Merredin Uniting Church

On June 2^nd we will celebrate the Diamond (60^th) anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Already the year has been filled with celebrations right across the Commonwealth … and there will still be much celebrating.

What is it about a Sovereign that we want to celebrate their coronation? And its not peculiar to this present Queen .. we have done it for Kings and Queens throughout the centuries! And why do the majority of Australians still want to hold on to the Queen as Head of State?

We don’t celebrate the accession to power of Prime Ministers, or Presidents, though; for some strange reason they are not good enough.

Could it be that we have some deep spiritual understanding of sovereignty which is more than man made?

And how did kings and queens gain their sovereignty? Was it by force, might or political intrigue? In human terms, probably all of the above – in the dark vestiges of times past, they gained power and control over land and nations and these have been passed on from generation to generation with a very careful protection of family lines and associations.

But we have another King. And we are citizens of another kingdom, which is not of this earth, but called into being by the One who isKing of kings and Lord of lords.

Daniel 7:2-18

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. 3 Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.

4 “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it.

5 “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’

6 “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.

7 “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.

8 “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully.

9 “As I looked,

“thrones were set in place,

and the Ancient of Days took his seat.

His clothing was as white as snow;

the hair of his head was white like wool.

His throne was flaming with fire,

and its wheels were all ablaze.

10 A river of fire was flowing,

coming out from before him.

Thousands upon thousands attended him;

ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.

The court was seated,

and the books were opened.

11 “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. 12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)

13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

 

15 “I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me. 16 I approached one of those standing there and asked him the true meaning of all this.

“So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things: 17 ‘The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth. 18 But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’

 

Daniel had a vision …

He saw four beasts – a lion (Babylon), a bear (Medo-Persian Empire. Three ribs = Lydia, Babylon & Egypt), a leopard (Alexander’s Empire; swift & divided into four after his sudden death) and a terrifying, frightening beast which was different from all the other beasts, (Rome, iron chariots, 10 hills). Little horn = anti-Christ.

 

And then … superimposed over this vision, because it seemed to imply an answer to the vision Daniel saw the thrones of heaven.

He saw the Ancient of Days come to take His place.

He saw that His throne was flaming with fire and a river of fire was coming out before Him.

Millions (1000 times 1000) attended Him and billions (10 000 times 10 000) stood before Him.

The court was seated and the books were opened …….

 

And then, one who was like the son of man, came with the clouds of heaven and was led into the presence of the Ancient of Days. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power.

All peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped Him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom cannot be destroyed.

 

This is the picture of the ascension of Jesus from heaven’s perspective.

 

In Acts we see it from the human perspective. Jesus rising up from a hill near Bethany till He is hidden in the clouds.

 

Daniel sees Jesus in the vision … coming with the clouds and being led into the presence of the Ancient of Days. Jesus coming into heaven. Jesus being given authority, glory and sovereign power. He sees the everlasting dominion being birthed – Jesus will reign for ever and ever. He sees the indestructible kingdom come into place.

 

What a vision ! What a sight it must have been !

 

From our perspective it is different. We see only that Jesus disappears into the clouds. Gone. Once He was here, now He is not. He was crucified and rose from the dead but now he is gone. BUT HE REIGNS FOREVER AS KING OF KINGS.

 

Zulu – Akekho Ofana Akekho ofana no Jesu Akekho ofana naye Akekho ofana no Jesu Akekho akhekho naya. Sahamba hamba lutho lutho Safuna funa lutho lutho Sajika jika lutho lutho Akekho ofana naye

English Translation There’s no one, there’s no one like Jesus. There’s no one there’s no one like him. (x2) We are walking, walking, here, there We are turning, turning , here, there We are searching, searching, here, there There’s no one,? there’s no one like him.

A news report from CBN News on the World Prayer Assembly in Indonesia this week.
Can prayer change the world? Watch and see …

Tags: 24-7, 24-7 prayer, Church, Holy Spirit, Merredin, prayer

Adapted by Kevin Tengvall from the Sermon delivered October 24, 2009 by Pastor Don Gettys

A gorilla in a zoo supposedly stood holding a Bible in one hand and a copy of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species in the other hand.  He looked confused.  Someone asked: “What are you doing?”  The gorilla supposedly said, “Well, I’m trying to decide if I’m my brothers keeper or my keepers brother.”

