John 6:1-15 and Psalm 48

John 6:1-15
1 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3 Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?" 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, 9 "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?" 10 Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost." 13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world."

15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

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Psalm 48

1   Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised
          in the city of our God.
     His holy mountain, 2beautiful in elevation,
          is the joy of all the earth,
     Mount Zion, in the far north,
          the city of the great King.
3   Within its citadels God
          has shown himself a sure defense.

4   Then the kings assembled,
          they came on together.
5   As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
          they were in panic, they took to flight;
6   trembling took hold of them there,
          pains as of a woman in labor,
7   as when an east wind shatters
          the ships of Tarshish.
8   As we have heard, so have we seen
          in the city of the LORD of hosts,
     in the city of our God,
          which God establishes forever. Selah

9   We ponder your steadfast love, O God,
          in the midst of your temple.
10  Your name, O God, like your praise,
          reaches to the ends of the earth.
     Your right hand is filled with victory.
11       Let Mount Zion be glad,
     let the towns of Judah rejoice
          because of your judgments.

12  Walk about Zion, go all around it,
          count its towers,
13  consider well its ramparts;
          go through its citadels,
     that you may tell the next generation
14       that this is God,
     our God forever and ever.
          He will be our guide forever.

Psalm 30

1   I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up,
          and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
2   O LORD my God, I cried to you for help,
          and you have healed me.
3   O LORD, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
          restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

4   Sing praises to the LORD, O you his faithful ones,
          and give thanks to his holy name.
5   For his anger is but for a moment;
          his favor is for a lifetime.
     Weeping may linger for the night,
          but joy comes with the morning.

6   As for me, I said in my prosperity,
          “I shall never be moved.”
7   By your favor, O LORD,
          you had established me as a strong mountain;
     you hid your face;
          I was dismayed.
8   To you, O LORD, I cried,
          and to the LORD I made supplication:
9   “What profit is there in my death,
          if I go down to the Pit?
     Will the dust praise you?
          Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10  Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me!
          O LORD, be my helper!”
11  You have turned my mourning into dancing;
          you have taken off my sackcloth
          and clothed me with joy,
12  so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
          O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

Psalm 112

1   Praise the LORD!
          Happy are those who fear the LORD,
          who greatly delight in his commandments.
2   Their descendants will be mighty in the land;
          the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3   Wealth and riches are in their houses,
          and their righteousness endures forever.
4   They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright;
          they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.
5   It is well with those who deal generously and lend,
          who conduct their affairs with justice.
6   For the righteous will never be moved;
          they will be remembered forever.
7   They are not afraid of evil tidings;
          their hearts are firm, secure in the LORD.
8   Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid;
          in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
9   They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor;
          their righteousness endures forever;
          their horn is exalted in honor.
10  The wicked see it and are angry;
          they gnash their teeth and melt away;
          the desire of the wicked comes to nothing.

Psalm 47 and Matthew 9:1-8

Psalm 47

[1]   Clap your hands, all you peoples;  

          shout to God with loud songs of joy.  

[2]   For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome,  

          a great king over all the earth.  

[3]   He subdued peoples under us,  

          and nations under our feet.  

[4]   He chose our heritage for us,  

          the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah

[5]   God has gone up with a shout,  

          the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.  

[6]   Sing praises to God, sing praises;  

          sing praises to our King, sing praises.  

[7]   For God is the king of all the earth;  

          sing praises with a psalm.

[8]   God is king over the nations;  

          God sits on his holy throne.  

[9]   The princes of the peoples gather  

          as the people of the God of Abraham.  

     For the shields of the earth belong to God;  

          he is highly exalted.

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Matthew 9:1-8

[1]And after getting into a boat he crossed the sea and came to his own town.

[2]And just then some people were carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven." [3]Then some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." [4]But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? [5]For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Stand up and walk'? [6]But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" - he then said to the paralytic - "Stand up, take your bed and go to your home." [7]And he stood up and went to his home. [8]When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings. 

Psalm 99 and Ephesians 4:1-16

Psalm 99

[1]   The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble!   
         He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!   
[2]   The LORD is great in Zion;   
         he is exalted over all the peoples.   
[3]   Let them praise your great and awesome name.   
         Holy is he!   
[4]   Mighty King, lover of justice,   
         you have established equity;   
    you have executed justice   
         and righteousness in Jacob.   
[5]   Extol the LORD our God;   
         worship at his footstool.   
         Holy is he!   



[6]   Moses and Aaron were among his priests,   
         Samuel also was among those who called on his name.   
         They cried to the LORD, and he answered them.   
[7]   He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;   
         they kept his decrees,   
         and the statutes that he gave them.

[8]   O LORD our God, you answered them;   
         you were a forgiving God to them,   
         but an avenger of their wrongdoings.   
[9]   Extol the LORD our God,   
         and worship at his holy mountain;   
         for the LORD our God is holy.

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Ephesians 4:1-16

[1]I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, [2]with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, [3]making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. [4]There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, [5]one Lord, one faith, one baptism, [6]one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. 

[7]But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. [8]Therefore it is said, "When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people." [9](When it says, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? [10]He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) [11]The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, [12]to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, [13]until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. [14]We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. [15]But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, [16]from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in
love. 

1 Samuel 16:1-13a and Ephesians 3:14-21

1 Samuel 16:1-13a

[1]The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons." [2]Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.' [3]Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you." [4]Samuel did what the LORD commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, "Do you come peaceably?"
[5]He said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

[6]When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed is now before the LORD." [7]But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." [8]Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one." [9]Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one."
[10]Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen any of these." [11]Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here." [12]He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one." [13]Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward.

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Ephesians 3:14-21

[14]For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, [15]from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. [16]I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, [17]and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. [18]I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, [19]and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

[20]Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, [21]to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Joshua 1:1-9 and Psalm 124

Joshua 1:1-9

[1]After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, [2]"My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. [3]Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. [4]From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. [5]No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. [6]Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. [7]Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. [8]This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. [9]I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

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Psalm 124

[1]   If it had not been the LORD who was on our side  

          -- let Israel now say --  

[2]   if it had not been the LORD who was on our side,  

          when our enemies attacked us,  

[3]   then they would have swallowed us up alive,  

          when their anger was kindled against us;  

[4]   then the flood would have swept us away,  

          the torrent would have gone over us;  

[5]   then over us would have gone  

          the raging waters.

[6]   Blessed be the LORD,  

          who has not given us  

          as prey to their teeth.   

[7]   We have escaped like a bird  

          from the snare of the fowlers;  

     the snare is broken,  

          and we have escaped.

[8]   Our help is in the name of the LORD,  

          who made heaven and earth.