Podcasts about in christ jesus

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 80 Psalm 80 (Listen) Restore Us, O God To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Testimony. Of Asaph, a Psalm. 80   Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,    you who lead Joseph like a flock.  You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.2     Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,  stir up your might    and come to save us! 3   Restore us,1 O God;    let your face shine, that we may be saved! 4   O LORD God of hosts,    how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?5   You have fed them with the bread of tears    and given them tears to drink in full measure.6   You make us an object of contention for our neighbors,    and our enemies laugh among themselves. 7   Restore us, O God of hosts;    let your face shine, that we may be saved! 8   You brought a vine out of Egypt;    you drove out the nations and planted it.9   You cleared the ground for it;    it took deep root and filled the land.10   The mountains were covered with its shade,    the mighty cedars with its branches.11   It sent out its branches to the sea    and its shoots to the River.212   Why then have you broken down its walls,    so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?13   The boar from the forest ravages it,    and all that move in the field feed on it. 14   Turn again, O God of hosts!    Look down from heaven, and see;  have regard for this vine,15     the stock that your right hand planted,    and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.16   They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down;    may they perish at the rebuke of your face!17   But let your hand be on the man of your right hand,    the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!18   Then we shall not turn back from you;    give us life, and we will call upon your name! 19   Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!    Let your face shine, that we may be saved! Footnotes [1] 80:3 Or Turn us again; also verses 7, 19 [2] 80:11 That is, the Euphrates (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Exodus 25 Exodus 25 (Listen) Contributions for the Sanctuary 25 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me. 3 And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, 4 blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats' hair, 5 tanned rams' skins, goatskins,1 acacia wood, 6 oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7 onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. 8 And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. 9 Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. The Ark of the Covenant 10 “They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits2 and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 11 You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it. 12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. 13 You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 14 And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. 15 The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. 16 And you shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you. 17 “You shall make a mercy seat3 of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 18 And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. 20 The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. 21 And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. 22 There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel. The Table for Bread 23 “You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 24 You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a molding of gold around it. 25 And you shall make a rim around it a handbreadth4 wide, and a molding of gold around the rim. 26 And you shall make for it four rings of gold, and fasten the rings to the four corners at its four legs. 27 Close to the frame the rings shall lie, as holders for the poles to carry the table. 28 You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, and the table shall be carried with these. 29 And you shall make its plates and dishes for incense, and its flagons and bowls with which to pour drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold. 30 And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me regularly. The Golden Lampstand 31 “You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand shall be made of hammered work: its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. 32 And there shall be six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; 33 three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. 34 And on the lampstand itself there shall be four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers, 35 and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out from the lampstand. 36 Their calyxes and their branches shall be of one piece with it, the whole of it a single piece of hammered work of pure gold. 37 You shall make seven lamps for it. And the lamps shall be set up so as to give light on the space in front of it. 38 Its tongs and their trays shall be of pure gold. 39 It shall be made, with all these utensils, out of a talent5 of pure gold. 40 And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain. Footnotes [1] 25:5 Uncertain; possibly dolphin skins, or dugong skins; compare 26:14 [2] 25:10 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [3] 25:17 Or cover [4] 25:25 A handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters [5] 25:39 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Nehemiah 6 Nehemiah 6 (Listen) Conspiracy Against Nehemiah 6 Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. 3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. 5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem1 also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.' And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.” 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” 9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God,2 strengthen my hands. 10 Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” 11 But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live?3 I will not go in.” 12 And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. 14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid. The Wall Is Finished 15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. 17 Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters came to them. 18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah: and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as his wife. 19 Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid. Footnotes [1] 6:6 Hebrew Gashmu [2] 6:9 Hebrew lacks O God [3] 6:11 Or would go into the temple to save his life (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Romans 15:14–33 Romans 15:14–33 (Listen) Paul the Minister to the Gentiles 14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,1 that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, 21 but as it is written,   “Those who have never been told of him will see,    and those who have never heard will understand.” Paul's Plan to Visit Rome 22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,2 I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing3 of Christ. 30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Footnotes [1] 15:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 30 [2] 15:28 Greek sealed to them this fruit [3] 15:29 Some manuscripts insert of the gospel (ESV)

Marwan Bishara, writing for Al-Jazeera in 2002, explained that it's obvious why Palestinians HATE Israelis. But he couldn't understand why Israelis hated Palestinians so much. As it turns out, one ethnic group HATING another is normal. It's THE normative experience for human history. Which is why Paul's statement in Ephesians 2 is so striking. The Apostle Paul claims that Jesus KILLED ethnic hostility on the cross for those who are IN Christ Jesus. In other words, instead of hating each other - those who are in Christ Jesus do the opposite - they LOVE deeply, and they manifest the presence of God in their midst. It's as radical TODAY as it was in the first-century.

With family: Genesis 45; Mark 15 Genesis 45 (Listen) Joseph Provides for His Brothers and Family 45 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. 4 So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9 Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. 10 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11 There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.' 12 And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 13 You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” 14 Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him. 16 When the report was heard in Pharaoh's house, “Joseph's brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. 17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, 18 and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.' 19 And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20 Have no concern for1 your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.'” 21 The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. 22 To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels2 of silver and five changes of clothes. 23 To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. 24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.” 25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. 26 And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” Footnotes [1] 45:20 Hebrew Let your eye not pity [2] 45:22 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams (ESV) Mark 15 (Listen) Jesus Delivered to Pilate 15 And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. 2 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 3 And the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5 But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed. Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified 6 Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. 7 And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. 8 And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. 9 And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. 12 And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” 14 And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged1 Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Jesus Is Mocked 16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters),2 and they called together the whole battalion.3 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. The Crucifixion 21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And it was the third hour4 when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.5 29 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. The Death of Jesus 33 And when the sixth hour6 had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.7 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he8 breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son9 of God!” 40 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. Jesus Is Buried 42 And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died.10 And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph11 bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid. Footnotes [1] 15:15 A Roman judicial penalty, consisting of a severe beating with a multi-lashed whip containing embedded pieces of bone and metal [2] 15:16 Greek the praetorium [3] 15:16 Greek cohort; a tenth of a Roman legion, usually about 600 men [4] 15:25 That is, 9 a.m. [5] 15:27 Some manuscripts insert verse 28: And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “He was numbered with the transgressors” [6] 15:33 That is, noon [7] 15:33 That is, 3 p.m. [8] 15:39 Some manuscripts insert cried out and [9] 15:39 Or a son [10] 15:44 Or Pilate wondered whether he had already died [11] 15:46 Greek he (ESV) In private: Job 11; Romans 15 Job 11 (Listen) Zophar Speaks: You Deserve Worse 11 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said: 2   “Should a multitude of words go unanswered,    and a man full of talk be judged right?3   Should your babble silence men,    and when you mock, shall no one shame you?4   For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure,    and I am clean in God's1 eyes.'5   But oh, that God would speak    and open his lips to you,6   and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!    For he is manifold in understanding.2  Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves. 7   “Can you find out the deep things of God?    Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?8   It is higher than heaven3—what can you do?    Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?9   Its measure is longer than the earth    and broader than the sea.10   If he passes through and imprisons    and summons the court, who can turn him back?11   For he knows worthless men;    when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?12   But a stupid man will get understanding    when a wild donkey's colt is born a man! 13   “If you prepare your heart,    you will stretch out your hands toward him.14   If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,    and let not injustice dwell in your tents.15   Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish;    you will be secure and will not fear.16   You will forget your misery;    you will remember it as waters that have passed away.17   And your life will be brighter than the noonday;    its darkness will be like the morning.18   And you will feel secure, because there is hope;    you will look around and take your rest in security.19   You will lie down, and none will make you afraid;    many will court your favor.20   But the eyes of the wicked will fail;    all way of escape will be lost to them,    and their hope is to breathe their last.” Footnotes [1] 11:4 Hebrew your [2] 11:6 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain [3] 11:8 Hebrew The heights of heaven (ESV) Romans 15 (Listen) The Example of Christ 15 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles 8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,   “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,    and sing to your name.” 10 And again it is said,   “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again,   “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,    and let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again Isaiah says,   “The root of Jesse will come,    even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;  in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Paul the Minister to the Gentiles 14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,1 that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, 21 but as it is written,   “Those who have never been told of him will see,    and those who have never heard will understand.” Paul's Plan to Visit Rome 22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,2 I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing3 of Christ. 30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Footnotes [1] 15:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 30 [2] 15:28 Greek sealed to them this fruit [3] 15:29 Some manuscripts insert of the gospel (ESV)

