Pres House

Text: Mark 8:27-38 (NRSVUE)

27 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 answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” 30And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

31Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. 32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

34 He called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Text: John 6:1-15 (NRSV)

1After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2A large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” 10Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place, so they sat down, about five thousand in all. 11Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

Text: Ecclesiastes 12:1-8 (NRSV)

Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;

before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return with the rain;

in the day when the guards of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the women who grind cease working because they are few, and those who look through the windows see dimly;

when the doors on the street are shut, and the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low;

when one is afraid of heights, and terrors are in the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caper bud falls; because all must go to their eternal home, and the mourners will go about the streets;

before the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cistern,

and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.

Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher; all is vanity.

Text: 1 Samuel 18:1-5 (NRSV)

1 When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. 3Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as his own soul. 4Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing and gave it to David and his armor and even his sword and his bow and his belt. 5David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him; as a result, Saul set him over the army. And all the people, even the servants of Saul, approved.

Text: John 10:1-17 (NRSV)

1“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

7So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.

Text: Matthew 5:13-16 (NRSV)

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Text: Song of Songs 7:1-13 (NRSV)

1 How graceful are your feet in sandals,

O queenly maiden!

Your rounded thighs are like jewels,

the work of a master hand.

2Your navel is a rounded bowl;

may it never lack mixed wine.

Your belly is a heap of wheat,

encircled with lilies.

3 Your two breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle.

4 Your neck is like an ivory tower.

Your eyes are pools in Heshbon,

by the gate of Bath-rabbim.

Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon,

overlooking Damascus.

5 Your head crowns you like Carmel,

and your flowing locks are like purple;

a king is held captive in the tresses.

6 How fair and pleasant you are,

O loved one, delectable maiden!

7You are stately as a palm tree,

and your breasts are like its clusters.

8 I said, “I will climb the palm tree

and lay hold of its branches.”

O may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,

and the scent of your breath like apples,

9and your kisses like the best wine

that goes down smoothly,

gliding over lips and teeth.

10 I am my beloved’s,

and his desire is for me.

11Come, my beloved,

let us go forth into the fields

and lodge in the villages;

12 let us go out early to the vineyards;

let us see whether the vines have budded,

whether the grape blossoms have opened

and the pomegranates are in bloom.

There I will give you my love.

13 The mandrakes give forth fragrance,

and over our doors are all choice fruits,

new as well as old,

which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.

Text: Isaiah 43:1-3a (NRSV)

1But now thus says the Lord,

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

Do not fear, 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.

Text: Psalm 73 (NRSV)

A Psalm of Asaph.

1Truly God is good to the upright,

to those who are pure in heart.

2But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;

my steps had nearly slipped.

3For I was envious of the arrogant;

I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4For they have no pain;

their bodies are sound and sleek.

5They are not in trouble as others are;

they are not plagued like other people.

6Therefore pride is their necklace;

violence covers them like a garment.

7Their eyes swell out with fatness;

their hearts overflow with follies.

8They scoff and speak with malice;

loftily they threaten oppression.

9They set their mouths against heaven,

and their tongues range over the earth.

10Therefore the people turn and praise them,

and find no fault in them.

11And they say, “How can God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

12Such are the wicked;

always at ease, they increase in riches.

13All in vain I have kept my heart clean

and washed my hands in innocence.

14For all day long I have been plagued,

and am punished every morning.

15If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,”

I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.

16But when I thought how to understand this,

it seemed to me a wearisome task,

17until I went into the sanctuary of God;

then I perceived their end.

18Truly you set them in slippery places;

you make them fall to ruin.

19How they are destroyed in a moment,

swept away utterly by terrors!

20They are like a dream when one awakes;

on awaking you despise their phantoms.

21When my soul was embittered,

when I was pricked in heart,

22I was stupid and ignorant;

I was like a brute beast toward you.

23Nevertheless I am continually with you;

you hold my right hand.

24You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will receive me with honor.

25Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.

26My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

27Indeed, those who are far from you will perish;

you put an end to those who are false to you.

28But for me it is good to be near God;

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

to tell of all your works.

Text: Ephesians 2:11-22 (NRSV)

11So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”—a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— 12remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. 17So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.