Christians on Relationships

liturgy

Adapted from 1 John 4:7-15

Keywords

Scripture

John 4:7-15

Beloved, Let us love one another; for love is of God And everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this God’s lov...

liturgy

Adapted from Colossians 3:12-17

Scripture

Colossians 3:12-17

Leader: Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience All: bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against an...

lectionary

First Sunday after Christmas

Author

Jin Cho

Scripture

Colossians 3:12-17, 1 Corinthians 13:, Colossians 4:7, Philemon 1:11, 14

Preaching Commentary A Christmastide Community A recent podcast reminded me that there is no such thing as a “neutral” marking of our time—our minutes and our hours, our days and our weeks, our mon...

illustration

Never an Only Child

Author

Eugene Peterson

Keywords

Whether we like it or not, the moment we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, that is, from the time we become a Christian, we are at the same time a member of the Christian church … Our membe...

lectionary

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Author

Eunice McGarrahan

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 3:13-22

Summary The Text: 1 Peter 3:13-22 In the first chapter of this letter, Peter sets out the reason for writing. He affirms the eternal state of the believer: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lo...

Quote

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...

Quote

Author

Mother Teresa

Keywords

Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.

liturgy

Adapted from John 13:33-34

Keywords

Scripture

John 13:33-34

Leader: Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, "Where I am going you cannot come." People: "A n...

Quote

Author

E. James Wilder

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 61:1-3 , Ezekiel 34:2-4, 1 Kings 9:4-9 , John 10:11-14, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 , Psalm 23:3

"Psychology,” Dallas said quietly, “is the care of souls. The care of souls was once the province of the church, but the church no longer provides that care.” He paused. “The most important thing...

liturgy

2 Corinthians 13:11

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 13:11

Finally, brothers, rejoice! Be perfected. Be comforted. Be of the same mind. Live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Inclusive Version Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice...

illustration

Waking People up to Christ

Author

Bruce Larson

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 55:8-9, Jonah 4:1-11, Numbers 22:21-34, Matthew 9:10-13, Mark 2:23-28, Psalm 19:12-14

It takes a great deal of freedom and love to be therapeutic with a group. Many years ago when Emil Brunner, the great Swiss theologian, was lecturing in this country, it was reported that when he prea...

liturgy

Adapted from 1 Corinthians 13:1-8

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 13:1-8

Pastor: If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and i...

illustration

The Two Sides of Forgiveness

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 50:15-21, Exodus 34:6-7, Micah 7:18-19, Luke 7:36-50 , Matthew 18:21-35, Psalm 103:10-12

There are two sides to forgiveness: giving and receiving. Although at first sight giving seems to be harder, it often appears that we are not able to offer forgiveness to others because we have not be...

illustration

The United States is Like Samaria

Author

Phillip Yancey

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 29:4-7 , 2 Kings 17:24-33, Isaiah 1:18-20, John 4:4-26, Acts 8:4-8, 14-17, Psalm 46:1-2

The United States retains a basic respect for religion though it may be following European trends: surveys show a steady rise in the “nones” (now one-third of those under the age of thirty), that is, ...

liturgy

Adapted from 1 John 4:7-16

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 4:7-16

“Dear friends, Let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God…. This is love: Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his So...

illustration

We Christians Are Awfully Hard on Each Other, and Ourselves Too

Author

Robert Benson

Keywords

In a class that I was in once, I saw a man with his well-worn, heavily marked Bible open before him, playing a game of “trap the teacher.” He should have known better than to try to trap this particul...

illustration

The Bruderhof: A Radical Christian Community

Author

Fleming Rutledge

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 16:1-36 , Isaiah 58:6-12, Micah 4:1-4, Acts 4:32-37, Matthew 5:7, Psalm 72:

The Bruderhof is one such Christian community with many locations around the world. Unlike most such attempts to build radical communities, the Bruderhof has not only survived, it is thriving. In 2021...

