Lessons                                                                       Bread of Life                                                        7 December 2024

Malachi 3:1–7b

         ₁"Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. ₂But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. ₃He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. ₄Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

         ₅"Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

         ₆"For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. ₇From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them."

Psalm 66:1–12

₁Shout for joy to God, | all the earth;*

         ₂sing the glory of his name;

         give to him | glorious praise!

₃Say to God, "How awesome | are your deeds!*

         So great is your power that your enemies come cringing | to you.

₄All the earth worships you

         and sings prais- | es to you;*

         they sing praises | to your name."

₅Come and see what | God has done:*

         he is awesome in his deeds toward the chil- | dren of man.

₆He turned the sea into | dry land;*

         they passed through the riv- | er on foot.

There did we rejoice in him,

         ₇who rules by his might forever,

whose eyes keep watch on the | nations—*

         let not the rebellious ex- | alt themselves.

₈Bless our God, O | peoples;*

         let the sound of his | praise be heard,

₉who has kept our soul among the | living*

         and has not let our | feet slip.

₁₀For you, O God, have | tested us;*

         you have tried us as sil- | ver is tried.

₁₁You brought us in- | to the net;*

         you laid a crushing burden | on our backs;

₁₂you let men ride o- | ver our heads;*

         we went through fire and through water;

yet you have brought us out to a place of a- | bundance.

Philippians 1:2–11

         ₂Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

         ₃I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, ₄always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, ₅because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. ₆And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. ₇It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ₈For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. ₉And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, ₁₀so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ₁₁filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Luke 3:1–20

         ₁In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ₂during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ₃And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ₄As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

         make his paths straight.

₅Every valley shall be filled,

         and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall become straight,

         and the rough places shall become level ways,

₆and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

         ₇He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ₈Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ₉Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

         ₁₀And the crowds asked him, "What then shall we do?" ₁₁And he answered them, "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise." ₁₂Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" ₁₃And he said to them, "Collect no more than you are authorized to do." ₁₄Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages."

         ₁₅As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, ₁₆John answered them all, saying, "I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ₁₇His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

         ₁₈So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. ₁₉But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, ₂₀added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.