Untitled Sermon
In the beginninga God createdb the heavensc and the earth.d 2 Now the earth was formlesse and empty,f darkness was over the surface of the deep,g and the Spirit of Godh was hoveringi over the waters.
3 And God said,j “Let there be light,” and there was light.
26 Then God said, “Let uso make mankindp in our image,q in our likeness,r so that they may rules over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky,t over the livestock and all the wild animals,a and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God createdu mankindv in his own image,w
in the image of Godx he created them;
male and femaley he created them.z
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’q Then what shall I tell them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.c This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AMr has sent me to you.’ ”
2 “I am the LORD your God,d who brought you oute of Egypt,f out of the land of slavery.g
3 “You shall have no other gods beforea me.h
19 God is not human,j that he should lie,k
not a human being, that he should change his mind.l
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promisem and not fulfill?
17 Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the LORD, “What is your name,t so that we may honor you when your word comes true?”
18 He replied, “Why do you ask my name?u It is beyond understanding.
“But will God really dwellz on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven,a cannot containb you. How much less this temple I have built!
1 The heavenss declaret the glory of God;u
the skiesv proclaim the work of his hands.w
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge
Before the mountains were borny
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlastingz you are God.a
1 You have searched me,f LORD,
and you knowg me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;h
you perceive my thoughtsi from afar.
3 You discern my going outj and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.k
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.l
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was madea in the secret place,
when I was woven togetherb in the depths of the earth.c
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordainedd for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,a e God!f
How vast is the sum of them!
5 I am the LORD, and there is no other;l
apart from me there is no God.m
I will strengthen you,n
though you have not acknowledged me,
6 so that from the rising of the sun
to the place of its settingo
people may knowp there is none besides me.q
I am the LORD, and there is no other.
7 I form the light and create darkness,r
I bring prosperity and create disaster;s
I, the LORD, do all these things.
In the year that King Uzziahg died,h I saw the Lord,i high and exalted,j seated on a throne;k and the train of his robel filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim,m each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet,n and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holyo, holy is the LORD Almighty;p
the whole earthq is full of his glory.”r
I make known the end from the beginning,f
from ancient times,g what is still to come.h
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,i
and I will do all that I please.’
“Am I only a God nearby,z”
declares the LORD,
“and not a God far away?
24 Who can hidea in secret places
so that I cannot see them?”
declares the LORD.
“Do not I fill heaven and earth?”b
declares the LORD.
Rend your hearti
and not your garments.j
Returnk to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,l
slow to anger and abounding in love,m
and he relents from sending calamity.n
13 Your eyes are too pured to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.e
Why then do you toleratef the treacherous?g
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves
“I the LORD do not change.x So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed
15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human,g like you. We are bringing you good news,h telling you to turn from these worthless thingsi to the living God,j who made the heavens and the earthk and the sea and everything in them.l 16 In the past, he letm all nations go their own way.n 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony:o He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons;p he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”q 18 Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in itl is the Lord of heaven and earthm and does not live in temples built by human hands.n 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
4 Or do you show contempt for the richesn of his kindness,o forbearancep and patience,q not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?r
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wraths, when his righteous judgmentt will be revealed.
Oh, the depth of the richesy of the wisdom andi knowledge of God!z
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!a
11 In him we were also chosen,e having been predestinedy according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purposez of his will,
which God will bring about in his own timet—God, the blessedu and only Ruler,v the King of kings and Lord of lords,w 16 who alone is immortalx and who lives in unapproachable light,y whom no one has seen or can see.z To him be honor and might forever. Amen.a
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love.a Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them