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Matthew 6:16-18

Routines dull perceptions. The purpose of a discipline such as fasting is to interrupt the routines that cushion us from the foundational realities, and so sharpen our awareness of the eternal essenti...

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Reassessing Habits & Routines: Thoughts from the Founder's Desk

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

For the past two weeks, the Strachan family has been living, working, and playing in Southern California, primarily at the beach, thanks to a close friend (yes, I know how ridiculously blessed we are)...

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Loving Your Routine

Author

Wilf Davies

Keywords

In this excerpt by a Welsh Farmer, Wilf Davies, we hear about someone who finds his routines life-giving, as opposed to soul-sucking. I can’t help but think it has something to do with his occupation,...

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Author

Charles Duhigg

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Habits, scientists say, emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort. Left to its own devices, the brain will try to make almost any routine into a habit, because habits allo...

liturgy

Lord of all creation, you make us into

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Lord of all creation, you make us into a new creation, your followers sing new songs of praise to you, and yet we so easily fall into routines as we worship you. Too often we offer you lip service wit...

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The Surprising Truth about Habits, Happiness, and Self-Control

Author

Gretchen Rubin

Keywords

As a writer, my great interest is human nature, and in particular, the subject of happiness. A few years ago, I noticed a pattern: when people told me about a “before and after” change they’d made tha...

liturgy

God who hears our cries and is moved by

Author

Mandy England Cole

Keywords

God who hears our cries and is moved by our suffering, Speak to us a word of comfort, challenge, co-mission. Capture our attention and call us out of our routines, That we might catch a vision of your...

liturgy

Risen Lord, Loving Father ... and

Risen Lord, Loving Father ... and Ever-Present Spirit: Thank You for reaching into our doubts, giving us the faith we lack. Thank You for Your gracious condescension reaching from the glories of heave...

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Author

Stephen R. Covey

Keywords

We often get into ruts, on treadmills, caught up in patterns and habits that aren't useful. We don't stop to ask, what can I learn from this week that will keep next week from essentially bein...

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Choose Your Rut Carefully

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Keywords

I read somewhere that in the early days of the Alaska Highway, tractor-trailer trucks would make deep ruts in the gravel as they carried construction equipment to boomtowns up north. Someone posted th...

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Performing the Lowliest Task

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

Sometimes service means doing routine tasks even if we could have someone else do them. There is a story about Abraham Lincoln – possibly apocryphal but certainly in character – that a cabinet member ...

liturgy

We confess, loving and gracious God,

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

We confess, loving and gracious God, that we often find ourselves in a rut as we seek to live out our faith. We do not pray for your Spirit’s ingenuity or creativity. We close off our hearts from anyt...

liturgy

Gracious, Heavenly Father, we are

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Gracious, Heavenly Father, we are people who often live our lives in routine, but who rarely enter into the fullness of the abundant life. In Easter, You accomplished the impossible. You proved Your W...

liturgy

Almighty God, you have surprised us

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 55:8-9, Matthew 13:44, Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 139:7-10, 1 John 1:9, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Luke 2:1-20, John 4:7-26, John 21:1-14, Luke 24:13-35, Matthew 17:1-8, Luke 2:25-38, Luke 1:35-38, Hebrews 13:2, Isaiah 43:19

Almighty God, you have surprised us with your presence in unexpected ways. In the expectations of our routine, we have missed the treasure that you place before us. We come to worship you in community...

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Yesterday I was a Dog…

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:22-24, Galatians 6:9, Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 40:1-3, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Philippians 3:13-14

Some people find themselves stuck in a rut. Without challenge or new opportunities, they begin to sound like Snoopy from the Peanuts cartoons: “Yesterday I was a dog. Today I’m a dog. Tomorrow I’ll p...

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Is That Enough?

Author

Dan Baumgartner

Keywords

Scripture

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, Ecclesiastes 3:12-13, Colossians 3:23-24, Proverbs 16:3, Philippians 4:11-13, 1 Timothy 6:6-8

The award-winning and now venerable filmmaker Wim Wenders recently put out a new movie called “Perfect Days.” It was filmed in Japan and follows the daily life of Hirayama, a cleaner of public t...

liturgy

Holy Spirit Let us not lose ourselves in tedium

Author

Jack Levison

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:26-27, Galatians 4:6, Psalm 131:2, Isaiah 30:15, 1 Kings 19:11-12, Ezekiel 37:9-10

Holy Spirit Let us not lose ourselves in tedium Errands Obligations Holy Spirit Still us once in a while Stop us sometimes Let us breathe now and then Holy Spi...