I would like to read a verse in the Bible.  It’s found in the book of Genesis.  Genesis, chapter 1, and verse 1.  The very first verse of the Bible.  I think most of you probably have this memorized.  It says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. “  How many of you believe that?  I can see why people believe in evolution.  I understand that. The first person that God created was Adam.  The second person was Eve.  It got better.  But it has not gotten better since then.  I believe in creation.  I do not believe in evolution.

Charles Darwin formulated his theory of evolution 150 years ago this year. Let’s talk about it.  Many respected scientists say we evolved.  Many respected Bible verses say we were created.  That’s a dichotomy.  You can’t have it both ways.  I do not want to criticize honest scientists who believe in evolution, I simply want to share with you why I believe that God is our Creator.  I want to share why I do NOT believe in evolution.

I’ve noticed that 100% of any sensible written information originates from a person with intelligence.  This is true if the writing is on the wall of an ancient cave or if it is found on a headstone in the cemetery or in your E-Mail this morning.  Even the graffiti on the Trains comes from human intelligence, although I am not sure how intelligent that person really was.  Think about your DNA.  The information encoded on the DNA which is inside every cell of every living creature is simply written information.  Dr. Walter Bradley said “Each and every cell in the human body contains more information than is contained in all thirty volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica.”  Each cell contains that much information.  Who wrote that information?  “It’s certainly reasonable to make the inference that this isn’t the random product of unguided nature, but is the unmistakable sign of an Intelligent Designer.”

If humans have evolved it would be reasonable to believe then that if we gave toddlers a large pile of blocks with letters on them that eventually some toddlers would start writing or put them in some semblance of order that would make sense without any help from an older person. I imagine that the majority of kids would play with them at random, I am yet to hear of any child evolving enough to know what the letters or numbers on a block mean until they are taught

Isaiah 40:26 makes an interesting statement.  It says, “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens.  Who created all these?  He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls each by its name.”  Even science has not done that.  “Because of His great power and His mighty strength not one of them is missing.”  He keeps track of every one.  He created the heavens.  He created the stars.  And He created everything that is.

For me, the theory of evolution contradicts the scientific law called the second law of Thermodynamics.  It says that in any system, energy moves from order to disorder.  In simple language, things tend to break down.  Sounds like Murphy’s Law?!?!  The earth that God created is waxing old.  It is breaking down.  Life spans used to be near 1000 years.  My hair does not get thicker, it just falls out.  I wish my hair were evolving.

Have you noticed that the Earth is in an exact position so that the average temperature is balanced between the freezing point of water (0c) and the normal body temperature of humans (37c). If the average temperature ever varied very far above or below these two extremes for very long, we could not survive. If the Earth didn’t rotate every 24 hours but rotated every 36 hours the temperature at noon would be well over 37.8 and the temperature at midnight would drop below freezing even in summer. How could you raise a garden?   We would probably have daily cyclones, and storms due to the wild temperature changes. (Thinkquest.org)

Psalms 19 verse 1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”  God made the beautiful heavens. God makes beautiful babies.

Have you ever heard of the “Ductus Arteriosus”?  Before a baby is born this bypass valve routes blood directly to the developing fetus’s extremities and not to it’s lungs.  At the exact moment of birth suddenly the blood must pass through the lungs to receive oxygen because now the baby is supposed to breath air.  In a flash, a flap descends like a curtain, deflecting the blood flow, and a muscle constricts the ductus arteriosus.  After performing that one act, the muscle gradually dissolves and gets absorbed by the rest of the body.  Without this split second adjustment, the baby could never survive outside the womb.  – Dr. Paul Brand.   Imagine a muscle designed to be used only once.  Did that evolve?  To me that shows God’s design.  Psalm 139, verse 14 says, “We are fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Do cars evolve?  Many, many centuries ago, all this iron, glass, rubber, plastic, fabric, leather, and wires came up out of the ground.  Holes evolved at just the right places, and the upholstery began to weave itself together.  After a while threads appeared on bolts and nuts and amazingly each bolt found nuts with matching threads. And gradually everything sort of screwed together tightly in place. A little later some correctly shaped glass glued itself in the right places. And you see these tires?  They became round over the years.  And they found themselves the right size metal wheels. And they sort of popped on. They also filled themselves with air somehow. And the thing rolled under this tree.  Gas leaked into the tank.  And one day, many centuries ago, a group of folk were walking along found this vehicle sitting under the tree.  And one of them looked at it and said:  I think we should call it ‘car.’  Today, These little cars have an amazing way of multiplying themselves year after year, even changing ever so slightly to meet the demands of the public.  The process is called “automutations”. [Chuck Swindol]  Could that happen?  Cars don’t evolve.  Legos don’t evolve.  People don’t evolve.  All of that has to have a creator.

