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Deuteronomy 30:9-14 Repentance and Forgiveness And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. 4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5 And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. 7 And the Lord your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you. 8 And you shall again obey the voice of the Lord and keep all his commandments that I command you today. 9 The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Choice of Life and Death 11 For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. 15 See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. Colossians 1:1-14 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

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2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. Thanksgiving and Prayer 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasingas it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The Preeminence of Christ 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all

creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authoritiesall things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. Paul's Ministry to the Church 24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone

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mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. The Saving Gospel of Jesus According to St. Luke, 10:25-37 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said to him, What is written in the Law? How do you read it? 27 And he answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. 28 And he said to him, You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live. 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? 30 Jesus replied, A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back. 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? 37 He said, The one who showed him mercy. And Jesus said to him, You go, and do likewise.

What would YOU Do? Author Clare De Graff wrote an approachable little book entitled, The Ten Second Rule Let me explain: Most of us would like to think of ourselves as followers of Jesus, but what does that really mean, practically? Jesus said, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23. Simply put, its trusting Jesus enough to say no to what we want, and yes to what he wants. So, then why is it we dont obey him more often than we do?Years ago I noticed that during the course of my day Id have these impressions to do something I was reasonably certain Jesus wanted me to do. It could be an impression to either do something good for someone or a warning about a sin I was about to commit. It might be to stop for a car broken down on the highway, speak to a co-worker about Jesus, or simply turn off my computer before I ended up at a site where no Christian should go. Almost simultaneously I would sense another voice whispering to me. You dont have time to do that helping that person could get messy you cant afford to help them right now its okay, one more time wont kill you send it, youve been wronged! If I listened to this other voice and thought about it long enough, the moment for obedience would pass, often to my relief. It finally dawned on me that by procrastinating, I was unintentionally teaching myself the habit of disobedience. Why is that? Because I knew that almost every decision to obey would cost me something time, money, embarrassment, inconvenience, or a momentary pleasure denied something! By choosing not to obey Jesus, I could avoid all of that! As a result, I found myself settling for good enough almost daily which is kryptonite for any would-be followers of Jesus!

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Then a decade ago a lay pastor from China taught me a simple rule that helped me break that cycle: The 10 Second Rule: Just do the next thing youre reasonably certain Jesus wants you to do. (and do it immediately before you change your mind!) If you love me, you will obey what I command. -John 14:15 But, how do we know what Jesus wants us to do, exactly? God hasnt ever spoken to me audibly, so Im not talking of actually hearing voices. However, Ive found that the more I study the teachings and character of Jesus, the more confident Ive become moving in spontaneous, simple obedience to the opportunities he sends my way. Its his life, and the Holy Spirit reminding me of everything he did and taught that gives him this voice. Can we always be sure? No. The Rule doesnt require you to be absolutely certain an impression is from God before you obey. In fact, Ive found that the need for certainty is often the enemy of obedience! But, lets just say this impression wasnt from God. So what? Youve still done something good for another human or kept yourself from sinning. How can that not be the will of God? But, heres what discourages many of us. We know that there is absolutely no way we can ever hope to surrender to the will of God perfectly, every day, for the rest of our life. And, none of us want to chase an impossible dream. But heres the power behind The Rule; even though absolute surrender is impossible, doing the next thing Im reasonably certain Jesus wants me to do, isnt! I can do that! And, so can you.

So, The Rule gives you a place to begin again following Jesus, right now today, if youve drifted spiritually. Its following Jesus made simple and being led by Jesus, moment by moment, day by day (or even in the next 10 seconds!). And, its been the experience of Christians since the time of Jesus that true godly character is forged less by a few, big dramatic decisions than the cumulative impact of thousands of small acts of simple obedience Its these steps that we take towards the other on our pathways. What would Jesus have us do today? Perhaps we wont see a foreigner on the road but we may encounter the homeless, the hungry, the lost, the wayfaring stranger. You and I we are Christs ambassadors! We are Gospel when we reach out, when we love, and when we give hope to those seen hungering and thirsting to hear the good news of Jesus Christ crucified and risen again. The story of the Good Samaritan is not a lesson used to scorn those who ignored the needs of this poor man laying on the road as rather beloved I see it as God calling us to be other orientated. When we glance out into world what do we see? What is God calling us to do? For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. When we obey the voice of the Lord we turn to him, we see the other, we hear the cries of the hungry and the lost!

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APPLICATION THEREFORE BELOVED CHOOSE LIFE o Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. o Choosing life means that we choose to live not for our selves but in service to the one who gave us life! It means daily dying to our sins and the lures of this world and rising again in new life lived in the victory of Jesus Christ. o When we see the victims of this world be it the lost, hungry, the forsaken, those held in bondage to sin Christ bids us to come quickly with His saving grace and Word. Lord speak to us that we may speak! BE TRANSFORMED THROUGH THE POWER OF PRAYER o And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. o The phone rings in the middle of the night, we hear of injustice in the world, our job is

terminated, the neighbor whom we thought we knew tragically ends his life, the baby we expected to bring joy to her family dies before birth what now O Lord? o In all things beloved pray. GO AND DO LIKEWISE o Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? 37 He said, The one who showed him mercy. And Jesus said to him, You go, and do likewise. o Go and do likewise when the world bids us to forget them just ignore them move on. o Be bold in your faith and in your conviction to serve as God has called us to do in our baptism vocation.