Lessons                                                                       Bread of Life                                                           22 August 2020

Isaiah 51:1–6

₁“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,

          you who seek the Lord:

look to the rock from which you were hewn,

and to the quarry from which you were dug.

₂Look to Abraham your father

          and to Sarah who bore you;

for he was but one when I called him,

          that I might bless him and multiply him.

₃For the Lord comforts Zion;

          he comforts all her waste places

and makes her wilderness like Eden,

          her desert like the garden of the Lord;

joy and gladness will be found in her,

          thanksgiving and the voice of song.

₄“Give attention to me, my people,

          and give ear to me, my nation;

for a law will go out from me,

and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.

₅My righteousness draws near,

          my salvation has gone out,

          and my arms will judge the peoples;

the coastlands hope for me,

          and for my arm they wait.

₆Lift up your eyes to the heavens,

          and look at the earth beneath;

for the heavens vanish like smoke,

          the earth will wear out like a garment,

and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;

but my salvation will be forever,

and my righteousness will never be dismayed.”

Psalm 138

Give Thanks to the Lord

₁I give you thanks, O Lord, with |

my whole heart;*

before the gods I | sing your praise;

₂I bow down toward your holy temple

and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your | faithfulness,*

for you have exalted above all things

your name | and your word.

₃On the day I called, you | answered me;*

my strength of soul | you increased.

₄All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, | O Lord,*

for they have heard the words | of your mouth,

₅and they shall sing of the ways | of the Lord,*

for great is the glory | of the Lord.

₆For though the Lord is high, he regards the | lowly,*

but the haughty he knows | from afar.

₇Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

you pre- | serve my life;*

you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand de- | livers me.

₈The Lord will fulfill his pur- | pose for me;*

your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Do not forsake the work | of your hands.

Romans 11:33—12:8

          ₃₃Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

₃₄“For who has known the mind of the Lord,

          or who has been his counselor?”

₃₅“Or who has given a gift to him

          that he might be repaid?”

₃₆For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

          ₁I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ₂Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

          ₃For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ₄For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, ₅so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ₆Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; ₇if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; ₈the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Matthew 16:13–20

          ₁₃Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ₁₄And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ₁₅He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ₁₆Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ₁₇And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ₁₈And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ₁₉I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” ₂₀Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.