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John 10:3
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him. The sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
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1 Corinthians 15 58
My dear brothers and sisters, remain strong in the faith. Don’t let anything move you. Always give yourselves completely to the work of the Lord. Because you belong to the Lord, you know that your work is not worthless.
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Matthew 25:14-30
“ Again, here is what the kingdom of heaven will be like. A man was going on a journey. He sent for his slaves and put them in charge of his money.He gave five bags of gold to one. He gave two bags to another. And he gave one bag to the third. The man gave each slave the amount of money he knew the slave could take care of. Then he went on his journey.The slave who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work. He earned five bags more.The one with the two bags of gold earned two more.But the man who had received one bag went and dug a hole in the ground. He hid his master’s money in it.“ After a long time the master of those slaves returned. He wanted to collect all the money they had earned.The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five.‘ Master,’ he said,‘ you trusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have earned five more.’“ His master replied,‘ You have done well, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’“ The man with two bags of gold also came.‘ Master,’ he said,‘ you trusted me with two bags of gold. See, I have earned two more.’“ His master replied,‘ You have done well, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’“ Then the man who had received one bag of gold came.‘ Master,’ he said,‘ I knew that you are a hard man. You harvest where you have not planted. You gather crops where you have not scattered seed.So I was afraid. I went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’“ His master replied,‘ You evil, lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I have not planted? You knew that I gather crops where I have not scattered seed?Well then, you should have put my money in the bank. When I returned, I would have received it back with interest.’“ Then his master commanded the other slaves,‘ Take the bag of gold from him. Give it to the one who has ten bags.Everyone who has will be given more. They will have more than enough. And what about anyone who doesn’t have? Even what they have will be taken away from them.Throw that worthless slave outside. There in the darkness, people will weep and grind their teeth.’
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Ezekiel 33:2-9
“ Son of man, speak to your people. Tell them,‘ Suppose I send enemies against a land. And its people choose one of their men to stand guard.He sees the enemies coming against the land. He blows a trumpet to warn the people.Someone hears the trumpet. But they do not pay any attention to the warning. The enemies come and kill them. Then what happens to them will be their own fault.They heard the sound of the trumpet. But they did not pay any attention to the warning. So what happened to them was their own fault. If they had paid attention, they would have saved themselves.But suppose the guard sees the enemies coming. And he does not blow the trumpet to warn the people. The enemies come and kill one of them. Then their life has been taken away from them because they sinned. But I will hold the guard responsible for their death.’“ Son of man, I have appointed you as a prophet to warn the people of Israel. So listen to my message. Give them a warning from me.Suppose I say to a sinful person,‘ You can be sure that you will die.’ And suppose you do not try to get them to change their ways. Then they will die because they have sinned. And I will hold you responsible for their death.But suppose you do warn that sinful person. You tell them to change their ways. But they do not change. Then they will die because they have sinned. But you will have saved yourself.
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Matthew 24:45-47
“ Suppose a master puts one of his slaves in charge of the other slaves in his house. The slave’s job is to give them their food at the right time. The master wants a faithful and wise slave for this.It will be good for the slave if the master finds him doing his job when the master returns.What I’m about to tell you is true. The master will put that slave in charge of everything he owns.
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Acts 20:29-31
I know that after I leave, wild wolves will come in among you. They won’t spare any of the sheep.Even men from your own people will rise up and twist the truth. They want to get the believers to follow them.So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning you. Night and day I warned each of you with tears.
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Luke 12:36-40
Be like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding dinner. When he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once.It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready when he comes. What I’m about to tell you is true. The master will then dress himself so he can serve them. He will have them take their places at the table. And he will come and wait on them.It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready. It will even be good if he comes in the middle of the night or toward morning.But here is what you must understand. Suppose the owner of the house knew at what hour the robber was coming. He would not have let his house be broken into.You also must be ready. The Son of Man will come at an hour when you don’t expect him.”
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Colossians 3:24
Work because you know that you will finally receive as a reward what the Lord wants you to have. You are slaves of the Lord Christ.