Philippians 2:5 - In Christ Jesus

Learning to guard our hearts and our Birth right In Christ Jesus

Learning to guard our hearts and our Birth right In Christ Jesus

Galatians 6:16 is a key verse in the theological debate about Israel: "as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, AND upon the Israel of God." Replacement theologians, who teach that the Church has now replaced Israel in God's purposes, point to this verse (in fact this is the only verse to which they can point) and use it to say that the Church is now the Israel of God. This is reflected in the NIV, which substitutes the AND for EVEN, translating it as: "Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, EVEN the Israel of God." However this is an invalid interpretation because the word 'kai' means 'and' rather than 'even' 99.8% of the time. If Paul wanted to imply that the Church was the Israel of God, all he had to do is not write the 'kai' at all. We see that this interpretation also contradicts the consistent use of 'Israel' in the New Testament (with over 70 examples) as meaning the Jewish people and nation. The New Testament was written in a time when both Israel and the Church existed together, and it rightly distinguished between them. It always describes saved and unsaved Gentiles as still being Gentiles', and both saved and unsaved Jews as being part of Israel. Paul however does talk about the subset or remnant of Israel, who are also true believers, as being the true Israel (Romans 2:28, 9:6), so the natural interpretation of what Paul means by 'the Israel of God' is the Jewish believers in Christ or Messianic Jews. This is supported by a plain reading of Galatians 6:15-16: "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a New Creation. And as many as walk according to this rule (salvation by grace through faith), peace and mercy be (1) upon them (saved Gentiles), and (2) upon the Israel of God." In 6:15, he introduces 2 groups - the Circumcision (the Jews) and the Uncircumcision (the Gentiles) - see Galatians 2:7-8, saying that as far as becoming a New Creation (salvation by grace through faith) is concerned, it makes no difference whether you are a Jew or a Gentile. Then Paul says that all those who live as New Creations in Christ have God's mercy (forgiveness) and peace upon them, whether they be (1) Gentiles or (2) Jews. The fact that he is speaking of 2 groups within the Church is confirmed by the double use of UPON, and the use of 'kai' (AND). Paul describes the saved Gentiles as 'them' because he was a Jew. Paul himself was part of the Israel of God: "the remnant (of Israel) according to the election of grace" (Romans 11:5). Understanding this removes any basis in Scripture for replacement theology. Since most of the Galatian Church was Gentile, perhaps Paul perceived the danger of the Church becoming anti-semitic and turning against Jewish believers generally, in view of Paul's strong words against the these false Jewish teachers of the law. This is probably why he affirmed 'the Israel of God' in their midst. Paul finishes as he began in Galatians 1 by affirming (1) his apostleship (6:17) and (2) his message (6:18). (1) To establish his apostleship he points to the marks of the Lord Jesus on his body, received through his persecutions, as if to say, since you are so impressed by the outward mark of circumcision, look at my marks, which prove I am a true slave and soldier of Christ, rather than a self-serving man-pleaser, so let no one trouble me any more with attacks on my apostleship (6:17). (2) "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit" (6:18) summarises the Gospel of salvation by grace. When you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord, then as a free-gift, His grace (purchased on the Cross) goes into your spirit, making you a New Creation in Christ, and now that grace continues to work from your spirit, changing you from the inside out. In the Greek, this is followed by 'brethren', reminding them that although he has had to correct them, they are family. This is a final tender appeal, assuring them of his love, holding out his arms to them to be reconciled. Then, by his final word 'Amen' ,he was saying 'let this issue be settled once and for all now.' God indeed used this letter to set the Galatians free from legalism, but this same issue has reared its head again and again in Church history, whenever man-made religion overshadows Divine Grace, and God has used Galatians to set the Church free from legalism so that it can live under grace (for example Galatians was central to the Reformation). The key revelation, the starting point for the whole Christian life, is justification by grace through faith alone (apart from works), and everything else flows out from that truth. Tim, John and Derek conclude their study of Galatians by sharing their favourite scriptures from Galatians.

Galatians 6:16 is a key verse in the theological debate about Israel: "as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, AND upon the Israel of God." Replacement theologians, who teach that the Church has now replaced Israel in God's purposes, point to this verse (in fact this is the only verse to which they can point) and use it to say that the Church is now the Israel of God. This is reflected in the NIV, which substitutes the AND for EVEN, translating it as: "Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, EVEN the Israel of God." However this is an invalid interpretation because the word 'kai' means 'and' rather than 'even' 99.8% of the time. If Paul wanted to imply that the Church was the Israel of God, all he had to do is not write the 'kai' at all. We see that this interpretation also contradicts the consistent use of 'Israel' in the New Testament (with over 70 examples) as meaning the Jewish people and nation. The New Testament was written in a time when both Israel and the Church existed together, and it rightly distinguished between them. It always describes saved and unsaved Gentiles as still being Gentiles', and both saved and unsaved Jews as being part of Israel. Paul however does talk about the subset or remnant of Israel, who are also true believers, as being the true Israel (Romans 2:28, 9:6), so the natural interpretation of what Paul means by 'the Israel of God' is the Jewish believers in Christ or Messianic Jews. This is supported by a plain reading of Galatians 6:15-16: "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a New Creation. And as many as walk according to this rule (salvation by grace through faith), peace and mercy be (1) upon them (saved Gentiles), and (2) upon the Israel of God." In 6:15, he introduces 2 groups - the Circumcision (the Jews) and the Uncircumcision (the Gentiles) - see Galatians 2:7-8, saying that as far as becoming a New Creation (salvation by grace through faith) is concerned, it makes no difference whether you are a Jew or a Gentile. Then Paul says that all those who live as New Creations in Christ have God's mercy (forgiveness) and peace upon them, whether they be (1) Gentiles or (2) Jews. The fact that he is speaking of 2 groups within the Church is confirmed by the double use of UPON, and the use of 'kai' (AND). Paul describes the saved Gentiles as 'them' because he was a Jew. Paul himself was part of the Israel of God: "the remnant (of Israel) according to the election of grace" (Romans 11:5). Understanding this removes any basis in Scripture for replacement theology. Since most of the Galatian Church was Gentile, perhaps Paul perceived the danger of the Church becoming anti-semitic and turning against Jewish believers generally, in view of Paul's strong words against the these false Jewish teachers of the law. This is probably why he affirmed 'the Israel of God' in their midst. Paul finishes as he began in Galatians 1 by affirming (1) his apostleship (6:17) and (2) his message (6:18). (1) To establish his apostleship he points to the marks of the Lord Jesus on his body, received through his persecutions, as if to say, since you are so impressed by the outward mark of circumcision, look at my marks, which prove I am a true slave and soldier of Christ, rather than a self-serving man-pleaser, so let no one trouble me any more with attacks on my apostleship (6:17). (2) "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit" (6:18) summarises the Gospel of salvation by grace. When you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord, then as a free-gift, His grace (purchased on the Cross) goes into your spirit, making you a New Creation in Christ, and now that grace continues to work from your spirit, changing you from the inside out. In the Greek, this is followed by 'brethren', reminding them that although he has had to correct them, they are family. This is a final tender appeal, assuring them of his love, holding out his arms to them to be reconciled. Then, by his final word 'Amen' ,he was saying 'let this issue be settled once and for all now.' God indeed used this letter to set the Galatians free from legalism, but this same issue has reared its head again and again in Church history, whenever man-made religion overshadows Divine Grace, and God has used Galatians to set the Church free from legalism so that it can live under grace (for example Galatians was central to the Reformation). The key revelation, the starting point for the whole Christian life, is justification by grace through faith alone (apart from works), and everything else flows out from that truth. Tim, John and Derek conclude their study of Galatians by sharing their favourite scriptures from Galatians.

In this session, we will be looking at some of the more than 300 prophecies concerning the Lord's Messiah that have been fulfilled by Jesus Christ. The probability of all of these prophecies fulfilled by one Man is astronomical and entirely impossible but, In Christ Jesus, they have all been fulfilled. +++++++ You can find more information on my website: https://pastorjohndunning.com/ You can hear my personal testimony on this website: https://www.ifyouonlyknew.life/

