10.1 Be Prepared For The Return Of The Master

(Luke 12:35-40)

“Be ready for whatever comes, dressed for action and with your lamps lit, like servants who are waiting for their master to come back from a wedding feast. When he comes and knocks, they will open the door for him at once. How happy are those servants whose master finds them awake and ready when he returns! I tell you, he will take off his coat, have them sit down, and will wait on them. How happy they are if he finds them ready, even if he should come at midnight or even later! And you can be sure that if the owner of a house knew the time when the thief would come, he would not let the thief break into his house. And you, too, must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him.”

9.4 Passion of the Messiah

(Psalm 22:1-11, 14-19, 22-25)

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
I have cried desperately for help,
but still it does not come.
During the day I call to you, my God,
but you do not answer;
I call at night, but get no rest.
But you are enthroned as the Holy One,
the one whom Israel praises.
Our ancestors put their trust in you;
they trusted you, and you saved them.
They called to you and escaped from danger;
they trusted you and were not disappointed.

But I am no longer man; I am worm,
despised and scorned by everyone!
All who see me make fun of me;
they stick out their tongues
and shake their heads.
“You relied on the LORD”, they say.
“Why doesn’t he save you?
If the LORD likes you,
why doesn’t he help you?”

It was you who brought me safely through birth,
and when I was a baby, you kept me safe.
I have relied on you since the day I was born,
and you have always been my God.
Do not stay away from me!
Trouble is near, and there is no one to help.

My strength is gone,
gone like water spilled on the ground.
All my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like melted wax.
My throat is as dry as dust,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You have left me for dead in the dust.

A gang of evil men is around me;
like a pack of dogs they close in on me;
they tear at my hands and feet.
All my bones can be seen.
My enemies look at me and stare.
They gamble for my clothes and
divide them among themselves.

O Lord, don’t stay away from me!
Come quickly to my rescue!

I will tell my people what you have done;
I will praise you in their assembly:
“Praise him, you servant of the LORD!
Honor him, you descendants of Jacob!
Worship him, you people of Israel!
He does not neglect the poor or ignore their suffering;
he does not turn away from them,
but answers when they call for help.”

In the full assembly I will praise you
for what you have done;
in the presence of those who worship you
I will offer the sacrifices I promised.

9.3 We Glory In the Cross of Jesus Christ

(Galatians 6:11-18)

See what big letters I make as I write to you now with my own hand! The people who are trying to force you to be circumcised are the ones who want to show off and boast about external matters. They do it, however, only so that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Even those who practice circumcision do not obey the Law; they want you to be circumcised so that they can boast that you submitted to this physical ceremony. As for me, however, I will boast only about the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; for by means of his cross the world is dead to me, and I am dead to the world. It does not matter at all whether or not one is circumcised; what does matter is being a new creature. As for those who follow this rule in their lives, may peace and mercy be with them- with them and with all God’s people!

To conclude: let no one give me any more trouble, because the scars I have on my body show that I am the slave of Jesus.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, my brothers. Amen.

9.2 He Who Was God Became Man And Died On The Cross For Us

(Philippians 2:1-11)

Your life in Christ makes you strong, and his love comforts you. You have fellowship with the Spirit, and you have kindness and compassion for one another. I urge you, then, to make me completely happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and being one in soul and mind. Don’t do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. And look out for one another’s interests, not just for your own. The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had:

He always had the nature of God,
but he sis not think that by force
be should try to become equal with God.
Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up
all he had,
and took the nature of a servant.
He became like man and appeared in human likeness.
He was humble and walked the path of obedience
all the way to death- his death on the cross.
For this reason God raised him to the highest place above
and gave him the name that is greater than any other name.
And so, in honor of the name of Jesus
all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below
will fall on their knees,
and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

9.1 Jesus Dies On The Cross For Us

(Mark 15:16-27)

The soldier took Jesus inside to the courtyard of the governor’s palace and called together the rest of the company. They put a purple robe on Jesus, made a crown of thorny branches, and put it on his head. Then they begun to salute him: “Long live the King of the Jews!” They beat him over the head with a stick, spat on him, fell on their knees, and bowed down to him. When they had finished making fun to him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

On the way they met a man named Simon, who was coming into the city from the country, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon was from Cyrene and was the father of Alexander and Rufus.) They took Jesus to a place called Golgotha, which means “The Place of the Skull.” There they tried to give him wine mixed with a drug called myrrh, but Jesus would not drink it. Then they crucified him and divided his clothes among themselves, throwing dice to see who would get which piece of clothing. It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The notice of the accusation against him said: “They King of the Jews.” They also crucified two bandits with Jesus, one on his right and other on his left.

8.4 Turn Away From Evil and Do Good

(Psalm 37:1-20)

Don’t be worried on account of the wicked;
don’t be jealous of those who do wrong.
They will soon disappear like grass that dries up;
they will die like plants that wither.

Trust in the LORD and do good;
live in the land and be safe.
Seek your happiness in the LORD,
and he will give you your heart’s desire.

Give yourself to the LORD;
trust in him, and he will help you;
he will make your righteousness
shine like the noonday sun.

Be patient and wait for the LORD to act;
don’t be worried about those who prosper
or those who succeed in their evil plans.

Don’t give in to worry or anger;
it only leads to trouble.
Those who trust in the LORD will possess the land,
but the wicked will be driven out.

Soon the wicked will disappear;
you may look for them,
but you won’t find them;
but the humble will possess the land
and enjoy prosperity and peace.

The wicked man plots against the good man
and glares at him with hate.
But the LORD laughs at wicked men,
because he knows they will soon be destroyed.

The wicked draw their swords and bend their bows
to kill the poor man and needy,
to slaughter those who do what is right;
but they will be killed by their own swords,
and their bows will be smashed.

The little that a good man owns is worth
more than the wealth of all the wicked,
because the LORD will take away the strength
of the wicked,
but protect those who are good.

The LORD takes care of those who obey him,
and the land will be theirs forever.
They will not suffer when times are bad;
they will have enough in time of famine.
But the wicked will die;
the enemies of the LORD will vanish
like wild flowers;
they will disappear like smoke.

8.3 Lord, We Ask You For Mercy

(Daniel 9:15-19)

“O Lord our God, you showed your power by bringing your people out of Egypt, and your power is still remembered. We have sinned; we have done wrong. You have defended us in the past, so do not be angry with Jerusalem any longer. It is your city, your sacred hill. All the people in the neighboring countries look down on Jerusalem and on your people because of our sins and the evil our ancestors did. O God, hear my prayer and pleading. Restore your Temple, which has been destroyed; restore it so that everyone will know that you are God. Listen to us, O God; look at us and see the trouble we are in and the suffering of the city that bears your name. We are praying to you because you are merciful, not because we have done right. Lord, hear us. Lord, forgive us. Lord, listen to us, and act! In order that everyone will know that you are God, do not delay! This city and these people are yours.”

8.2 God Acted Justly When We Sinned

(Daniel 9:9-14)

You are merciful and forgiving, although we have rebelled against you. We did not listen to you, O LORD our God, when you told us to live according to the laws which you gave us through your servants the prophets. All Israel broke your laws and refused to listen to what you said. We sinned against you, and so you brought on us the curses that are written in the Law of Moses, you servant. You did what you said you would do to us and our rulers. You punished Jerusalem more severely than any other city on Earth, giving us all the punishment described in the Law of Moses. But even now, O LORD or God, we have not tried to please you by turning form our sins or by following your truth. You, O LORD our God, were prepared to punish us, and you did, because you always do what is right, and we did not listen to you.

8.1 We Have Sinned

(Daniel 9:3-8)

And I prayed earnestly to the Lord God, pleading with him, fasting, wearing sackcloth, and sitting in ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed the sins of my people.

I said, “Lord God, you are great, and we honor you. You are faithful to your covenant and show constant love to those who love you and do what you command.

“We have sinned, we have been evil, we have done wrong. We have rejected what you commanded us to do and have turned away from what you showed us was right. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our rulers, our ancestors, and our whole nation. You, Lord, always do what is right, but we have always brought disgrace on ourselves. This is true of all of us who live in Judea and in Jerusalem and of all the Israelites whom you scattered in countries near and far because they were unfaithful to you. Our kings, our rulers, and our ancestors have acted shamefully and sinned against you, Lord.

7.4 The Lord Cares About His Children

(Psalm 103)

Praise the LORD, my soul!
All my being, praise his holy name!
Praise the LORD, my soul, and do not
Forget how kind he is.
He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.
He keeps me from the grave and blesses
me with love and mercy.
He fills my life with good things,
so that I stay young and strong like an eagle.

The LORD judges in favor of the oppressed
and gives them their rights.
He revealed his plans to Moses and let
The people of Israel see his mighty deeds.
The LORD is merciful and loving, slow
to become angry and full of constant love.
He does not keep on rebuking;
he is not angry forever.
He does not punish us as we deserve or repay
us according to our sins and wrongs.
As high as the sky is above the earth, so great
is his love for those who have reverence for him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our sins from us.
As a father is kind to his children,
so kind is the LORD to those who honor him.
He knows what we are made of;
he remembers that we are dust.

As for us, our life is like grass.
We grow and flourish like a wild flower;
then the wind blows on it, and it is gone –
no one sees it again.
But for those who honor the LORD,
his love lasts forever,
and his goodness endures for all generations
of those who are true to his covenant
and who faithfully obey his commands.

The LORD place his throne in heaven;
he is king over all.
Praise the LORD, you strong and mighty angels,
who obey his commands,
who listen to what he says.
Praise the LORD, all you heavenly powers,
you servants of his, who do his will!
Praise the LORD, all his creatures in all the places
he rules.
Praise the LORD, my soul!

7.3 We Are God’s Children And We Will See Him As He Is

(1 John 3:1-3)

See how much the Father has loved us! His love is so great that we are called God’s children – and so, in fact, we are. This is why the world does not know us: it has not known God. My dear friends, we are now God’s children, but it is not yet clear what we shall become. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is. Everyone who has this hope in Christ keeps himself pure, just as Christ is pure.

7.2 Before, We Were Slaves; Now, We Are Children of God

(Galatians 4:1-7)

But now to continue – the son who will receive his father’s property is treated just like a slave while he is young, even though he really owns everything. While he is young, there are men who take care of him and manage his affairs until the time set by his father. In the same way, we too were slaves of the ruling spirits of the universe before we reached spiritual maturity. But when the right time finally came, God sent his own Son. He came as the son of a human mother and lived under the Jewish Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might become God’s sons.

To show that you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who cries out, “Father, my Father.” So then, you are no longer a slave but a son. And since you are his son, God will give you all that he has for his sons.

7.1 From The Beginning God Cares For His Children

(Hosea 11:1-4)

The LORD says,
“When Israel was a child, I loved him
and called him out of Egypt as my son.
But the more I called to him,
The more he turned away from me.
My people sacrificed to Baal;
They burned incense to idols.
Yet I was the one who taught Israel to walk.
I took my people up in my arms,
But they did not acknowledge that I took care
of them.
I drew them to me with affection and love.
I picked them up and held them to my cheek;
I bent down to them and fed them.