Monday January 31, 2011

 The Word of the Lord,

Isaiah 58

True Fasting

 ¹ “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
   Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
   and to the house of Jacob their sins.
² For day after day they seek me out;
   they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
   and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
   and seem eager for God to come near them.
³ ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
   ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
   and you have not noticed?’
   “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
   and exploit all your workers.
⁴ Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
   and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
   and expect your voice to be heard on high.
⁵ Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
   only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
   and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
   a day acceptable to the LORD?
 ⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
   and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
   and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
   and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
   and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
   and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness^[a] will go before you,
   and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
   you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

Saturday January, 29th, 2011

Matthew 5

The Beatitudes

 ¹ Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them, saying:
   ³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
   for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
   for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
   for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
   for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
   for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
   for they will be called sons of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
   ¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Thursday and Friday January 28 and 29, 2011

The Word of the Lord

1 Corinthians

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

 ¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written:
   “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
   the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”^[c]
 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²² Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
 ²⁶ Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰ It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹ Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”^[d]

Wednesday January 26, 2011

The Word of the Lord

 

Psalm 15

    A psalm of David.
 ¹ LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
   Who may live on your holy hill?
 ² He whose walk is blameless
   and who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from his heart
 ³ and has no slander on his tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong
   and casts no slur on his fellowman,
⁴ who despises a vile man
   but honors those who fear the LORD,
who keeps his oath
   even when it hurts,
⁵ who lends his money without usury
   and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
   He who does these things
   will never be shaken.

Tuesday January 25, 2011 - A continuation of Micah

 The Word of the Lord

Micah 6 -8

⁶ With what shall I come before the LORD
   and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
   with calves a year old?
⁷ Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
   with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
   the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
⁸ He has showed you, O man, what is good.
   And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
   and to walk humbly with your God.

Monday January 24, 2011

The Word of the Lord

Micah 6

The LORD’s Case Against Israel

 ¹ Listen to what the LORD says:
   “Stand up, plead your case before the mountains;
   let the hills hear what you have to say.
² Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s accusation;
   listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the LORD has a case against his people;
   he is lodging a charge against Israel.
 ³ “My people, what have I done to you?
   How have I burdened you? Answer me.
⁴ I brought you up out of Egypt
   and redeemed you from the land of slavery.
I sent Moses to lead you,
   also Aaron and Miriam.
⁵ My people, remember
   what Balak king of Moab counseled
   and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,
   that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.”
 ⁶ With what shall I come before the LORD
   and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
   with calves a year old?
⁷ Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
   with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
   the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
⁸ He has showed you, O man, what is good.
   And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
   and to walk humbly with your God.

Catch up Scritpures for the days January 19, 23

Wednesday

Psalm 27

    Of David.
 ¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation—
   whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
   of whom shall I be afraid?

 ⁴ One thing I ask of the LORD,
   this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
   all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
   and to seek him in his temple.
⁵ For in the day of trouble
   he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
   and set me high upon a rock.
⁶ Then my head will be exalted
   above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
   I will sing and make music to the LORD.
 ⁷ Hear my voice when I call, O LORD;
   be merciful to me and answer me.
⁸ My heart says of you, “Seek his^[b] face!”
   Your face, LORD, I will seek.
⁹ Do not hide your face from me,
   do not turn your servant away in anger;
   you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
   O God my Savior.

Thursday

1 Corinthians 1: 10-18

Divisions in the Church

 ¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. ¹¹ My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. ¹² What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas^[a]”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
 ¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into^[b] the name of Paul? ¹⁴ I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. ¹⁶ (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

 ¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Friday and Saturday
Matthew 4

Jesus Begins to Preach

 ¹² When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. ¹³ Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— ¹⁴ to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
 ¹⁵ “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
   the way to the sea, along the Jordan,
   Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶ the people living in darkness
   have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
   a light has dawned.”^[e]
 17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

The Calling of the First Disciples

 ¹⁸ As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰ At once they left their nets and followed him.
 ²¹ Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, ²² and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Heals the Sick

 ²³ Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. ²⁴ News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. ²⁵ Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,^[f] Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him

Catch up

Hello all, I apologize for the missed week.  I was in computer nightmare, but God bless Paul Peterson, he walked me out. 
So, I am resuming for Today and will post the old scriptures later.
If I ever get behind again, remember that the daily readings are posted on the church web site too AND the little pink book is on the table of the Fellowship Hall .  Donation $1.50, but take one if you don't have or forget the cash and put it in the basket another time.

Tuesday January 18, 2011

The Word of the Lord

Isaiah 9

 ² The people walking in darkness
   have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death^[a]
   a light has dawned.
³ You have enlarged the nation
   and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
   as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice
   when dividing the plunder.
⁴ For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
   you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
   the bar across their shoulders,
   the rod of their oppressor.

