Lessons                                                                       Bread of Life                                                          11 January 2025

Isaiah 43:1–7

₁But now thus says the Lord,

he who created you, O Jacob,

          he who formed you, O Israel:

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

          I have called you by name, you are mine.

₂When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

          and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

          and the flame shall not consume you.

₃For I am the Lord your God,

          the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I give Egypt as your ransom,

          Cush and Seba in exchange for you.

₄Because you are precious in my eyes,

          and honored, and I love you,

I give men in return for you,

          peoples in exchange for your life.

₅Fear not, for I am with you;

          I will bring your offspring from the east,

          and from the west I will gather you.

₆I will say to the north, Give up,

          and to the south, Do not withhold;

bring my sons from afar

          and my daughters from the end of the earth,

₇everyone who is called by my name,

          whom I created for my glory,

          whom I formed and made."

Psalm 29

₁Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly | beings,*

          ascribe to the Lord glo- | ry and strength.

₂Ascribe to the Lord the glory | due his name;*

          worship the Lord in the splendor of | holiness.

₃The voice of the Lord is over the | waters;*

          the God of glory thunders,

          the Lord, over many | waters.

₄The voice of the Lord is | powerful;*

          the voice of the Lord is full of | majesty.

₅The voice of the Lord breaks the | cedars;*

          the Lord breaks the cedars of | Lebanon.

₆He makes Lebanon to skip | like a calf,*

          and Sirion like a young | wild ox.

₇The voice | of the Lord*

          flashes forth | flames of fire.

₈The voice of the Lord shakes the | wilderness;*

          the Lord shakes the wilderness | of Kadesh.

₉The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth

          and strips the | forests bare,*      and in his temple all cry, | "Glory!"

₁₀The Lord sits enthroned o- | ver the flood;*

          the Lord sits enthroned as king for- | ever.

₁₁May the Lord give strength to his | people!*

          May the Lord bless his people | with peace!

Romans 6:1–11

          ₁What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ₂By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ₃Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ₄We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

          ₅For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ₆We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ₇For one who has died has been set free from sin. ₈Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ₉We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ₁₀For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ₁₁So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Luke 3:15–22

          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.

          ₂₁Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, ₂₂and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."