Creation and the Gift of Learning and Growing

Excerpt from Psalm 46 in The Celtic Treasure

by Philip Newell

God is our shelter and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not be afraid

though the earth should change

though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea

though its waters roar and foam

though the mountains tremble with the shaking.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the dwelling place of the Eternal.

God is in the midst of the city.

It shall not be forsaken.

God will help it when morning dawns.

The nations are in an uproar.

The kingdoms totter.

God speaks and earth’s powers melt away.

The God of heaven is present on earth.

The One who was in the beginning is now.

Come and see the works of God…

Be still and know that I am God…

The God of heaven is present on earth.

The One who was in the beginning is now.

Ephesians 1:1-14 

Salutation

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful^[a] in Christ Jesus:

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴ just as he chose us in Christ^[b] before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. ⁵ He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace ⁸ that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight ⁹ he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, ¹⁰ as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. ¹¹ In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance,^[c] having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, ¹² so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. ¹³ In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; ¹⁴ this^[d] is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.