Learning more of who we are In Christ Jesus in the New Covenant

Audio Transcript: This media has been made available by Mosaic BostonChurch. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston inour neighborhood churches, or donate to this ministry, please visitmosaicboston.com. What we will do today is I want to clarify a little bit of where we are at in the book of Romans. I'll introduce it, we'll read the text and then we will pray and continue. But we are in chapter 15, the second to last chapter. We're not reading the whole chapter. Verses one through 21 is where we will be. And the first part of this chapter, Paul is sort of summarizing what we talked about last week, what he talked about in the last chapter, but then he is connecting it to his summary of the book as a whole. Paul is starting to wrap up, remind us of everything that Paul has been trying to say in this letter to the church in Rome. So, if you remember, I mentioned last week, but also way back in the beginning of the series, we talked about how Paul's purpose in writing the book of Romans is to encourage the church to faithful obedience to the Lord. So, here, Paul is going to be making that connection, be wrapping it up, summarizing how everything he has written is leading to that. So, as I read, I'm going to read the whole text all the way through. As I'm reading, be thinking, be meditating on what is Paul saying about faithful obedience? And then we will pray over the preaching of God's word. So, in Romans chapter 15 verse one, it says this, "We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please Himself, but as it is written, 'The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.' For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written. 'Therefore, I will praise you among the Gentiles and sing to your name.' And again it is said, 'Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.' And again, praise the Lord all you gentiles and let all the peoples extol him.' And again, Isaiah says, 'The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles in him will the Gentiles hope.' May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. But on some points I have written to you very boldly by the way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus then I have reason to be proud of my work for God, for I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience, by word and deed, by the power and signs and wonders, by the power of the spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ. And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation. But as it is written, 'Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.'" Let's pray over the preaching of God's word. Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to you and we thank you that you are a God of endurance, encouragement, and hope. Lord, fill us with your spirit, fill us with the power of your spirit to be able to live lives of faithful obedience to you, lives full of hope in you. Help us, Lord, in our weakness, help us when life is hard and when seasons of difficulty are on us. Give us your strength, your power, so that we can praise you and we can glorify you as one body, your body, the church. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, we will be spending our time in three points today. First point is be rooted in hope. The second point is abound in hope. And the third point is fulfill your call. So, point number one, be rooted in hope. This is verses one through seven. I'm not going to read it all again, but he starts again with this summary of the strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak. And the failings, I don't like that word because it makes us look down on people, but it's just the weaknesses of the weak. Where people are weak, bear with them. And this is the idea we talked about in last chapter, in chapter 14, that it is the duty, it is the obligation of the strong to not hold onto their strength, to not hold onto their freedom and their rights to do whatever they want, but instead to use that to serve those who are weak. To bring about unity and harmony within the church so that way we can praise God. And that's what Paul clarifies here in verses six and seven. He says that, "Together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God." So, unity within the church is not just for the sake of unity. Unity and laying down your rights for others is not just so we can all get along. That's true and good, but the point of it is so that we as one body in unity can bring praises and honor and glory to God, because he deserves it. That we as his church, unified, strong together, bring praises and glory to him. That is the point he was getting at last week and in this text of why we seek unity, why we seek harmony with one another. But the emphasis of this section of the text is in verse four where he says, "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope." We talk a lot about the idea of hope during the holiday seasons, during Christmas time. Hope is something that we look for then, but we always need hope. Every single day we need hope. Hope is something that is powerful. It has the power to encourage us to continue on, even when life is hard and when things look desperate and when times of despair are there, hope can power us through. And the base state that we as Christians are called to our at the very least to have hope. Now how do we have hope? Paul is encouraging us and he's telling us, instructing us, that the ways we have hope are first and foremost, endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures. And so endurance, what does he mean by endurance? Paul is calling back, he is referencing his own writings in this book, in Romans chapter five, where he tells us the process of how we get to hope. So, in chapter five, verses two through five, it says this, "Through him, Christ Jesus, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." And so Paul outlines the root of endurance to hope. And the connecting factor is character, but it assumes suffering. That is the start, the impetus of the endurance and the hope is actually suffering. And it's something that we can all admit is that life is hard and that if we are Christians, we will suffer. That is a promise actually that scripture gives to us, that Christians will suffer. And then we need to endure and then we have character and we have hope. So, what is character? Character is referring to the results of a test. Okay, what does that mean? So, suffering is that you are presented with a test. Endurance is you taking the test. And character is what was the result? Pass/fail? And the idea that Paul is saying for how endurance and character leads to hope, is that we can look back on times in our lives where God has caused us to endure through suffering to pass that test and endure and remain faithful to him and say, "Yeah, God helped me pass this. He helped me endure through the suffering. He can do it again." Anytime I face suffering, I can have hope that God will help me endure through it. And so when Paul is saying endurance leads to hope, we need to look back. We need to look back on our lives, look back on the faithfulness of God to help us endure and say, "He's going to do it again. He can do it again. God is faithful, he will help me endure." And then secondly it says that we get hope from the encouragement of scripture. And here I asked myself a question and the question was, "How often do I go to scripture for encouragement?" Not just because I'm supposed to read it, not to learn more information, not because it's part of my routine, or I'm supposed to, or it's good, which it's good, it is. We should do it for those reasons as well. But do we actually read scripture to gain encouragement? To gain hope in this life? And what Paul has said is that everything that has been written in former days was written for this reason. And the idea is what is in the Bible? What is this book about? It's a book filled with the faithfulness of God in times when people sometimes endured and sometimes failed in enduring, but regardless of the people, God was still faithful. And so we need to be going through scripture, not just to learn, but instead to say, "God, give me hope." Give me hope that you are faithful no matter what. Give me hope that you have power, you are sovereign, you are in control, you are a loving good God. Give me that hope always, so I can be encouraged. I can have hope. And this is what we are called to as Christians, to be rooted in this. We need to have this as a foundation in our lives, because Christ is our source of hope. And in verse five, I love his transition to this. In verse five he says this, "May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus." Paul just told us you want to have hope, seek endurance, be endure, and the encouragement of the scriptures. Read the scripture. And then immediately he prays. This is prayer language when he says, "May the God of..." He is praying over the church and he is saying, "May the God of encouragement and endurance..." The point is, it's not about us. When we endure, it's not us enduring. It's God causing us, helping us to endure. He is the God of endurance, so he can help us endure. When we need encouragement from the scripture, we don't just pick up this book and be like, "I'm not encouraged." We go to God and seek encouragement from him, because he is the God of encouragement as well. And we cannot separate the fact that if we want hope, we need to pray. You can't separate those. Paul knows that this is intrinsically needed. It's not his ability to speak, it's not their ability to endure, be encouraged. It's our need to pray and cry out to God when we don't have endurance, when times are hard, when we are suffering, God help me. And when we are struggling and we're sad, depressed, we have no hope, God encourage me. And he will. He's faithful to do that. But not only that, we need to be doing this for each other. Paul here is not looking at himself saying, "I need encouragement, I need endurance." He's looking at someone who is weak, a church who is weak and hurting. And he's saying to them, "May the God of endurance help you endure. May the God of encouragement fill you with encouragement." We, as the body of Christ, need to be doing that for each other, need to care about each other enough to do that. And once we are rooted in this hope, we have that as a foundation in our lives. It enables us to live, to move on, to carry on regardless of circumstances, you could say to live in faithful obedience to the Lord. But we don't stop there. When we have hope, that is the base, the foundation. But actually Paul encourages us and scripture encourages us to now abound in hope. And this is verses eight through 13 where it says this, "For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, 'Therefore, I will praise you among the Gentiles and sing to your name.' And again it is said, 'Rejoice, Oh Gentiles, with his people.' And again, 'Praise the Lord all you gentiles and let all the peoples extol him.' And again, Isaiah says, 'The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles in him will the Gentiles hope.' May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." So, just some quick clarification and understanding. Paul starts with his talk about the circumcised and the Gentiles. What is he talking about here? He's talking about that regardless of any life circumstances, regardless of even where we come from, who we are, Christ is our only source of hope in this life. He's saying to the circumcised, to the religious Jews who knew and had heard and been raised in the law, Christ gives them hope. Why? Because he has fulfilled the promises of the scriptures. They can look at the faith that they were raised in and say, "Christ has fulfilled all the promises of God. God is trustworthy, he is reliable. We can depend on him. God that gives us hope." And to the Gentiles, to those who had no religious in the scripture's upbringing, he says, still, God is the hope for you. And he quotes a bunch of verses from the Old Testament. Why? To show that God always was the hope of the Gentiles, even before Christ came. But he's hope for the Gentiles, because it shows the mercy of God on all. Gentiles, you didn't know the laws, you weren't raised in the people of Israel, yet God had mercy on you. That gives us hope. I don't know about everyone who's here, but me personally, I am a Gentile. I am a Gentile. I was not raised as a Jewish or of the nation of Israel or any of that. And I have hope, because God loved his people enough to say, "I'm going to even save this guy," and praise God for that. And we should praise God. And regardless of our nationality, our backgrounds, regardless of anything, Christ alone is our hope. And again, in verse 13, it's prayer language. It's prayer language. "May the God of hope, the God who is hope, fill you with all joy and peace and believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." The word abound, it's an overflow, it's an excess. It's a more than you could ever want or need. May the God of hope help you reach that point through the power of the Holy Spirit with joy and peace and believing. I like that part too, because as we believe we have hope, we believe, we trust in God, he promises to fill us with joy and with peace that we can then continue to grow in hope. And this points directly back to the last chapter, in chapter 14 verse 17 where it says, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." What Paul is making the connection to is the kingdom of God is a kingdom of peace, it's a kingdom of joy, and we need the God of hope to fill us with that. But he will when we are faithful in obedience to him. When we are believing and trusting in him, he will do that. And then God will also help us grow in hope. And this is the cycle of growth for a Christian. We start with hope. We start with the gospel. The gospel and hope are interchangeable, because the gospel is the only reason we have hope. But also there's scripture to say that it's interchangeable. And this is from 1 Peter 1:3. It says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." So, as Christians, we start in a place of hope. We start with the gospel. Why is the gospel hope? Well, the gospel is saying that we are all sinners. That God, Jesus Christ, left his throne above, did not count the freedom and rights that he had, like we talked about last week, as something to be held onto, but gave them up to come to earth, live a perfect life, die on the cross and save us from our sins, and be raised again to prove that he has the power, he has the command and dominion over everything in life and death. And we can have hope in him that through his work we can spend eternity with God when we put our trust in him and say, "Jesus, help me. I need a savior. I need you to save me. I need you to help me." What this also means is that apart from Christ, there is no hope. This goes back to the first few chapters of Romans where we spent a lot of time talking about God's wrath. It was not a lot of fun, but it was true and it's good and it's helpful, because the idea is that when we are in sin, we have no hope. We are in sin. We are deserving of eternity apart from God, eternity in hell, condemned for our sins. But praise be to God that he did not leave us like that, and he sent his son Jesus Christ to save us. So, if you are here today and you are not a Christian, I beg of you, I urge you, take hope. Turn to Christ, submit to him and say, "Lord Jesus, I need hope. I have no source of hope in this life. Lord Jesus, help me." Submit your life to him and he will help you, he will give you hope. So, that's the starting point, that's where we start, and then we endure. We get a little bit of suffering. We talked about this already. We endure, we suffer, we endure. We get more hope, we get encouragement from the scriptures. We get hope. We get a little more hope. And that more hope allows us to endure a little more. And the more we endure, the more that we are able to see hope. And the more that we have hope, the more we can endure. And it's a cycle and it's how we grow as Christians. But it also implies that it means more suffering is coming and that as you grow, life will get harder and harder. And that God knows that and he wants to help us endure and give us hope, but we can't rely on ourselves. The moment we rely on our own strength, we are bound to break. And this is the greatest temptation in these seasons. When you endure, you feel pretty good. You're like, "Wow, I accomplished something." And as we already said, it's not us, it's God. It's the power of the Holy Spirit that lets us do it. But after time and time again of seeing God's faithfulness and helping us endure, we are tempted to say, "Wow, I did a good job of enduring," or, "I was able to do it. So, bring on the suffering. I'm ready to go. I can do it again." Once we do that, it's just a matter of time before we break. We cannot and should not allow ourselves to rely on our own strength. It's the power of God alone. This is why it says in this verse that, "By the power of the Holy Spirit, we may abound in hope." We cannot break that chain. We cannot break our need and dependence upon the Holy Spirit. We need the spirit to strengthen us. And once we abound in hope, once we are overflowing, overwhelmed by hope, because of the power of the Holy Spirit, we actually have the ability to fulfill the call that God has placed on our lives. This is verses 14 through 21. It says this, "I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience, by word and deed, by signs and wonders, by the power of the spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ." I'll pause there for a second. I want to point out real quick in verse 14 that Paul says he is satisfied about his brothers. Does that mean he's saying that he is satisfied with their maturity? He recognizes that they are mature, they are filled with goodness, they are seeking righteousness, they're filled with knowledge, they're able to instruct each other. They are a mature church. This is actually a very mature statement by Paul, because he is trusting in God for them. And what is natural and what is a natural temptation is to be cynical and to question and say, "Yeah, I've heard about you, but I'm not so sure." And what I mean by cynical is, cynical is an inherent distrust of someone or something else. And I'm bringing this up here specifically because it is in direct contradiction to the idea of hope. Cynicism is directly opposed to hope. Why? Because you're distrusting. Well, who are you distrusting? When we are being cynical, we are showing we are distrusting God's sovereignty in all situations, that he is in control of everything. We as Christians are called to be hopeful, not cynical. And this is hard. The reason I bring this up specifically is because we live in a city that we talk about, it's really hard to be a Christian in Boston sometimes. We also talk about how it's just hard to be a Christian in general sometimes to faithfully obey the Lord. And what we are naturally drawn to is this cynical nature. The world has failed us. The world has disappointed us. We should not trust everything. That makes sense. So, naturally we are changed to that. And the longer you're in this city, the more you see it. And I bring this up because I know it's something that our pastors, our staff, every single one of us in this church, we all struggle with this temptation to become cynical. I was talking with Pastor Shane earlier this week. He gave me permission to share this. But he talked about how he even felt in his life that cynicism had crept in and that he had stopped being as hopeful and as joyful as he once was. And he praised God that he was able to recognize that and see that, and we should all follow his example of recognizing it in our own lives and cutting it out, getting rid of it and seeking to be hopeful. We need to be hopeful again, because it's what enables us to carry on. When we are cynical, we will not carry on. We will not live lives of faithful obedience. And cynicism is easier too. It's a lot easier than being hopeful. And this is a little bit of a tangent, but it's related, so hang with me for a second. The first service, I believe, is the first time ever that I've preached without mentioning my wife, which is crazy to me. And after the service, she came up to me and I didn't do as good of a job in the first service in explaining the cynicism part. And she was like what was speaking to her in this time, she texted me and it was really clear to me and I was like, "Wow, that's even better than what I said." So, I'm just going to read what she sent me. She just gave it as encouragement to me, but it's better than what I was saying, so I'm going to read it. Cynicism is easier than hope. We hate to be disappointed. We hate to be wrong, to look foolish. Cynicism protects us from too high of an expectation, but God has proven his faithfulness. He's proven that our hope is not in vain. We don't need to fear disappointment because we know that in the end, God will always get the glory. God will always get the victory. And we have confident hope in knowing he wants to use our lives in his church in unity to give him that glory. Praise God. That's why I married her. Amen. Yeah, we can clap. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Praise God. But that's the point. That's how cynicism contradicts hope, is like we stop trusting in God. Cynicism is easier. It's so much easier to do that. But we're not called to the easy thing, we're called to the faithful thing. And faithful obedience is to trust in God regardless. And so Paul here, bringing it back to verse 14, Paul is trusting in God over a church that he's never met. He doesn't know these people, he's never met these people. He just has heard good things and he's saying, "I'm trusting God that you're good." I'm not going to be skeptical and cynical and say, "Well, you're probably not as good as I've heard you are." He's trusting in them. Yet he wrote an entire book, a very long dense book of instruction of guidance to this church. Paul, if they are a mature church that you are trusting God that they are solid and faithful, why are you even writing them all these instructions? Well, this is what he says in verse 15. He says, "On some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder because of the grace given me by God." And the idea is that first and foremost, Paul did speak very boldly here. He had said some harsh things about the wrath of God, about sin, and he is proclaiming boldly that they need to be unified and all this stuff. Why? First, it's the grace of God that has been given to him. It was God's grace, the position, the call upon his life that God had put. And so he is just being faithful to the call that God has put upon him. But this idea is that God told him he needed to instruct and encourage the church in this way. So, he was faithful in doing it and he was like, "I understand. He's not perfect, I'm not perfect, we're not perfect. But I'm giving you this bold statement, because God told me I need to, I'm supposed to. That's the call on my life." But he also says, "By way of reminder," he knows that they know this. He knows that they know the gospel. Specifically what he is reminding them of is the gospel. And I want to be clear when I'm up here, when any pastor or any preacher is up here, our job is not to give a good new idea, to give something for you to think about intellectually. Our job is to speak boldly on what God has given us grace to say by way of reminder, of drawing us all back to the gospel. The reminder is the gospel. And it's not just Paul that talks about this. Peter talks about this as well in 2 Peter. Give me a second to find it in 2 Peter 1:12 and 13 it says this, "Therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it is right, as long as I am in this body, to stir up by way of reminder." Peter, Paul, they both recognize churches know the gospel. You know the gospel. But if we are to have hope, and if we are to live in faithful obedience to the Lord, to do what God has called us to do, we always need to be reminded of the hope we first had. Again, once we remove ourselves from the power of the Holy Spirit, we'll lose hope. Once we rely on ourselves, we'll lose hope. So, we constantly need to be reminded of the reason we began to have hope in the first place. That is what should stir us up most to obedience to the Lord. And I want to be clear as well that Christians, we are not Gnostics. What do I mean by that? What does Gnostics mean? We are not people who seek to grow and gain higher levels of Christianity by our continual growth in knowledge and information. It's not the idea that we get more information, so we get more knowledge, so we become a better Christian. And then we get more knowledge and higher knowledge and higher knowledge until we become the ultimate holy Christian. That's not what Christianity is. Instead, we are Christians seeking to have more and more hope in our lives by the continual reminder of Christ and him crucified and raised from the dead. That is again the cycle of growth, how we grow. It's not grow to be better, greater, more important or holy Christians. The goal is to be more hopeful, faithful Christians, to be faithful to serving the Lord, to live as he has called us to, and to fulfill the specific call he has on our lives. And for me in this season, for me right now, the call that God has is to be up here preaching and proclaiming the gospel. That's not the call for every single person. That's not even the call for me in every season. But every single Christian has a call, has a purpose, has something that God has ordained for them to do and to fulfill. And we can, and scripture even says that we can be proud of it. It's interesting, verses 17 through 19, he says this, "In Christ Jesus then I have reason to be proud of my work for God, for I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the spirit of God so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ." In Christ. So, in Christ, being rooted in Christ, Paul then has reason to be proud. What is his reason to be proud? Everything that Christ. Has done that's not really pride, it's honor and pride in God. He's saying, "I can be proud of everything that I've done, because it's not me. I had nothing to do with it. It's God. It's God who did it all." And here I'm just going to take a moment to be vulnerable with you guys, I have nothing in and of myself that means I should be here, that I should be up here. Last week I preached, but then afterwards at CG, one of the couples, good friends of ours in our CG was like, "Man, it was like it's a different Tyler up there, but it was good." And it's like it's not just a different me, it's that the spirit is powerful and the spirit moves. And all that I am doing before service, while worship is happening, while the band is practicing, I'm sitting over there and I'm praying because I know how wicked of a sinner I am. I know I don't deserve to be up here. And I can say, "God, I am so weak. I have nothing to give that I should be here. Lord, pour out your spirit. Help me. Empower me through your Holy Spirit to be able to say anything that is encouraging to your church, that is helpful to your church." And so while I'm up here, if anything I say is good and encouraging and sanctifying you, that's from the Holy Spirit. If anything you don't like and is bad, that's all me. I'm sorry, I apologize. But Paul says that he's speaking of nothing except for what Christ has done in every area of his life. This is where he says, "By word and by deed," by anything he says and anything he does, even the miraculous stuff, even he says, "By the power of signs and wonders." People looked at Paul and was like, "Wow, he was doing miracles. This is great. He is awesome. He is the super spiritual guy. He must be incredible." And Paul says, "It's by the power of the Spirit of God." If we want to be proud of the work we do, and if we want to be able to fulfill the call we have on our lives, we need to rely solely on the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul said something very bold here too. He says that he has fulfilled the ministry of the gospel. You sure, Paul? You sure you couldn't have done a little bit more? You sure that you did everything? You completely, totally fulfilled the call of the ministry of the gospel from Jerusalem to all the areas you said? Are you sure? Paul says, "Yeah." He's confident. And why is Paul confident? Because when the Spirit led, he followed. This talks about in the rest of 15 and in some of 16, all the people he met and the ways he traveled and wanting to go one place, but the spirit preventing him and so he went another. Paul can say he has faithfully completed all that God had placed on his life, because he listened to the spirit. He trusted the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit said go, he went [inaudible] the call of the gospel on our lives when we remain faithful and reliant and dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit in everything we say, do and wherever we go. Whatever that call is for each of us, you do have a call. God has a purpose for you here. Trust in the Holy Spirit. Ask God for the power of the Spirit to enable you to do what you need to do. And what is Paul's response when he says, "I have fulfilled, I've done everything?" "Thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel." Wait, Paul, thought you fulfilled the ministry of the gospel? He's like, "Yeah, I fulfilled it in the ministry and the call that God had in that season. And once I fulfilled it, I have another call. I have something else that I am supposed to do." And as we grow in our faith, as we go from just being a base level of hope in Christ to growing and growing and growing in our hope and trust and dependence on God, he will continue to use us. We will never reach a point where we're done being useful to God. He can always use us for his glory and for his kingdom. Again, so long as we are dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit and on the power of God. I want to close just by reading the two verses where Paul prays over the church. I want you to know that I do pray this over you, over me, over all of us. That this is something we should be praying for each other, but I want us all to take encouragement from it. So, I'll read those and then I'll close in prayer. In chapter 15:5 it says this, "May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus. That together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." And then in verse 13, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we lift up our voices to you and say, thank you, God. You are glorious. You are good. Strengthen us. Help us to endure. Encourage us, give us encouragement through your word so that we can have hope always in you. Grow our hope. Fill us with your spirit. Give us the power of your spirit. Equip us to live lives faithful to you. To be hopeful regardless of anything that this world throws at us, or that this life has to offer, that you are good, you are faithful, you are in control. You will give us peace. You will give us joy. Help us fulfill the call you have placed on our lives. Give us your power so that we can see your kingdom come here, so that we can see the world change for your glory and for your namesake. In Jesus' name, amen.

