All Souls Day

PSALM 23: The Lord, Shepherd and Host; a psalm of David
The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want
In verdant pastures he gives me repose.
Beside restful waters he leads me.
he refreshes my soul
He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes.
You anoint my head with oil.
my cup overflows.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life.
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
for years to come.

WISDOM Ch. 3 Verses 1-9 The Hidden Counsels of God: On Suffering
But the souls of the just are in the hand of God.
and no torment shall touch them.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to
be dead.
and their passing away was thought an
affliction. (Sorrow, misery, pain)
and they're going forth from us, utter destruction.
But they are in peace.
for if before men, indeed, they be punished,
yet is their hope full of immortality.
Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,
because God tried them
and found them worthy of himself.
As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
and as sacrificial offerings he took them
to himself.
In the time of their visitation, they shall shine
and shall dart about as sparks through
stubble.
They shall judge nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord shall be their King forever.
Those who trust in him shall understand truth,
and the faithful shall abide with him in
love.
Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones
and his care is with his elect.

ROMANS Ch. 5 Verses 1-11 Faith, Hope and Love
Now that we have been justified by faith,
we are at peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through him we have gained access by
faith to the grace in which we now stand.
and we boast of our hope for the glory of
God. But not only that-we even boast of our afflictions! (Suffering, distress, hardships, pain)
We know that affliction makes for endurance,
and endurance for tested virtue,
and tested virtue for hope.
And this hope will not leave us disappointed
because the love of God has been
poured out in our hearts through the Holy
spirit who has been given to us. At the
appointed time, when we were still powerless,
Christ died for us godless men. it is rare
that anyone should lay down his life for a
just man, though it is barely possible that
for a good man someone may have the
courage to die. It is precisely in this that
God proves his love for us; that while we
were still sinners, Christ died for us. Now
that we have been justified by his blood,
it is all the more certain that we shall be
saved by him from God's wrath. For
if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him
by the death of his Son,
it is all the more certain that we who have
been reconciled will be saved by his life.
Not only that; we go so far as to make
God our boast through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received reconciliation.

JOHN Ch. 11 Verses 17-27 The Raising of Lazarus
When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he
found that Lazarus had already been in the
tomb four days.
The village was not far from Jerusalem-just under two miles-
and many Jewish people had come out
to console Martha and Mary over their
brother. When Martha heard that Jesus
was coming she went to meet him, while
Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus.
"Lord, if you had been here, my brother
would never have died. Even now, I am
sure, that God will give you whatever you
ask of him.:  "Your brother will rise again," 
Jesus assured her. "I know he will rise again, "
Martha replied," in the resurrection on the last day."
Jesus told her.
I am the resurrection and the life.
whoever believes in me,
though he should die, will come to life.
and whoever is alive and believes in me
will never die. 
Do you believe this? "Yes, Lord," she replied.
"I have come to believe that you
are the Messiah, the Son of God; he who is to come
into the world."
continue Verses 33-43
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who
had accompanied her also weeping, he was troubled
in spirit, moved by the deepest
emotions. "Where have you laid him?"
he asked.: Lord, come and see," they said.
Jesus began to weep, which caused the
Jews to remark, "See how much he loved him!"
But some said, "He opened the
eyes of that blind man. Why could he not
have done something to stop
this man from dying?"
Once again troubled in spirit
Jesus approached the tomb.
It was a cave with a stone laid across it.
"Take away the stone," Jesus directed Martha,
the dead man's sister, said to him, "Lord, it has
been four days now; surely
there will be a stench!" Jesus replied,
"Did I not assure you that if you believed
you would see the glory of God displayed?"
They then took away the stone and Jesus
looked upward and spoke.
"Father, I thank you for having heard me.
I know that you always hear me
but I have said this for the sake of the crowd,
that they may believe that you sent me."
Having said this, he called loudly,
"Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came
out bound head and foot with linen strips,
his face wrapped in a cloth. "Untie him." 
Jesus told them, "And let him go free."

The Raising of Lazarus / video / 11-2016

All Saints Day