Lessons                                                                       Bread of Life                                                               22 May 2021

Ezekiel 37:1–14

          ₁The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. ₂And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. ₃And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” ₄Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ₅Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. ₆And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

          ₇So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ₈And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. ₉Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ₁₀So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

          ₁₁Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.’ ₁₂Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. ₁₃And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. ₁₄And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

Psalm 139:1-10

Acts 2:1–21

          ₁When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. ₂And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ₃And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ₄And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

          ₅Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ₆And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. ₇And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ₈And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? ₉Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ₁₀Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, ₁₁both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” ₁₂And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ₁₃But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

          ₁₄But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. ₁₅For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. ₁₆But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

₁₇“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,

          and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

          and your old men shall dream dreams;

₁₈even on my male servants and female servants

          in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

₁₉And I will show wonders in the heavens above

          and signs on the earth below,

                    blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;

₂₀the sun shall be turned to darkness

          and the moon to blood,

                    before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

₂₁And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

John 15:26–27; 16:4b–15

          ₂₆[Jesus said:] “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. ₂₇And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. . . .

          “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. ₅But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ₆But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. ₇Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ₈And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: ₉concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; ₁₀concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ₁₁concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

          ₁₂“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ₁₃When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ₁₄He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ₁₅All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”