Lessons                                                                       Bread of Life                                                              27 April 2024

Acts 8:26–40

         ₂₆An angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert place. ₂₇And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship ₂₈and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. ₂₉And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot." ₃₀So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" ₃₁And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ₃₂Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter

and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,

so he opens not his mouth.

₃₃In his humiliation justice was denied him.

Who can describe his generation?

For his life is taken away from the earth."

₃₄And the eunuch said to Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" ₃₅Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. ₃₆And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?" ₃₈And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. ₃₉And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. ₄₀But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Psalm 150

₁Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctu- | ary;*

         praise him in his mighty | heavens!

₂Praise him for his | mighty deeds;*

         praise him according to his excellent | greatness!

₃Praise him with | trumpet sound;*

         praise him with | lute and harp!

₄Praise him with tambou- | rine and dance;*

         praise him with | strings and pipe!

₅Praise him with sounding | cymbals;*

         praise him with loud clashing | cymbals!

₆Let everything that has breath | praise the Lord!*

Praise | the Lord!

1 John 4:1–21

         ₁Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. ₂By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ₃and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. ₄Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. ₅They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. ₆We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

         ₇Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ₈Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ₉In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ₁₀In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ₁₁Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ₁₂No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

         ₁₃By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ₁₄And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ₁₅Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ₁₆So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ₁₇By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. ₁₈There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. ₁₉We love because he first loved us. ₂₀If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. ₂₁And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

John 15:1–8

         ₁[Jesus said:] "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ₂Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ₃Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ₄Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ₅I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ₆If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ₇If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ₈By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples."