Lessons                                                                       Bread of Life                                                       5 September 2020

Ezekiel 33:7–9

          ₇“So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. ₈If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. ₉But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.”

Psalm 32:1–7

₁Blessèd is the one whose transgression

          is for- | given,*

whose sin is | covered.

₂Blessèd is the man against whom the Lord counts no in- | iquity,*

and in whose spirit there is | no deceit.

₃For when I kept silent,

          my bones wast- | ed away*

through my groaning | all day long.

₄For day and night your hand was

          heavy up- | on me;*

my strength was dried up as by the

          heat of | summer.

₅I acknowledged my sin to you,

          and I did not cover my in- | iquity;*

I said, “I will confess my transgressions

          to the Lord,”

          and you forgave the iniquity | of my sin.

₆Therefore let everyone who is godly

          offer prayer to you at a time

          when you | may be found;*

surely in the rush of great waters,

          they shall not | reach him.

₇You are a hiding place for me;

          you preserve me from | trouble;*

you surround me with shouts of de- | liverance.

Romans 13:1–10

          ₁Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ₂Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ₃For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, ₄for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. ₅Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. ₆For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. ₇Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

          ₈Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ₉The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ₁₀Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Matthew 18:1–20

          ₁At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ₂And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them ₃and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ₄Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

          ₅“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, ₆but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

          ₇“Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! ₈And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. ₉And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

          ₁₀“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. ₁₁For the Son of Man came to save the lost. ₁₂What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? ₁₃And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. ₁₄So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

          ₁₅“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ₁₆But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ₁₇If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. ₁₈Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. ₁₉Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ₂₀For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”