Jesus the Way | The Pastor's Workshop

liturgy

He-They-We Poem

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Keywords

Scripture

John 12:12-16

They hailed him King as he passed by, They strewed their garments in the road, But they were set on earthly things, And he on God. They sang his praise for that he did, But gave his mes...

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A few years ago, my daily Bible reading had me in Revelation, perhaps the trickiest New Testament book to read and interpret. As I have taught this book in small groups and in sermons, I often advise ...

liturgy

The Way of Peace

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

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Scripture

Isaiah 59:8, John 14:23-39, John 14:8-17

Based on Isaiah 59:8, NRSV The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths. Their roads they have made crooked; no one who walks in them knows peace. You You are t...

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Author

James Boice

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Scripture

Exodus 5:1–2, Matthew 2:16, Acts 16:16–24, Psalm 2:1–2, Acts 16:16–24, Psalm 2:1–2

Nothing good has ever come into the world without opposition, and that is especially true in spiritual matters.

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Author

Scott Erickson

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Scripture

Genesis 37:23-28, Exodus 3:11-12 , Isaiah 43:1, John 1:42, Luke 8:26-39 , Psalm 139:13-16

Who we are is deeper than where we find ourselves in this moment. And Jesus illuminates that deeper identity.

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Luke 13:10-17

Author

Paul Koptak

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Scripture

Luke 13:10-17

Introduction Jesus is the deliverer of Israel (1:54–55, 69–75, 77–79) Jesus states his mission in Luke 4:16-19: to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to captives and the oppressed. The word ...

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Author

Craig Groeschel

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Scripture

Genesis 12:1 , Exodus 3:10-12, Daniel 3:17-18, Matthew 8:19-20 , Hebrews 11:24-26, Psalm 34:19

Jesus never asks us to do something he wouldn’t do himself. He calls us to a life of faith, not a life of comfort.

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Why a Colt and Not a War Horse?

Author

Mia Levetan

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Scripture

Zechariah 9:9, Isaiah 53:3–5, Exodus 12:1–28, Matthew 21:1–11 , Luke 22:24–27, Psalm 118:25–26

I heard a woman named Veda Gill who is the Executive Director, Presbyterian Education Board in Pakistan preach on a Palm Sunday. Perhaps you’ve heard this story before, but it is so powerful that I th...

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Praying Wholeheartedly

Author

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 11:1–4 , Romans 8:26–27, Psalm 119:171–173 , Exodus 33:11 , Deuteronomy 6:4–9 , 1 Samuel 3:1–10

When our will wholeheartedly enters into the prayer of Christ, then we pray correctly. Only in Jesus Christ are we able to pray, and with him we also know that we shall be heard. And so we must learn ...

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Gaining Scholars but Losing Jesus

Author

N. T. Wright

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Scripture

Deuteronomy 18:15 , Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 11:1–4, John 14:6–9 , Philippians 3:8–10, Psalm 34:8

A friend of mine, lecturing in a theological college in Kenya, introduced his students to “The Quest for the Historical Jesus.” This, he said, was a movement of thought and scholarship that in its ear...

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Seeing Through the Eyes of Jesus

Author

Richard J. Mouw

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Exodus 23:2–3, 6, Proverbs 31:8–9, James 2:12–13 , Luke 6:36–37, Psalm 103:8–10

Christian civility does not commit us to a relativistic perspective. Being civil doesn’t mean that we cannot criticize what goes on around us. …Civility is a different matter, though. I can treat ...

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A Theology of Interruptions

Author

Christopher H. J. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 18:1–8, 2 Kings 4:8–10 , Ruth 2:10–12, Luke 8:43–48 , Matthew 15:21–28, Psalm 145:8–9

I have a friend who says he wants to write a book on the life of Jesus and call it “a theology of interruptions.” Because, he says, so many of the things that Jesus said or did in the Gospel stories h...

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The World in which Jesus Lived

Author

William H. Marty

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 12:1–3, Exodus 3:1–12, Isaiah 53:, Matthew 22:15–22 , John 4:1–42 , Acts 17:16–34

The world of Jesus was not the Old Testament Hebrew world. Like the United States now, Israel was multicultural, including a combination of Aramaic, Greek, and Roman influences. The people looked Jewi...

liturgy

Jesus, the Promised Shepherd

Author

K.J. Ramsey

Keywords

Scripture

Ezekiel 34:11-16, Jeremiah 23:3-4, Micah 5:4-5, John 10:11-14, Hebrews 13:20-21, Psalm 23:1-3

Jesus, the Promised Shepherd, you who are always making a way for your people to rest when other shepherds demand performance and success: reveal the green pastures where we can heal...

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Author

Gary Thomas

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 12:1 , Ruth 1:16-17, Jeremiah 15:19, Psalm 27:10, Matthew 10:37-38 , Psalm 27:10

Sometimes to follow in the footsteps of Jesus is to walk away from others or to let them walk away from us.

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Where are the Nails?

