Pastor Jason BauerJuly 28th 2019
20Then the LORD said, 'The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.' 22The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. 23Then Abraham approached him and said: 'Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?' 26The LORD said, 'If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.' 27Then Abraham spoke up again: 'Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?' 'If I find forty-five there,' he said, 'I will not destroy it.' 29Once again he spoke to him, 'What if only forty are found there?' He said, 'For the sake of forty, I will not do it.' 30Then he said, 'May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?' He answered, 'I will not do it if I find thirty there.' 31Abraham said, 'Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?' He said, 'For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.' 32Then he said, 'May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?' He answered, 'For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.' 33When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
1Of David. I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; before the 'gods' I will sing your praise. 2I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. 3When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted. 4May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth. 5May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great. 6Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar. 7Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me. 8The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever-- do not abandon the works of your hands.
6So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. 9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.