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When Ideas have Consequences

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 4:1-16 , Exodus 32:1-35 , 1 Kings 12:1-20 , Matthew 7:24-27, Psalm 1:1-6, Romans 1:18-32

In 1889, the French novelist Paul Bourget penned The Disciple , where he depicted the life of a renowned philosopher and psychologist, whose existence was marked by a seemingly monotonous routine...

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As Good as it Gets

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 32:22–32 , 1 Kings 19:1–18, Ecclesiastes 1:1–11, Luke 19:1–10 , John 5:1–9 , Psalm 42:1–11

Have you ever seen As Good As It Gets, the late-nineties film starring Jack Nicholson? In it, Nicholson plays a cranky, misanthropic writer in New York City, snapping at anyone who crosses his p...

liturgy

Lord Jesus—the same yesterday, today

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Matthew 5:9, Ephesians 4:32, James 5:15-16, John 14:27, Psalm 34:18

Lord Jesus—the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, and the author of change, who’s constantly doing “a new thing,” which makes us sit up and take notice. We admit, we’d be more comfortable with a pred...

blog

Review: Atomic Habits by James Clear

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 1:null

My Aversion to Self-Help Books & Their Gurus but Why I Recommend This One! I am not one for “self-help” books. I know that I probably could use some more personal coaching advice, but… my habit ...

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Taking Inventory

Author

Rebekah Lyons

Keywords

Parker Palmer’s book Let Your Life Speak arrested my heart a few years back. It begins with a poem by William Stafford, “Ask Me”, that begs this question: “Some time when the river is ice ask me mista...

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The Meaning of Rituals

Author

JR Woodward

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 12:14, Exodus 13:8-9, Joshua 4:6-7, Acts 2:42, Joel 2:15-16

Rituals are procedures or routines that are fused with meaning. Ritual actions include various rites of passage (birth, marriage, death) or calendrical rites (religious holy days, national holidays), ...

blog

What Pastors Need When Ministry Gets Hard

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Being a pastor can be a lonely and exhausting job. We’ve all had friends burn out, break down, mess up, or just barely survive in their ministries. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking ministry—answer...

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This Blasted Smartphone!

Author

Tony Reinke

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 63:1, Romans 12:2, John 4:13-14, Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, Exodus 32:1-6, Jeremiah 2:13

Tony Reinke does a great job capturing the deep ambivalence many of us feel about our smartphones in this short excerpt: This blasted smartphone! Pesk of productivity. Tenfold plague of beeps and ...

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Divine Do-Overs: God's Renewable Compassion

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

John 3:3, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Revelation 21:5, Lamentations 3:22–23, Jonah 3:1–10 , Isaiah 1:18, Luke 15:11–32, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Psalm 103:10–12

Hope remains possible even amid our failures—whether we disappoint God, let down our families, or fall short of our own expectations—because divine compassion operates like an inexhaustible well. Each...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, John 6:35, 41-51

Author

Allen Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

John 6:35, 41-51, Isaiah 54:13-14, Exodus 16:1-36, Numbers 11:1-9, 2 Samuel 18:5-33, Psalm 130:, 1 Kings 19:4-8, Psalm 34:1-8, Ephesians 4:25-32, Ephesians 5:1-2

Ancient Lens What's the historical context? Back to the Wilderness As he has been doing, Jesus calls the people’s minds back to the wilderness during The Exodus and reminds them of the manna ...

blog

People are Just Too Busy… Right?

Author

Jason Tucker

Keywords

Who's Playing Hooky? There’s a local market not too far from the church – and, sometimes, I’ll go there after Sunday morning services to grab some sweet corn to go with dinner (it’s New Jersey, b...

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5 Quotes on Summer

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Looking for inspiration for your summertime sermons? Here are five quotes that highlight different themes about summer. Quote 1 Comment: I love The Office , but in this short quotation...

lectionary

12th Sunday after Pentecost

Author

Allen Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

John 6:35, 41-51, Isaiah 54:13-14, Exodus 16:1-36, Numbers 11:1-9, 2 Samuel 18:5-33, Psalm 130:, 1 Kings 19:4-8, Psalm 34:1-8, Ephesians 4:25-32, Ephesians 5:1-2

Ancient Lens What's the historical context? Back to the Wilderness As he has been doing, Jesus calls the people’s minds back to the wilderness during The Exodus and reminds them of the manna ...

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