Exploring Easter

A Letter in Lockdown

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Strong Disciples Two

Elijah. Man of Courage, Man of Faith, Man of God.

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A Year in Luke/Acts

Binge BEMA Session 1

5 Days to Deal With Feeling Unappreciated at Work

The Gifts the Magi Received

New International Version

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 <div class="p">10For we are God&#8217;s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.</div><div class="s1">Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ</div><div class="p"> 11Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called &#8220;uncircumcised&#8221; by those who call themselves &#8220;the circumcision&#8221; (which is done in the body by human hands)&#8212; 12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.</div><div class="p"> 14For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.</div><div class="p"> 19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God&#8217;s people and also members of his household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.</div>
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 <div class="p">1Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for.</div><div class="p"> 3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God&#8217;s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.</div><div class="p"> 4By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.</div><div class="p"> 5By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: &#8220;He could not be found, because God had taken him away.&#8221;#11:5 Gen. 5:24 For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.</div><div class="p"> 7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.</div><div class="p"> 8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she#11:11 Or By faith Abraham, even though he was too old to have children&#8212;and Sarah herself was not able to conceive&#8212;was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.</div><div class="p"> 13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country&#8212;a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.</div><div class="p"> 17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, &#8220;It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.&#8221;#11:18 Gen. 21:12 19Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.</div><div class="p"> 20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.</div><div class="p"> 21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph&#8217;s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.</div><div class="p"> 22By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.</div><div class="p"> 23By faith Moses&#8217; parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king&#8217;s edict.</div><div class="p"> 24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh&#8217;s daughter. 25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king&#8217;s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.</div><div class="p"> 29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.</div><div class="p"> 30By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.</div><div class="p"> 31By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.#11:31 Or unbelieving</div><div class="p"> 32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37They were put to death by stoning;#11:37 Some early manuscripts stoning; they were put to the test; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated&#8212; 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.</div><div class="p"> 39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.</div>
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