Key Thought

Today's Prayer

Holy and righteous Father, thank you for leaving reliable and inspired witnesses to Jesus' life. I thank you for their stories of Jesus and their desire to bless future generations of your people. Make me more passionate to know your will revealed through their accounts of the life and teaching of Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

"If the world hates you, remember that the world hated me first. If you belonged to the world, then the world would love you like it loves its own people. But I have chosen you out of the world. So you don't belong to the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the lesson I told you: A servant is not greater than his master. If people did wrong to me, then they will do wrong to you too. And if people obeyed my teaching, then they will obey yours too. People will do all this to you because of me. They don't know the One who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to the people of the world, then they would not be guilty of sin. But now I have spoken to them. So they have no excuse for their sin. Any person that hates me also hates my Father. I did things among those people that no other person has ever done. If I had not done those things, they would not be guilty of sin. But they have seen those things I did. And still they hate me and my Father. But this happened so that what is written in their law would be true: 'They hated me for no reason.' "I will send you the Helper from the Father. The Helper is the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father. When he comes, he will tell about me. And you will tell people about me too, because you have been with me from the beginning.

Related Scripture Readings

Then those people who accepted (believed) what Peter said were baptized. On that day about 3,000 people were added to the group of believers. {The believers continued to meet together.} They used their time to learn the teaching of the apostles. The believers shared with each other. They ate together and prayed together. The apostles were doing many powerful and amazing things; and every person felt great respect for God. All the believers stayed together. They shared everything. The believers sold their land and the things they owned. Then they divided the money and gave it to those people who needed it. The believers met together in the temple yard every day. They all had the same purpose. They ate together in their homes. They were happy to share their food and ate with joyful hearts. The believers praised God, and all the people liked them. More and more people were being saved every day; the Lord was adding those people to the group {of believers}.

So Jesus came to them and said, "All authority (power) in heaven and on earth is given to me. So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach those people to obey everything that I have told you. You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will continue with you until the end of the world."

So now you {non-Jews} are not visitors or strangers. Now you are citizens together with God's holy people. You belong to God's family. You believers are like a building that God owns. That building was built on the foundation that the apostles and prophets prepared. Christ himself is the most important stone in that building.