Lectionary Calendar

¹The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets. ²From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. ³Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages. ⁴He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people: ⁵"Gather to me my consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice." ⁶And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah ⁷"Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God. ⁸I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. ²²"Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue: ²³He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God."
Psalms 50:1-8,22-23 (NIV)

¹Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. ²This is what the ancients were commended for. ³By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. ⁸By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹By faith Abraham, even though he was past age--and Sarah herself was barren--was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. ¹²And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. ¹³All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. ¹⁴People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Hebrews 11:1-3,8-16 (NIV)

³²"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ³⁵"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, ³⁶like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. ³⁷It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. ³⁸It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. ³⁹But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
Luke 12:32-40 (NIV)