Lessons                                                                       Bread of Life                                                       7 November 2020

Amos 5:18–24

₁₈Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light,

₁₉as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him.

₂₀Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

₂₁“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

₂₂Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them.

₂₃Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

₂₄But let justice roll down like waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

Psalm 70

₁Make haste, O God, to de- | liver me!*

         O Lord, make haste to | help me!

₂Let them be put to shame and confusion

         who | seek my life!*

Let them be turned back

         and brought to dishonor

         who de- | sire my hurt!

₃Let them turn back because |

         of their shame*

who say, “A- | ha, Aha!”

₄May all who seek you

         rejoice and be | glad in you!*

May those who love your salvation

         say evermore, | “God is great!”

₅But I am poor and needy;

         hasten to me, | O God!*

You are my help and my deliverer;

         O Lord, do | not delay!

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18

         ₁₃But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. ₁₄For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. ₁₅For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ₁₆For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ₁₇Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. ₁₈Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Matthew 25:1–13

         ₁[Jesus said:] “The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. ₂Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ₃For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ₄but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ₅As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. ₆But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ₇Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. ₈And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ₉But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ₁₀And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. ₁₁Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ₁₂But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ ₁₃Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”