some of 84

 Psalm 84

1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
    O Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
2 I long, yes, I faint with longing
    to enter the courts of the Lord.
With my whole being, body and soul,
    I will shout joyfully to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
    and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young
at a place near your altar,
    O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God!
4 What joy for those who can live in your house,
    always singing your praises. 

10 A single day in your courts
    is better than a thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God
    than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.
11 For the Lord God is our sun and our shield.
    He gives us grace and glory.
The Lord will withhold no good thing
    from those who do what is right.
12 O Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
    what joy for those who trust in you.

our rep

John 13 

34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: 

Love each other. 

Just as I have loved you, 

you should love each other. 

35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

"Your love for one another will prove to the world you are my disciples."

These days, there are a lot of things Christians are known for.

I'm not so sure that being a loving people is at the top of the list.

I'm also not encouraged to think it would be listed in the top ten things people think about us.

And I'm afraid there's not much chance of that situation changing any time soon...

We've lost our way, folks...

if...then

John 12 

44 Jesus shouted to the crowds, 

“If you trust me, 

you are trusting not only me, 

but also God who sent me. 

45 For when you see me, 

you are seeing the one who sent me. 

46 I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, 

so that all who put their trust in me 

will no longer remain in the dark."

thru faith

Romans 1 

16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. 

It is the power of God at work, 

saving everyone who believes... 

17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. 

This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. 

As the Scriptures say, 

“It is through faith that a righteous person has life."

good shepherd

John 10 

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.

17 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”

love each other

1 John 4 

7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, 

for love comes from God. 

Anyone who loves 

is a child of God 

and knows God. 

8 But anyone who does not love 

does not know God, 

for God is love.

9 God showed how much he loved us 

by sending his one and only Son into the world 

so that we might have eternal life through him. 

10 This is real love—not that we loved God, 

but that he loved us 

and sent his Son 

as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, 

we surely ought to love each other. 

12 No one has ever seen God. 

But if we love each other, 

God lives in us, 

and his love is brought to full expression in us.

13 And God has given us his Spirit 

as proof that we live in him 

and he in us. 

14 Furthermore, 

we have seen with our own eyes 

and now testify 

that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 

15 All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God 

have God living in them, 

and they live in God. 

16 We know how much God loves us, 

and we have put our trust in his love.

God is love, 

and all who live in love live in God, 

and God lives in them. 

17 And as we live in God, 

our love grows more perfect. 

So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, 

but we can face him with confidence 

because we live like Jesus here in this world.

18 Such love has no fear, 

because perfect love expels all fear. 

If we are afraid, 

it is for fear of punishment, 

and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 

19 We love each other because he loved us first.

20 If someone says, 

“I love God,” 

but hates a fellow believer, 

that person is a liar; 

for if we don’t love people we can see, 

how can we love God, 

whom we cannot see? 

21 And he has given us this command: 

Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.

chapter 3

1 John 3 

1 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. 2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

4 Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. 5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. 6 Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.

7 Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. 8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. 10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.

11 This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. 13 So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.

14 If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. 15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.

16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?

18 Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

21 Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. 22 And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.

23 And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.