Who gave our tongue the flexibility to form words and a brain to understand them, but denied it to all animals?  Microsoft programmers developed complex codes to create Windows XP software.  Our genetic code is much more sophisticated.  It equips the human body with an elaborate miraculous duplication system whereby it can automatically replicate itself.  Can a computer do that?  If you soaked a blank CD in a swamp, would Windows XP eventually evolve?  If I immersed my copy of Windows XP software in that swamp for a million years, would it eventually become Windows Vista?   I doubt it.  Things don’t improve.  They go the opposite direction.

I believe in creation.  The church believes and teaches that we were created by the hand of God in seven literal 24 hour days forming a week identical in time to what we now experience.  If you believe in evolution, I will still respect you, but just know that this church believes in creation, not even Theistic evolution.  It is critical that in these last days we stand firm in what the word of God teaches.  We’ve got to stand firm on the word of God.

Some people believe that, “Well, a day is a thousand years.”  Think about that.  How long is a day?  It’s 12 hours.  How long is a night?  It’s 12 hours.  We call that one day, but actually it’s two 12 hour periods of darkness and light.  Let’s suppose that the first day was a thousand years.  You would have how much light?  5 hundred years of light followed by 5 hundred years of darkness.  Would anything have survived?

The first angels message includes a call to the world to worship God as our Creator.  Look at Revelation 14:6.  It says, “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.’”  God wants, in the last days, a people who will worship Him as Creator.  That’s why you come to church.  To worship God.

Speaking of Jesus, Colossians 1:16 says:  “For by Him all things were created.”  He created everything.  Verse 17.  “He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.”  What is created is held together by Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of the Heavenly Father.

In these last days we have a clear choice.  Either believe the Bible and therefore believe in creation…. OR….reject the Bible and reject God and accept evolution.  The two are not compatible.  Evolution starts with chaos, basically.  You start with primitive little squiggly things which eventually evolve into humans.  It goes from ‘goo’ to ‘you’.  There is no perfect state from which to fall from, and so Adam and Eve did not have a fall.  That makes the plan of salvation worthless.  You can’t fall below the basement, or ground zero.  If there was no fall by Adam and Eve then there can be no salvation from the fall. This eliminates the need for Jesus’ death to save us from our sin.  Creation and evolution are not compatible.  Both demand faith, and I think it demands less faith to believe in creation.  I choose to believe in creation.

Further to that I do believe that animals and humans can adapt to their environment, this is often confused as evolution but it is not, adaption is a learnt behaviour often from necessity. No animal or human can decide to grow a limb or breathe in water or fish decide to leave the water and walk on land, yet there are evolutionists that would have us believe that is what happened billions of years ago.

The Bible is very clear:  Psalm 33:9  “For He spoke, and it came to be.” Life happened quickly,  He spoke and it was. Many evolutionists believe in a slow mutation.  Billions of years ago the humble amoeba became an invertebrate which became an amphibian and then a reptile, a quadruped, an ape and eventually a human being.  To me this means that as we look around at the world right now we should see everything in the process of changing into something just a bit higher than itself.  We should find millions of living half-developed fish trying to transform themselves into amphibians.  Millions of living reptiles that are halfway to becoming birds.  I don’t find it.   Where are the millions of ancestors of highly formed life forms?  The truth is found in the Bible.   Genesis 1:25 says each was made after his KIND.   Each remains in its own species. Everything pretty well stays within a well defined boundary where God put it.  There is adaptation, but no complete crossover from species to species. Snakes do not become birds.  Horses and donkeys can mate but their offspring mules can’t, if evolution was real wouldn’t it be logical that they would be able to breed?

