Worldview and Perspective on Going To Church

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Not Going to Church

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 10:24-25, Psalm 133:1, Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 12:27, Matthew 18:20, Acts 2:42

As was the normal routine on a Sunday morning, a wife got ready for church. She got up, had breakfast, showered, got dressed, put on makeup and was ready to go. It was just as she was ready to leave t...

liturgy

Adapted from Hebrews 10:19-25

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Scripture

Hebrews 10:19-25

Leader: Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, All: by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, t...

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Hebrews 10:19-25 "Having therefore brothers boldness to enter into the holy place"

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Scripture

Hebrews 10:19-25

Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, and ha...

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The Real Problem

Author

John Stott

Keywords

I remember a young man coming to see me when he had just left school and begun work in London. He had given up going to church, he said, because he could not say the creed without feeling that he was ...

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The Language of God

Author

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 2:4-11, Galatians 3:28, 2 Corinthians 4:13, Ephesians 2:13-22, Philippians 1:27, Romans 12:5; 1

Writing to his parents while imprisoned on the day of Pentecost, the German Dietrich Bonhoeffer said this: At the tower of Babel all the tongues were confounded, and as a result men could no longe...

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Author

Jake Meador

Keywords

Scripture

Mark 8:36, Matthew 16:26, Romans 12:2, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Mark 4:18-19, Mark 10:43-44, Matthew 19:23-24, Matthew 6:19-21, 24-34, Luke 12:13-21, Luke 12:32-34, Mark 10:24-25, Hebrews 10:25

The defining problem driving people out is …just how American life works in the 21st century. Contemporary American life simply isn’t set up to promote mutuality, care, or common life. Rather, it is d...

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Author

Bono

Keywords

Distance does not decide who is your brother and who is not. The church is going to have to become the conscience of the free market if it's to have any meaning in this world - and stop being its ...

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Author

Eugene Peterson

Keywords

Spirituality is no different from what we've been doing for two thousand years just by going to church and receiving the sacraments, being baptized, learning to pray, and reading Scriptures rightl...

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Not Able to Say the Creeds

Author

John Stott

Keywords

I remember a young man coming to see me when he had just left school and begun work in London. He had given up going to church, he said, because he could not say the creed without feeling that he was ...

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Preaching in a New Key: Crafting Expository Sermons in Post-Christian Communities

Author

Mark R. Glanville

Keywords

Kate's Crisis: Values vs. Church One damp afternoon during the fall of 2016 I was sharing a pastoral conversation with Kate, a professional artist in her late 20s. Over years of meals and convers...

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The Madman and Killing God

Author

Brian Zahnd

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 11:1-9, Exodus 32:1-35, Amos 8:11-12, Matthew 27:45-46, Romans 1:18-25, Psalm 14:1

In 1882—seven years before his descent into madness—Friedrich Nietzsche published a parable called The Madman . In the parable, a madman comes into a village on a bright, sunny morning holding al...

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Armor for a Soldier, not a Warrior

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 6:10-18

In most western societies, what do people think of when you say "armor of God"? I wouldn't be surprised if the image that comes to mind is the kind of plate armor you see in movies abou...

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Truth in the Pulpit: Why Intellectual Integrity Matters for Pastors

Author

William Rowley

Keywords

While sexual sin, financial scandals, and toxic work environments hurt pastoral credibility, a more subtle, and probably more common danger is carelessness with the truth. Intellectual integrity matte...

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Christianity: A One-Way Ticket to Heaven?

Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

Most people today imagine that the point of Christianity is “to go to heaven when you die.” That’s what most believers believe. It’s what most unbelievers unbelieve. It’s certainly what journalists, b...

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Psalm 19 | Creation Reflects God

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:17, Psalm 19:

Introduction During my time in seminary (and the year after I graduated) I spent a lot of time at a church in southern New Jersey. It’s actually how I met Scott Bullock, TPW board member and creator...

