Lessons                                                                       Bread of Life                                                          30 January 2021

Deuteronomy 18:15–20

          ₁₅“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— ₁₆just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ ₁₇And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. ₁₈I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. ₁₉And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. ₂₀But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’”

Psalm 111

₁Praise the Lord!

I will give thanks to the Lord with my | whole heart,*

          in the company of the upright, in the

          congre- | gation.

₂Great are the works | of the Lord,*

          studied by all who de- | light in them.

₃Full of splendor and majesty | is his work,*

          and his righteousness endures for- | ever.

₄He has caused his wondrous works to

be re- | membered;*

          the Lord is gracious and | merciful.

₅He provides food for those who | fear him;*

          he remembers his covenant for- | ever.

₆He has shown his people

the power | of his works,*

          in giving them the inheritance

          of the | nations.

₇The works of his hands are faith- | ful and just;*

          all his precepts are | trustworthy;

₈they are established forever and | ever,*

          to be performed with faithfulness

          and up- | rightness.

₉He sent redem ption to his people;

he has commanded his covenant for- | ever.*

          Holy and awesome | is his name!

₁₀The fear of the Lord

is the beginning of wisdom;

all those who practice it have

a good under- | standing.*

          His praise endures for- | ever!

1 Corinthians 8:1–13

          ₁Concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. ₂If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. ₃But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

          ₄Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” ₅For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— ₆yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

          ₇However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ₈Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. ₉But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. ₁₀For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? ₁₁And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. ₁₂Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. ₁₃Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Mark 1:21–28

          ₂₁They went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath [Jesus] entered the synagogue and was teaching. ₂₂And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. ₂₃And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, ₂₄“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” ₂₅But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” ₂₆And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. ₂₇And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” ₂₈And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.