liturgy

Ubi Caritas

Keywords

The Love of Christ has gathered us as one. Let us rejoice and be glad in him. Let us fear and love the living God And in purity of heart let us love one another. Where charity and love are, there is...

liturgy

Leader: In Jesus Christ God has removed

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 3:5, Ephesians 2:19, Romans 8:1, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Philippians 3:20, John 15:15, Isaiah 43:1

Leader: In Jesus Christ God has removed our sins from us and given us a new name. People: Now we are called Forgiven. Leader: In Jesus Christ God has assured us that he could never forget us. Peopl...

liturgy

Benediction from John 13

Keywords

Scripture

John 13:31-32, John 13:34-35

“Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him immediately…. A new commandme...

Quote

Author

Ronald Knox

Keywords

Throughout two thousand years of history, Christians, both whole churches and individual believers, have consistently been able to ignore many of Jesus’ key commandments and invitations. We have eithe...

Quote

Author

Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

Keywords

There is no such thing as an independent Christian.

illustration

The Evangelist Wasting his Time

Author

Richard J. Mouw

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 25:11, Ecclesiastes 3:7, Isaiah 50:4, 1 Peter 3:15, Colossians 4:5–6, Psalm 19:14

As a college student, I was returning to school one year on a Greyhound bus. One of the other passengers was a middle-aged man who seemed to be making the rounds, engaging various people in quiet conv...

liturgy

Prayers of the People, Form IV

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 2:15, Acts 2:1-41, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 10:25-37, John 11:25-26, Revelation 21:4

Deacon or other leader Let us pray for the Church and for the world. Grant, Almighty God, that all who confess your Name may be united in your truth, live together in your love, and reveal your glo...

Quote

Author

Mennonite Tradition

Keywords

Q: "Are you a Christian?" A: "Ask my neighbor."

liturgy

Standing Together: Pardon

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

Scripture

John 17:21-23, Exodus 14:13-22, Lamentations 3:22-23, Romans 15:13, 1 Corinthians 13:13, 2 Timothy 1:7, Ephesians 4:15-16

Nothing can stand against You Nothing No sin, no death No prejudice, no division Nothing can stand against our God You’re making us whole and holy in your mercy and grace Standing together in truth an...

Quote

Author

A. W. Tozer

Keywords

All great Christians have been wounded souls.

illustration

Learning Humility on a Mission Trip

Author

Phillip Yancey

Keywords

Scripture

2 Samuel 7:18-19, Isaiah 66:2 , Matthew 23:11-12, Philippians 2:3-4 , Luke 18:9-14, Psalm 51:17

The priest Henri Nouwen learned humility on a mission trip to South America. He went expecting to pass on his wisdom to the poor and unenlightened. During his six-month stay, Nouwen concluded that a d...

illustration

The Faithfulness of a Few

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 28:20, Revelation 2:10, Matthew 5:10-12, Matthew 10:22, 2 Corinthians 4:8-10, 1 Peter 4:12-14, Romans 8:35-37, John 15:18-20, Psalm 31:23, Matthew 25:21, 1 Corinthians 4:2, 1 Timothy 6:12, Matthew 24:45-46

Pliny, a Roman Governor serving around 112 AD, faced a challenging situation regarding Christianity. Many Church historians believe that by his time, it had become illegal to profess the Christian fai...

Quote

Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

As a newborn baby breathes and cries, so the signs of life in a newborn Christian are faith and repentance, inhaling the love of God and exhaling an initial cry of distress. And at that point what God...

liturgy

liturgy

lectionary

illustration

lectionary

liturgy

liturgy

illustration

liturgy

illustration

illustration

liturgy

illustration

illustration

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

illustration

liturgy

liturgy

illustration

illustration

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

J

L

M

N

P

R

S

T

U

W

Numbers

1 Kings

Psalm

Jeremiah

Ezekiel

Daniel

Micah

Matthew

Mark

Luke

John

Acts

Romans

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Galatians

Ephesians

Philippians

Colossians

2 Timothy

James

1 Peter

2 Peter

1 John