Colossians 1:3-5 RSV


Colossians 1:3-5 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have for all the saints,

because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel

Romans 4:23-25 But the words, "it was reckoned to him," were written not for his sake alone,

but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,

who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.

James 1:2-10 Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials,

for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him.

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.

Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,

and the rich in his humiliation, because like the flower of the grass he will pass away.

1 Peter 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power and guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials,

so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

Genesis 28:10-17 Jacob left Be'-er-she'ba, and went toward Har'an.

And he come in a certain place, and stayed there that night, because the sun had set.

Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.

And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angles of God were ascending and descending on it!

And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father  and the God of Isaac; the land of which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants;

and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and by you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves.

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done that of which I have spoken to you."

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place; and I did not know it."

And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.