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.

wide, long, high, deep

This is Paul, writing to the followers of Jesus in Ephesus...

Ephesians 3 

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 

15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 

16 I pray that out of his glorious riches 

he may strengthen you 

with power through his Spirit 

in your inner being, 

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 

And I pray that you, 

being rooted and established in love, 

18 may have power, 

together with all the Lord’s holy people, 

to grasp how wide 

and long 

and high 

and 

deep 

is the love of Christ, 

19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge;

that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

20 By his might power at work within us, 

he is able to accomplish 

infinitely more 

than we would ever dare to ask 

or hope. 

21 To him be glory in the church 

and in Christ Jesus 

throughout all generations, 

for ever and ever! Amen.

mercy

Ephesians 2 

4 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.

Paul's hope

Ephesians 1 

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms 

because we are united with Christ. 

4 Even before he made the world, 

God loved us 

and chose us in Christ 

to be holy 

and without fault in his eyes. 

5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family 

by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. 

This is what he wanted to do, 

and it gave him great pleasure. 

6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us 

who belong to his dear Son. 

7 He is so rich in kindness and grace 

that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son 

and forgave our sins. 

8 He has showered his kindness on us, 

along with all wisdom and understanding.

9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ;

which is to fulfill his own good plan. 

10 And this is the plan: 

At the right time 

he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ;

everything in heaven and on earth. 

11 Furthermore, 

because we are united with Christ, 

we have received an inheritance from God, 

for he chose us in advance, 

and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

12 God’s purpose was 

that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ 

would bring praise and glory to God. 

13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, 

the Good News that God saves you. 

And when you believed in Christ, 

he identified you as his own 

by giving you the Holy Spirit, 

whom he promised long ago. 

14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised 

and that he has purchased us to be his own people. 

He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

LGLO

Mark 12

28 One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

32 The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. 33 And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”

34 Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

So, boil all of what Jesus said about the matter?

Love God, love others.

LGLO

He knows

Psalm 103

12 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!

we are able

Mark 10 

35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.”

36 “What is your request?” he asked.

37 They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”

38 But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”

39 “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”

Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. 40 But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”

41 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 42 So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 43 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”