Sermon Resources on Frustration

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Dear Lord, I am filled with anger born of frustration

Author

Keywords

Scripture

2 Kings 22:11–13, Amos 5:23–24, John 2:13–17, Mark 10:13–14, Romans 12:21, Psalm 4:4

Dear Lord, I am filled with anger born of frustration. I confess I know not whether my anger is of you. I just know I am filled with hope, which makes me angry that others are not so filled. Take away...

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The Space Between Ourselves and the World Around Us

Author

Joan Chittister

Keywords

Frustration is something that does not exist—except within the self. It translates my world to me through the filter of my own need to control it. Frustration becomes the space we put between ourselve...

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Emotionally Involved With the Lawnmower

Author

Eugene H. Peterson

Keywords

In Eugene Peterson’s excellent book, Run with Horses, he tells the story of his frustration trying to remove the blade from his lawnmower. He had tried everything and finally his neighbor came over an...

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The Voice of the Shepherd

Author

Richard J. Foster

Keywords

Scripture

1 Kings 19:9-13 , Exodus 33:12-23, Habakkuk 3:17-19, Luke 10:38-42, 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 , Psalm 46:10

One evening I was taking a stretch break from study, walking out into the night. Soon I began speaking prayers of complaint . . . a little like the lament psalms in the Bible. I wasn’t angry, really, ...

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Adapted from and Inspired by Psalm 145

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 145:8-9

Lord God, you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and quick to show mercy and faithful love. Your compassion is for all you have made. We admit that this compassion is slow to come to life ...

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Generous Lord Jesus, We confess that we

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 4:32, Hebrews 11:1, Luke 6:38, James 1:18-20, Matthew 9:36

Generous Lord Jesus We confess that we do not receive others with compassion. We object to being interrupted And respond with anger or frustration. We confess that we do not share generously Not trus...

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Adapted from Psalm 10 & Romans 7:21-25

Author

Hughes Oliphant Old

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 7:21-25, Psalm 10:null

Arise, 0 LORD; 0 God, lift up your hand. Forget not the afflicted. We call to you in our sorrow and frustration, Lord God, eternal, everlasting God. Why do you stand so far off? Why do you hide y...

liturgy

Litany of Penitence

Scripture

2 Chronicles 7:14, Luke 19:1-10, Luke 15:11-32, Isaiah 1:18, James 5:16

The Celebrant and People together, all kneeling Most holy and merciful Father: We confess to you and to one another, and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth, that we have sinne...

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S.I.T. For the week of 6/3

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

God's Voice Speaking through the Frustration My first conscious experience of hearing the voice of Jesus occurred when I was a college student. It grew out of a period of genuine frustration. Bec...

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Author

Source Unknown

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 4:3–8 , Exodus 32:19–20 , Proverbs 14:29, Matthew 5:22, Ephesians 4:26–27, Psalm 37:8

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything onto which it is poured.

Quote

Author

Eugene Peterson

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 5:22-23, Luke 10:38-42, Luke 15:11-32, John 21:15-17, Luke 22:54-62, James 4:6, Philippians 2:3-4

And yet I decide, every day, to set aside what I can do best and attempt what I do very clumsily--open myself to the frustrations and failures of loving, daring to believe that failing in love is bett...

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Lifting the Rock

Author

Source Unknown

Keywords

One day a father decided to take his son to play at the local park. The boy quickly gravitated to the sandbox and found himself mesmerized by the colors and textures surrounding him. After a short tim...

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Making Pearls Out of Irritations

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Job 23:10, Psalm 119:71, Hebrews 12:11, 2 Corinthians 4:17, Romans 5:3-5, Isaiah 48:10

Most of us are aware of the fact that pearls come from oysters, but do you know how they are formed? It all begins with an irritation. Some foreign particle, for example, a piece of sand, works its wa...

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The Census Taker and the Country Woman

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 18:13, James 1:19, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Proverbs 18:2, Proverbs 15:23, Ecclesiastes 5:2, Genesis 11:7-9, 2 Timothy 2:24-25

Communicating with people is often easier said than done. Take for instance this apocryphal story of the census taker who had to venture many miles down a country road to reach a cabin. As the man pul...

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Putting the Saints into Circulation

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:16, James 2:17, 2 Corinthians 4:7

There's an intriguing story about Oliver Cromwell, who, while serving as Lord Protector of England, faced a tricky cash flow issue. When he found himself short on precious metal for coins, he sent...

