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it is. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
Luke 12:54-56; p. 155
. Bird watching
Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?
Matthew 6:26-27; p. 19
. The flowers of the field
Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild owers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.
Matthew 6:28-29; p. 20
. Sun and rain
Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?
Matthew 5:44-47; p. 17
. Sun and rain
The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them he addressed this parable. “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he nds it? And when he does nd it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety- nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.
Luke 15:1-7; p. 159
PATIENCE: See Hope
PEACE
. The message of Christmas
“Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Luke 2:14; p. 125
. Another peace
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
John 14:27; p. 219
. Bringing peace
Into whatever house you enter, rst say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.
Luke 10:5-6; p. 147
. Non-violence
You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, o er no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
Matthew 5:38-45; p. 17
. Where do conflicts come from?
Where do the wars and where do the con icts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members? You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you ght and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask. You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
James 4:1-3; p. 504
. Called to peace
Let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful.
Colossians 3:15; p. 437
. Reconciled with God
So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:17-20; p. 377
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