MUSICAL OFFERING
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Let me remind you quickly of our protocols for everyone’s safety.
· Attendance was taken by Ushers as you entered.
· Offerings may be placed in the plate by the doors.
· Please write your prayer request on the Yellow cards. An usher will pick them up during the 1st hymn.
· Please join us after service for fellowship in Calvin Hall
· Dr. Dyke has started a Bible study on Wednesdays at 3pm sign-up sheet outside Pastor Study
Schedule reminders:
Session has voted to open the church during the week once again from
Monday- Thursday; 9:30-1:30 PM.
Aug 2nd Karla is out of the office
Aug 8th Session Meeting
Aug 11th Ladies Lunch Bunch
Aug 11th Bible Study
PRAYER REQUESTS
Gary Iverson, all who are seeking Jesus, Bob Bock, Joan Boyd, Jack Braden, Wanda Hirl, Marilyn Neymeyer, Joan Pinkston, Maxine Wagner, Valerie Jerez, Annette Conzett, Jackie with difficult pregnancy, Jo Lefleur, Dr Dyke, Jane with upcoming knee surgery, Deb Weller death of father in-law and upcoming surgery, people of India, Amy Jacobs, Cornell Family two deaths in the past week, Bonnie Pillers, Pawlik Family in the loss of an infant, the Wynn family at the loss of Lamette, Mike Niles, and Harlen Marx had a knee replacement
PRELUDE
WORDS OF WORSHIP (from Psalm 145)
LEADER: The Lord is gracious and merciful.
Response: Slow to anger and plenteous in mercy.
L: The Lord’s compassion is over all that He has made.
R: All Your works shall give thanks to You, o Lord.
L: And all Your faithful shall bless You,
R: The Lord is faithful in all his words and gracious in His deeds.
GATHERING PRAYER (Unison)
Eternal God, our Father, who is from everlasting; You have made us and not we ourselves. You have set us a hands breadth from You, so that we, Your children, may learn the ways of freedom and choose You with all of our hearts. Grant us now Your Holy Spirit so that we may worship You with gladness and become as little children before You. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
*HYMN Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah No. 281
CONFESSION AND PARDON (Unison)
. Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, maker of all things, judge of all mankind, we acknowledge and confess our manifold sins which we continuously do commit by thought, word, and deed. We do earnestly repent and are heartily sorry for these misdoings. It is painful for us to remember them before You. For the sake of Your dear Son, we ask You to have mercy upon us and forgive all that is past. Grant that we may hereafter serve and please You in newness of life. All to the honor and glory of Your name through Jesus Christ, our Master. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who in Your great mercy has promised the forgiveness of sins to all who truly repent and turn to Him in true faith, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and bring you to life eternal, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
*ANTHEM:
THE ORDINATION TO THE RULING ELDERHOOD
*THE PASSING OF THE PEACE
ITHE OFFERING AND OFFERTORY
OFFERTORY PRAYER
Glory be to You, o God, for all Your goodness to us and to all mankind. We give thanks for the world in which You have placed us with all its wonder and beauty. We thank You for life and health, for food and clothing, for friends and homes and for Your care, which guards us always. For all these blessings, we return to You our best gifts, for they have all come from You. Amen
INTERLUDE
Word
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Eternal God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden; cleanse now the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love and magnify Your Holy Word. Amen.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS
Exodus 16:1-4
16 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.
Exodus 16:9-15
9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” 10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud. 11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning, you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning, there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat
John 6:25-35
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” 30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Psalms 78:25-29
25 Human beings ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat. 26 He let loose the east wind from the heavens and by his power made the south wind blow. 27 He rained meat down on them like dust, birds like sand on the seashore. 28 He made them come down inside their camp, all around their tents 29 They ate till they were gorged— he had given them what they craved..
SERMON Peace With God
We welcome you to our Facebook broadcast of the morning worship service of the First Presbyterian Church of Clinton, Iowa. We recently adopted a new motto for our church that we think describes us very well. We are “The Stone Church with a Warm Heart.”
