Contributed by Ronald Courtney on Sep 13, 2008
It is the first century a sunny day in Jerusalem, the “City of Peace” as its name implies, and you can hear the murmurs of ill contempt spreading through the fringes of the crowd as Stephen proclaims his message. Beginning with Abraham, describing his faith in Jehovah God to provide, guide, and
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Baptist
The psalmist, probably in similar trouble, feels like he’s in the depths of the pit, surrounded by darkness. The irony is that if you go to Bethlehem, as we did three years ago, you can celebrate Eucharist in St. Jerome’s cell, where he translated the Sacred Scriptures into Latin. To get there,
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Catholic
We’re going to study a book of the Bible that is often called the LETTER OF JOY. Paul uses the word JOY 20 times in the short little book of Philippians.
What makes that really impressive is that Paul wrote the letter from a prison cell. He was not only in prison; he was literally chained to a
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Christian/Church Of Christ
Jesus willingly put aside His divine glory and became the lowest of humans, a poor carpenter from a backwater town in Galilee. He suffered and because he obediently suffered the death of a slave, he was crowned with glory and honor. The idea was to bring many of God’s children to the same glory,
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Catholic
Contributed by Bruce Howell on Jan 22, 2009
A body is not crippled ’til its heart has ceased to praise. Louis Albert Banks tells of an elderly Christian man, a fine singer, who learned that he had cancer of the tongue and that surgery was required. In the hospital after everything was ready for the operation, the man said to the doctor, "Are
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Wesleyan
Job sat on his dunghill and reflected that he was not alone in his pain. Everyone awakes to the same reality–hard work or hard study and every day’s the same thing, and nothing you do ever seems to make a difference. The line is Bill Murray’s from Groundhog Day, but, especially in a tough
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Catholic
Contributed by Paul Carlson on Feb 16, 2009
Some of you know Helen Schaaf. I shared with the church her current physical struggles a few weeks ago. She had debilitating back pain that was making walking excruciatingly painful; finally, her doctor diagnosed a treatment for her. She had an injection in her spine so that she could walk
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Baptist
St. John of the Cross was right: "it is quite impossible to reach the thicket of the riches and wisdom of God except by first entering the thicket of much suffering, in such a way that the soul finds there its consolation and desire. The soul that
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Catholic
Contributed by Greg Buchner on Jul 19, 2004
Chuck Swindoll once said, “When you’ve suffered like Paul, your faith is moved out of the theoretical realm and into the practical. It becomes real. When you’ve been weakened, you understand a person in weakness. You don’t look over your critical glasses and ask, “When are you gonna snap out of
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Methodist
Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Dec 28, 2009
My Mum suffered from corns on her foot. She was totally frustrated with this callused patch of hard, thickened skin and could not get relief. One day I invited her to Church and a woman spoke on healing. Invitations were given to come forward but my Mum, although interested in everything the woman
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Illustrations Unlimited: THE LONELY IN THE CROWD: A few years ago, the press carried a heartrending story of a young father who shot himself in a tavern telephone booth. James Lee had called a Chicago newspaper and told a reporter he had sent the paper a manila envelope outlining his story. The
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Contributed by Paul Green on Jul 14, 2009
Jean Nicholas Grou, who was a Jesuit priest in the 1700s. He wrote, ‘Let your suffering be borne for God; suffer with submission and patience and suffer in union with
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Baptist