It is interesting to note that the humble donkey (Equus asinus) and the Horse (Equus caballus) and even the domestic horse (Equus ferus caballus) have a scientific name but the Mule as a hybrid does not. Which makes me think that even scientists doubt their own logic.

It bothers me to read in the Chattanooga Free Press (11-25-1996) a statement from Catholic Cardinal John O’Connor made in St. Patrick’s Cathedral where he said: that Adam and Eve may have been “some other form” than human and “It is possible that the first living creature was a lower animal”.  He is saying that humans possibly evolved from lower animals.   I would say that if he is right and if God created Adam in His image and Adam was an animal, then we are no more than animals and so is God!  Even the Pope indicates that it is acceptable now for Catholics to believe and teach evolution.

How does that synchronize with Ephesians 3:9 which says God created all things by Jesus Christ.  And how about John 1:3  “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”  How do you get that together?  Can we take scissors to the Bible?  Can we pick and choose?

Where did life come from?  If you believe in evolution you might as well believe that one day millions of years ago a fully loaded garbage truck fell off of another planet and eventually impacted this earth ending up deep into the bottom of the murky water of a swamp deep in the heart of Africa.  From there all life eventually came.  Unbelievable!

Charles Darwin himself said, and I quote him, “To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.”  Even he did not believe that that could ever take place.  Friends, the next time you see a baby, look carefully at those beautiful eyes and just see if you think those eyes evolved.

Seriously, I believe that we all came from the hand of God!  Do you believe that?  Genesis 1:1 “In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

I’d like to conclude by reading one verse, the fourth commandment in Exodus 20:8.  “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God.  In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates.”  Why?  Verse 11 tells you why.  “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”  It would be my opinion that there never would have been an athiest or an evolutionist had the Sabbath always been kept, because every time you keep the Sabbath, you are commemorating creation.  Seven days.  Where do we get the seven day week from?  You don’t get that from the rotation of the moon or the sun or anything else.  That comes direct from creation.

I like creation because it answers the questions of life.  Where did I come from?  Why am I here?  And where am I going?  It answers those questions.  I am not some haphazard arrangement of molecules that were colliding together in a swamp.  I am a being that God loves and that He created from His hand that I might more fully reflect His image in my life.  That’s why we exist.  I believe we were made by a loving hand of God.  We are hand-made and I praise God for His love.  I want to sing about the mighty power of God in my life because He made me.  I hope you believe in creation and if you do I hope you will love the Creator because He made you to love Him.

Dear Father.  You have loaned us life.  Our lives are borrowed and we pray that we will return them to You with interest.  That we will honor You and uplift Your cause.  Be good neighbors.  Be good citizens of Your kingdom.  Dismiss us with the joy of Jesus Christ in our life, our home, and in all that we do and say and think.  We pray in Jesus, our Creator’s name.  Amen.

 

Tags: bible, Creation, E100, E100 sermon, Genesis, Merredin, sermon

Living Dangerously ….

Perhaps there is no more dangerous way of living than behind the enemy lines; to be a champion of another Kingdom while living in alien territory.

And, when we choose to follow Christ, that is exactly what we are doing.

Peter challenges us (1 Peter 2:11) to live as aliens and strangers in the world, abstaining from sinful desires and living such good lives among the pagans, that though they accuse us of doing wrong, they may see our good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

He goes on in that passage to speak of the challenges we face from the authorities, from foolish men, from our masters, from those who insult us and even from those we love; our spouses and our fellow Christians.

 

In Mark 1:15 & 16, Jesus says, “The time has come, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news! Come, follow me.”

It is an invitation to repent, believe and to follow Jesus in discovering the beauty of His Kingdom.

This Kingdom is the realm of God’s action. It is where God is present … His Kingdom is not in some faraway place beyond the grave, but right here with us. He is active in this world: it is His world, and He came to redeem it. And everywhere He acts, His Kingdom is present. When He answers a prayer, saves a soul, heals a body, gives sight to the blind ….

And He calls us into this redeemed world: to enter into it and to partake of it and to champion it.

 

And its dangerous!

Paul describes this crossing over in Colossians 1:13, saying that we have been rescued from the dominion of darkness and (have been) brought into the kingdom of the Son.

Its a dangerous place because the geography and the politics of the old dominion of darkness have not changed. We continue to live in this geo-socio-political space but under a different banner, with a new ruler and a new set of values.

