Bible verses about "celebration" | Williams

⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed, for what is promised to her by the Lord will be fulfilled."

¹ Then Jesus again spoke to them in stories, and said: ² "The kingdom of heaven is like a king, who gave a wedding reception for his son. ³ And he sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the wedding reception, but they refused to come. ⁴ A second time he sent other slaves, and said to them, 'Tell the invited guests that I have my reception all ready, my bullocks and fatlings are butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding reception!' ⁵ But they paid no attention to it, but went off, one to his farm, another to his place of business, ⁶ and the rest seized his slaves, treated them with violence, and murdered them. ⁷ Then the king was enraged, and sent his soldiers to put those murderers to death and burned their city. ⁸ After that he said to his slaves, 'My wedding reception is ready, but those invited have proved unworthy. ⁹ So go out to the country crossroads and invite everybody you find to my wedding reception.' ¹⁰ And those slaves went out into the roads and gathered everybody they found, both good and bad, and the bridal-hall was packed with guests. ¹¹ But when the king came in to take a look at the guests, he saw there a man who did not have on a wedding suit. ¹² So he said to him, 'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding suit on?' But his lips were sealed. ¹³ Then the king said to his attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot and throw him out into the darkness on the outside, where he will have to weep and grind his teeth.' ¹⁴ For many are invited, but few are selected." ¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and made a plot to trap Him in argument. ¹⁶ So they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, to say to Him, "Teacher, we know that you are in the habit of telling the truth and of teaching the way of God in honesty, and you do not care what anyone says, for you are not partial. ¹⁷ So give us your opinion on the question: Is it right to pay Caesar the poll-tax, or not?" ¹⁸ But Jesus saw their malicious plot, and so asked, "Why are you testing me so, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me a poll-tax coin." ²⁰ And He asked them, "Whose likeness and title is this?" ²¹ They answered, "Caesar's." Then He said to them, "Pay Caesar, therefore, what belongs to Caesar, and pay God what belongs to God." ²² And when they heard it, they were dumbfounded; and they left Him and went away. ²³ On the same day some Sadducees, who claim that there is no resurrection, came up to Him, and asked this question: ²⁴ "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies without children, his brother must marry his widow and raise up a family for him.' ²⁵ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died without children, and left his widow to his brother. ²⁶ The second also died, and the third, and all down to the seventh. ²⁷ Last of all, the woman died, too. ²⁸ Now at the resurrection which one's wife, of the seven, will she be? For they all married her." ²⁹ Jesus answered them, "You are wrong in your views, because you do not understand the Scriptures nor the power of God, ³⁰ for after the resurrection men do not marry and women are not married, but continue to live together as the angels do in heaven. ³¹ But did you never read, on the resurrection of the dead, what God said to you, ³² 'I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob!' Now God is not the God of dead but of living men." ³³ And when the crowds heard this, they were dumbfounded at His teaching. ³⁴ Now the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, and so they had a meeting. ³⁵ And one of their number, an expert in the law, to tempt Him, asked, ³⁶ "Teacher, what sort of command is greatest in the law?" ³⁷ And He answered him, "'You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, and your whole mind.' ³⁸ This is the greatest command, and is first in importance. ³⁹ The second is like it: 'You must love your neighbor as you do yourself.' ⁴⁰ The essence of the whole law and the prophets is packed into these two commands." ⁴¹ And when the Pharisees came together, Jesus asked them, ⁴² "What is your opinion of the Christ? Whose son is He?" They answered Him, "He is David's son." ⁴³ He asked them, "How then does David, under the guidance of the Spirit, call Him Lord, when he says: ⁴⁴ 'The Lord has said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, Until I put your enemies under your feet!' ⁴⁵ If David, then, calls Him Lord, how can He be his son?" ⁴⁶ And not one could answer Him a word, and from that day on no one ever dared to ask Him any more questions.

¹¹ "I have told you these things, that the joy which I have had may remain in you and that your joy may be complete.

¹ Make it your practice to receive into full Christian fellowship people who are overscrupulous, but not to criticize their views. ² One man believes that he can eat anything; another who is overscrupulous eats nothing but vegetables. ³ The man who eats anything must not look down on the man who does not do so, nor must the man who does not do so condemn the man who does, for God has fully accepted him. ⁴ Who are you to criticize another man's servant? It is his own master's business whether he stands or falls, and he will stand, for the Lord has power to make him stand. ⁵ One man rates one day above another, another rates them all alike. Let every man be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ The man who keeps a certain day keeps it for the Lord. The man who eats anything does it for the Lord too, for he gives God thanks. The man who refuses to eat anything does it for the Lord too, and gives God thanks. ⁷ For none of us can live alone by himself, and none of us can die alone by himself; ⁸ indeed, if we live, we always live in relation to the Lord, and if we die, we always die in relation to the Lord. So whether we live or die we belong to the Lord. ⁹ For Christ died and lived again for the very purpose of being Lord of both the dead and the living. ¹⁰ Then why should you criticize your brother? Or, why should you look down on your brother? Surely, we shall all stand before God to be judged, ¹¹ for the Scripture says: "'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall make acknowledgment to God.'" ¹² So each of us must give an account of himself to God. ¹³ Then let us stop criticizing one another; instead, do this, determine to stop putting stumbling blocks or hindrances in your brother's way. ¹⁴ I know, and through my union with the Lord Jesus I have a clear conviction, that nothing is unclean in itself; that a thing is unclean only to the person who thinks it unclean. ¹⁵ For if your brother is hurt because of the food you eat, you are not living by the standard of love. Stop ruining, by what you eat, the man for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ Then stop abusing your rights. ¹⁷ For the kingdom of God does not consist in what we eat and drink, but in doing right, in peace and joy through the Holy Spirit; ¹⁸ whoever in this way continues serving Christ is well-pleasing to God and approved by men. ¹⁹ So let us keep on pursuing the things that make for peace and our mutual upbuilding. ²⁰ Stop undoing the work of God just for the sake of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything when it makes another stumble. ²¹ The right thing to do is not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything else, that makes your brother stumble. ²² On your part, you must exercise your faith by the standard of yourself in the sight of God. Happy is the man who need not condemn himself for doing the thing that he approves. ²³ But the man who has misgivings about eating, if he then eats, has already condemned himself by so doing, because he did not follow his faith, and any action that does not follow one's faith is a sin.