I am Rev. Dr. Dale A. Dykstra and I have been privileged to serve as the interim minister at this church family for the past several months. I have served as a Presbyterian Church (USA) minister of Word and Sacrament for 49 years, serving in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Iowa.
Today is a doubly special day in the ongoing life of our congregation. new are honored to conduct the service of ordination as a Ruling Elder of the Session for Tom Fullerton. We also celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion together. Speaking of Communion, we invite all of you who love Jesus, are sorry for your sins, and seek to walk in newness of life to join us as we receive the elements. Take time now to assemble a piece of bread (or cracker) and juice or wine to use as we partake together. The Lord will bless your elements at home as surely as He does ours here,
Speaking of the Lord’s Supper, today’s sermon seeks to be following the importance of BREAD in the Holy Bible. Everyone has heard the old saying “Bread is the staff of life” and to many degrees it is really true! Go to any nation or even continent and you will find some sort of bread. It may be rice cakes in the Orient. It may be Tacos and other forms of corn meal in Latin America. Europeans and Americans prefer rye or wheat for their bread. African tastes gravitate toward yams, mashed beans, cassava, and millet.
The point is that ALL cultures and societies determine that bread IS ESSENTIAL to promote health and life. I began our walk through Scripture with a return to Moses and Aaron and the children of Israel as slaves in Egypt. Life had been pretty much the same for nearly 400 years for them. After Joseph and his Pharaoh died, the Hebrew people were treated increasingly as slaves to be used in the massive building projects of the day.
A Pharaoh’s status was greatly enhanced by building a great temple or public building. To do that they needed a huge amount of forced labor. In the land of Goshen and beyond these came to be the Jewish people. God, through Moses and Aaron, led the Israelites out into the wilderness after sending 10 plagues upon the Egyptians.
But soon, what did the children of Israel do after getting their freedom?
THEY COMPLAINED!!
They regretted leaving the “fleshpots” of Egypt and eating their fill of BREAD. They accused Moses of leading them out into the wilderness to starve to death! There were even some of the people who were willing to return to Egypt and their slavery—undoubtedly to be made even more severe—OVER BREAD!!
God told Aaron and Moses that He would provide an abundance of bread for them and even send meat! We know the story of the Manna sent by God. It was a flaky substance that appeared on the rocks in the desert in the early morning—much the way dew appears here in our age. The Bible describes it “as fine as frost” on the ground. It tasted like wafers made with honey—a sweet treat to nourish God’s chosen people!
There were rules about Manna. It was to be harvested every day early in the morning. There was a certain amount- an omer – that was to be gathered for each person. The people were charged to NOT try to keep it overnight for the next day because it would spoil and get wormy and foul. On Fridays, a double portion of Manna – 2 omers – was to be gathered. It would not spoil overnight like it did every other day. That would give the people food for the Sabbath when they were not allowed to do the work of harvesting.
Predictably, the Bible records that some of the Hebrew people went about breaking every one of these directions –only to discover that the penalties God had declared came true!
Most of us also miss the fact that God told Moses and Aaron that they would receive meat to eat. That very night a flock of quail flew into the camp in such numbers that they fairly COVERED the ground. They did not attempt to startle and fly away to escape the way that any other flock of birds would do.
NOW HOW MANY FLOCKS OF BIRDS GO FLYING TOWARD PEOPLE IN THE MIDDLE OF A DESERT WILDERNESS? This was no natural phenomenon! God provided for Israel’s basic needs for BREAD and added blessings of meat for nutrients and balance. I also read to you from David’s Psalm 78 that celebrates God’s goodness of the Manna. Do you know what the word Manna actually MEANS in Hebrew? The Holy Bible gives us the translation – “What is it??”
God is praised for sending “the bread of angels” to eat and even more for causing a southeast wind to blow the birds into camp. (Because of the earth’s rotation, the prevailing winds there are from the West!!!) The birds soaring on that wind “rained flesh upon them”. The Psalm tells us that they “ate and were well-filled. God not only gave them food, but BETTER food! The Godly food strengthened them MORE than the diet in Egypt would have done.
You probably remember that soon after this the Hebrew children began to COMPLAIN again—this time over a lack of water---causing Moses to strike a rock with his staff----but that is another story for another day.
