Pastor Mark BerlinJanuary 31st 2021
4Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, 'Do you come in peace?' 5Samuel replied, 'Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.' Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, 'Surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the LORD.' 7But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.' 8Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, 'The LORD has not chosen this one either.' 9Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, 'Nor has the LORD chosen this one.' 10Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, 'The LORD has not chosen these.' 11So he asked Jesse, 'Are these all the sons you have?' 'There is still the youngest,' Jesse answered, 'but he is tending the sheep.' Samuel said, 'Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.' 12So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the LORD said, 'Rise and anoint him; he is the one.' 13So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah.
4Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds -- his name is the LORD-- and rejoice before him. 5A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. 6God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. 7When you went out before your people, O God, when you marched through the wasteland, Selah 8the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel. 9You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance. 10Your people settled in it, and from your bounty, O God, you provided for the poor. 11The Lord announced the word, and great was the company of those who proclaimed it: 12'Kings and armies flee in haste; in the camps men divide the plunder. 13Even while you sleep among the campfires, the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver, its feathers with shining gold.' 14When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land, it was like snow fallen on Zalmon. 15The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains; rugged are the mountains of Bashan. 16Why gaze in envy, O rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign, where the LORD himself will dwell forever? 17The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands; the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary. 18When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men, even from the rebellious-- that you, O LORD God, might dwell there. 19Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Selah 20Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death.
12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need you!' And the head cannot say to the feet, 'I don't need you!' 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
31He told them another parable: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.' 33He told them still another parable: 'The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.' 34Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. 35So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: 'I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.' 36Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, 'Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.' 37He answered, 'The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40'As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. 44'The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.