On
prayer:
“Ask and
it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be
opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; those who seek find; and to
those who knock, the door will be opened” (Luke 11:9-10).
An invitation
to commune:
“Behold! I stand at the door and knock. If
anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them, and
they with me” (Revelation 3:20).
On
Humility:
“Anyone who wants to be first must be the very
last, the servant of all” (Mark 9:35). “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not
receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it”(Mark
10:15).
On
condemning others:
“Let any one of you who is without sin, be the
first to throw a stone” (John 8:7).
Also, “Do
not judge lest you be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and
by your standard of measure it will be measured to you. And why do you look at
the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in
your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of
your eye’ when there is a log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the
log out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of
your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:1-5).
The Bread
of life
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me
will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. … Truly
I say to you whoever believes has eternal life. ….here is the bread that comes
down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. This bread is
my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world… truly I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life
in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will
raise them up on the last day.” (John 6:35, 47-51, 53-54). At the last supper
Jesus would also institute communion: “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke
it, saying, ‘This is my body given for you, do this in remembrance of me.’ In
the same way after supper he took the cup saying, ‘this cup is the new covenant
in my blood which is poured out for you.’” (Luke 22:19-20).
On Living
water:
“Those who drink the water I give them will
never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of
water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).
On being
born again:
“Truly I
say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again, no one
can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Flesh
gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3:3-6).
On
forgiving others:
“Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, how often
shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus
said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times
seven” (Matthew 18:21-22).
The
Lord’s Prayer:
“Pray in
this way: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom
come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us his day our daily
bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors; and lead
us not into temptation but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom, and
the power and the glory, forever. Amen.’
For if you forgive people for their
transgressions, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not
forgive people, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions” (Matthew
6:9-15. See also Luke 11:2-4).
Go,
baptize and teach.
“All authority has been given to me in heaven
and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end
of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
On
Materialism:
“No one can serve two masters; for either he
will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the
other. You cannot serve God and mammon…..” (Matthew 6:19-24). And: “I say to
you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich
man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:21-25). Also: “Watch out! Be on
your guard against all kinds of greed. Life does not consist in the abundance
of possessions” (Luke 12:15).
On the
sinner who repents:
“I tell
you there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than
over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7).
The call
to follow Jesus:
“Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am
gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke
is easy and my load is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
On
self-sacrifice:
“Those
who would be my disciples must deny themselves and take up their cross and
follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses
his life for me and the gospel will save it. What good is it for you to gain
the whole world yet forfeit your soul? Or what can you give in exchange for
your soul?” (Mark 8:34-37).
On
non-violence:
“You have heard that is was said: ‘An eye for
an eye and a tooth for a tooth’. But I say to you, do not resist him who is
evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also…You
have heard that it was said ‘Love you neighbour and hate your enemy’. But I say
to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that
you may be children of your Father in heaven…” (Matthew 5:38, 39, 43-45). When
Peter tried to save Jesus from arrest, by wielding a sword, Jesus rebuked him
and said: “all who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). Jesus
himself showed the way. As he was being executed, as he hung from the cross, he
prayed to God: “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”
(Luke 23:34).
On caring
for the needy:
“It is more blessed to give than to receive”
(Acts 20:35).
“Come, take your inheritance, the kingdom
prepared for you since the creation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave
me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a
stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was ill
and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me… whenever you
did it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it
for me” (Matthew 25:34-40).
The
Beatitudes:
“Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those
who mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle for they shall
inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive
mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who have
been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. Blessed are you when you are insulted and persecuted and said evil
against falsely on account of me, rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven
is great” (Matthew 5:3-12).
Christ’s
mission:
“The
Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news
to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery
of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the
Lord’s favour” (Luke 4:18, 19).
The new
commandment:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you
love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By
this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one
another” (John 13:34-36).
The most important commandment:
“A lawyer asked him a question, testing him:
‘Teacher, which is the most important commandment?’ And he said to him, ‘Love
the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind and with all your strength. This is the great and foremost commandment.
The second is this:
You shall
love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these’”
(Mark 12:28-31).
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