Monday January 17, 2011

The Word of the Lord,

Isaiah 9

To Us a Child Is Born

 ¹ Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan—

Saturday January 15, 2011

The Word of the Lord

John 1

Jesus’ First Disciples

 ³⁵ The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
 ³⁷ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
   They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”
   ³⁹ “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
   So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
 ⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus.
   Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated

Friday January 14, 2011

The Word of the Lord

John 1

Jesus the Lamb of God

 ²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
 ³² Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. ³³ I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”

Thursday January 13, 2011

The Word of the Lord

1 Corinthians 

 ¹ Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

 ² To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
 ³ Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

 ⁴ I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. ⁵ For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— ⁶ because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. ⁷ Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. ⁸ He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful

Wednesday January 12, 2011

The Word of the Lord

Psalm 40

    For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
 ¹ I waited patiently for the LORD;
   he turned to me and heard my cry.
² He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
   out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
   and gave me a firm place to stand.
³ He put a new song in my mouth,
   a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
   and put their trust in the LORD.
 ⁴ Blessed is the man
   who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not look to the proud,
   to those who turn aside to false gods.^[a]
5 Many, O LORD my God,
   are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
   no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
   they would be too many to declare.
 ⁶ Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
   but my ears you have pierced^[b][c];
burnt offerings and sin offerings
   you did not require.
⁷ Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
   it is written about me in the scroll.^[d]
8 I desire to do your will, O my God;
   your law is within my heart.”
 ⁹ I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
   I do not seal my lips,
   as you know, O LORD.
¹⁰ I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
   I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.
I do not conceal your love and your truth
   from the great assembly.
 ¹¹ Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD;
   may your love and your truth always protect me.

Tuesday January 11, 2011

The Word of the Lord,

Isaiah 49

The Servant of the LORD

  ⁵ And now the LORD says—
   he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
   and gather Israel to himself,
for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD
   and my God has been my strength—
⁶ he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
   to restore the tribes of Jacob
   and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
   that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
 ⁷ This is what the LORD says—
   the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel—
to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
   to the servant of rulers:
“Kings will see you and rise up,
   princes will see and bow down,
because of the LORD, who is faithful,
   the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

Monday, January 10, 2011

Hear the Word of the Lord

Isaiah 49

The Servant of the LORD

 ¹ Listen to me, you islands;
   hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the LORD called me;
   from my birth he has made mention of my name.
² He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
   in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
   and concealed me in his quiver.
³ He said to me, “You are my servant,
   Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”
⁴ But I said, “I have labored to no purpose;
   I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.
Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand,
   and my reward is with my God.”

Thursday December 6, 2011 Epiphany

The passage for Epiphany will be the last posted scripture on this blog. 
I hope you have enjoyed receiving the readings on the blog. 

May your walk with the Lord be rich and full of joy.

Matthew 2: 1-12

Matthew 2

The Visit of the Magi

 ¹ After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east^[b] and have come to worship him.”
 ³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ^[c] was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
 ⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
   who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’^[d]”
 ⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
 ⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east^[e] went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Wednesday January 5 2011

Psalm 129

    A song of ascents.
 ¹ They have greatly oppressed me from my youth—
   let Israel say—
² they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
   but they have not gained the victory over me.
³ Plowmen have plowed my back
   and made their furrows long.
⁴ But the LORD is righteous;
   he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.
 ⁵ May all who hate Zion
   be turned back in shame.
⁶ May they be like grass on the roof,
   which withers before it can grow;
⁷ with it the reaper cannot fill his hands,
   nor the one who gathers fill his arms.
⁸ May those who pass by not say,
   “The blessing of the LORD be upon you;
   we bless you in the name of the LORD.”

Tuesday January 4, 2011

Isaiah 42 5-9

In his law the islands will put their hope.”
 ⁵ This is what God the LORD says—
he who created the heavens and stretched them out,
   who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it,
who gives breath to its people,
   and life to those who walk on it:
⁶ “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness;
   I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
   to be a covenant for the people
   and a light for the Gentiles,
⁷ to open eyes that are blind,
   to free captives from prison
   and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
 ⁸ “I am the LORD; that is my name!
   I will not give my glory to another
   or my praise to idols.
⁹ See, the former things have taken place,
   and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
   I announce them to you.”

Monday January 3, 2011

Isaiah 42 1-4

Isaiah 42

The Servant of the LORD

 ¹ “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
   my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him
   and he will bring justice to the nations.
² He will not shout or cry out,
   or raise his voice in the streets.
³ A bruised reed he will not break,
   and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
 ⁴ he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
   In his law the islands will put their hope.”

Saturday January 1, 2011

As we ring in the New Year, let us keep Pastor Dave in prayer, giving thanks for his surgery and asking God to bless him with a full and quick recovery.

Today's passage,  Matthw 25: 31-46

The Sheep and the Goats

    ³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
   ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
   ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
   ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
   ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
   ⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
   ⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
   ⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”