PSALM 23
(A psalm by David)
The Good Shepherd

1 You, LORD, are my shepherd.  I will never be in need.  2 You let me rest in fields of green grass.  You lead me to streams of peaceful water,

3 and you refresh my life.  You are true to your name, and you lead me along the right paths.  4 I may walk through valleys as dark as death, but I won't be afraid.  You are with me, and your shepherd's rod [a] makes me feel safe.

5 You treat me to a feast, while my enemies watch.  You honor me as your guest, and you fill my cup until it overflows.  6 Your kindness and love will always be with me 
each day of my life, and I will live forever in your house, LORD.

PSALM 63:1-8
(A psalm by David when he was in the desert of Judah)
God's Love Means More than Life

1 You are my God. I worship you.  In my heart, I long for you, as I would long for a stream in a scorching desert.  2 I have seen your power and your glory in the place of worship.

3 Your love means more than life to me, and I praise you.  4 As long as I live, I will pray to you.  5 I will sing joyful praises and be filled with excitement like a guest at a banquet.

6 I think about you before I go to sleep, and my thoughts turn to you during the night.  7 You have helped me, and I sing happy songs in the shadow of your wings.  8 I stay close to you, and your powerful arm supports me.

JOHN 6:35-40

35 Jesus replied:
I am the bread that gives life!  No one who comes to me will ever be hungry.  No one who has faith in me will ever be thirsty.  36 I have told you already that you have seen me and still do not have faith in me.  37 Everything and everyone that the Father has given me will come to me, and I won't turn any of them away.

38 I didn't come from heaven to do what I want!  I came to do what the Father wants me to do. He sent me, 39 and he wants to make certain that none of the ones he has given me will be lost.  Instead, he wants me to raise them to life on the last day.  40 My Father wants everyone who sees the Son to have faith in him and to have eternal life.  Then I will raise them to life on the last day.

ROMANS 8:18-39
A Wonderful Future for God's People

18 I am sure that what we are suffering now cannot compare with the glory that will be shown to us. 19 In fact, all creation is eagerly waiting for God to show who his children are.  20 Meanwhile, creation is confused, but not because it wants to be confused. God made it this way in the hope 21 that creation would be set free from decay and would share in the glorious freedom of his children.  22 We know that all creation is still groaning and is in pain, like a woman about to give birth.

23 The Spirit makes us sure about what we will be in the future.  But now we groan silently, while we wait for God to show that we are his children.  This means that our bodies will also be set free.  24 And this hope is what saves us.  But if we already have what we hope for, there is no need to keep on hoping.  25 However, we hope for something we have not yet seen, and we patiently wait for it.  26 In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us.  For example, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words.  27 All of our thoughts are known to God.  He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God's people.  28 We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him.  They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose, 29 and he has always known who his chosen ones would be.  He had decided to let them become like his own Son, so that his Son would be the first of many children.  30 God then accepted the people he had already decided to choose, and he has shared his glory with them.

God's Love

31 What can we say about all this?  If God is on our side, can anyone be against us?  32 God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us.  If God did this, won't he freely give us everything else?  33 If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them?  34 Or can anyone condemn them? No indeed! Christ died and was raised to life, and now he is at God's right side, speaking to him for us.  35 Can anything separate us from the love of Christ?  Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death?  36 It is exactly as the Scriptures say, "For you we face death all day long.  We are like sheep on their way to be butchered."

37 In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us.  38 I am sure that nothing can separate us from God's love--not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, 39 and not powers above or powers below.  Nothing in all creation can separate us from God's love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!

1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-57
What Our Bodies Will Be Like

35 Some of you have asked, "How will the dead be raised to life? What kind of bodies will they have?"  36 Don't be foolish.  A seed must die before it can sprout from the ground.  37 Wheat seeds and all other seeds look different from the sprouts that come up.  38 This is because God gives everything the kind of body he wants it to have.  39 People, animals, birds, and fish are each made of flesh, but none of them are alike.  40 Everything in the heavens has a body, and so does everything on earth. But each one is very different from all the others.  41 The sun isn't like the moon, the moon isn't like the stars, and each star is different.

42 That's how it will be when our bodies are raised to life.  These bodies will die, but the bodies that are raised will live forever.  43 These ugly and weak bodies will become beautiful and strong.  44 As surely as there are physical bodies, there are spiritual bodies.  And our physical bodies will be changed into spiritual bodies.

45 The first man was named Adam, and the Scriptures tell us that he was a living person.  But Jesus, who may be called the last Adam, is a life-giving spirit.  46 We see that the one with a spiritual body did not come first.  He came after the one who had a physical body.  47 The first man was made from the dust of the earth, but the second man came from heaven.  48 Everyone on earth has a body like the body of the one who was made from the dust of the earth.  And everyone in heaven has a body like the body of the one who came from heaven.  49 Just as we are like the one who was made out of earth, we will be like the one who came from heaven.

50 My friends, I want you to know that our bodies of flesh and blood will decay.  This means that they cannot share in God's kingdom, which lasts forever.  51 I will explain a mystery to you.  Not every one of us will die, but we will all be changed.  52 It will happen suddenly, quicker than the blink of an eye.  At the sound of the last trumpet the dead will be raised. We will all be changed, so that we will never die again.  53 Our dead and decaying bodies will be changed into bodies that won't die or decay.  54 The bodies we now have are weak and can die.  But they will be changed into bodies that are eternal.  Then the Scriptures will come true, "Death has lost the battle!  55 Where is its victory?  Where is its sting?"

56 Sin is what gives death its sting, and the Law is the power behind sin.  57 But thank God for letting our Lord Jesus Christ give us the victory!

1 CORINTHIANS 5:1-10
Immoral Followers

1 I have heard terrible things about some of you. In fact, you are behaving worse than the Gentiles.  A man is even sleeping with his own stepmother.  2 You are proud, when you ought to feel bad enough to chase away anyone who acts like that.  3-4 I am with you only in my thoughts.  But in the name of our Lord Jesus I have already judged this man, as though I were with you in person.  So when you meet together and the power of the Lord Jesus is with you, I will be there too.  5 You must then hand that man over to Satan.  His body will be destroyed, but his spirit will be saved when the Lord Jesus returns.

6 Stop being proud! Don't you know how a little yeast can spread through the whole batch of dough?  7 Get rid of the old yeast! Then you will be like fresh bread made without yeast, and that is what you are.  Our Passover lamb is Christ, who has already been sacrificed.  8 So don't celebrate the festival by being evil and sinful, which is like serving bread made with yeast.  Be pure and truthful and celebrate by using bread made without yeast.

9 In my other letter I told you not to have anything to do with immoral people.  10 But I wasn't talking about the people of this world.  You would have to leave this world to get away from everyone who is immoral or greedy or who cheats or worships idols.

2 TIMOTHY 1:8-10

8 Don't be ashamed to speak for our Lord.  And don't be ashamed of me, just because I am in jail for serving him.  Use the power that comes from God and join with me in suffering for telling the good news.

9 God saved us and chose us to be his holy people.  We did nothing to deserve this, but God planned it because he is so kind.  Even before time began God planned for Christ Jesus to show kindness to us.

10 Now Christ Jesus has come to show us the kindness of God.  Christ our Savior defeated death and brought us the good news.  It shines like a light and offers life that never ends.