Lessons                                                                       Bread of Life                                                               10 May 2025

Acts 20:17–35

         ₁₇Now from Miletus [Paul] sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. ₁₈And when they came to him, he said to them:

         "You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, ₁₉serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; ₂₀how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, ₂₁testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. ₂₂And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, ₂₃except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. ₂₄But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. ₂₅And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. ₂₆Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, ₂₇for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. ₂₈Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. ₂₉I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; ₃₀and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. ₃₁Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. ₃₂And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ₃₃I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. ₃₄You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. ₃₅In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

Psalm 23

₁The Lord is my | shepherd;*

         I | shall not want.

₂He makes me lie down in green | pastures.*

         He leads me beside still | waters.

₃He re- | stores my soul.*

         He leads me in paths of righteousness for his | name's sake.

₄Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are | with me;*

         your rod and your staff, they | comfort me.

₅You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my | enemies;*

         you anoint my head with oil;

         my cup | overflows.

₆Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days | of my life,*

         and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for- | ever.

Revelation 7:9–17

         ₉After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ₁₀and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" ₁₁And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ₁₂saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."

         ₁₃Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?" ₁₄I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

₁₅"Therefore they are before the throne of God,

         and serve him day and night in his temple;

         and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.

₁₆They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;

         the sun shall not strike them,

         nor any scorching heat.

₁₇For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,

         and he will guide them to springs of living water,

and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

John 10:22–30

         ₂₂At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, ₂₃and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. ₂₄So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." ₂₅Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, ₂₆but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. ₂₇My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ₂₈I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. ₂₉My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. ₃₀I and the Father are one."