I took you to the New Testament to the Gospel of John for the precious words about Jesus as “the living BREAD.” He had just performed the miracle of feeding 5000 men and their families with BREAD and fish from the little boy’s lunch on the day before. Understandably, the crowd followed Him wherever he went after that—a point that Jesus makes as He accuses them of being more interested in BREAD than in the words He spoke and the healings that He did.
The crowd asked for yet another miracle to show that Jesus had the power of God. The crowd were the ones who raised the story of the Exodus and the Manna. The Lord responded that the olden days were completed and God had sent a NEW FOOD –the BREAD OF LIFE.
He said, and I repeat today as we approach His Holy Table ,”whoever comes to me will never hunger and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” What happened then?
THE JEWS COMPLAINED AGAIN !!
They could not understand the meaning when He said “I am the BREAD that came down from heaven.” He highlights the difference for us today – “I am the bread of life that came down from heaven. WHOEVER EATS OF THIS BREAD WILL LIVE FOREVER. “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them. The one who eats this BREAD will live forever!”
As we approach the Table, BREAD is still the staff of life ---OF ETERNAL LIFE in Christ. Thanks be to God! Amen.
*Hymn What a Friend 403
*AFFIRMATION Apostle’s Creed, Ecumenical Version
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven,
He is seated on the right hand of the Father,
And he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
INVITATION TO THE LORD’S SUPPER
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
O Holy God…we lift our hearts in joyful praise.
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. Hymnal #581
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest.
We praise you…together, we proclaim the mystery of our faith.
Dying, you destroyed our death; rising, you restored our life. Hymnal #582
Gracious God… all glory and honor are yours,
Almighty God, now and forever. Amen.
SERVING OF THE ELEMENTS
MORNING PRAYER AND LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever. Amen.
Sending
*HYMN Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoke No. 446
CHARGE & BLESSING
And now, may the grace, mercy, and peace which proceeds from God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Son, and into the Holy Spirit within us, rest and abide within us, now and forever more.
POSTLUDE
*Stand as you are able.
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Let me remind you quickly of our protocols for everyone’s safety.
· Attendance was taken by Ushers as you entered.
· Offerings may be placed in the plate by the doors.
· Please write your prayer request on the Yellow cards. An usher will pick them up during the 1st hymn.
· Please join us after service for fellowship in Calvin Hall
· Dr. Dyke has started a Bible study on Wednesdays at 3pm sign-up sheet outside Pastor Study
Schedule reminders:
Session has voted to open the church during the week once again from
Monday- Thursday; 9:30-1:30 PM.
Aug 2nd Karla is out of the office
Aug 8th Session Meeting
Aug 11th Ladies Lunch Bunch
Aug 11th Bible Study
PRAYER REQUESTS
Gary Iverson, all who are seeking Jesus, Bob Bock, Joan Boyd, Jack Braden, Wanda Hirl, Marilyn Neymeyer, Joan Pinkston, Maxine Wagner, Valerie Jerez, Annette Conzett, Jackie with difficult pregnancy, Jo Lefleur, Dr Dyke, Jane with upcoming knee surgery, Deb Weller death of father in-law and upcoming surgery, people of India, Amy Jacobs, Cornell Family two deaths in the past week, Bonnie Pillers, Pawlik Family in the loss of an infant, the Wynn family at the loss of Lamette, Mike Niles, and Harlen Marx had a knee replacement
PRELUDE
WORDS OF WORSHIP (from Psalm 145)
LEADER: The Lord is gracious and merciful.
Response: Slow to anger and plenteous in mercy.
L: The Lord’s compassion is over all that He has made.
R: All Your works shall give thanks to You, o Lord.
L: And all Your faithful shall bless You,
R: The Lord is faithful in all his words and gracious in His deeds.
