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    He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain — first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

 

    Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, itgrows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.”

    With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

    Mark 5:26-34

    Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

    For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him whodied for them and was raised again.

    So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17

     It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High

     to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,

     to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp.

     For you make me glad by your deeds, O Lord; I sing for joy at the works of your hands.

 

     The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;

    planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.

    They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, 

    proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.

Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15

 

 

    “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the field will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. 

Ezekial 17:22-24

    It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High.

Psalm 92:1

    One time Jesus entered a house, and the crowds began to gather again. Soon he and his disciples couldn’t even find time to eat. When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away, “He’s out of his mind,” they said.

     But the teachers of religious law who had arrived from Jerusalem said, “He’s possessed by Satan, the prince of demons. That’s where he gets the power to cast out the demons.”

    Jesus called them over and responded with an illustration. “How can Satan cast out Satan?” he asked. “A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse. Similarly, a family  splintered by feuding will fall apart. And if Satan is divided and fights against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive. Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a stroung man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger — someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.

     I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences. He told them this because they were saying. “He’s possessed by an evil spirit.”

     Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him. They stood outside and sent word for him to come out and talk with them. There was a crowd sitting around Jesus, and someone said, “Your moher and your brothers are outside asking for your.”

    Jesus replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he looked at those arend him and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does God’s will is my brother, sister, and mother.”

Mark 3:20-35

    But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” We know that God that raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.

    That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying , our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t  last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather we fix our gaze on the things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

    For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

     From the depths of despair, O Lord, I call for your help

     Hear my cry, O Lord. Pay attention to my prayer.

     Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?

     But you offer forgiveness that we might learn to fear you.

     I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word.

     I long for the Lord more than sentries long for the dawn, yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.

     O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows.

    He himself will redeem Israel from every kind of sin.

 

Psalm 130

    When the cool evening breezes wer blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

     He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

    “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you  eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

    The man replied, ” It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

    Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” 

     “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

    Then God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head and you will strike his heel.”

Genesis 3:8-15 

Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voie of my supplications!

Psalm 130:2