The Way on Wilderness

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Adapted from Mark 1:2-4, 7-8

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Keywords

Scripture

Mark 1:2-4, Mark 1:7-8, Isaiah 40:3

Leader: As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; People: the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the ...

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Peace in Heaven, Glory Revealed

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 40:3, 5, Luke 9:38, Zechariah 9:9, John 1:14, Psalm 118:26

Leader: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. . . . People: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth...

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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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Author

Mark Buchanan

Keywords

Scripture

John 14:6, Matthew 7:13-14, Acts 24:14, Luke 9:23, Psalm 1:1-2, Psalm 25:4-5

[The] earliest name for Christianity was the Way, suggesting that it was not a set of doctrines to master but a path to travel. Suggesting that each step was a deepening of the familiar and a discover...

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Adapted from Psalm 80

Author

Kimberly Bracken Long

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Scripture

Psalm 80:null

Shepherd of Israel, God of hosts, we have turned away from you, neglecting the welfare of your creation, ignoring the plight of your people, trampling on the creatures and the plants you have made, t...

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Courage Through Unknown Paths

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

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Scripture

Exodus 3:10-12, Joshua 1:9, Matthew 6:33, Romans 8:28, Psalm 121:1-2

Pastor: Lord God, we thank You that You have taught us what You would have us believe and do. Help us by Your Holy Spirit, for the sake of Jesus Christ, to hold fast Your Word in our hearts. You ha...

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The grace of God overflows for us

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

John 21:15-19, Luke 15:11-32, Isaiah 53:6, Psalm 51:10-12, Romans 5:8, 1 Timothy 1:15-16

The grace of God overflows for us through Christ Jesus, who came into the world to save sinners. We therefore, confess, holy and merciful God, our failure to be what you created us to be. You alone kn...

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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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Jesus, the Promised Shepherd

Author

K.J. Ramsey

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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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Great and gracious God, we have run

Author

Mark Brewer

Keywords

Great and gracious God, we have run after things and others instead of coming home to You. We have lived as though we were the centers of our universe. We have avoided the harder issues in life so o...

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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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Author

Scott Erickson

Keywords

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.

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Prepare Your Way in Us

Author

Steve Garnaas Holmes

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 40:3-4, Matthew 3:11, Acts 2:3-4, Psalm 51:10, Ezekiel 36:26-27

Leader: Eternal God, Timeless One, come into this time. All: Loving Christ, you who are coming, enter in with your grace. Holy Spirit, Flame of Life, baptize us in your mystery. Burn in us ...

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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?

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Spirit of Truth, as we turn to your

Author

John E. Skoglund and Nancy E. Hall

Keywords

Scripture

John 8:12-20, John 14:9-14, Psalm 119:105-112

Spirit of Truth, as we turn to your Word, let the light of your countenance be upon us, that we may come to know more fully the one who is the way, the truth, and the life, through Christ Jesus, our...

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The Way of Peace

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Keywords

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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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...

Quote

Author

Craig Groeschel

Keywords

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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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...

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Our Invitations Determine our Future

Author

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 3:1-7, Deuteronomy 30:19-20, Jonah 1:1-3, Matthew 4:18-22 , Luke 9:57-62 , Psalm 25:4-5

The things we say yes to and the things we say no to determine the terrain of our future. My convoluted journey is posted with invitations, and my RSVPs account for the twists and turns. Sometimes, ha...

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John the Baptist & the Path of Repentance

Author

Günther Bornkamm,

Keywords

Far from merely assigning to [John] a temporal and now accomplished task…[the church] recognized him to be the one who will be forever preparing the way for Christ and who, so to speak, stands guard a...

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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...

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God's Guidance, Our True Path

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 55:8-9, Psalm 51:1-3, 10, 2 Corinthians 7:10, Luke 18:9-14, Romans 12:1-2 , 1 John 1:9, Ezekiel 36:26

Almighty God, your ways are not our ways. Your thoughts are not our thoughts. Therefore, we have sinned against you and hurt others. In your mercy, show us our sin and move us to sorrow. Transform us ...

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Prepare Us for Advent

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Scripture

Isaiah 40:3-5, Luke 3:2-6, Malachi 3:1-3, Matthew 3:1-3, 2 Peter 3:10-14

We ask that you stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the ways of your only-begotten Son, that by his Advent we may serve you with purified minds, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

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God of grace–Father who loves us from

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Peter 5:7, Romans 8:38-39, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Matthew 11:28-30

God of grace–Father who loves us from forever and into forever; Word made Flesh–Jesus, God the Son ... Lord, Savior, Messiah; And Spirit ... Counselor and Comforter: You are our delight and our hope. ...

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May God go before you to show you the way

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

Numbers 27:18-23, Joshua 1:1-9

Pastor: May God go before you to show you the way, Beside you to accompany you Behind you to encourage you Below you to support you Above you to protect you And may He go within you to ...

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Prayer of Adoration Loving God—Father

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

John 20:28

Prayer of Adoration Loving God—Father Son and Holy Spirit— we come today as thirsty people to You who are the Spring of Living Water. We come as hungry people to You who are the Bread of Heaven. We ...

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Author

Andre Neher

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 1:, Psalm 119:

The Hebrew word Torah does not signify order but orientation. It is not a law, it is the way, the road along which a common enterprise is possible.

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Gracious and faithful God–our Creator,

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Psalm 25:4-5, Matthew 1:23, James 5:14-15, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Luke 2:10-11, Isaiah 9:6, Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 25:35-36, Proverbs 21:1, Matthew 5:14-16, Matthew 28:19-20, John 14:13, Luke 2:1-20, Mark 5:25-34, John 11:17-44

Gracious and faithful God–our Creator, Redeemer and Comforter: When we don’t know the way–You show us the way; and when we can’t find a way–You make a way. Thank you! Thank you for Your gift of a Sav...

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From the rising of the sun to its setting

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 113:3, Psalm 25:4-5

Pastor: From the rising of the sun to its setting, People: The name of the Lord is to be praised. Pastor: Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. People: for you are God m...

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