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The Love Song

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 49:15-16, Luke 15:11-32, 1 Samuel 1:, Genesis 22:1-19, Deuteronomy 6:6-7, Ephesians 6:4, Proverbs 22:6

Richard Foster wrote once of a father walking through a mall with his two-year-old son. The child was cranky; he kept whining and wriggling and complaining. The father struggled to remain patient. …[...

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Author

Samuel Ullman

Keywords

Maturity is the ability to think, speak and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity. The measure of your maturity is how spiritual you become during the midst of your frustrations.

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God’s Voice Speaking through the Frustration

Author

Richard J. Foster

Keywords

Silence

My first conscious experience of hearing the voice of Jesus occurred when I was a college student. It grew out of a period of genuine frustration. Because of my poor academic training and a less-than-...

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The Frustrating Unpredictability of Faith

Author

Don Everts and Doug Schaupp

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 6:9, John 3:8, Ecclesiastes 11:5, Isaiah 55:10-11, John 6:44

Writing about ministering to postmodern skeptics, Don Everts and Doug Schaupp share a helpful insight into the mystery of God's movement: The first lesson they have taught us about the path to f...

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Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

I think I am beginning to understand why grief feels so much like suspense. It comes from the frustration of so many impulses that have become habitual…I keep on through habit fitting an arrow to the ...

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Author

Charles Kettering

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 37:23-24, Joshua 1:9, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, Isaiah 40:31, James 1:2-4, Proverbs 24:16

Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.

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Communication Breakdown

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Exodus 17:8-13, Proverbs 3:5-6, Philippians 4:13, Psalm 133:1, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

As a stranger walked down a quiet residential street, he noticed a man struggling with a washing machine at the doorway of his house. The homeowner was clearly having a hard time, so the passerby, wan...

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Gardeners and Failure

Author

Michael Pollan

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 12:11, Philippians 3:13-14, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Proverbs 24:16, Romans 5:3-5, James 1:2-4

All the accomplished gardeners I know are surprisingly comfortable with failure. They may not be happy about it, but instead of reacting with anger or frustration, they seem fairly intrigued by the pe...

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Two Ministers and the Rusty Old Can

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

One particularly crafty, if not insidious way a “good works” righteousness can seep into our theology is by positioning faith as the pre-eminent work. We must never forget that faith itself is a...

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Losing Control In a Waffle House Hat

Author

Ryan P. Tinetti

Keywords

In his book Scream-Free Parenting , family therapist Hal Runkel recounts a visit to the Waffle House with his family that went horribly awry. It was a Saturday morning and the place was busy beyo...

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Overcoming Sermon Writer's Block: 5 Proven Strategies for Pastors

Author

William Rowley

Keywords

That little vertical bar on the white screen at the beginning of the blank line just keeps blinking. It flashes over and over. Is it mocking you , or is the late hour finally getting to you? Chance...

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The Thief on the Cross Gets Into Heaven

Author

Alistair Begg

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 23:33-43

Alastair Begg offers a poignant and humorous take on what it must have been like for the thief on the cross to reach heaven’s gates. And the point at the end is powerful. That’s what the angel must ...

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O my Lord, I discern in my anger a sense of self-righteousness

Author

Ruth Etchells

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 37:8–9, James 1:19–20, Ephesians 4:26–27, Mark 3:1–5, Proverbs 14:29, Exodus 32:19–20, Matthew 21:1-13, Mark 11:15-19, John 2:13, Luke 19:45-48

O my Lord, I discern in my anger a sense of self-righteousness, which is much too close to pleasure. And I think of you, Lord. You were never angry in your own defense, and you took no pleasure in ang...

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What’s Inside Counts: Healthy Pastors Preach Better Sermons

Author

Mark R. Glanville

Keywords

Your Inner Life Matters While I have long recognized the significance of a pastor’s inner life, I hadn’t pondered the relationship between our inner life and the act of preaching until recently. Our ...

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Technology's impact on our Minds

Author

Ruth Haley Barton

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 20:8-11, 1 Kings 19:11-13, Ecclesiastes 2:22-23 , Luke 10:38-42 , Romans 12:2 , Psalm 46:10

As we become more intentional about living according to our deepest desires, it becomes increasingly important to notice the effects of technology on our mind, our soul and our relationships. The ...

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