Romans 14–16 Romans 14–16 (Listen) Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another 14 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master1 that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,   “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,    and every tongue shall confess2 to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Do Not Cause Another to Stumble 13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.3 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.4 The Example of Christ 15 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles 8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,   “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,    and sing to your name.” 10 And again it is said,   “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again,   “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,    and let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again Isaiah says,   “The root of Jesse will come,    even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;  in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Paul the Minister to the Gentiles 14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,5 that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, 21 but as it is written,   “Those who have never been told of him will see,    and those who have never heard will understand.” Paul's Plan to Visit Rome 22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,6 I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing7 of Christ. 30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Personal Greetings 16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant8 of the church at Cenchreae, 2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well. 3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert9 to Christ in Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia,10 my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,11 and they were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers12 who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. Final Instructions and Greetings 17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites,13 and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. 22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.14 Doxology 25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. Footnotes [1] 14:4 Or lord [2] 14:11 Or shall give praise [3] 14:21 Some manuscripts add or be hindered or be weakened [4] 14:23 Some manuscripts insert here 16:25–27 [5] 15:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 30 [6] 15:28 Greek sealed to them this fruit [7] 15:29 Some manuscripts insert of the gospel [8] 16:1 Or deaconess [9] 16:5 Greek firstfruit [10] 16:7 Or Junias [11] 16:7 Or messengers [12] 16:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 17 [13] 16:18 Greek their own belly [14] 16:23 Some manuscripts insert verse 24: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen (ESV)

Today's Prayer Meditation is on Faith Father, you strengthen me with your power through your Spirit in my inner being. Christ dwells in my heart through faith and I am rooted and established in love.  Faith is the confidence, the assurance for what I hope for. It is the title deed for what I do not yet see in the physical. It is what I live by. I live by faith, not by sight. And I know that without faith it is impossible to please you. Faith is the language you speak. I must come to you in faith, believing that you exist and that you will reward me when I earnestly seek you. I love you, even though I have not seen you with my physical eyes. I believe in you and I am filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for I am receiving the end result of my faith, the salvation of my soul. I believe in you with all my heart, and I am justified. I profess my faith with my mouth, and I am saved. Over and over Jesus told people it was their faith that healed them and made them whole. The same is true for me today. I am born of you. I am an overcomer. And the victory that overcomes the world is my faith. I stand steadfast and on my guard, standing firm in the faith. I am courageous and strong. I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws. In the gospel your righteousness is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from the first to the last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” So in Christ Jesus I am your child through faith.  My faith is living and accompanied by action. I know that faith without works is dead. With faith, I know that nothing is impossible to me. I can tell a mountain to move, and it will move. Faith comes from hearing your word, Father, so I read and study and listen to your word daily. I fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith. So I will fight the good fight of the faith. I take hold of the eternal life to which you called me when I made my good confession. It is by grace I was saved, through faith—it wasn't because of anything I did myself. It is a gift from you, Father, so I cannot boast. 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 your Son, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not think of myself more highly than I ought, but rather I think of myself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith you have distributed to me. Since I have been justified through faith, I have peace with you through my Lord Jesus Christ. This righteousness is given through faith in him to all who believe.  In Christ Jesus the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. So I build myself up in my most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. I keep myself in your love as I wait for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ to bring me to eternal life. So be it. Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing. ----- Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/jonny-easton/hardest-choice License code: XXOSHJFLIHXUTITV ----- Ephesians 3:16-17; Hebrews 11:1; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 11:6; 1 Peter 1:8-9; Romans 10:10; Mark 10:52; 1 John 5:4; 1 Corinthians 16:13; Psalm 119:30; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:26; James 2:17; Matthew 17:20; Romans 10:17; Hebrews 12:2; 1 Timothy 6:12; Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:20; Romans 12:3; Romans 5:1; Romans 3:21-22; Galatians 5:6; Jude 1:20-21

Romans 14–16 Romans 14–16 (Listen) Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another 14 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master1 that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,   “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,    and every tongue shall confess2 to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Do Not Cause Another to Stumble 13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.3 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.4 The Example of Christ 15 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles 8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,   “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,    and sing to your name.” 10 And again it is said,   “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again,   “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,    and let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again Isaiah says,   “The root of Jesse will come,    even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;  in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Paul the Minister to the Gentiles 14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,5 that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, 21 but as it is written,   “Those who have never been told of him will see,    and those who have never heard will understand.” Paul's Plan to Visit Rome 22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,6 I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing7 of Christ. 30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Personal Greetings 16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant8 of the church at Cenchreae, 2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well. 3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert9 to Christ in Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia,10 my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,11 and they were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers12 who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. Final Instructions and Greetings 17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites,13 and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. 22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.14 Doxology 25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. Footnotes [1] 14:4 Or lord [2] 14:11 Or shall give praise [3] 14:21 Some manuscripts add or be hindered or be weakened [4] 14:23 Some manuscripts insert here 16:25–27 [5] 15:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 30 [6] 15:28 Greek sealed to them this fruit [7] 15:29 Some manuscripts insert of the gospel [8] 16:1 Or deaconess [9] 16:5 Greek firstfruit [10] 16:7 Or Junias [11] 16:7 Or messengers [12] 16:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 17 [13] 16:18 Greek their own belly [14] 16:23 Some manuscripts insert verse 24: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen (ESV)

Morning: Matthew 7:21; Luke 8:21; Luke 11:28; John 4:34; John 15:14; Galatians 5:6; Hebrews 2:11–12; 1 John 1:6; 1 John 2:5 “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”—In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.—“You are my friends if you do what I command you.”—“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”—“My food is to do the will of him who sent me.” If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.—Whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him. Matthew 7:21 (Listen) I Never Knew You 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (ESV) Luke 8:21 (Listen) 21 But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” (ESV) Luke 11:28 (Listen) 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (ESV) John 4:34 (Listen) 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. (ESV) John 15:14 (Listen) 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. (ESV) Galatians 5:6 (Listen) 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. (ESV) Hebrews 2:11–12 (Listen) 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.1 That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,2 12 saying,   “I will tell of your name to my brothers;    in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” Footnotes [1] 2:11 Greek all are of one [2] 2:11 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters (ESV) 1 John 1:6 (Listen) 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. (ESV) 1 John 2:5 (Listen) 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: (ESV) Evening: 1 Kings 19:9; Job 23:10; Psalm 37:24; Psalm 103:13; Psalm 139:1–3; Psalm 139:7; Psalm 139:9–10; Proverbs 24:16; Proverbs 29:25; Matthew 26:41; Galatians 6:9; James 5:17 “What are you doing here, Elijah?” “He knows the way that I take.”—O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways…. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?… If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.—The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.—Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.—The righteous falls seven times and rises again.—Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.—“The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”—As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. 1 Kings 19:9 (Listen) The Lord Speaks to Elijah 9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (ESV) Job 23:10 (Listen) 10   But he knows the way that I take;    when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. (ESV) Psalm 37:24 (Listen) 24   though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,    for the LORD upholds his hand. (ESV) Psalm 103:13 (Listen) 13   As a father shows compassion to his children,    so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. (ESV) Psalm 139:1–3 (Listen) Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 139   O LORD, you have searched me and known me!2   You know when I sit down and when I rise up;    you discern my thoughts from afar.3   You search out my path and my lying down    and are acquainted with all my ways. (ESV) Psalm 139:7 (Listen) 7   Where shall I go from your Spirit?    Or where shall I flee from your presence? (ESV) Psalm 139:9–10 (Listen) 9   If I take the wings of the morning    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,10   even there your hand shall lead me,    and your right hand shall hold me. (ESV) Proverbs 24:16 (Listen) 16   for the righteous falls seven times and rises again,    but the wicked stumble in times of calamity. (ESV) Proverbs 29:25 (Listen) 25   The fear of man lays a snare,    but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe. (ESV) Matthew 26:41 (Listen) 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (ESV) Galatians 6:9 (Listen) 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (ESV) James 5:17 (Listen) 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. (ESV)

