Matt McConnell

Proverbs 27:23

Proverbs 27:23 (NIV)
Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds;

James 1:2

James 1:2 (MSG)
Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

John 4:23

John 4:23 (MSG)
But the time is coming-it has, in fact, come-when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.

John 4:24

John 4:24 (MSG)
"It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."

Psalm 51:16

Psalm 51:16 (MSG)
Going through the motions doesn't please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don't for a moment escape God's notice.

Philippians 2:6

Philippians 2:6 (NIV)
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

Luke 22:24

Luke 22:24 (MSG)
Within minutes they were bickering over who of them would end up the greatest. But Jesus intervened: "Kings like to throw their weight around and people in authority like to give themselves fancy titles. It's not going to be that way with you. Let the senior among you become like the junior; let the leader act the part of the servant.

Galatians 2:20

Galatians 2:20 (NIV)
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

2 Peter 1:9

2 Peter 1:9 (NIV)
But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Romans 14:4

Romans 14:4 (MSG)
Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God's welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.

Matthew 5:1

Matthew 5:1 (MSG)
When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:

Isaiah 50:2

Isaiah 50:2 (MSG)
So why didn't anyone come when I knocked? Why didn't anyone answer when I called? Do you think I've forgotten how to help? Am I so decrepit that I can't deliver? I'm as powerful as ever, and can reverse what I once did: I can dry up the sea with a word, turn river water into desert sand, And leave the fish stinking in the sun, stranded on dry land...