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I Desire Mercy Not Sacrifice
Experiencing the mercy of God in our lives
Ready & Faithful
Looking to Jesus for help now and hope in the future
Why Suffering?
Help your church understand God's plan in pain
HOW MUCH LAND? In his 1886 short story "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" Leo Tolstoy shows how a continual desire for more can ultimately cause us to lose everything. The main character of the story is a peasant named Pahóm, who at the beginning can be heard complaining that he does not own ...read more
Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:6-10
Tags: Greed
NOT ENCOURAGING A young couple, very much in love, were getting married in church. However, the bride was very nervous about the big occasion and so the preacher chose one verse that he felt would be a great encouragement to them. The verse was 1 John 4:18 which says: "There is no fear in love. ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 4:18
Tags: Weddings
WHAT DO AMERICANS LOVE MORE THAN MONEY? Most Americans love money, but we love something even more: security. According to a 2009 survey by the Pew Research Center, 59 percent of U.S. adults prefer a job that offers better security over one that offers higher pay but less stability (33 percent). ...read more
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
Tags: Security
ONE RASCAL AMONG HONEST MEN A king visited a slave ship, and there was a slave galley where they chain men to the oars and they row and a man beats the drum and another man has a lash to make them row. And they would take the prisoners of the state and put them to use, pulling on the oars. The ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 1:8-10
Tags: Confession Of Sin
THE EAGLE AND THE MOUSE There is an old story of an eagle who, on an early morning during the spring thaw, soared high above the forest looking for something to eat. As he followed the course of a river he looked down and spied a small rodent, trapped on a piece of ice that had broken free and was ...read more
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Tags: Temptation Power
HOPE OF MARIA Hope weans God’s people from seeking and trusting this world. The story is told of Maria. She lived in a small town in southern Kentucky. She did not see or hear from her husband for years. Edward was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division during the Korean war and captured when the ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 3:2-3
Tags: Pleasing God, God Brings Hope
Denomination: Nazarene
HOPE IS A SOURCE OF LIFE Hope prays for God’s "will to be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10) and then seeks to be God’s agent of change! One writer says: "Biblical and Christian hope does not mean living in the clouds, dreaming of a better life. It is not merely a projection of ...read more
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13
Tags: God Brings Hope
GIVING UP THE WORLD A man once said to D. L. Moody, "Now that I am converted, must I give up to the world?" "No," answered the evangelist, "you need not give up the world; if you give a ringing testimony for the Son of God the world will give you up pretty quick. They ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 2:15-17
Tags: Christian Witness
WINNING THE LOTTERY Christmas night 2002, Jack Whittaker had five out of five numbers in the West Virginia Power ball drawing. Jack Whittaker had just won $314 million, the largest undivided lottery jackpot in history. He took the one lump payment and received $113 million after taxes. Listen ...read more
Tags: Money
HOW MUCH DO YOU NEED? According to the Barna Research Group, the average American adult believes he needs an additional $8,000–$11,000 per year to live comfortably. Tracking studies show, however, that even when adults reach or exceed the income levels to which they aspired, they still claim they ...read more
Tags: Materialism
THE IMPACT OF FATHERLESSNESS Several years ago the TV show 60 Minutes ran a segment that tells us something important about fatherlessness. The park rangers at a South African wildlife preserve were concerned about the slaughter of 39 rare white rhinos in their park. It turned out that the rhinos ...read more
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 4:14-21
Tags: Father's Day
CLOSED FOR ALTERATIONS Billy Graham tells a story--a simple illustration--that I want to borrow. A preacher once passed a shop which was no longer open for business. A sign hung in the window that said, "Closed for Alterations." The owner had closed shop for a while in order to remodel the store. ...read more
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:35-58
Tags: Rapture
WELLINGTON DEFEATED... It is a story about how the news of the victory at the battle at Waterloo arrived in England. There were no telegrams or telephones in those days, nobody could send an SMS or put it up on Facebook or Youtube, of course, but everyone knew that Wellington was facing Napoleon ...read more
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:54-57
Tags: Mistakes
Denomination: Lutheran
REJOICING IN PAIN Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision, visited a church in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, nearly a year after the devastating earthquake. The church's building consisted of a tent made from white tarps and duct tape, pitched in the midst of a sprawling camp for thousands of ...read more
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Tags: Gratitude
WORKS-DRIVEN RITUALS Every year a great throng of people make pilgrimage to the Shrine of Guadalupe in Mexico, a site where supposedly the Virgin Mary once stood...however unlikely that is. They go there hoping to get her attention, and to get her to intervene for them with her son Jesus. They ...read more
Scripture: 1 John 1:7-10
Tags: Action
WHAT A CONTAGIOUS CHRISTIAN LOOKS LIKE Bill Hybels, Becoming a Contagious Christian: "Recently, I saw a letter written by a relatively new Christian to the person whose life had influenced hers so greatly. She actually lists about a dozen qualities she found contagious in the life of this older ...read more
Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:8-15
WALKING WITH INTEGRITY Integrity can be defined as: "wholeness; uprightness; honesty or soundness of moral principle and character; an undivided or unbroken completeness or totality with nothing wanting." Dr. Bob Reccord, president of the International Missions Board told about a pastor friend in ...read more
MEN AND WOMEN'S ROLES Wayne Grudem and John Piper identified and addressed a problem in leadership back in 1991 which is still relevant: "A controversy of major proportions has spread through the church. It began over 20 years ago in society at large. Since then an avalanche of feminist ...read more
Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:9-15
Tags: Men And Women
AN ATTACK OF CONSCIENCE This was the story in MYFOX Boston from Friday 15 April 2011 41 years after the murder of 15 year old John McCabe of Tewksbury, three suspects finally go before the judge. 60-year-old Walter Shelley, of Tewksbury, and 57-year-old Michael Ferreira of Salem. New Hampshire are ...read more
Scripture: 1 Samuel 24:5-7
Tags: Conscience
PRAYER AND 19TH CENTURY REVIVAL Dr. A. T. Pierson once said, "There has never been a spiritual awakening in any country or locality that did not begin in united prayer." Let me recount what God has done through concerted, united, sustained prayer. [J. Edwin Orr. Personal Notes.] Not many people ...read more
Scripture: 1 Samuel 7:1-13
Tags: Prayer Persistence
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