If inconvenient, come all the same.

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Farm Animals Prefer the Familiar to the Good

Author

Mia Levetan

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 5:1, Numbers 14:4, Exodus 16:3, Luke 9:62, 2 Peter 2:22, Proverbs 26:11

There is a story about a farmer who had a few animals he kept in a barn that had gotten old, drafty, and leaky. Concerned for his animals' well-being, the farmer decided to build a new barn. He bu...

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Who Determines Your Behavior?

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:1, Matthew 5:44, Proverbs 15:1, 1 Peter 3:9, Luke 6:31, Galatians 6:9, Colossians 3:12-13, 1 Corinthians 13:4-5, Genesis 50:20, Philippians 2:3-4, James 1:19-20, 1 Samuel 24:17

Some years ago, the syndicated newspaper columnist Sidney J. Harris shared an interesting anecdote from one of his friends. Each evening, this friend would stop at the same newsstand to buy a newspape...

liturgy

Pastoral Prayer based on Jesus Calming the Storm

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 4:35-41, Matthew 8:23-27, Luke 8:22-25

When the waves rise high above our ability to see your face… Still my soul, Lord Jesus, Calm the storm in me When the howling wind and the pouring rain drown out the sound of your voice… Still my sou...

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