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The surprising eternal permanence of love
Paul elevates love and he does this crucially not by diminishing faith and hope, but by highlighting their temporal nature in comparison to love's eternal character.
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Jesus is enough.
Following Jesus is most likely not going to make you wealthy, it doesn't guarantee that you're going to be healthy but the message here and in the Gospel is that Jesus is enough. Following Christ will not mean that everything goes right, but following Him means that you know, that you acknowledge and accept that He is enough no matter what.
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The summit of devotion
" that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen." The brilliance of Cranmer's "Collect for Purity" reaches its magnificent summit in the final clauses of the prayer, moving the worshipper from a posture of desperate confession into a breath-taking vision of holy devotion.
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The breath of renewal
"cleanse the thoughts of our hearts" Just as the Spirit of God hovered over the chaotic waters at the dawn of creation to bring forth life and order, we are asking that same Holy Spirit to hover over the chaotic waters of our internal thoughts.
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The threshold of an unwelcome openness
"all hearts are open..." We are remarkably adept at dressing up our selfish ambitions in highly pious language, perhaps trying to convince both ourselves and our fellow parishioners that our desperate prayer for a lucrative promotion is solely so we might give more to the church building fund, when Jesus is perfectly aware we simply fancy a slightly nicer car.
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The history and heart of the Collect for Purity
For centuries prior to the English Reformation, the ordinary men and women who gathered in the great cathedrals and modest parish churches of England experienced the liturgy as a distant spectacle rather than an intimate communion