Sermon Resources on Disciplines

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Author

Richard J. Foster
Keywords
Scripture

Galatians 5:1, 2 Corinthians 3:17, Colossians 2:20-23, Matthew 11:28-30, Luke 10:41-42
The purpose of the Disciplines is freedom. Our aim is the freedom, not the Discipline. The moment we make the Discipline our central focus, we will turn it into law and lose the corresponding freedom....
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Good vs. Bad Discipline
Author

James K. A. Smith
Keywords
Scripture

Hebrews 12:5-11, Proverbs 3:11-12, Psalm 94:12, 1 Timothy 4:7-8, Philippians 3:12-14, Matthew 23:23-24, James 1:22-25, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
While formally or structurally speaking, there are mechanisms of discipline operative in both the convent and the prison, in both the factory and the monastery, more specifically, these disciplines an...
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Disciplining Daily Deeds
Author

Kyle David Bennett
Keywords
- Disciplines
- Spiritual Disciplines
Scripture

James 3:13, Hebrews 12:11, Proverbs 4:23, Philippians 4:8-9, Colossians 3:17, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Timothy 4:7-8
We can learn a thing or two about discipleship and the discipline required of a disciple from our fourth-century monastic brothers and sisters. Like them, we do basic, ordinary activities every day. W...
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The Lion in the Marble
Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen
Keywords
Scripture

2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:29, Philippians 2:12-13, James 1:22-25, Colossians 3:10, Ephesians 4:22-24, 1 Peter 2:2-3, Hebrews 12:11
There was once a sculptor who worked hard with hammer and chisel on a large block of marble. A little child who was watching him saw nothing more than large and small pieces of stone falling away left...
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Developing an Anthropological Foundation for the Spiritual Disciplines
Author

James Bryan Smith
Keywords
Scripture

Genesis 1:26-27 , Deuteronomy 6:4-6, Jeremiah 31:33, Matthew 23:25-26 , Romans 12:2 , Psalm 51:10
Before my mentor, Dallas Willard, passed over to glory, I asked him what he thought about the rapid rise of the Christian spiritual formation movement. He said, “It is a wonderful thing, but my fear i...
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The Practice of Indirection
Author

James Bryan Smith
Keywords
Scripture

Psalm 119:11, Philippians 4:9, Luke 6:48, 2 Timothy 2:15, Proverbs 6:6-8, Hebrews 12:11
Payton Manning practiced indirection. He was the winning quarterback of Super Bowl XLI. It was a rainy night, and the ball was slippery. Rex Grossman, the quarterback for the losing team, fumbled the ...
Quote
Author

Richard J. Foster
Keywords
The Spiritual Disciplines are things that we do. We must never lose sight of this fact. It is one thing to talk piously about 'the solitude of the heart,' but if that does not somehow work its...
Quote
Author

Jerry Bridges
Keywords
Because we are sinful by nature, we have developed sinful patterns, which we call habits. Discipline is required to break any habit. If a boy has developed the wrong style of swinging a baseball bat, ...
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Discipleship Begins with Active Listening
Author

Adam S. McHugh
Keywords
Scripture

1 Samuel 3:9-10, Deuteronomy 6:4-5 , Matthew 4:19-20, John 10:27, Luke 11:28, Psalm 85:8
The interplay between listening and obedience expresses itself in our lives all the time. Sound has the ability to “command” us, to summon a response in us, forcing us to take notice. Unlike visual ...
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Physical Therapy and Spiritual Practice
Author

Cody Sandahl
Keywords
Scripture

Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:9-10, Romans 8:13, 1 Timothy 4:7, Hebrews 12:11, 1 Corinthians 9:27
My transition into my 40’s came with the obligatory hip surgery. The only way to stop the cycle of hip pain was to literally carve out some bone. Those parts had to be removed. But recovering my funct...
Quote
Author

Edmund Burke
Keywords
Scripture

Proverbs 15:1, Genesis 24:17-20, Daniel 1:8-9, Colossians 4:6, 1 Peter 3:15-16, Psalm 34:13-14
Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe in. They give their wh...
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Not Getting Comfortable
Author

The Pastor's Workshop
Keywords
Sir Ewan Cameron of Lochiel (1629–1719) was a legendary Scottish Highland chieftain, famously reputed to have killed the last wolf in Scotland. Known for his fierce leadership and rugged Highland spir...
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Is Your Soul In Your Hands?
Author

Francis de Sales
Keywords
Scripture

Psalm 42:5, 2 Corinthians 10:5, Colossians 3:2, James 4:8, 1 Peter 5:7
Several times during the day, but especially in the morning and evening, ask yourself for a moment if you have your soul in your hands or if some passion or fit of anxiety has robbed you of it…. If yo...
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How to Make a Sacrifice
Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.
Keywords
Scripture

Romans 12:1, Mark 8:35, Philippians 3:8, Matthew 16:24, Hebrews 13:16
How do you define what it means to “make a sacrifice?” We say we sacrifice for our family, or sacrifice for our careers. We speak of Jesus sacrificing himself so that we can experience eternal life. A...
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The Scottish Discus Thrower
Author

John Eldredge
Keywords
Scripture

James 1:2-4, Romans 5:3-5, Job 23:10, 1 Corinthians 9:25-27, Hebrews 12:11
As a young boy, around the time my heart began to suspect that the world was a fearful place and I was on my own to find my way through it, I read the story of a Scottish discus thrower from the ninet...
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Jonathan Edwards’s Consecration
Author

Mark Batterson
Keywords
- Disciplines
- Commitments
Scripture

Colossians 3:23-24, 2 Corinthians 8:5, Psalm 73:26, Galatians 2:20, Romans 12:1, Joshua 3:5
Jonathan Edwards is one of America’s most influential philosophers and theologians. Edwards wrote dozens of books, sparked the First Great Awakening, and was influential in the lives of hundreds of mi...
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What “Now” Means
Keywords
A friend often told me about the problems he had getting his son to clean his room. The son would always agree to tidy up, but then wouldn’t follow through. After high school the young man joined the ...
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Doing the Work Before the Work
Author

Stephen W. Smith
Keywords
Scripture

Proverbs 24:27, James 1:5, Matthew 7:24-25, Proverbs 21:5, Colossians 3:16-17, Isaiah 40:3-4
In his highly insightful work, Inside Job , Stephen W. Smith provides an important analogy about the importance of spiritually preparing ourselves for the adversity and challenges that come with su...
Quote
Author

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
Keywords
Disciplines done for the wrong reasons actually sabotage transformation and numb us toward God and the truth. When we use spiritual practices to gain secondary things like spiritual cachet, success, a...
Quote
Author

Dallas Willard
Keywords
- Spiritual Disciplines
The Spiritual disciplines are wisdom and not righteousness.
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Grace and the Spiritual Disciplines
Author

Dallas Willard
Keywords
What is the relationship between spiritual diciplines and grace? Does participation in the spiritual disciplines mean that we are not resting in God’s grace? Dallas Willard shares the analogy of a bas...
Quote
Author

Richard J. Foster
Keywords
- Spiritual Disciplines
- Communion with God
Of all spiritual disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father.”
Quote
Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen
Keywords
- Spiritual Disciplines
Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you're not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied. In the spiritual life, discipline mean...
Quote
Author

Henri Nouwen, with Michael J. Christensen and Rebecca J. Laird
Keywords
A spiritual discipline or practice is a way of creating some open and free space in which God can move an speak. For example, the discipline of solitude helps us spend time with God alone and so becom...
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Spiritual Disciplines and Who We are Becoming
Author

John Ortberg
Keywords
- Spiritual Disciplines
God’s primary assessment of our lives is not going to be measured by the number of journal entries…The real issue is what kind of people we are becoming. Practices such as reading Scripture and prayin...
Quote
Author

Peter Marshall
Keywords
Teach us, O Lord, the disciplines of patience, for to wait is often harder than to work.
Quote
Author

Dallas Willard
Keywords
- Discipline
In the simplest possible terms, the spiritual disciplines are a matter of taking appropriate measures.
Quote
Author

Richard J. Foster
Keywords
- Pride
- Flesh
Nothing disciplines the inordinate desires of the flesh like service, and nothing transforms the desires of the flesh like serving in hiddenness. The flesh whines against service but screams against h...
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Our Problem with Discipline
Author

Andrew M. Davis
Keywords
- Discipline
- Spiritual Disciplines
Many of us don’t like this word “discipline.” It makes us feel uncomfortable, even icky. It has negative connotations. We often associate it with punishment or retribution. To discipline is to punish,...
Quote
Author

Mike Cosper
Keywords
- Spiritual Disciplines
- Grace and The Spiritual Disciplines
If our starting place with God is the radical grace extended through Jesus, then the spiritual disciplines are invitations, not obligations—ways of being with God, not appeasing him.