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A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes...and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent.
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~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 - 1945)
If the only prayer
you ever say in your entire life is
Thank You,
it will be enough.
~ Meister Eckhart
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Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime;
therefore, we must be saved by hope.
Nothing true or beautiful makes complete sense
in any immediate context of history;
therefore, we must be saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone;
therefore, we are saved by love.
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~ Reinhold Niebuhr
O God, teach me to see You,
and reveal Yourself to me
when I seek you,
For I cannot seek You
unless You first teach me,
Nor find You
unless You first reveal Yourself to me.
Let me seek You in longing,
and long for You in seeking.
Let me find You in love,
and love You in finding.
~ Ambrose of Milan
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For those who walked with us,
this is a prayer.
For those who have gone ahead,
this is a blessing.
For those who touched and tended us,
who lingered with us
while they lived,
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this is a thanksgiving.
For those who journey still with us
in the shadows of awareness,
in the crevices of memory,
in the landscape of our dreams,
this is a benediction.
~ Jan Richardson, “For Those Who Walked With Us”
There is often more wisdom to be found at the edges of life than in its middle. A life-threatening illness, for instance, may shuffle our values like a deck of cards. Sometimes a card that has been on the bottom of the deck for most of our lives turns out to be the top card, the thing that really matters. Having watched people sort their cards and play their hands in the presence of death for many years, I would say that most often the top card is love.
~ Rachel Remen, My Grandfather’s Blessings
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Traditionally, the two marks of the saint
are joy and penitence:
joy because one knows that one is not God,
and yet with God all things are possible.
The saint knows that perfection rests
in divinity and not in the ability
of the believer to negotiate reality
so that one "comes off best."
The saint knows that he or she is not God,
and yet knows how easily one can forget
this simple fact.
The saint knows about darknesses
and shadows that cloud judgment.
~ Alan Jones
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There is…a voice inside me that urges caution. It tells me to be careful, to keep my head, not to go too far, not to burn my boats… I don’t want to be carried away into any resolution which I shall afterwards regret, for I know I shall be feeling quite different after breakfast… This is my endlessly recurrent temptation: to go down to that Sea [which is God], and there neither to dive nor swim nor float, but only to dabble and splash, careful not to get out of my depth, and holding on to the lifeline which connects me with my things temporal… Of course, that lifeline is really a death line.
~ C. S. Lewis
If you love Jesus Christ more than you
fear human judgment,
then you will not only speak of compassion,
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but act with it.
Compassion means seeing your friend
and your enemy in equal need
and helping both equally.
It demands that you seek and find the stranger,
the broken, the prisoner, and comfort him
and offer him your help.
Herein lies the holy compassion of God
that causes the devil much distress.
~ Meditations of Mechthild of Magdeburg (1207-1294)
Jon Singletary
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“The pace of our lives in western culture, along with our
exterior focus, lead us to a place where we easily lose the ability
to observe the imbalance in our lives and lose touch with the
value of the soul.”
~ Carl Jung
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“We must learn that passively to accept an unjust system is to cooperate with that system, and thereby to become a participant in its evil.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Your true identity is as a child of God.
This is the identity you have to accept.
Once you have claimed it and settled in it,
you can live in a world that gives you
much joy as well as pain.
You can receive the praise as well as
the blame that comes to you as an
opportunity for strengthening your basic identity,
because the identity that makes you free
is anchored beyond all human praise and blame.
You belong to God,
and it is as a child of God
that you are sent into the world.
~ Henri J. M. Nouwen
Do you wish to rise?
Begin by descending.
You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds?
Lay first the foundation of humility.
~ St. Augustine
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Any theology that is indifferent to the theme of liberation is not Christian theology.
~ James H. Cone
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"Covenant holds the key to the identity and distinctiveness of Israel and church. The term 'covenant' was consciously applied by the Israelites to their relationship with Yahweh from the earliest times, and this theological orientation was passed down to Jesus and early Christians. Covenant is found in every critical moment of God’s dispensation and all major turning points in biblical history, such as creation, Noah’s flood, Abraham, Exodus, David, Exile, and Jesus. Throughout the Bible, covenant is central to God’s reign."
~ Hak Joon Lee
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Fuller Theological Seminary
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The movement of the Spirit of God in the hearts of men and women often calls them to act against the spirit of their times or causes them to anticipate a spirit which is yet in the making. In a moment of dedication they are given wisdom and courage to dare a deed that challenges and to kindle a hope that inspires.
~ Howard Thurman
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“When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it is over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.
I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.
~ Mary Oliver
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"Dear Lord, bring me through darkness into light. Bring me through pain into peace.
Bring me through death into life.
Be with me wherever I go, and with everyone I love.
In Christ's name I ask it. Amen.”
~ A prayer by Frederick Buechner, written at the request of his brother, Jamie, as he was dying of cancer.
Source: The Eyes of the Heart
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“Community can be a terrible place because it is a place of relationship; it is the revelation of our wounded emotions and of how painful it can be to live with others, especially with ‘some people.’ It is so much easier to live with books and objects, television, or dogs and cats! It is so much easier to live alone and just do things for others, when one feels like it…. While we are alone, we could believe we loved everyone.”
~ Jean Vanier (1928-2019)
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“Every time you close another door—be it the door of immediate satisfaction, the door of distracting entertainment, the door of busyness, the door of guilt and worry, or the door of self-rejection—you commit yourself to go deeper into your heart and thus deeper into the heart of God. This is a movement toward full incarnation. It leads you to become what you already are—a child of God; it lets you embody more and more the truth of your being; it makes you claim the God within you.”
~ Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996)
We’re located at 16th and O Streets NW—in the heart of Washington, a mile north of the White House. We are part of the Dupont Circle and Logan Circle neighborhoods. Need more info? Call us or click below.
We look forward to greeting you in person. In the meantime, you can request prayer or ask a question by calling or sending an email.
At First Baptist DC, giving is the fuel that powers every congregational expression of hospitality, compassion, generosity and justice. FBC relies on the congregation for regular, sustainable financial support.
The First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C.
1328 16th Street NW Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 387-2206
Office Hours
Sunday 10 AM–2 PM
Monday-Thursday 10 AM–4 PM
Friday-Saturday Closed
