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BREAD OF LIFE READINGS, JULY 2023

TLH = The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941; WS = Worship Supplement 2000; LSB = Lutheran Service Book, 2006

Date Hymns Reading Comments
July 1 TLH 429/LSB 708 1 John 4 The Lord is a God of truth and a God of love. One cannot truly uphold truth without love and one cannot truly uphold love without truth.
July 3 WS 772/LSB 835 Jeremiah 18 All people are clay in the hand of the Potter. He orders and directs all things according to His good and gracious will.
July 4 LSB 795 Zechariah 1 After their return from exile, the Judeans neglected the rebuilding of the temple of the Lord. The Lord commissioned Zechariah to call His people to faithfulness.
July 5 TLH 462/LSB 651 Zechariah 2 The Lord blesses His people with His glorious presence and with His gracious protection.
July 6 TLH 477/LSB 647 Zechariah 4 Zechariah sees a vision of a golden lampstand. The reconstruction of the temple will be completed to the glory of the Lord.
July 7 TLH 56/LSB 353 Zechariah 9 The Lord judges the enemies of His people. The Lord will come riding on a donkey to bring salvation to His people.
July 8 TLH 276/LSB 684 Matthew 11 Disciples of John ask Jesus whether or not He is the Messiah. Jesus points to His miracles as evidence of His identity. Jesus tenderly invites us to find our rest in Him.
July 10 TLH 651/LSB 752 Jeremiah 27 It is the will of the Lord that Babylon conquer Judah. The prophets who say that Babylon will not conquer Judah proclaim lies. As so often is the case, the pleasant lie is easier to believe than the difficult truth.
July 11 TLH 590/LSB 755 Jeremiah 13 The Lord uses a ruined loincloth and jars filled with wine as illustrations of what He will do in response to the unfaithfulness of His people. The people of Judah will be conquered and exiled.
July 12 TLH 343/LSB 395 Isaiah 48 The Lord redeems His people to the glory of His name.
July 13 TLH 277/LSB 699 Isaiah 55 The Lord offers full and free salvation. His powerful Word is like nourishing rain from the heavens.
July 14 TLH 372/LSB 746 Romans 8 The Spirit of God gives us life. Our desire is to live by the Spirit, not according to the sinful flesh. We will suffer tribulation in this world, but God is with us in His love and He will receive us into eternal glory for the sake of Christ.
July 15 TLH 347/LSB 743 Matthew 13 Jesus tells many parables. The people of Nazareth reject Jesus.
July 17 TLH 358 Hebrews 5 Unlike the Old Testament high priests, Jesus had no sin of His own for which to offer sacrifice. He is our perfect High Priest. We desire to grow and to mature in our faith, moving from milk to solid food as we study Scripture continually throughout our lives.
July 18 TLH 373/LSB 566 Hebrews 6 The writer warns against falling from the faith and grieving the Holy Spirit. The promises of God are sure and certain in Christ, our perfect High Priest.
July 19 LSB 564 Hebrews 7 The writer compares Jesus to Melchizedek, to whom Abraham gave a tithe. Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchizedek, not of Levi.
July 20 TLH 364/LSB 524 Hebrews 8 Not only is Jesus Christ a greater Priest than those of the Old Testament, but His covenant also is greater than theirs.
July 21 TLH 427/LSB 728 Isaiah 41 The Lord is a terror to His enemies, but a comforting refuge to those who trust in Him. False gods are worthless.
July 22 TLH 15/LSB 816 Isaiah 44 The Lord, the only true God, comforts His chosen people. The worship of manmade idols is utter foolishness. The Lord redeems His people.
July 24 TLH 24 Nahum 1 Through His prophet Nahum, the Lord pronounces judgment on Nineveh, the wicked capital city of the Assyrian Empire.
July 25 WS 763/LSB 512 Nahum 2 The Lord will bring destruction on Nineveh.
July 26 TLH 611/LSB 508 Nahum 3 Woe to Nineveh, for she will reap the fruit of her wickedness.
July 27 TLH 297/LSB 580 Galatians 1 Some in the churches of Galatia were teaching that the Levitical laws of the Old Testament, especially regarding circumcision, were binding on all who would follow Christ. Paul opposes this teaching sternly, proclaiming instead salvation by grace alone.
July 28 WS 775/LSB 578 Galatians 2 Paul establishes his credentials as an apostle of Christ: the other apostles have accepted him and his ministry. Paul recounts how he opposed Peter when Peter refused to eat with Gentiles. Believers are justified by faith, not by works of the Law.
July 29 TLH 580 Deuteronomy 7 The children of Israel are to avoid intermarriage with the people of the surrounding nations. Those nations are to be destroyed completely. The children of Israel are to keep the commands of the Lord. The Lord will give His people victory over their enemies, even as He delivered His people from Egypt.
July 31 TLH 377/LSB 555 Galatians 3 Is salvation by faith, or is salvation by works of the Law? Paul argues that already in Genesis, God made it clear through the words of Moses that Abraham was justified by faith. All who believe in Jesus Christ receive justification by faith and are children of Abraham.

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