Lessons                                                                       Bread of Life                                                        24 February 2024

Genesis 17:1–7, 15–16

         ₁When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, ₂that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly." ₃Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, ₄"Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. ₅No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ₆I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. ₇And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. . . .

         ₁₅And God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. ₁₆I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her."

Psalm 22:23–31

₂₃You who fear the Lord, praise him!

         All you offspring of Jacob, glo- | rify him,*

         and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of | Israel!

₂₄For he has not despised or abhorred

         the affliction of the afflicted,

and he has not hidden his | face from him,*

         but has heard, when he | cried to him.

₂₅From you comes my praise in the great congre- | gation;*

         my vows I will perform before those who | fear him.

₂₆The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;

         those who seek him shall | praise the Lord!*

         May your hearts live for- | ever!

₂₇All the ends of the earth shall remember

         and turn | to the Lord,*

and all the families of the nations

         shall worship be- | fore you.

₂₈For kingship belongs | to the Lord,*

         and he rules over the | nations.

₂₉All the prosperous of the earth eat and | worship;*

         before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,

         even the one who could not keep him- | self alive.

₃₀Posterity shall | serve him;*

         it shall be told of the Lord to the coming gener- | ation;

₃₁they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people | yet unborn,*

         that he has | done it.

Romans 5:1–11

         ₁Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ₂Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ₃More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ₄and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ₅and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

         ₆For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ₇For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ₈but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ₉Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ₁₀For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. ₁₁More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Mark 8:27–38

         ₂₇And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" ₂₈And they told him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets." ₂₉And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ." ₃₀And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

         ₃₁And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. ₃₂And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ₃₃But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."

         ₃₄And he called to him the crowd with his disciples and said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ₃₅For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. ₃₆For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? ₃₇For what can a man give in return for his life? ₃₈For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."