Lessons                                                                       Bread of Life                                                         24 October 2020

Leviticus 19:1–2, 15–18

         ₁And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ₂“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. . . .

         ₁₅“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. ₁₆You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

         ₁₇“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. ₁₈You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the | wicked,*

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of | scoffers;

2 but his delight is in the law |

of the Lord,*

and on his law he meditates | day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not | wither.*

In all that he does, he | prospers.

4 The wicked | are not so,*

but are like chaff that the wind |

drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the | judgment,*

nor sinners in the congregation of the | righteous;

6 for the Lord knows the way of the | righteous,*

but the way of the wicked will | perish.

1 Thessalonians 2:1–13

         ₁For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. ₂But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. ₃For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, ₄but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. ₅For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. ₆Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. ₇But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. ₈So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

         ₉For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. ₁₀You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. ₁₁For you know how, like a father with his children, ₁₂we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

         ₁₃And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

Matthew 22:34–46

         ₃₄When the Pharisees heard that [Jesus] had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. ₃₅And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ₃₆“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ₃₇And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ₃₈This is the great and first commandment. ₃₉And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ₄₀On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

         ₄₁Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, ₄₂saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” ₄₃He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,

₄₄“‘The Lord said to my Lord,

Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies under your feet’?

₄₅If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” ₄₆And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.