GATHERING PRAYER (Unison)
Eternal God, our Father, who is from everlasting; You have made us and not we ourselves. You have set us a hands breadth from You, so that we, Your children, may learn the ways of freedom and choose You with all of our hearts. Grant us now Your Holy Spirit so that we may worship You with gladness and become as little children before You. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
*HYMN Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah No. 281
CONFESSION AND PARDON (Unison)
. Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, maker of all things, judge of all mankind, we acknowledge and confess our manifold sins which we continuously do commit by thought, word, and deed. We do earnestly repent and are heartily sorry for these misdoings. It is painful for us to remember them before You. For the sake of Your dear Son, we ask You to have mercy upon us and forgive all that is past. Grant that we may hereafter serve and please You in newness of life. All to the honor and glory of Your name through Jesus Christ, our Master. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who in Your great mercy has promised the forgiveness of sins to all who truly repent and turn to Him in true faith, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and bring you to life eternal, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
*ANTHEM:
THE ORDINATION TO THE RULING ELDERHOOD
*THE PASSING OF THE PEACE
ITHE OFFERING AND OFFERTORY
OFFERTORY PRAYER
Glory be to You, o God, for all Your goodness to us and to all mankind. We give thanks for the world in which You have placed us with all its wonder and beauty. We thank You for life and health, for food and clothing, for friends and homes and for Your care, which guards us always. For all these blessings, we return to You our best gifts, for they have all come from You. Amen
INTERLUDE
Word
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Eternal God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden; cleanse now the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love and magnify Your Holy Word. Amen.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS
Exodus 16:1-4
16 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.
Exodus 16:9-15
9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” 10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud. 11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning, you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning, there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat
John 6:25-35
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” 30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Psalms 78:25-29
25 Human beings ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat. 26 He let loose the east wind from the heavens and by his power made the south wind blow. 27 He rained meat down on them like dust, birds like sand on the seashore. 28 He made them come down inside their camp, all around their tents 29 They ate till they were gorged— he had given them what they craved..
SERMON Peace With God
We welcome you to our Facebook broadcast of the morning worship service of the First Presbyterian Church of Clinton, Iowa. We recently adopted a new motto for our church that we think describes us very well. We are “The Stone Church with a Warm Heart.”
I am Rev. Dr. Dale A. Dykstra and I have been privileged to serve as the interim minister at this church family for the past several months. I have served as a Presbyterian Church (USA) minister of Word and Sacrament for 49 years, serving in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Iowa.
Today is a doubly special day in the ongoing life of our congregation. new are honored to conduct the service of ordination as a Ruling Elder of the Session for Tom Fullerton. We also celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion together. Speaking of Communion, we invite all of you who love Jesus, are sorry for your sins, and seek to walk in newness of life to join us as we receive the elements. Take time now to assemble a piece of bread (or cracker) and juice or wine to use as we partake together. The Lord will bless your elements at home as surely as He does ours here,
Speaking of the Lord’s Supper, today’s sermon seeks to be following the importance of BREAD in the Holy Bible. Everyone has heard the old saying “Bread is the staff of life” and to many degrees it is really true! Go to any nation or even continent and you will find some sort of bread. It may be rice cakes in the Orient. It may be Tacos and other forms of corn meal in Latin America. Europeans and Americans prefer rye or wheat for their bread. African tastes gravitate toward yams, mashed beans, cassava, and millet.
The point is that ALL cultures and societies determine that bread IS ESSENTIAL to promote health and life. I began our walk through Scripture with a return to Moses and Aaron and the children of Israel as slaves in Egypt. Life had been pretty much the same for nearly 400 years for them. After Joseph and his Pharaoh died, the Hebrew people were treated increasingly as slaves to be used in the massive building projects of the day.
A Pharaoh’s status was greatly enhanced by building a great temple or public building. To do that they needed a huge amount of forced labor. In the land of Goshen and beyond these came to be the Jewish people. God, through Moses and Aaron, led the Israelites out into the wilderness after sending 10 plagues upon the Egyptians.
But soon, what did the children of Israel do after getting their freedom?
THEY COMPLAINED!!
They regretted leaving the “fleshpots” of Egypt and eating their fill of BREAD. They accused Moses of leading them out into the wilderness to starve to death! There were even some of the people who were willing to return to Egypt and their slavery—undoubtedly to be made even more severe—OVER BREAD!!