Message: Todah is Hebrew for "Thanks". In the early days. singers and songs were offered in thanksgiving to God. Breaking down the word Todah into it's meaning results in the phrase, "the true doorway into the presence of God". It's thanksgiving that leads into intimacy with God. It is an act of worship and adoration, an offering of praise for the goodness and sacrifice of God. Giving thanks, something happens, we fix our eyes on Jesus, our attitude changes and blessings find us. Giving cheerfully, some happens, there is an increasing, a generosity that wells up acknowledging God as sustainer. A grateful heart gives intimate praise, is content, trusts and has peace when the storms of life subside. Why give thanks? It's God's will. In Christ Jesus we know who we are and whose we are. We belong to the High King who knows the plans for our life, which is to be a living example of His goodness and grace as we abide in Him. A mindset on giving thanks allows all other things to get replaced. We are no longer focused on sin, but persuaded in joy to express the action of thanksgiving. Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." - NKJV

In Christ Jesus, God has revealed to his people and to us all a mystery that was once hidden. Join us this fall as we take a deep dive into the Apostle Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Ephesus, and discover this mystery together.

In Christ Jesus, God has revealed to his people and to us all a mystery that was once hidden. Join us this fall as we take a deep dive into the Apostle Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Ephesus, and discover this mystery together.

In Christ Jesus, God has revealed to his people and to us all a mystery that was once hidden. Join us this fall as we take a deep dive into the Apostle Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Ephesus, and discover this mystery together.

In Christ Jesus, God has revealed to his people and to us all a mystery that was once hidden. Join us this fall as we take a deep dive into the Apostle Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Ephesus, and discover this mystery together.

Old Testament: Jeremiah 21–22 Jeremiah 21–22 (Listen) Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadnezzar 21 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, 2 “Inquire of the LORD for us, for Nebuchadnezzar1 king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.” 3 Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. And I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath. 6 And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Afterward, declares the LORD, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.' 8 “And to this people you shall say: ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war. 10 For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.' Message to the House of David 11 “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, 12 O house of David! Thus says the LORD:   “‘Execute justice in the morning,    and deliver from the hand of the oppressor    him who has been robbed,  lest my wrath go forth like fire,    and burn with none to quench it,    because of your evil deeds.'” 13   “Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,    O rock of the plain,      declares the LORD;  you who say, ‘Who shall come down against us,    or who shall enter our habitations?'14   I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds,      declares the LORD;    I will kindle a fire in her forest,    and it shall devour all that is around her.” 22 Thus says the LORD: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2 and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3 Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. 5 But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation. 6 For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah:   “‘You are like Gilead to me,    like the summit of Lebanon,  yet surely I will make you a desert,    an uninhabited city.27   I will prepare destroyers against you,    each with his weapons,  and they shall cut down your choicest cedars    and cast them into the fire. 8 “‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the LORD dealt thus with this great city?” 9 And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”'” 10   Weep not for him who is dead,    nor grieve for him,  but weep bitterly for him who goes away,    for he shall return no more    to see his native land. Message to the Sons of Josiah 11 For thus says the LORD concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12 but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.” 13   “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,    and his upper rooms by injustice,  who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing    and does not give him his wages,14   who says, ‘I will build myself a great house    with spacious upper rooms,'  who cuts out windows for it,    paneling it with cedar    and painting it with vermilion.15   Do you think you are a king    because you compete in cedar?  Did not your father eat and drink    and do justice and righteousness?    Then it was well with him.16   He judged the cause of the poor and needy;    then it was well.  Is not this to know me?    declares the LORD.17   But you have eyes and heart    only for your dishonest gain,  for shedding innocent blood,    and for practicing oppression and violence.” 18 Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:   “They shall not lament for him, saying,    ‘Ah, my brother!' or ‘Ah, sister!'  They shall not lament for him, saying,    ‘Ah, lord!' or ‘Ah, his majesty!'19   With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried,    dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.” 20   “Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,    and lift up your voice in Bashan;  cry out from Abarim,    for all your lovers are destroyed.21   I spoke to you in your prosperity,    but you said, ‘I will not listen.'  This has been your way from your youth,    that you have not obeyed my voice.22   The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,    and your lovers shall go into captivity;  then you will be ashamed and confounded    because of all your evil.23   O inhabitant of Lebanon,    nested among the cedars,  how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,    pain as of a woman in labor!” 24 “As I live, declares the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27 But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.” 28   Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot,    a vessel no one cares for?  Why are he and his children hurled and cast    into a land that they do not know?29   O land, land, land,    hear the word of the LORD!30   Thus says the LORD:  “Write this man down as childless,    a man who shall not succeed in his days,  for none of his offspring shall succeed    in sitting on the throne of David    and ruling again in Judah.” Footnotes [1] 21:2 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, an alternate spelling of Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylon) occurring frequently from Jeremiah 21–52; this latter spelling is used throughout Jeremiah for consistency [2] 22:6 Hebrew cities (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 109 Psalm 109 (Listen) Help Me, O Lord My God To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 109   Be not silent, O God of my praise!2   For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,    speaking against me with lying tongues.3   They encircle me with words of hate,    and attack me without cause.4   In return for my love they accuse me,    but I give myself to prayer.15   So they reward me evil for good,    and hatred for my love. 6   Appoint a wicked man against him;    let an accuser stand at his right hand.7   When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;    let his prayer be counted as sin!8   May his days be few;    may another take his office!9   May his children be fatherless    and his wife a widow!10   May his children wander about and beg,    seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!11   May the creditor seize all that he has;    may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!12   Let there be none to extend kindness to him,    nor any to pity his fatherless children!13   May his posterity be cut off;    may his name be blotted out in the second generation!14   May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,    and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!15   Let them be before the LORD continually,    that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth! 16   For he did not remember to show kindness,    but pursued the poor and needy    and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.17   He loved to curse; let curses come2 upon him!    He did not delight in blessing; may it be far3 from him!18   He clothed himself with cursing as his coat;    may it soak4 into his body like water,    like oil into his bones!19   May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,    like a belt that he puts on every day!20   May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD,    of those who speak evil against my life! 21   But you, O GOD my Lord,    deal on my behalf for your name's sake;    because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!22   For I am poor and needy,    and my heart is stricken within me.23   I am gone like a shadow at evening;    I am shaken off like a locust.24   My knees are weak through fasting;    my body has become gaunt, with no fat.25   I am an object of scorn to my accusers;    when they see me, they wag their heads. 26   Help me, O LORD my God!    Save me according to your steadfast love!27   Let them know that this is your hand;    you, O LORD, have done it!28   Let them curse, but you will bless!    They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!29   May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;    may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak! 30   With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD;    I will praise him in the midst of the throng.31   For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,    to save him from those who condemn his soul to death. Footnotes [1] 109:4 Hebrew but I am prayer [2] 109:17 Revocalization; Masoretic Text curses have come [3] 109:17 Revocalization; Masoretic Text it is far [4] 109:18 Revocalization; Masoretic Text it has soaked (ESV) New Testament: Romans 14–15 Romans 14–15 (Listen) Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another 14 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master1 that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,   “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,    and every tongue shall confess2 to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Do Not Cause Another to Stumble 13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.3 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.4 The Example of Christ 15 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles 8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,   “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,    and sing to your name.” 10 And again it is said,   “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again,   “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,    and let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again Isaiah says,   “The root of Jesse will come,    even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;  in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Paul the Minister to the Gentiles 14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,5 that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18&n

