living

Philippians 1 

20 For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, 

but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, 

as I have been in the past. 

And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, 

whether I live 

or die. 

21 For to me, 

living means living for Christ, 

and dying is even better. 

22 But if I live, 

I can do more fruitful work for Christ. 

So I really don’t know which is better. 

23 I’m torn between two desires: 

I long to go and be with Christ, 

which would be far better for me. 

24 But for your sakes, 

it is better that I continue to live.

12-18

He has removed our sins as far from us

    as the east is from the west.

13 

The Lord is like a father to his children,

    tender and compassionate to those who fear him.

14 For he knows how weak we are;

    he remembers we are only dust.

15 Our days on earth are like grass;

    like wildflowers, we bloom and die.

16 The wind blows, and we are gone—

    as though we had never been here.

17 But the love of the Lord remains forever

    with those who fear him.

His salvation extends to the children’s children

18     of those who are faithful to his covenant,

    of those who obey his commandments!

Psalm 103:12-18

LGLO

Matthew 22 

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, 

they met together to question him again. 

35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 

36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

37 Jesus replied, 

“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, 

all your soul, 

and all your mind.’ 

38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 

39 A second is equally important: 

‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 

40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

(Boil down what Jesus said: Love God, love others. LGLO)

unity

Ephesians 4 

1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, 

for you have been called by God. 

2 Always be humble 

and gentle. 

Be patient with each other, 

making allowance for each other’s faults 

because of your love. 

3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, 

binding yourselves together with peace. 

4 For there is 

one body 

and one Spirit, 

just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

5 There is one Lord, 

one faith, 

one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all,
who is over all, 

in all, 

and living through all.

7 However, he has given each one of us a special gift 

through the generosity of Christ. 

8 That is why the Scriptures say,

“When he ascended to the heights,
    he led a crowd of captives
    and gave gifts to his people.”

9 Notice that it says “he ascended.” 

This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. 

10 And the same one who descended 

is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, 

so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.

11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: 

the apostles, 

the prophets, 

the evangelists, 

and the pastors 

and teachers. 

12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work 

and build up the church, 

the body of Christ. 

13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son 

that we will be mature in the Lord, 

measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. 

We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. 

We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 

15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, 

growing in every way more and more like Christ, 

who is the head of his body, 

the church. 

16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. 

As each part does its own special work, 

it helps the other parts grow, 

so that the whole body is healthy 

and growing 

and full of love.

workers

 What do you think Jesus is REALLY talking about here?

Matthew 20 

1 “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay the normal daily wage[a] and sent them out to work.

3 “At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. 4 So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. 5 So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing.

6 “At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’

7 “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’

“The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’

8 “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. 9 When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage. 10 When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. 11 When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, 12 ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’

13 “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? 14 Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. 15 Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’

16 “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”

made alive

Ephesians 2 

1 Once you were dead 

because of your disobedience 

and your many sins. 

2 You used to live in sin, 

just like the rest of the world, 

obeying the devil;

the commander of the powers in the unseen world. 

He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 

3 All of us used to live that way, 

following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. 

By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, 

just like everyone else.

4 But God is so rich in mercy, 

and he loved us so much, 

5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, 

he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. 

(It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 

6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ 

and seated us with him in the heavenly realms 

because we are united with Christ Jesus. 

7 So God can point to us in all future ages 

as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace 

and kindness 

toward us, 

as shown in all he has done for us 

who are united with Christ Jesus.

8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. 

And you can’t take credit for this; 

it is a gift from God. 

9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, 

so none of us can boast about it. 

10 For we are God’s masterpiece. 

He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, 

so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

the greatest

Matthew 18 1

 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 

“Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”

2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. 

3 Then he said, 

“I tell you the truth, 

unless you turn from your sins 

and become like little children, 

you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 

4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child 

is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

5 “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf 

is welcoming me. 

6 But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, 

it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck 

and be drowned in the depths of the sea.