Sermon Resources on Theology Of Work

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Stewarding Our Work

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Pastors work hard and those outside of ministry (and maybe within) may miss that it is labor , a job , their share in Adam's gift of work. We're excited to share this devotion from Kara M...

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Dorothy L. Sayers

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We cannot deal with industrialism or unemployment unless we lift work out of the economic, political and social spheres and consider it also in terms of the work's worth and the love of the work, ...

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St. Thomas Aquinas

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Scripture

Proverbs 12:11, Ecclesiastes 9:10, Colossians 3:23-24, 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12, Psalm 128:2

To live well is to work well.

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Author

Mark Buchanan

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Scripture

Colossians 3:23-24, Philippians 2:14-15, Psalm 90:17, James 1:26, Ephesians 4:29, Hebrews 13:15

Next time you’re tempted to complain about your work, praise God for it instead. Next time you open your mouth to gossip about people you work with or smear those you work for, stop yourself and turn ...

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Tolstoy and The Goodness of Physical Labor

Author

Ryan P. Tinetti

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We get a feel for the goodness of working as creatures with bodies in Leo Tolstoy’s classic Anna Karenina . In the novel, Constantine Dmitrich Levin is a wealthy landowner in nineteenth-century R...

liturgy

Prayer for Labor Day

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

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VOICE ONE: Almighty God, Maker of Heaven and Earth, you declared your work good and so do we. Empower us to continue your good work through the labor of our minds and hands. VOICE TWO: This Lab...

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Whatever You Do…

Author

Mark Batterson

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Scripture

Colossians 3:23

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,” said the apostle Paul, “as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” (Colossians 3:23) ...[H]ow you do anything is how you’ll do everything. Dr. ...

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Getting the Right Goals May be the Key to Success

Author

Arthur C. Brooks

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Worthy goals are generally motivated by something deeper than success. In her conversations with Nobel laureates, [researcher Xiaodong D.] Lin said she has found that “they all have insatiable passion...

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A Saxophonist's Spiritual Revelation

Author

Ryan Bundrick

Scripture

Luke 2:1-35, 2 Timothy 4:6-7, Colossians 3:23-24, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Ephesians 2:10

John Coltrane stands out as one of the giants of 20th-century jazz. His legacy is a generation of hearts touched and the light of God shining through his songs. Yet, for years, his work was haunted by...

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The Secret of Moody’s Power

Author

Dallas Willard

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Scripture

Judges 6:11-16, 1 Samuel 17:32-50, Mark 3:13-19, Acts 4:13, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

At the height of Moody’s effectiveness, between 1874 and 1875, Dr. R. W. Dale, one of the leading nonconformist clergymen in England, observed Moody’s work in Birmingham for three or four days. He wan...

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Author

Mark Buchanan

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Scripture

1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17, Colossians 3:23, 1 Peter 4:10

Whatever you can do with a clean conscience, you can do to the glory of God. No work is so menial that it cannot be rendered as worship.

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Biblical Economics

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Economics

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In his extremely helpful book, The Economics of Neighborly Love , Tom Nelson argues that the church has an important part to play in helping Christians understand the value and place of economics i...

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Author

N. T. Wright

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What you do in the present by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neig...

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Author

Parker J. Palmer

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Teaching is my native way of being in the world. Make me a cleric or a CEO, a poet or a politico, and teaching is what I will do.

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Dostoevysky and the Origins of Burnout

Author

Arthur C. Brooks

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In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov , Alyosha, the novel’s central protagonist, asks his father for permission to join a monastery, where he seeks to purify his soul and sanctify his wo...

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We are Fed as we Feed

Author

Leonard Sweet & Frank Viola

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Scripture

Exodus 16:4-18, 1 Kings 17:8-16, Isaiah 55:1-2 , John 6:32-35, Matthew 14:13-21, Psalm 37:25-26

Celebrated as one of the greatest writers of all time, French writer Marcel Proust (1871–1922) filled out a personal questionnaire at the start of his career for a magazine like the one we know today ...

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Author

John Wesley

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Scripture

Deuteronomy 15:7, 11, Psalm 9:18, Psalm 41:21, 31, Proverbs 19:17, Proverbs 22:16, Mark 10:21, James 2:14-17, Matthew 19:21, Mark 12:43, Luke 18:22, Luke 21:1-3

Nor, indeed, can a man properly be said to save anything, if he only lays it up. You may as well throw your money into the sea, as bury it in the earth. And you may as well bury it in the earth, as in...

