Scripture for September 4, 2011 Acts 17:22-28The Message (MSG)
22-23So Paul took his stand
in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. "It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion
seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one
inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I'm here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who
you're dealing with. 24-29"The
God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn't live in custom-made shrines or need
the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn't take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures
don't make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of
time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn't
play hide-and-seek with us. He's not remote; he's near. We live and move in him, can't get away from him!
One of your poets said it well: 'We're the God-created.' Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn't make
a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?
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Scripture for September 25, 2011 Genesis
8:20-22 20-21 Noah built an altar to God. He selected clean animals
and birds from every species and offered them as burnt offerings on the altar. God
smelled the sweet fragrance and thought to himself, "I'll never again curse the ground because of people. I know
they have this bent toward evil from an early age, but I'll never again kill off everything living as I've just
done.
22 For as long as Earth lasts,
planting
and harvest, cold and heat,
Summer and winter, day and night
will
never stop." Genesis
9:12-17The Message (MSG) 12-16
God continued, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and everything living around you and
everyone living after you. I'm putting my rainbow in the clouds, a sign of the covenant between me and the Earth.
From now on, when I form a cloud over the Earth and the rainbow appears in the cloud, I'll remember my covenant between
me and you and everything living, that never again will floodwaters destroy all life. When the rainbow appears in the cloud,
I'll see it and remember the eternal covenant between God and everything living, every last living creature on Earth."
17 And God said,
"This is the sign of the covenant that I've set up between me and everything living on the Earth." Revelation 22:1-5The Message (MSG)
Revelation 22 1-5 Then the Angel showed me Water-of-Life River, crystal bright. It
flowed from the Throne of God and the Lamb, right down the middle of the street. The Tree of Life was planted on each side
of the River, producing twelve kinds of fruit, a ripe fruit each month. The leaves of the Tree are for healing the nations.
Never again will anything be cursed. The Throne of God and of the Lamb is at the center. His servants will offer God service—worshiping,
they'll look on his face, their foreheads mirroring God. Never again will there be any night. No one will need lamplight
or sunlight. The shining of God, the Master, is all the light anyone needs. And they will rule with him age after age after
age.
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Scripture for September 18, 2011 Mark 1:9-13The Message (MSG)
9-11At this time, Jesus came
from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. The moment he came out of the water, he saw the sky split
open and God's Spirit, looking like a dove, come down on him. Along with the Spirit, a voice: "You are my Son,
chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life." 12-13At once, this same Spirit pushed Jesus out into the wild. For forty wilderness days and nights
he was tested by Satan. Wild animals were his companions, and angels took care of him.
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