God told Aaron and Moses that He would provide an abundance of bread for them and even send meat! We know the story of the Manna sent by God. It was a flaky substance that appeared on the rocks in the desert in the early morning—much the way dew appears here in our age. The Bible describes it “as fine as frost” on the ground. It tasted like wafers made with honey—a sweet treat to nourish God’s chosen people!
There were rules about Manna. It was to be harvested every day early in the morning. There was a certain amount- an omer – that was to be gathered for each person. The people were charged to NOT try to keep it overnight for the next day because it would spoil and get wormy and foul. On Fridays, a double portion of Manna – 2 omers – was to be gathered. It would not spoil overnight like it did every other day. That would give the people food for the Sabbath when they were not allowed to do the work of harvesting.
Predictably, the Bible records that some of the Hebrew people went about breaking every one of these directions –only to discover that the penalties God had declared came true!
Most of us also miss the fact that God told Moses and Aaron that they would receive meat to eat. That very night a flock of quail flew into the camp in such numbers that they fairly COVERED the ground. They did not attempt to startle and fly away to escape the way that any other flock of birds would do.
NOW HOW MANY FLOCKS OF BIRDS GO FLYING TOWARD PEOPLE IN THE MIDDLE OF A DESERT WILDERNESS? This was no natural phenomenon! God provided for Israel’s basic needs for BREAD and added blessings of meat for nutrients and balance. I also read to you from David’s Psalm 78 that celebrates God’s goodness of the Manna. Do you know what the word Manna actually MEANS in Hebrew? The Holy Bible gives us the translation – “What is it??”
God is praised for sending “the bread of angels” to eat and even more for causing a southeast wind to blow the birds into camp. (Because of the earth’s rotation, the prevailing winds there are from the West!!!) The birds soaring on that wind “rained flesh upon them”. The Psalm tells us that they “ate and were well-filled. God not only gave them food, but BETTER food! The Godly food strengthened them MORE than the diet in Egypt would have done.
You probably remember that soon after this the Hebrew children began to COMPLAIN again—this time over a lack of water---causing Moses to strike a rock with his staff----but that is another story for another day.
I took you to the New Testament to the Gospel of John for the precious words about Jesus as “the living BREAD.” He had just performed the miracle of feeding 5000 men and their families with BREAD and fish from the little boy’s lunch on the day before. Understandably, the crowd followed Him wherever he went after that—a point that Jesus makes as He accuses them of being more interested in BREAD than in the words He spoke and the healings that He did.
The crowd asked for yet another miracle to show that Jesus had the power of God. The crowd were the ones who raised the story of the Exodus and the Manna. The Lord responded that the olden days were completed and God had sent a NEW FOOD –the BREAD OF LIFE.
He said, and I repeat today as we approach His Holy Table ,”whoever comes to me will never hunger and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” What happened then?
THE JEWS COMPLAINED AGAIN !!
They could not understand the meaning when He said “I am the BREAD that came down from heaven.” He highlights the difference for us today – “I am the bread of life that came down from heaven. WHOEVER EATS OF THIS BREAD WILL LIVE FOREVER. “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them. The one who eats this BREAD will live forever!”
As we approach the Table, BREAD is still the staff of life ---OF ETERNAL LIFE in Christ. Thanks be to God! Amen.
*Hymn What a Friend 403
*AFFIRMATION Apostle’s Creed, Ecumenical Version
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven,
He is seated on the right hand of the Father,
And he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
INVITATION TO THE LORD’S SUPPER
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
O Holy God…we lift our hearts in joyful praise.
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. Hymnal #581
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest.
We praise you…together, we proclaim the mystery of our faith.
Dying, you destroyed our death; rising, you restored our life. Hymnal #582
Gracious God… all glory and honor are yours,
Almighty God, now and forever. Amen.
SERVING OF THE ELEMENTS
MORNING PRAYER AND LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever. Amen.
Sending
*HYMN Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoke No. 446
CHARGE & BLESSING
And now, may the grace, mercy, and peace which proceeds from God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Son, and into the Holy Spirit within us, rest and abide within us, now and forever more.
POSTLUDE
*Stand as you are able.
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