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Kingdom-Based Coffee

Author

Jonathan Walton

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Scripture

Colossians 3:23-24, Galatians 6:9-10, Philippians 2:4, Matthew 5:16, Proverbs 31:8-9, James 1:27

Brandon and Faith Lee, who started Bird and Branch Coffee, are what faithful witnesses look like. When they sat down across from my wife and me, they had a dream to start a coffee shop that would serv...

liturgy

Benediction to Persevering Labor

Author

Drew Edward Jackson

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Scripture

Psalm 127:1, 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, Ephesians 2:10, Galatians 6:9, 1 Corinthians 15:58

May God bless you with the ability to recognize that the world is not yours to save. May the Spirit awaken you to the beautiful truth that you have a part to play. May your eyes see resurrection in ...

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Third Third Difference: A Great Way to Begin Serving Your Third Third Disciples

Author

Mark Roberts

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Third Third of Life

These days, more and more pastors are looking for ways to serve their third third congregants, that is, folks roughly 55 years of age and older. It’s common for me to hear from a pastor who says somet...

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Sermon Prep & Self-Awareness: Austin Carty's Guide to Authentic Sermon Writing

Author

Paul Koptak

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Some of the Words are Theirs: The Art of Writing and Living a Sermon by is a book by a preacher who loves the craft of writing . And what is the writing of poetry, fiction, essay, but offering ins...

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What is the Christian Imagination Deficit? How Do We Fix It?

Author

Brian Brown

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There Are No Ordinary Things J. R. R. Tolkien tells a short story about an ordinary fellow who just wants to finish a painting. Over time, he is constantly distracted by the requests of his neighbors...

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Two Ministers and the Rusty Old Can

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The Pastor's Workshop

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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...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Galatians 6:1-16

Author

Darren Pollock

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Scripture

Galatians 6:1-16, 1 Corinthians 9:24-26

A Tough Way to Start Ministry You don’t have to spend much time on Twitter or Facebook to be reminded that schadenfreude (taking joy from another's misfortune) is alive and well. Depending on w...

lectionary

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Author

Darren Pollock

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Scripture

Galatians 6:1-6, 7-16, 1 Corinthians 9:24-26

preaching commentary A Tough Way to Start Ministry You don’t have to spend much time on Twitter or Facebook to be reminded that schadenfreude (taking joy from another's misfortune) is alive a...

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The Principle Crime of the Human Race

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Ezekiel 144:6, Colossians 3:5, 1 John 5:21, 1 Corinthians 10:14, Jeremiah 10:14-15, Matthew 22:34-40, Exodus 20:3

Tertullian was an early church leader (a bishop in Carthage) in North Africa. His voluminous writing and ministry have led many to acknowledge him as the father of Latin Theology/Western Theology. Ter...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Matthew 28:1-10

Author

Scott B. Bullock

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Scripture

Matthew 28:1-10, Matthew 27:51, Daniel 7:13-14, John 11:null, Psalm 30:null

Earthquakes & Cosmic Animation In Matthew 27:51, we read of an earthquake that occurred the moment Jesus breathed his last breath. Matthew wants us to note that the following chain of events (inc...

lectionary

Easter: Resurrection of the Lord

Author

Scott B. Bullock

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Scripture

Matthew 28:1-10, Matthew 27:51, Daniel 7:13-14, John 11:null, Psalm 30:null

Preaching Commentary Earthquakes & Cosmic Animation In Matthew 27:51, we read of an earthquake that occurred the moment Jesus breathed his last breath. Matthew wants us to note that the followi...

liturgy

Father God, You introduce yourself to

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Father God, You introduce yourself to us in Genesis (1) as the God who works. Who created this beautiful world we are privileged to inhabit. We thank you for your work You created us to till the ...

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The Theological Roots of Apartheid

Author

Brenda Salter McNeil

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Did you know that apartheid in South Africa was based in large part on theological doctrines that were formed at Stellenbosch University in the 1930s and 1940s? Isn’t that chilling? Many of the intell...

Sermon Resources on theology of work

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