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 84 Psalm 84 (Listen) My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.1 A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. 84   How lovely is your dwelling place,    O LORD of hosts!2   My soul longs, yes, faints    for the courts of the LORD;  my heart and flesh sing for joy    to the living God. 3   Even the sparrow finds a home,    and the swallow a nest for herself,    where she may lay her young,  at your altars, O LORD of hosts,    my King and my God.4   Blessed are those who dwell in your house,    ever singing your praise! Selah 5   Blessed are those whose strength is in you,    in whose heart are the highways to Zion.26   As they go through the Valley of Baca    they make it a place of springs;    the early rain also covers it with pools.7   They go from strength to strength;    each one appears before God in Zion. 8   O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;    give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah9   Behold our shield, O God;    look on the face of your anointed! 10   For a day in your courts is better    than a thousand elsewhere.  I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God    than dwell in the tents of wickedness.11   For the LORD God is a sun and shield;    the LORD bestows favor and honor.  No good thing does he withhold    from those who walk uprightly.12   O LORD of hosts,    blessed is the one who trusts in you! Footnotes [1] 84:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term [2] 84:5 Hebrew lacks to Zion (ESV) Pentateuch and History: 1 Kings 17 1 Kings 17 (Listen) Elijah Predicts a Drought 17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe1 in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 And the word of the LORD came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. The Widow of Zarephath 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah. Elijah Raises the Widow's Son 17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” 19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this child's life2 come into him again.” 22 And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.” Footnotes [1] 17:1 Septuagint; Hebrew of the settlers [2] 17:21 Or soul; also verse 22 (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Ezekiel 47:1–12 Ezekiel 47:1–12 (Listen) Water Flowing from the Temple 47 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. 2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side. 3 Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits,1 and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. 4 Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. 5 Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. 6 And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea;2 when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh.3 9 And wherever the river goes,4 every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea5 may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. 10 Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.6 11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. 12 And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” Footnotes [1] 47:3 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [2] 47:8 That is, the Dead Sea [3] 47:8 Hebrew will be healed; also verses 9, 11 [4] 47:9 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; Hebrew the two rivers go [5] 47:9 Hebrew lacks the waters of the sea [6] 47:10 That is, the Mediterranean Sea; also verses 15, 19, 20 (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Romans 15:14–33 Romans 15:14–33 (Listen) Paul the Minister to the Gentiles 14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,1 that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, 21 but as it is written,   “Those who have never been told of him will see,    and those who have never heard will understand.” Paul's Plan to Visit Rome 22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,2 I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing3 of Christ. 30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Footnotes [1] 15:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 30 [2] 15:28 Greek sealed to them this fruit [3] 15:29 Some manuscripts insert of the gospel (ESV)

In Christ Jesus, God has revealed to his people and to us all a mystery that was once hidden. Join us this fall as we take a deep dive into the Apostle Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Ephesus, and discover this mystery together.

In Christ Jesus, God has revealed to his people and to us all a mystery that was once hidden. Join us this fall as we take a deep dive into the Apostle Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Ephesus, and discover this mystery together.

Ephesians 2:4-7 — What has God done for the Christian? In this sermon on Ephesians 2:4–7 titled “In Christ Jesus,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones focuses on Paul's answer to this question. Paul is concerned that believers are clear about what God has done for them. True Christianity is what God has done to and for the believer. People can decide to be religious, to start or stop doing things, and believe that God forgives them, but that is not essentially Christianity. Some schools of thought have taught that the doctrine of union with Christ is something the Christian strives to attain. But apart from this union, a person is not a Christian. One must examine themselves and ask: is my way of thinking of myself as a Christian in terms of what I am striving to do or make of myself? The difference between the unbeliever and believer is that the believer has a new disposition bending or redirecting their faculties accordingly, affecting the whole person — mind, heart, and will. Birth is sudden and so it is with the new birth. One cannot understand or explain it fully; all one knows is that it has happened. It is a creative act of God that the apostles, and others, referred to as the “new creation.” Apart from union with Christ, this new regeneration cannot make a Christian.

Theme: THE PROMISES OF GOD  Speaker: Rev. Ebenezer Okronipa Continuation 7. Promise of freedom from sin. 1 John 1:9 8. Promise that He will separate us from Him. Romans 8:38-39 9. Promise of a special place in Heaven. John 14:3 10. Promise of eternal life. It is the very nature of God; Zoe life. 2 Peter 1:4   In Christ Jesus, all the promises of God are yea and Amen: done and settled. 2 Corinthians 1:20 20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

Romans 15:14–21 Paul the Minister to the Gentiles [14] I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. [15] But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God [16] to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. [17] In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. [18] For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, [19] by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; [20] and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, [21] but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.” (ESV)

Morning: Matthew 12:49–50; John 20:17; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 1:10; Ephesians 3:15; Ephesians 4:6; Hebrews 2:11; Hebrews 11:40; Revelation 6:9–11 Every family in heaven and on earth. One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.—In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.—As a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. He is not ashamed to call them brothers.—“Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”—“Go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father.'” I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne…. Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.—That apart from us they should not be made perfect. Matthew 12:49–50 (Listen) 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (ESV) John 20:17 (Listen) 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” (ESV) Galatians 3:26 (Listen) 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. (ESV) Ephesians 1:10 (Listen) 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (ESV) Ephesians 3:15 (Listen) 15 from whom every family1 in heaven and on earth is named, Footnotes [1] 3:15 Or from whom all fatherhood; the Greek word patria in verse 15 is closely related to the word for Father in verse 14 (ESV) Ephesians 4:6 (Listen) 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (ESV) Hebrews 2:11 (Listen) 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.1 That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,2 Footnotes [1] 2:11 Greek all are of one [2] 2:11 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters (ESV) Hebrews 11:40 (Listen) 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. (ESV) Revelation 6:9–11 (Listen) 9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers1 should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. Footnotes [1] 6:11 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters (ESV) Evening: Matthew 6:9; John 16:23–24; John 17:1; John 20:17; Romans 8:15–16; 2 Corinthians 6:17–18; Galatians 3:26; Galatians 4:6–7 “Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven.” Jesus… lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father.”—“My Father and your Father.” In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.—You did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son. “In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” “I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” Matthew 6:9 (Listen) 9 Pray then like this:   “Our Father in heaven,  hallowed be your name.1 Footnotes [1] 6:9 Or Let your name be kept holy, or Let your name be treated with reverence (ESV) John 16:23–24 (Listen) 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (ESV) John 17:1 (Listen) The High Priestly Prayer 17 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, (ESV) John 20:17 (Listen) 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” (ESV) Romans 8:15–16 (Listen) 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (ESV) 2 Corinthians 6:17–18 (Listen) 17   Therefore go out from their midst,    and be separate from them, says the Lord,  and touch no unclean thing;    then I will welcome you,18   and I will be a father to you,    and you shall be sons and daughters to me,  says the Lord Almighty.” (ESV) Galatians 3:26 (Listen) 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. (ESV) Galatians 4:6–7 (Listen) 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (ESV)

Romans 15:14–21 Paul the Minister to the Gentiles [14] I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. [15] But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God [16] to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. [17] In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. [18] For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, [19] by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; [20] and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, [21] but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.” (ESV)

In Christ Jesus, God has revealed to his people and to us all a mystery that was once hidden. Join us this fall as we take a deep dive into the Apostle Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Ephesus, and discover this mystery together.

In Christ Jesus, God has revealed to his people and to us all a mystery that was once hidden. Join us this fall as we take a deep dive into the Apostle Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Ephesus, and discover this mystery together.

In Christ Jesus, God has revealed to his people and to us all a mystery that was once hidden. Join us this fall as we take a deep dive into the Apostle Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Ephesus, and discover this mystery together.

In Christ Jesus, God has revealed to his people and to us all a mystery that was once hidden. Join us this fall as we take a deep dive into the Apostle Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Ephesus, and discover this mystery together.

In Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access into His Grace. 

In Christ Jesus, God has revealed to his people and to us all a mystery that was once hidden. Join us this fall as we take a deep dive into the Apostle Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Ephesus, and discover this mystery together.

In Christ Jesus, God has revealed to his people and to us all a mystery that was once hidden. Join with us this fall as we take a deep dive into the Apostle Paul's letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Ephesus, and discovery this mystery together.

Thank you for joining us for the fifth episode in our series entitled, Encouraging Words. Today we will discuss these three, reassuring words, "In Christ Jesus." What does it mean to be "in Christ Jesus?" What is the significance of those three, powerful words? How can you be "in Chirst Jesus" and receive the comfort offered by that relationship? Dr. Irv will answer all of these questions in today's episode. Next week, we will turn our focus to prayer and, specifically, what it means to Pray with Thanksgiving. As the world around us swirls more and more out of control, our faith will remain solid and steadfast as we cling to Jesus as our Anchor. As we trust Him and wait on Him, He will provide us with peace and joy in the middle of life's storms and even give us the abiity to Praise Him through it and offer Prayers of Thanksgiving for His goodness, faithfulness and provision. If you have questions, comments or topic ideas, please email Dr. Irv at hopewellcounsel@gmail.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/hopeforthehurting/message

