Luke 4:21-30 Offended by Grace
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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
Pastor Prays Honestly After Loss of Son O The Beauty of Honest prayer (I think God prefers angry honesty vs. flowery fakeness) Heard a story this week of a pastor who lost his precious little son in a tragic accident. Told how he drove the freeways of Los Angeles in the grief of that loss. Said… ...read more
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Tags: Death
Olympic Speed Skaters Slow Down When No Hope of Winning At the 2002 Winter Olympics, Apolo Ohno, an American, hoped to win his second gold medal in the men’s 5,000-meter short track, speed-skating relay. But during one of the turns, another American skater fell. His fall and recovery only took a ...read more
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
Tags: Sports
Gary Smalley’s daughter Carrie came to him one day and said, “Dad, I know that you love us and I know that you love Michael (one of his sons), but you are always picking on Michael, you are constantly criticizing Michael. Dad, what you are doing is like someone who is locked in a room and someone ...read more
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Tags: Encouragement
Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ
John Kevin Hines is one of a handful of people who have survived an attempted suicide jump off the Golden Gate Bridge. He claims to have told himself that if any one of the people he rubbed shoulders with on the way to the bridge noticed he was distraught, and asked him what was wrong, he wouldn’t ...read more
In the play a Raisin in the Sun, there’s a scene where Walter has lost all of the family’s savings, savings that were going to make his family’s dream come true. His sister, Beneatha, is so disgusted with him she says, “There ain’t nuthin’ left to love.” In an emotion filled moment, Mama puts her ...read more
Why Be Buried With a Fork in Your Hand There was a woman who had been told she only had 3 months to live. Her doctor recommended that she start making preparations to die. And so, she contacted her Pastor to talk about her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at her funeral, what ...read more
Tags: Heaven
The Compassion of Jesus Makes a Funeral a Celebration When I was in the 5th grade and we lived above the funeral home in Pawnee, there was no street celebration, no brass band or snare drum or festive umbrellas but the funeral for Rev Sonious’ wife was something to behold. Just months before she ...read more
Tags: Funerals Christian
The Parental Challenge of Helping Teenagers Face Their World And I wanna share a story with you. It’s a traumatic one and one that actually happened. I did a funeral about four or five years ago and in this funeral it was really bizarre, because as the high schoolers came in about a third of them ...read more
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12
Tags: Death, Parenting
FAITH AND WORKS There was once a Scotsman who rowed people across a river. On one oar he had carved the word 'faith' and on the other oar he had carved the word 'works'. One day as he was rowing, one of the passengers noticed the carvings and asked him about them. The Scotsman did not reply but ...read more
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 1:3-4
Tags: Faith Vs. Works
"Pray as if Your Life Depends on ...read more
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Tags: Faith, Hope, Prayer, Persistence
Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational
A CHANGE OF WORDS, A CHANGE OF FOCUS Here is a story that I believe show how our journey is made better simply by a change in words. A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign, which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat. ...read more
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Tags: Gratitude
WHOSE HANDS ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR? "A Thanksgiving Day editorial in the newspaper told of a school teacher who asked her first graders to draw a picture of something they were thankful for. She thought of how little these children from pour neighborhoods actually had to be thankful for. But she ...read more
Tags: Thanksgiving Holiday
THE CADDY Two golfers stepped up to the first tee on the St. Andrews course in New York. The older golfer was a kindly man who played a thoughtful, deliberate game. The younger golfer was full of pride and impatience. On the first hole he sliced, lost his ball in the tall grass, hit another one, ...read more
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Tags: Gratitude, New Year
WHYTE IN PRAYER Scottish minister Alexander Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was so gloomy that one church member thought, "The preacher certainly won’t think of anything for which to thank ...read more
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
Denomination: Nazarene
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
THE FIRST THANKSGIVING Let's consider the first Thanksgiving in America. It was in the fall of 1621, one year after the Pilgrim’s landed. There was great affliction in their voyage. 102 Pilgrims the left Holland, stopped briefly in England before sailing to America. They were at sea for 66 ...read more
THE SECOND PILGRIM WINTER After the first Thanksgiving with Massosiat and the Indians, the Pilgrims were excited that another ship arrived with 35 new colonists. Quoting again from William Bradford, “they were all landed; but there was not so much as bisket-cake or any other victialls [AO] for ...read more
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18
LABOR PROMPTED BY LOVE Bernard Newman tells how once he stayed in a Bulgarian peasant’s house. All the time he was there the daughter was stitching away at a dress. He said to her, "Don’t you ever get tired of that eternal sewing?" "Oh no!" she said. "You see, this is my ...read more
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 1:3
Tags: Servanthood
Denomination: Baptist
THE HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN In 1871 Fr. J. Boudreau wrote a short story entitled "The Happiness of Heaven." It's a story about a kindhearted king who is hunting in the forest when he discovers a blind, poor orphan boy living there. The king takes the blind orphan to his palace and adopts him as his ...read more