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Ezekiel 3:17-21
The Lord said,“ Son of man, I have appointed you as a prophet to warn the people of Israel. So listen to my message. Give them a warning from me.Suppose I say to a sinful person,‘ You can be sure you will die.’ And you do not warn them. You do not try to get them to change their evil ways in order to save their life. Then that sinful person will die because they have sinned. And I will hold you responsible for their death.But suppose you do warn that sinful person. And they do not turn away from their sin or their evil ways. Then they will die because they have sinned. But you will have saved yourself.“ Or suppose a godly person turns away from their godliness and does what is evil. And suppose I put something in their way that will trip them up. Then they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The godly things that person did will not be remembered. And I will hold you responsible for their death.But suppose you do warn a godly person not to sin. And they do not sin. Then you can be sure that they will live because they listened to your warning. And you will have saved yourself.”
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Matthew 16:19
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. What you lock on earth will be locked in heaven. What you unlock on earth will be unlocked in heaven.”
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1 Corinthians 12 4-1 Corinthians 12 31
There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given to believers by the same Spirit.There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord.There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people.The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all.To some people the Spirit gives a message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives a message of knowledge.To others the same Spirit gives faith. To others that one Spirit gives gifts of healing.To others he gives the power to do miracles. To others he gives the ability to prophesy. To others he gives the ability to tell the spirits apart. To others he gives the ability to speak in different kinds of languages they had not known before. And to still others he gives the ability to explain what was said in those languages.All the gifts are produced by one and the same Spirit. He gives gifts to each person, just as he decides.There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ.We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink.So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts.Suppose the foot says,“ I am not a hand. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body.And suppose the ear says,“ I am not an eye. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body.If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell?God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be.If all the parts were the same, how could there be a body?As it is, there are many parts. But there is only one body.The eye can’t say to the hand,“ I don’t need you!” The head can’t say to the feet,“ I don’t need you!”In fact, it is just the opposite. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we can’t do without.The parts that we think are less important we treat with special honor. The private parts aren’t shown. But they are treated with special care.The parts that can be shown don’t need special care. But God has put together all the parts of the body. And he has given more honor to the parts that didn’t have any.In that way, the parts of the body will not take sides. All of them will take care of one another.If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part shares in its joy.You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it.First, God has placed apostles in the church. Second, he has placed prophets in the church. Third, he has placed teachers in the church. Then he has given to the church miracles and gifts of healing. He also has given the gift of helping others and the gift of guiding the church. God also has given the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages.Is everyone an apostle? Is everyone a prophet? Is everyone a teacher? Do all work miracles?Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in languages they had not known before? Do all explain what is said in those languages?But above all, you should want the more important gifts. But now I will show you the best way of all.
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Revelation 3:7
“ Here is what I command you to write to the church in Philadelphia. Here are the words of Jesus, who is holy and true. He holds the key of David. No one can shut what he opens. And no one can open what he shuts. He says,
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Luke 19:12-17
Jesus said,“ A man from an important family went to a country far away. He went there to be made king and then return home.So he sent for ten of his slaves. He gave them each about three months’ pay.‘ Put this money to work until I come back,’ he said.“ But those he ruled over hated him. They sent some messengers after him. They were sent to say,‘ We don’t want this man to be our king.’“ But he was made king and returned home. Then he sent for the slaves he had given the money to. He wanted to find out what they had earned with it.“ The first one came to him. He said,‘ Sir, your money has earned ten times as much.’“‘ You have done well, my good slave!’ his master replied.‘ You have been faithful in a very small matter. So I will put you in charge of ten towns.’
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Romans 12:4-8
Each of us has one body with many parts. And the parts do not all have the same purpose.So also we are many persons. But in Christ we are one body. And each part of the body belongs to all the other parts.We all have gifts. They differ according to the grace God has given to each of us. Do you have the gift of prophecy? Then use it according to the faith you have.If your gift is serving, then serve. If it is teaching, then teach.Is it encouraging others? Then encourage them. Is it giving to others? Then give freely. Is it being a leader? Then work hard at it. Is it showing mercy? Then do it cheerfully.
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1 Corinthians 3 5-1 Corinthians 3 10
After all, what is Apollos? And what is Paul? We are only people who serve. We helped you to believe. The Lord has given each of us our own work to do.I planted the seed. Apollos watered it. But God has been making it grow.So the one who plants is not important. The one who waters is not important. It is God who makes things grow. He is the important one.The one who plants and the one who waters have the same purpose. The Lord will give each of them a reward for their work.We work together to serve God. You are like God’s field. You are like his building.God has given me the grace to lay a foundation as a wise builder. Now someone else is building on it. But each one should build carefully.
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Colossians 4:1
Masters, give your slaves what is right and fair. Do it because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
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Romans 13:6
That’s also why you pay taxes. The authorities serve God. Ruling takes up all their time.