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God Hinting

Author

Debra Hirsch

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 7:1-9, Matthew 19:3-12 , Psalm 139:13-16 , Genesis 2:18-25, Song of Solomon 4:1-16, Proverbs 5:15-19, Genesis 2:18

James Nelson describes sexuality as the central clue to what God is up to in the world. While this might seem a little over the top, when you think about it, sexuality factors integrally in our relati...

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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...

liturgy

Gracious God, on Sundays we come to

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Gracious God, on Sundays we come to this place and you fill us up with your goodness and light and we are renewed. But when we go out into the world, we fall short in so many ways. We confess that we ...

liturgy

Father: You are good and You are

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Amos 5:24, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Colossians 3:13, Jeremiah 30:17, Matthew 5:4, Psalm 127:3, Isaiah 40:29

Father: You are good and You are strong. You want what is best. You act to bring it about .And you invite us to hold our hearts before You in prayer, so we can participate in what You do. Therefore, w...

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Replacing Morality with Psychology

Author

Phillip Cary

Keywords

Christian morality has fallen on hard times these days. No one seems to believe in it, least of all Christians. Even the word “morality” is dropping out of our vocabulary—and I do mean the vocabulary ...

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A Framework for Life

Author

Eugene H. Peterson

Keywords

When a person is confused and things refuse to fit together, she sometimes announces a need to get out of noise and turbulence, to get away from all the hassle and “get my head together.” When she suc...

liturgy

Inspired by Matthew 15:10-20

Author

Cody Sandahl

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 15:10-20

Holy God, we confess that we have focused too much on our religion, and not enough on our hearts. We confess that we might sit in church on Sunday, but the Gospel does not emerge from our lives the re...

liturgy

Eternal and Glorious God, You are

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Eternal and Glorious God, You are merciful, kind, and forgiving. You hear us when we confess to You. We admit we do not focus on You with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. A day devoted to Yo...

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What Trees Can Teach us About Good Neighborhoods

Author

Don Everts

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 1:null

There is a paradigm shift going on in the realm of forestry. For years there had been a consensus among ecologists that all trees were independent operators, each tree an island unto itself, the fores...

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Pay it Forward Coffee

Author

Scott Bowerman

Keywords

There’s a coffee shop in Bluffton, SC named The Corner Perk. Bluffton is near Charleston. In 2012, a woman who wished to remain anonymous handed the owner a hundred-dollar bill and said she wanted to ...

Quote

Author

Eugene Peterson

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 15:13, Psalm 130:5, Jeremiah 29:11, Philippians 4:6-7, Lamentations 3:25-26, Psalm 27:14

Hoping does not mean doing nothing. It is not fatalistic resignation. It means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusions. It is not compelled to w...

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The Handicapped (White) Church

Author

Warren W. Wiersbe

Keywords

Race

Scripture

Luke 4:14

We are handicapped in the white church. If I preached Jesus’ first sermon (Luke 4:14–30) and gave it the social emphasis that He gave, our church has no vehicle for doing anything about the problem. P...

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Prayers of the People, Form V

Scripture

Luke 15:11-32, Psalm 51:10, 1 John 1:9, Psalm 103:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, John 17:21, Ephesians 4:3-6

Deacon or other leader In peace, let us pray to the Lord, saying, "Lord, have mercy" ( or "Kyrie eleison"). For the holy Church of God, that it may be filled with truth and lov...

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But He’d Be Wrong!

Author

John M. Perkins

Keywords

Reporters Alex Alston and James Dickerson tell a sad story about a church that sought to integrate its ranks: The Mississippi Delta was in a tizzy over rumors that blacks might show up at white church...

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Staying in our Christian Bubbles

Author

Sam Metcalf

Keywords

I was in London browsing one of the ubiquitous British tabloids and an advertisement for a new health club grabbed my attention. The picture was of a magnificent gothic church sanctuary that had been ...

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