Lessons for January 29, 2006 – Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany The first lesson Deuteronomy 18:15-20 "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites, and you must listen to that prophet. 16For this is what you yourselves requested of the Lord your God when you were assembled at Mount Sinai. You begged that you might never again have to listen to the voice of the Lord your God or see this blazing fire for fear you would die. 17"Then the Lord said to me, 'Fine, I will do as they have requested. 18I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will tell that prophet what to say, and he will tell the people everything I command him. 19I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf. 20But any prophet who claims to give a message from another god or who falsely claims to speak for me must die.' (NLT) Psalm 111:1-10 L. Praise the Lord! C. I will thank the Lord with all my heart as I meet with his godly people. L. How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! C. All who delight in him should ponder them. L. Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty. His righteousness never fails. C. Who can forget the wonders he performs? L. How gracious and merciful is our Lord! C. He gives food to those who trust him; he always remembers his covenant. L. He has shown his great power to his people by giving them the lands of other nations. C. All he does is just and good, and all his commandments are trustworthy. L. They are forever true, to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity. C. He has paid a full ransom for his people. L. He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever. C. What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has! L. Reverence for the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. C. The rewards of wisdom come to all who obey him. L. Praise his name forever! (NLT) The second lesson 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 Now let's talk about food that has been sacrificed to idols. You think that everyone should agree with your perfect knowledge. While knowledge may make us feel important, it is love that really builds up the church. 2Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn't really know very much. 3But the person who loves God is the one God knows and cares for. 4So now, what about it? Should we eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God and no other. 5According to some people, there are many so-called gods and many lords, both in heaven and on earth. 6But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we exist for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life. 7However, not all Christians realize this. Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated. 8It's true that we can't win God's approval by what we eat. We don't miss out on anything if we don't eat it, and we don't gain anything if we do. 9But you must be careful with this freedom of yours. Do not cause a brother or sister with a weaker conscience to stumble. 10You see, this is what can happen: Weak Christians who think it is wrong to eat this food will see you eating in the temple of an idol. You know there's nothing wrong with it, but they will be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been dedicated to the idol. 11So because of your superior knowledge, a weak Christian, for whom Christ died, will be destroyed. 12And you are sinning against Christ when you sin against other Christians by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong. 13If what I eat is going to make another Christian sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—for I don't want to make another Christian stumble. (NLT) The Gospel Lesson Mark 1:21-28 Jesus and his companions went to the town of Capernaum, and every Sabbath day he went into the synagogue and taught the people. 22They were amazed at his teaching, for he taught as one who had real authority—quite unlike the teachers of religious law. 23A man possessed by an evil spirit was in the synagogue, 24and he began shouting, "Why are you bothering us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One sent from God!" 25Jesus cut him short. "Be silent! Come out of the man." 26At that, the evil spirit screamed and threw the man into a convulsion, but then he left him. 27Amazement gripped the audience, and they began to discuss what had happened. "What sort of new teaching is this?" they asked excitedly. "It has such authority! Even evil spirits obey his orders!" 28The news of what he had done spread quickly through that entire area of Galilee. (NLT)