"A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!

"So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

"Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's foes will be members of one's own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."

Matthew 10:24-39 *

Faith is the conviction that

God knows more than we do about this life

and He will get us through it.

~ Max Lucado

As long as individuals serve their own personal interests,

the common good will suffer.

~ Desiderius Erasmus

The hardest thing on earth

is to choose what matters.

~ Sue Monk Kidd

Genesis 21:8-21 with Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17 or
Jeremiah 20:7-13 with Psalm 69:7-10, (11-15), 16-18
Romans 6:1b-11
Matthew 10:24-39

Genesis 21:8-21

The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. So she said to Abraham, "Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac." The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, "Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring."

So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, "Do not let me look on the death of the child." And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.

And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, "What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him." Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17

Incline your ear, 
   O God,
and answer me,
   for I am poor and needy.

Preserve my life,
   for I am devoted to you;
save your servant
   who trusts in you.

You are my God;
   be gracious to me, 
O God, for to you 
   do I cry all day long.

Gladden the soul
   of your servant,
for to you, O God,
   I lift up my soul.

For you, O God,
   are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love
   to all who call on you.

Give ear, O God,
   to my prayer;
listen to my cry
   of supplication.

In the day of my trouble
   I call on you,
for you will answer me.

There is none like you
   among the gods, O God,
nor are there any works 
   like yours.

All the nations you have made
   shall come and bow down
before you, O God,
   and shall glorify your name.

For you are great
   and do wondrous things;
you alone are God.

Turn to me and 
   be gracious to me;
give your strength 
   to your servant;
save the child 
   of your servant.

Show me a sign
   of your favor,
so that those who hate me
   may see it 
and be put to shame,
   because you, O God, 
have helped me
   and comforted me.

or

Jeremiah 20:7-13

O LORD, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.
For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout, "Violence and destruction!"
For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.

If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,"
then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones;
I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.

For I hear many whispering: "Terror is all around! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!"
All my close friends are watching for me to stumble.
"Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him, and take our revenge on him."

But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail.
They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.

O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind;
let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.

Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers

with

Psalm 69:7-10, (11-15), 16-18

It is for your sake
   that I have borne reproach,
that shame has covered my face.

I have become a stranger 
   to my kindred,
an alien to my mother's children.

It is zeal for your house
   that has consumed me;
the insults of those who insult you
   have fallen on me.

When I humbled my soul 
   with fasting,
they insulted me 
   for doing so.
When I made sackcloth 
   my clothing,
I became a byword to them.

I am the subject of gossip
   for those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make songs 
   about me.

But as for me, my prayer
   is to you, O God.
At an acceptable time, 
   O God,
in the abundance 
   of your steadfast love,
answer me.

With your faithful help rescue me 
   from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
   and from the deep waters.

Do not let the flood sweep 
   over me,
or the deep 
   swallow me up,
or the Pit close its mouth 
   over me.

Answer me, O God,
   for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy,
   turn to me.

Do not hide your face
   from your servant,
for I am in distress--
   make haste to answer me.

Draw near to me,
   redeem me,
set me free 
   because of my enemies.

Romans 6:1b-11

Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in the newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 10:24-39

"A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!

"So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

"Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's foes will be members of one's own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."