God present
City of Zion, sing and celebrate! The Lord has promised to come and live with you. ~ Zechariah 2:10 (CEV)
God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world to give us life. ~ 1 John 4:9 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
God shows us how much he loves us by being with us.
PRAYER:
Thank you, God, for sending your Son Jesus to live with us. His presence has made all the difference to me. And now he has sent his Holy Spirit to continue being with us. Even though you are always here I do not always pay attention to you. I am easily distracted by lesser things. So, please, help me to maintain my focus on your presence. I want to introduce others to you. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
NRSVue = New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (© 2021 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.) NTE = New Testament for Everyone (©2011 Nicolas Thomas Wright.)
REB = Revised English Bible (© 1989 Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press) TCEB = The Casual English Bible (© Stephen M. Miller)