 

No longer friends of the world we have become “aliens and strangers” in this world; and we have a subversive mission. Our mission is to proclaim this Kingdom come, to pray for it and to present the redeeming action of God as the only way in which anything in this world will ever make sense.

 

Dallas Willard makes the point that it is not enough to preach the good news about the Kingdom, we also need to manifest it through the transformation of our own character into Christlikeness. And, he says, the only way in which we can do that is by placing our confidence in Jesus as Lord of all – Lord over life, sickness, circumstances, demons and death.

We need to show that our understanding of the omnipresence and omniscience of God translates into the reality of our everyday life.

This Kingdom life is detailed for us in Psalm 145:10-12

10 All you have made will praise you, O Lord;

your saints will extol you.

11 They will tell of the glory of your kingdom

and speak of your might,

12 so that all men may know of your mighty acts

and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.

 

And our way of living in it is given in Psalm 55:22 – “Cast your burden upon the lord and He will sustain you” and 1 Peter 5:7 – “Cast your anxiety upon Him because he cares for you.”

God is an all-loving and all-powerful God who is active in this world. Indeed the whole story of the Bible, as you will discover in following through with the E100 Bible Reading Challenge is that God is constantly active – speaking, guiding, leading, coercing, directing, chastising. All with one purpose, that none should be lost and that all should come to repentance.

Coming into the kingdom means that we understand this clearly, and though we live behind enemy lines (in the place of the dominion of darkness) we are not overcome. Indeed, quite the opposite – we are confident of the victory for we have seen it in our own lives at our conversion and every day since then!

 

REPENT!

This idea of repentance has been much misunderstood. We hear explanations of reversal of behaviour, of deep confession and so on. Perhaps a good way to understand the Greek word metanoeite is given by Prof Dallas Willard. He says, “Think again about how you have been thinking.” Or, get a new insight about things as they really are … think about your life again, how different would it be in the light of God’s immediate presence and availability.

How would you behave?

What would be your priorities?

Who would be your friends?

 

BELIEVE!

Repentance is a decision about the past and a resolve for the future.

Believing shifts us into yet another paradigm. Now the resolve, based on our past and our new experience of God, must become a way of life.

Just as repentance must shape our thinking so believing must determine our values.

Who do you trust? Who influences your decisions?

How different would you be if you understood that God actually was at hand, in your every day, as Lord of your life?

Would you be anxious about anything?

Would you be self conscious about your abilities?

Would you be fearful of your future?

 

FOLLOW!

Repentance is a change of thinking.

Believing is a change in values.

Following is a change in behaviour.

 

When Jesus called the disciples to follow, He required them to leave behind their careers – Peter, James, John, Andrew and others had to leave behind their fishing business. Matthew, his tax collectors box.

In essence they had to leave behind everything on which they had depended. When Jesus calls us to follow Him He still does that. It may not mean that you must resign from your job or walk off your farm; but it will mean that you must uncouple yourself from your safety net(s). It is the safety nets which compromise our relationship with the Kingdom. This was Judas’ problem – he wanted to be both; in the Kingdom of God but also he wanted to continue as a political provocateur (His former role: Iscariot means assassin).

 

We need to remember that when Jesus called His disciples, it was for an historic and unique purpose – they had to be WITH Him for the next three years in order to be equipped for the ministry of being the springboard of the Gospel.

 

In calling us Jesus wants us not necessarily to be apostles but He does want us to be agents of the Kingdom. And whenever we are called into the kingdom it is just not possible to follow Jesus unless we do it with everything we have.

In your work, do everything with and for Jesus. That means unscrupulous honesty in your dealing with God, your suppliers, your customers, your fellow workers and your means of production.

It means trusting God into the unknown; taking risks, and rising to challenges which He might lay before you.

But above everything else “following Jesus” means that we must remain close to Him. He must always be in our sight, we must not risk any kind of detour.

Our present life is lived “in enemy territory” – we are behind the lines, so to speak. Our danger is not that we would be found out – indeed, part of our mission is that we must be found out – no, rather our danger is that we would get sidetracked; that we would step into an enemy minefield; that we would lose sight of where our leader is taking us.

 

In numerous places in his letters, Paul gives us guidelines for living behind the enemy lines. Perhaps the best one is in Colossians 3.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.