Lessons                                                                       Bread of Life                                                     11 September 2021

Isaiah 50:4–10

₄The Lord God has given me

          the tongue of those who are taught,

that I may know how to sustain with a word

          him who is weary.

Morning by morning he awakens;

          he awakens my ear

          to hear as those who are taught.

₅The Lord God has opened my ear,

          and I was not rebellious;

          I turned not backward.

₆I gave my back to those who strike,

          and my cheeks to those who

          pull out the beard;

I hid not my face

          from disgrace and spitting.

₇But the Lord God helps me;

          therefore I have not been disgraced;

therefore I have set my face like a flint,

      and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

      ₈He who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

      Let us stand up together.

Who is my adversary?

      Let him come near to me.

₉Behold, the Lord God helps me;

      who will declare me guilty?

Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;

      the moth will eat them up.

₁₀Who among you fears the Lord

      and obeys the voice of his servant?

Let him who walks in darkness

      and has no light

trust in the name of the Lord

      and rely on his God.

Psalm 116:1-9

₁I love the LORD, because | he has heard*

my voice and my pleas for | mercy.

₂Because he inclined his | ear to me,*

therefore I will call on him as long | as I live.

₃The snares of death encompassed me;

the pangs of Sheol laid | hold on me;*

I suffered distress and | anguish.

₄Then I called on the name | of the LORD:*

"O LORD, I pray, deliv- | er my soul!"

₅Gracious is the LORD, and | righteous;*

our God is | merciful.

₆The LORD preserves the | simple;*

when I was brought low, he | saved me.

₇Return, O my soul, | to your rest;*

for the LORD has dealt bountifully | with you.

₈For you have delivered my | soul from death,*

my eyes from tears, my feet from | stumbling;

₉I will walk be- | fore the LORD*

in the land of the | living.

James 3:1–12

      ₁Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. ₂For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. ₃If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. ₄Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ₅So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

      How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ₆And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. ₇For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, ₈but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ₉With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. ₁₀From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. ₁₁Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? ₁₂Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Mark 9:14–29

      ₁₄When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. ₁₅And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to [Jesus] and greeted him. ₁₆And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” ₁₇And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. ₁₈And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” ₁₉And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” ₂₀And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. ₂₁And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ₂₂And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” ₂₃And Jesus said to him, “If you can! All things are possible for one who believes.” ₂₄Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” ₂₅And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” ₂₆And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” ₂₇But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. ₂₈And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” ₂₉And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”