Sunday Quote: The Point of Christianity

"The need which the Christian faith answers is not so much that we are ignorant and need better information, but that we are lost and need someone to come and find us, stuck in quicksand waiting to be rescued, dying and in need of new life...Christianity is all about the belief that the living God, in fulfillment of his promises and as the climax of the story of Israel, has accomplished all this--the finding, the saving, the giving of new life--in Jesus.  He has done it.  With Jesus, God's rescue operation has been put into effect once and of all." ~ N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, p. 92

Sunday Quote: Bringing Life to Worship

"From the beginning it was clear that Christianity is something people do together.  Having said that, the earliest writers were also concerned that all members of the Body of Christ should be awake and active in personal faith; should know their own responsibilities and make real for themselves the privilege of worship.  That way, when the whole assembly gathers together, each will have his or her own joy and sorrow, insight and question, to bring." N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, p. 157

Sunday Quote: Extend Forgiveness

"To receive forgiveness cannot be our ultimate end.  When we are genuinely grateful for forgiveness given us, we will in turn extend grace and forgiveness  to others.  This is what it means to live in grace, to live in an unending stream of forgiveness.  Grace both receives and gives forgiveness without measure.  To receive the grace of God and yet treat others ungraciously is an act of wickedness.  No matter how much we are required to forgive in others, it pales in comparison to what God has forgiven in relationship to us." ~ Erwin McManus, Uprising, p. 123

Sunday Quote: Who Opened the Door?

"The problem with open doors is the emphasis is erroneously placed on the door rather than on God.  Some people enter open doors under the mistaken assumption that God only allows good opportunities to come their way.  Therefore, any good opportunity that comes along must be from God.  Looking for open doors can appear easier than developing a relationship with God.  Various opportunities, including questionable business opportunities and marriage proposals, can be treated as open doors.  As you might imagine, this can often lead to disastrous results...Simply entering an open door without checking to see if God opened it can bring catastrophic consequences." ~ Henry and Richard Blackaby, Hearing God's Voice,  pp. 144-45

Sunday Quote: The More We Trust

“Just do whatever Jesus calls you to do the moment it is clear to you. Do not procrastinate; do not hesitate, do not deviate from whatever course of action He calls you to. But I want to warn you, the closer you walk with Christ, the greater the faith required. The more you trust Him, the more you’ll risk on His behalf. The more you love Him, the more you will love others. If you genuinely embrace His sacrifice, you will joyfully embrace a sacrificial life. Your expectations of Jesus will change as your intimacy with Him deepens.” ~ Erwin McManus , The Barbarian Way, p. 53

Sunday Quote: Fuel for the Future

"While God instructs his people over and over again to remember all his great deeds, he dosen't call us to live in the past.  Memories are intended to be fuel for the future of faith.  They aren't intended to become an alternative reality in which we choose to hide from the present challenges.  God's promise is that he's doing something worth living for right now.  And it's happening in front of our very eyes.  The tragedy is that we may not even see it." ~ Erwin McManus, An Unstoppable Force, p. 92

Sunday Quote: Face to Face with the Cross

"When we come face to face with the cross, we have a choice to make: We either recognize its implications and bring ourselves, our passions, and all that we are, to be crucified with Christ so that we might live with the sound of His voice and the feel of His heart, or we walk away from the cross and live feeling alienated from God." ~ Ravi Zacharias, Cries of the Heart, p. 60

Sunday Quote: Life and Relationships

“Often we act as if relationships are something to be squeezed into our schedule. We talk about finding time for our children or making time for people in our lives. That gives the impression that relationships are just a part of our lives along with man other tasks. But God says relationships are what life is all about.” ~ Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life

Sunday Quote: Shape a Nation

“It is the people of God who can truly shape a nation. Many look to great leaders or powerful governments to shape a nation. But most likely, leaders and governments will not restore a nation once it is on the downward slide. While leaders and governments can influence a nation, there is no group of people who can determine the coming years of a nation like God’s people” ~ Henry Blackaby, Holiness, p. 1

Sunday Quote: A Great Deception

"One of the greatest deceptions in the practice of the Christian religion is the idea that all that really matters is our internal feelings, ideas, beliefs, and intentions. It is this mistake about the psychology of the human being that more than anything else divorces salvation from life, leaving us a headful of vital truths about God and a body unable to fend off sin." ~ Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines, p. 152

Sunday Quote: Wage War Against Sin

"In the same way, God has called us to be the sworn enemies of sin. We are to wage war against it and strive to give it no opportunity in our lives." ~ William Wilberforce, Real Christianity, p. 65

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Sunday Quote: Fighting Against Selfishness

"In whatever sector of society Christian faith exists, it sets out to fight against the cost to human dignity that selfishness has exacted. It teaches the wealthy to be generous and to have a proper view of the privileges and responsibilities that come with financial success. When wealth is used properly and those who have it demonstrate humility, the inequalities of life are less bitter to those who do not possess it. On the other hand, for those who live in less-affluent circumstances, authentic faith teaches diligence, patience, industry and a recognition that the faithful execution of their responsibilities is to be done without envy of the rich or bitterness toward their own state." ~ William Wilberforce, Real Christianity, pp. 155-6

Sunday Quote: The Missing Nutriment

"What is it that is missing in our deformed condition? From a biblical perspective, there can be no doubt that it is the appropriate relation to the spiritual Kingdom of God that is the missing 'nutriment' in the human system. Without it our life is left mutilated, stunted, weakened, and deformed in various stages of disintegration and corruption." ~ Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines, p. 65

Sunday Quote: Good Intentions

"The general human failing is to want what is right and important, but at the same time not to commit to the kind of life that will produce the action we know to be right and the condition we want to enjoy. This is the feature of human character that explains why the road to hell is paved with good intentions. We intend what is right, but we avoid the life that would make it reality." ~ Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines, p. 6

Sunday Quote: Good that Betrays the Great

I wonder if for many of us, the only thing stopping us from living the life God created us to live—the life of our dreams—is to let go of a life so good that it betrays the great. Are we willing to give up all the things we have right now to be able to obtain that which God longs for us tomorrow? - Erwin McManus (Wide Awake; p. 106)

Sunday Quote: Knowing God

"While logically separable, the discussion as to whether God is and whether God is knowable cannot be divided. If God existed but were not knowable, faith in him would be irrelevant to our lives. Conversely, the experience of knowing God, more so than any intellectual argument, confirms our claim that God exists." ~ Stanely Grenz, Theology for the Community of God ,p. 29

Sunday Quote: The Highway of Holiness

“But my heart cry is to say it is crucial that we hold ourselves accountable to a life of holiness—that if we walk righteously, there will come a response from God. Our lives will be a highway over which God shall come” ~ Henry Blackaby, Holiness, p. 90

Sunday Quote: Love and Life

"To give up on love is to choose a life that is less than human. To give up on love is to give up on life." - Erwin McManus

Sunday Quote: Governed or Ruled

Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants. ~ William Penn

Sunday Quote: Allow Scripture To Challenge

"If we don't allow scripture to challenge us at places where our culture is doing it's best to squeeze us into a different pattern, what use is it?" - N. T. Wright; Paul For Everyone: The Prison Letters; p. 187