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 13:1-3, 1 Kings 22:19-23, Isaiah 53:3-5, Matthew 24:23-25, John 20:27, Psalm 34:18, John 20:25, 1 Corinthians 1:23; 2:2, Galatians 1:8-9

St. Martin of Tours was a Frankish soldier in the Roman army who abandoned his military post to follow Jesus at a time when Christianity had only begun to take root in France. He later became the bish...

liturgy

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

John 20:31, 2 Timothy 1:10, Isaiah 61:1-3, 1 John 1:5b–7, Ezekiel 36:26-27, John 8:12

Leader: Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” People: God is light, and in Him is no darkness at ...

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Imagining the Kingdom

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 65:17-25, Micah 4:1-4, Exodus 3:7-10 , Luke 4:18-19, Matthew 5:1-12, Psalm 146:7-9

Author and Episcopal priest Stephanie Spellers suggests that instead of imagining a kingdom, a better way for us to understand what Jesus had in mind when he spoke of this script, this new way of livi...

liturgy

Forgive us. Renew us by Your Spirit

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

John 1:12, 1 John 3:1 , Joel 2:12-13, 1 Peter 2:24, Romans 8:14-17, Psalm 103:8-12

People: Forgive us. Renew us by Your Spirit and lead us to walk in Your ways, bearing fruits of love and service in all we think, do and say. Amen. Pastor: Jesus himself bore our sins in h...

liturgy

The blessing of Almighty God

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 31:8, Proverbs 3:5-6 , Micah 6:8 , John 14:6 , Colossians 2:6-7, Psalm 23:1-3

Pastor: The blessing of Almighty God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with you as you follow Him and grow to look, live and love more like Jesus every day. People: He is the way, the tr...

liturgy

God our gracious Father, our Creator

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 30:21, Proverbs 3:5-6 , Deuteronomy 30:19-20 , John 14:6, Psalm 25:4-5, Matthew 11:28-30

Pastor: God our gracious Father, our Creator; Jesus, our Redeemer, the Way, the Truth, the Life; Holy Spirit, our Comforter and Guide, to You we lift our hearts in prayer. For those who have lost...

liturgy

Let us confess our sin in the presence of God

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

John 3:16-17, Lamentations 3:22

Pastor: Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another. People: Gracious God, have mercy on us. In Your compassion forgive us our sins, known and unknown, things done and...

liturgy

Our Savior Jesus Christ commanded baptism

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

Lamentations 3:22, Matthew 28:19

Pastor: Our Savior Jesus Christ commanded baptism saying, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” God’s Word teach...

liturgy

Praise be to the God and Father

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 , Psalm 103:13

Pastor: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, People: the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, Pastor: who comforts us in all our troubles, Pe...

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Author

Latin Saying

Keywords

Scripture

Joshua 24:14–15, 1 Kings 3:5–14, Proverbs 4:10–19, Matthew 7:13–14, Philippians 3:12–14, Psalm 1:1–2

Quod vitae sectabor iter. Translation: Who do I want to be? And: What path will I take?

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Deuteronomy 18:15-20

Author

Jeff Volkmer

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 18:15-20, Deuteronomy 1:5, Exodus 18:13-27, Exodus 20:18-19, Exodus 33:11, Deuteronomy 34:10, John 1:21, John 6:14, Acts 3:22-23, 1 Timothy 2:5, Luke 24:27

Context A Copy of the Law or a Second Law? Like the other books in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible), the title of the book of Deuteronomy comes from its translation into Greek. The...

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What Keeps us from Experiencing Renewal

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:4-5, 2 Kings 22:23, Isaiah 58:6-7, Psalm 119:105, Matthew 5:17-20 , Acts 2:42-47

There’s a quote by H. Richard Niebuhr that I believe is absolutely true. “The great Christian revolutions,” he argued, “come not by the discovery of something that was not known before. They happen w...

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Walking the Dog as an Analogy for Adversity

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 50:20, Exodus 14:13-14, Job 23:10, Psalm 37:23-24, Romans 8:28 , 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

In C. S. Lewis’ classic work Mere Christianity , the English apologist compares God’s use of adversity to walking a dog on a leash. When the dog wraps its leash around a pole and tries to move fo...

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An Invitation to Act

Author

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 14:15-16, 2 Kings 5:9-14, Deuteronomy 30:19-20, John 5:1-9, Mark 10:46-52, Psalm 107:19-20

I am struck by all the things Jesus didn’t say or do in response to the litanies of pain and defensiveness he heard from people. Jesus didn’t say to the man, “You sound like a victim to me; what are y...

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Jesus Discerned Between Invitations

Author

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

Keywords

Scripture

1 Kings 19:11-13, Exodus 33:12-14, Isaiah 30:15-21, Mark 5:25-34, Mark 1:35-38, Psalm 46:10

Jesus knew his spiritual journey depended on responsiveness to God’s invitations. Although his job was the most crucial in human history, Jesus did not get compulsive, preoccupied or unable to practic...