Wesley: better sermons

Saturday, August 15, 2026
Meditation:
    Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.
    —1 Timothy 4:13-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    ... I heard a good man say long since, “Once in seven years I burn all my sermons; for it is a shame, if I cannot write better sermons now than I did seven years ago.”
    ... John Wesley (1703-1791), The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, v. IV, New York: J. & J. Harper, 1826, p. 24 (see the book)
    See also 1 Tim. 4:13-16; Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:2; 77:12; 119:15; Phil. 2:14-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me to ever deeper knowledge of You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Buchanan: the one New-Testament church

Friday, August 14, 2026
    Commemoration of Maximilian Kolbe, Franciscan Friar, Priest, Martyr, 1941
Meditation:
    Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
    And I will show you a still more excellent way.
    —1 Corinthians 12:27-31 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The doctrine of the “body” in First Corinthians... is a picture of the local church, [which] is distinguished by a great variety of gifts, outlooks, and cultures. The various members belong organically to each other in Christ, and are to exhibit that harmony practically in their common life. The recognition of how they differ from each other, and are yet one, is to enrich their worship, inspire their ministry, and quicken their love. To divide the local church is... to witness to a divided Christ, or to a discipleship to lesser masters than Christ, such as Paul or Apollos. Both implications are equally unthinkable. There is no New Testament pattern of serving the one Christ, except in one local body, formed by the incorporation given in the one baptism, and the continued life sustained by breaking and sharing the one bread.
    ... C. O. Buchanan (1934-2023), “The Unity of the Church”, in The People of God, Ian Cundy, ed., vol. 2 of Obeying Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3 vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 117-118 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 12:27-31; Acts 2:42; Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 10:17; Gal. 3:26-28; Eph. 4:11-13; Col. 3:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant us unity. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Taylor: laboring for purity

Thursday, August 13, 2026
    Feast of Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down & Connor, Priest, Teacher, 1667
    Commemoration of Florence Nightingale, Social Reformer, 1910
    Commemoration of Octavia Hill, Worker for the Poor, 1912
Meditation:
    Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work withyour hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
    —1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Avoid idleness, and fill up all the spaces of thy time with severe and useful employment: for lust easily creeps in at those emptinesses where the soul is unemployed and the body is at ease; no easy, healthful, idle person was ever chaste, if he could be tempted. But of all employments, bodily labour is the most useful, and of the greatest benefit for driving away the devil.
    ... Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667), Holy Living [1650], in The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D., v. III, London: Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1847, p. 65 (see the book)
    See also 1 Thess. 4:11-12; Acts 20:33-35; 1 Cor. 4:12; Eph. 4:28; 2 Thess. 3:7-12; Tit. 3:14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, bless the work of my hands, that it may show the glory of Your mercy to me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

de Sales: praying well

Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Meditation:
    And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
    —Isaiah 30:20-21 (ESV)
Quotation:
    He prays well who is so absorbed with God that he does not know he is praying.
    ... François de Sales (1567-1622)
    See also Isa. 30:20-21; Gen. 5:24; Ps. 25:8-9; 119:105; Pr. 3:5-6; Isa. 58:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I thank You for Your continual presence. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Newman: knowing ourselves

Tuesday, August 11, 2026
    Feast of Clare of Assisi, Founder of the Order of Minoresses (Poor Clares), 1253
    Commemoration of John Henry Newman, Priest, Teacher, Tractarian, 1890
Meditation:
    ... keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
    —1 Peter 3:16-17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Never... think we have a due knowledge of ourselves till we have been exposed to various kinds of temptations, and tried on every side. Integrity on one side of our character is no voucher for integrity on another. We cannot tell how we should act if brought under temptations different from those we have hitherto experienced. This thought should keep us humble. We are sinners, but we do not know how great. He alone knows who died for our sins.
    ... John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), Parochial Sermons, v. 1, New York: D. Appleton, 1843, p. 30 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 3:16-17; Matt. 4:1; 26:39; 1 Cor. 10:13; Gal. 6:1; Heb. 2:18; 1 Pet. 4:19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I ask forgiveness for my sins. In Your mercy, grant that I may receive a clear conscience, so that may represent the Gospel to Your lost sons and daughters. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Allshorn: the importance of pride

Monday, August 10, 2026
    Feast of Lawrence, Deacon at Rome, Martyr, 258
Meditation:
    Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”
    —1 Corinthians 3:18-20 (ESV)
Quotation:
    As Christians, and followers of Jesus, we have not taken pride half seriously enough. But the Devil has. The Devil knows that as long as he can control human pride it does not matter how many prayer meetings, how many services, how much devotion goes on—he can still wreck any group of Christians sooner or later, and frustrate God’s purpose for them; and for the world.
    ... Florence Allshorn (1887-1950), The Notebooks of Florence Allshorn, London: SCM Press, 1957, p. 43 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 3:18-20; Isa. 5:21; Rom. 12:16; 1 Cor. 1:18-21; 4:10; 8:1-2; Gal. 6:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I confess my sinful pride and ask that, in Your gracious mercy, You may purge all that pride from me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Tozer: sin as a misdirection

Sunday, August 9, 2026
    Feast of Mary Sumner, Founder of the Mothers’ Union, 1921
Meditation:
    Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
    —Hebrews 3:12 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Unbelief is actually perverted faith, for it puts its trust, not in the living God but in dying men. The unbeliever denies the self-sufficiency of God and usurps attributes that are not his. This dual sin dishonors God and ultimately destroys the soul of the man.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Knowledge of the Holy, Harper & Row, 1975, p. 42 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 3:12; Gen. 8:21; Jer. 18:21; Lam. 3:17-18; Matt. 17:17; Mark 7:21-23; 16:14; John 20:27
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I ask that the unbelief of my friends, ____ and ____, may be alleviated in favor of acknowledgement of You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth