Let down the nets? Give me a break!
But then...Luke says, “When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.” Not the kind of break Peter had in mind. Not the kind of outcome he had in mind either. Have you ever reached to lift something -- a milk jug,
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Presbyterian/Reformed
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When I was a student at McCormick Seminary in Chicago, I took Carl Dudley’s course on culture. One day in class, he raised the issue of where people sit in church. It is so easy for us, when we’re young, to criticize those who, in our minds, get too possessive about the seat on which they stake
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
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Can you recall a time when you were close to God? So close, I mean, you could swear you heard the rustle of angels’ wings? Maybe there was an expansive feeling within, perhaps a tear at the corner of your eye?
I recall such a time. Believe it or not, I was in church. I was a student at Austin
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
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I want to show you something. When John talks about brazen sin, perpetrated by obvious sinners, he doesn’t use the image of darkness. When he wants to show us bold-faced sinners, he uses a different image. In fact, he does it in the very next chapter, chapter 4, where he introduces us to the
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
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Some years ago, Richard Foster wrote a book in which he described what he thought were the three most likely forces at work in the lives of modern Americans. His list? Money, sex, and power. And, you know, it’s possible. These things may very well be the base metals we use for forging a belief
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Presbyterian/Reformed
We need not fear acknowledging the darkness within us. If you have read Dante’s Divine Comedy, you will remember that Dante described himself as being lost in the dark woods. After a while, he looked up and saw Paradise brilliantly crowning the crest of a nearby mountain. As you and I might have
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
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Some of you will know the name of J.B. Phillips, an Anglican bishop who wrote a number of books. One of his most popular books was a paraphrase of the New Testament. One of his other books was entitled Your God Is Too Small. In that book, Phillips exposed the views of God that we all hold to
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Isaac Chan on Mar 4, 2002
based on 18 ratings
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Somewhere in the middle of Western Road Christian Cemetery, there is a rather unusual statue among the thousands of gravestones and hundreds of statues. It is not the statue of a man or woman or angel, not even of Jesus or Mary or saint… but of a dog. How many of you have seen it?
The story
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Pentecostal
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Today is February 14, Saint Valentine’s Day, of course. What do you know about Saint Valentine, or, to use his Latin name, Valentinus?
It is difficult to know anything for certain. In fact, historians claim that the details of this man’s life are lost in obscurity. About the only thing they’re
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Those who love each other want to be together always. And God wants to be with you always. That in itself is proof that he loves you. And you and I cannot resist such love. Or, if we can, we shouldn’t. God’s love ought to melt away
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
I have never been a boxer, but ever since I was a child, I have heard that, in the ring, you lead with your left. That is, you position yourself opposite your opponent in such a way that your left glove is out in front. Your right glove is close to your body. You’re always jabbing with
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
To let go requires a change of mind. It’s not unlike jumping from a burning building. I have to decide that “down there” is safer than “up here” even if getting “down there”
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
If I may return to the picture of the burning building, It’s a sure thing that I won’t jump if I don’t know the thing is on fire.... We will not give up the structures of our existence -- not on
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
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ADDICTION | Angeles Arrien, a cultural anthropologist, describes our situation this way. She says our condition is one of universal addiction. She has written that we are all afflicted with addictions, not necessarily to drugs or alcohol or other substances -- those are merely symptoms -- but
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Presbyterian/Reformed
Paul describes this situation as “death-dealing sin.” He calls it “the dead-end abyss of separation from God.” The way they put in medieval times was to describe humanity -- listen to this: humanity was portrayed as a wingless bird, stuck in its alluring conditions, too heavy to fly. Does any
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
In a previous church I served, we had a young couple in our congregation whose names were Barry and Cindy, and both Barry and Cindy were blind. This was an impressive young couple who managed to live a normal life despite their disability. They maintained their own apartment, held down jobs,
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Jesus changed all that. And I love the way he did it. Talk about detail! John tells us that Jesus “spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.” Whenever I read these words, I think about another occasion when God did something remarkable with mud. In Genesis 2:7
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Some years ago, I had the sheer joy of seeing the movie adaptation of Fulton Oursler’s novel, The Greatest Story Ever Told. I loved the way Max von Sydow brought the personality of Jesus to the screen; it was perhaps the most natural portrayal of our Lord that I’ve ever seen.
It was a long movie
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Presbyterian/Reformed
While life is present, it is precious, but, for all its value, it is also fragile. If you take a moment to think about the animation of the human body, I can’t help but believe that you must be in awe. Take the simplest of operations. You are going to open your car door and get inside. You walk
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
If you have a moment some time, check out the Calvin window on the south side of the sanctuary. If you look near the bottom, we will see an engraving of Calvin’s crest: a flaming heart in an outstretched hand, extended upward to God. Calvin chose this symbol to declare the central core of his
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
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