¹ Now I introduce to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deaconess in the church at Cenchreae, ² that you may give her a Christian welcome in a manner becoming God's people, and give her whatever help she needs from you, for she herself has given protection to many, including myself. ³ Remember me to Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-workers in the work of Christ Jesus, ⁴ who once risked their very necks for my life. I am so thankful to them; not only I but also all the churches among the heathen thank them. ⁵ Remember me to the church too, that meets at their house. Remember me to my dear Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. ⁶ Remember me to Mary, who has toiled so hard for you. ⁷ Remember me to Andronicus and Junias, my fellow-country-men, who also served in prison with me; they are held in high esteem among the apostles, and became Christians before I did. ⁸ Remember me to Ampliatus, my dear Christian friend. ⁹ Remember me to Urbanus, my fellow-worker in the work of Christ, and to my dear friend Stachys. ¹⁰ Remember me to Apelles, that most venerated Christian. Remember me to the members of Aristobulus' family. ¹¹ Remember me to Herodion, my fellow-countryman. Remember me to the Christian members of Narcissus' family. ¹² Remember me to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who continued to toil in the work of the Lord. Remember me to my dear friend Persis, who toiled so hard in the work of the Lord. ¹³ Remember me to Rufus, that choicest Christian, and to his mother, who has been a mother to me too. ¹⁴ Remember me to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are associated with them. ¹⁵ Remember me to Philologus and Julia, to Nereus and his sister, and to Olympas, and all God's people who are associated with them. ¹⁶ Greet one another with a consecrated kiss. All the churches of Christ wish to be remembered to you. ¹⁷ But I beg you, brothers, to keep on the lookout for those who stir up divisions and put hindrances in your way, in opposition to the instruction that you had, and always avoid them. ¹⁸ For such men are really not serving our Lord Christ but their own base appetites, and by their fair and flattering talk they are deceiving the hearts of unsuspecting people. ¹⁹ Yes, your obedience has been told to everybody; so I am delighted about you, but I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is bad. ²⁰ Now the peace-giving God will soon crush Satan under your feet. The spiritual blessing of our Lord Jesus be with you. ²¹ Timothy, my fellow-worker, wishes to be remembered to you; so do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater too, my fellow-countrymen. ²² I, Tertius, who write this letter, wish to be remembered to you as a fellow-Christian. ²³ Gaius, my host, and host of the whole church here, wishes to be remembered to you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, wishes to be remembered to you, and so does our brother Quartus. ²⁴ Omitted Text. ²⁵ To Him who can make you strong in accordance with the good news I bring and in accordance with the message preached about Jesus Christ, in accordance with the uncovering of the secret which for ages past had not been told, ²⁶ but now has been fully brought to light by means of the prophetic Scriptures, and in accordance with the command of the eternal God has been made known to all the heathen, to win them to obedience inspired by faith -- ²⁷ to the one wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ. Amen.

¹¹ and went into the house and saw the child with His mother, Mary; and they fell at His feet and worshiped Him. They opened up their treasure sacks and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

³ So He told them the following story: ⁴ "What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep, and if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and continue to look for the lost one until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, with joy he puts it on his shoulders, ⁶ and when he reaches home he calls in his friends and neighbors, and says to them, 'Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!' ⁷ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinful person who repents than over ninety-nine upright people who do not need any repentance. ⁸ "Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them, does not light a lamp and sweep the house, and look carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she finds it, she calls in her friends and neighbors, and says, 'Rejoice with me, because I have found the coin which I lost!' ¹⁰ Just so, I tell you, there is joy among the angels of God over one sinful person who repents!"

⁵ One man rates one day above another, another rates them all alike. Let every man be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ The man who keeps a certain day keeps it for the Lord. The man who eats anything does it for the Lord too, for he gives God thanks. The man who refuses to eat anything does it for the Lord too, and gives God thanks.

⁸ So let us keep our feast, not with old yeast nor with the yeast of vice and wickedness, but with the bread of purity and truth without the yeast.

²³ take the fattening calf and kill it, and let us feast and celebrate, ²⁴ because this son of mine was dead and has come to life, was lost and has been found!' So they began to celebrate.

³¹ So if you eat or drink or do anything else, do everything to honor God.