With family: 1 Samuel 17; Romans 15 1 Samuel 17 (Listen) David and Goliath 17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six1 cubits2 and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels3 of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.4 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening. 17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah5 of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.” 19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. 24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.” 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.” 28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before. 31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” 38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. 41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand.” 48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath6 and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. 55 As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56 And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” 57 And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.” Footnotes [1] 17:4 Hebrew; Septuagint, Dead Sea Scroll and Josephus four [2] 17:4 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [3] 17:5 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams [4] 17:12 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew advanced among men [5] 17:17 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters [6] 17:52 Septuagint; Hebrew Gai (ESV) Romans 15 (Listen) The Example of Christ 15 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles 8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,   “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,    and sing to your name.” 10 And again it is said,   “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again,   “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,    and let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again Isaiah says,   “The root of Jesse will come,    even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;  in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Paul the Minister to the Gentiles 14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,1 that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, 21 but as it is written,   “Those who have never been told of him will see,    and those who have never heard will understand.” Paul's Plan to Visit Rome 22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,2 I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing3 of Christ. 30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Footnotes [1] 15:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 30 [2] 15:28 Greek sealed to them this fruit [3] 15:29 Some manuscripts insert of the gospel (ESV) In private: Psalm 33; Lamentations 2 Psalm 33 (Listen) The Steadfast Love of the Lord 33   Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!    Praise befits the upright.2   Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;    make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!3   Sing to him a new song;    play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. 4   For the word of the LORD is upright,    and all his work is done in faithfulness.5   He loves righteousness and justice;    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. 6   By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,    and by the breath of his mouth all their host.7   He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;    he puts the deeps in storehouses. 8   Let all the earth fear the LORD;    let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!9   For he spoke, and it came to be;    he commanded, and it stood firm. 10   The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;    he frustrates the plans of the peoples.11   The counsel of the LORD stands forever,    the plans of his heart to all generations.12   Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! 13   The LORD looks down from heaven;    he sees all the children of man;14   from where he sits enthroned he looks out    on all the inhabitants of the earth,15   he who fashions the hearts of them all    and observes all their deeds.16   The king is not saved by his great army;    a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.17   The war horse is a false hope for salvation,    and by its great might it cannot rescue. 18   Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,    on those who hope in his steadfast love,19   that he may deliver their soul from death    and keep them alive in famine. 20   Our soul waits for the LORD;    he is our help and our shield.21   For our heart is glad in him,    because we trust in his holy name.22   Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,    even as we hope in you. (ESV) Lamentations 2 (Listen) The Lord Has Destroyed Without Pity 2   How the Lord in his anger    has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud!  He has cast down from heaven to earth    the splendor of Israel;  he has not remembered his footstool    in the day of his anger. 2   The Lord has swallowed up without mercy    all the habitations of Jacob;  in his wrath he has broken down    the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;  he has brought down to the ground in dishonor    the kingdom and its rulers. 3   He has cut down in fierce anger    all the might of Israel;  he has withdrawn from them his right hand    in the face of the enemy;  he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,    consuming all around. 4   He has bent his bow like an enemy,    with his right hand set like a foe;  and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes    in the tent of the daughter of Zion;  he has poured out his fury like fire. 5   The Lord has become like an enemy;    he has swallowed up Israel;  he has swallowed up all its palaces;    he has laid in ruins its strongholds,  and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah    mourning and lamentation. 6   He has laid waste his booth like a garden,    laid in ruins his meeting place;  the LORD has made Zion forget    festival and Sabbath,  and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest. 7   The Lord has scorned his altar,    disowned his sanctuary;  he has delivered into the hand of the enemy    the walls of her palaces;  they raised a clamor in the house of the LORD    as on the day of festival. 8   The LORD determined to lay in ruins    the wall of the daughter of Zion;  he stretched out the measuring line;    he did not restrain his hand from destroying;  he caused rampart and wall to lament;    they languished together. 9   Her gates have sunk into the ground;    he has ruined and broken her bars;  her king and princes are among the nations;    the law is no more,  and her prophets find    no vision from the LORD. 10   The elders of the daughter of Zion    sit on the ground in silence;  they have thrown dust on their heads    and put on sackcloth;  the young women of Jerusalem    have bowed their heads to the ground. 11   My eyes are spent with weeping;    my stomach churns;  my bile is poured out to the ground    because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,  because infants and babies faint    in the streets of the city. 12   They cry to their mothers,    “Where is bread and wine?”  as they faint like a wounded man    in the streets of the city,  as their life is poured out    on their mothers' bosom. 13   What can I say for you, to what compare you,    O daughter of Jerusalem?  What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,    O virgin daughter of Zion?  For your ruin is vast as the sea;    who can heal you? 14   Your prophets have seen for you&l

Morning: Deuteronomy 3:24; Deuteronomy 29:29; 2 Samuel 7:21–22; Psalm 86:8; Psalm 89:6; Psalm 89:8; 1 Corinthians 2:9–10 “What god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours?” Who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord?… O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you?—There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.—“Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.” “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.—“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children.” Deuteronomy 3:24 (Listen) 24 ‘O Lord GOD, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? (ESV) Deuteronomy 29:29 (Listen) 29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (ESV) 2 Samuel 7:21–22 (Listen) 21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. 22 Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. (ESV) Psalm 86:8 (Listen) 8   There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,    nor are there any works like yours. (ESV) Psalm 89:6 (Listen) 6   For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD?    Who among the heavenly beings1 is like the LORD, Footnotes [1] 89:6 Hebrew the sons of God, or the sons of might (ESV) Psalm 89:8 (Listen) 8   O LORD God of hosts,    who is mighty as you are, O LORD,    with your faithfulness all around you? (ESV) 1 Corinthians 2:9–10 (Listen) 9 But, as it is written,   “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,    nor the heart of man imagined,  what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. (ESV) Evening: 1 Samuel 2:1; Psalm 73:25; Psalm 115:1; Jeremiah 9:23–24; Romans 1:16; Romans 15:17; 1 Corinthians 1:31; Philippians 3:8 “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord.” Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.—I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.—In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.—“My heart exults in the Lord;… I rejoice in your salvation.” Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! 1 Samuel 2:1 (Listen) Hannah's Prayer 2 And Hannah prayed and said,   “My heart exults in the LORD;    my horn is exalted in the LORD.  My mouth derides my enemies,    because I rejoice in your salvation. (ESV) Psalm 73:25 (Listen) 25   Whom have I in heaven but you?    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. (ESV) Psalm 115:1 (Listen) To Your Name Give Glory 115   Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,    for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! (ESV) Jeremiah 9:23–24 (Listen) 23 Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” (ESV) Romans 1:16 (Listen) The Righteous Shall Live by Faith 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (ESV) Romans 15:17 (Listen) 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. (ESV) 1 Corinthians 1:31 (Listen) 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (ESV) Philippians 3:8 (Listen) 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ (ESV)

Morning: Psalms 105–106 Psalms 105–106 (Listen) Tell of All His Wondrous Works 105   Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;    make known his deeds among the peoples!2   Sing to him, sing praises to him;    tell of all his wondrous works!3   Glory in his holy name;    let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!4   Seek the LORD and his strength;    seek his presence continually!5   Remember the wondrous works that he has done,    his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,6   O offspring of Abraham, his servant,    children of Jacob, his chosen ones! 7   He is the LORD our God;    his judgments are in all the earth.8   He remembers his covenant forever,    the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,9   the covenant that he made with Abraham,    his sworn promise to Isaac,10   which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,    to Israel as an everlasting covenant,11   saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan    as your portion for an inheritance.” 12   When they were few in number,    of little account, and sojourners in it,13   wandering from nation to nation,    from one kingdom to another people,14   he allowed no one to oppress them;    he rebuked kings on their account,15   saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,    do my prophets no harm!” 16   When he summoned a famine on the land    and broke all supply1 of bread,17   he had sent a man ahead of them,    Joseph, who was sold as a slave.18   His feet were hurt with fetters;    his neck was put in a collar of iron;19   until what he had said came to pass,    the word of the LORD tested him.20   The king sent and released him;    the ruler of the peoples set him free;21   he made him lord of his house    and ruler of all his possessions,22   to bind2 his princes at his pleasure    and to teach his elders wisdom. 23   Then Israel came to Egypt;    Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.24   And the LORD made his people very fruitful    and made them stronger than their foes.25   He turned their hearts to hate his people,    to deal craftily with his servants. 26   He sent Moses, his servant,    and Aaron, whom he had chosen.27   They performed his signs among them    and miracles in the land of Ham.28   He sent darkness, and made the land dark;    they did not rebel3 against his words.29   He turned their waters into blood    and caused their fish to die.30   Their land swarmed with frogs,    even in the chambers of their kings.31   He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,    and gnats throughout their country.32   He gave them hail for rain,    and fiery lightning bolts through their land.33   He struck down their vines and fig trees,    and shattered the trees of their country.34   He spoke, and the locusts came,    young locusts without number,35   which devoured all the vegetation in their land    and ate up the fruit of their ground.36   He struck down all the firstborn in their land,    the firstfruits of all their strength. 37   Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold,    and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.38   Egypt was glad when they departed,    for dread of them had fallen upon it. 39   He spread a cloud for a covering,    and fire to give light by night.40   They asked, and he brought quail,    and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.41   He opened the rock, and water gushed out;    it flowed through the desert like a river.42   For he remembered his holy promise,    and Abraham, his servant. 43   So he brought his people out with joy,    his chosen ones with singing.44   And he gave them the lands of the nations,    and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples' toil,45   that they might keep his statutes    and observe his laws.  Praise the LORD! Give Thanks to the Lord, for He Is Good 106   Praise the LORD!  Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,    for his steadfast love endures forever!2   Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD,    or declare all his praise?3   Blessed are they who observe justice,    who do righteousness at all times! 4   Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people;    help me when you save them,45   that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones,    that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,    that I may glory with your inheritance. 6   Both we and our fathers have sinned;    we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.7   Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,    did not consider your wondrous works;  they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,    but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.8   Yet he saved them for his name's sake,    that he might make known his mighty power.9   He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry,    and he led them through the deep as through a desert.10   So he saved them from the hand of the foe    and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.11   And the waters covered their adversaries;    not one of them was left.12   Then they believed his words;    they sang his praise. 13   But they soon forgot his works;    they did not wait for his counsel.14   But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness,    and put God to the test in the de