July 29, 2018 — 10th Sunday after Pentecost
“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish,
but what are they among so many people?”
— John 6.9
________ We Gather as the Body of Christ______
GREETING
PRELUDE You Satisfy The Hungry Heart Robert Kreutz, arr: John Carter
[As we listen to the music we quiet our minds and bodies,
listen for our hearts’ deepest desires,
and become present to the Holy One who is lovingly present for us.]
* CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: God of abundance, you provide Creation, overflowing with life and beauty.
All: In awe we praise you.
Christ, you accompany us in our deepest struggles with infinite love and grace.
In gratitude we thank you.
Holy Spirit, you fill us with all the gifts we need to serve you with compassion and power.
In trust, we open ourselves to your presence. Alleluia!
* SONG Praise to You, God, the All-Loving
Praise to you, God, the All-Loving, the source of Creation!
Hear my soul praise you, for you are our health and salvation!
All you who hear, now to God’s temple draw near;
join me in glad adoration.
Praise to you, God, who o’er all things so wondrously reigning,
bear us on eagle’s wings, safe in your keeping maintaining.
Love, you enfold all, whose true good you uphold.
Have I not seen your sustaining?
Praise to you, God, for you nourish our life and restore us,
fitting us well for the tasks that are ever before us.
For to our need, you as a mother will speed,
spreading the wings of grace o’er us.
____________ We Attend to the Word__________
CHILDREN’S TIME
THE WORD IN SONG Agnus Dei Traditional Latin, arr: Victor Johnson
PRAYER
Steady God, life whirls around us. Life demands so much of us. So we turn to you, calm and generous. Your grace flows freely. We open ourselves in word and silence, in prayer and song, in meal and companionship, to the overflowing abundance of your presence and your grace. Hungry and trusting, we open ourselves toy you. Amen.
NEW TESTAMENT Ephesians 3.14-21
I pray that, according to the riches of God’s glory,
God may grant
that you may be strengthened in your inner being
with power through God’s Spirit,
and that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith,
as you are being rooted and grounded in love.
I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints,
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ
that surpasses knowledge,
so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to God,
who by the power at work within us
is able to accomplish abundantly far more
than all we can ask or imagine,
to God be glory
in the church and in Christ Jesus
to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
+
GOSPEL John 6.1-21
After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.”
One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus 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. Then 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. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When 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.”
When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
+
SERMON The Miracle of Enough
SONG All that We Hold Steve G-H
What do we hold in our hearts?
The hopes of a hungering people,
longing for you, and for bread,
and to truly be free.
What can we do, who are small?
The power is not ours at all:
God, you have hidden such grace
here in our hands.
What do we hold in our hands?
Nothing we have is unworthy.
An everyday gift you can use
in miraculous ways.
All that we hold in our hands
you’ll use if we give it to you.
Use what we hold in our hands
for what you will do.
What do we hold in our hands?
In it you’ve hidden the wondrous,
fishes and loaves you can use
to feed thousands with love.
All that we hold in our hands
we give in the name of your Son:
more than we ask or imagine,
may your will be done.
What do we hold in our hands?
Grace is abundant, not lacking.
Look now and see what we have
and find power and life.
All that we hold in our hands,
all that we have or can do,
all that we are by your grace
we give now to you.
All that we hold in our hands,
all that we have or can do,
all that we are by your grace
we give now to you.
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
[Anyone who wishes may share a prayer concern at the microphone.]
SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
__________We Share at Christ’s Table __________
OFFERING OUR GIFTS
Jesus, The Very Thought Of Thee John Dykes, arr: Fred Bock
* COMMUNION SONG Nothing Can Trouble Black hymnal #2054
Nothing can trouble, nothing can frighten.
Those who seek God will never go wanting.
Nothing can trouble, nothing can frighten.
God alone fills us.
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
Beloved, God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Faithful One, our God.
It is good to give God thanks and praise.
God, you create a world teeming with abundant life in so many forms and manners.
With overflowing generosity you nourish us with food, with love, with beauty.
With infinite compassion you heal our hurts and forgive our sins;
and you judge the forces that oppress and set free all who long for liberty and wholeness.
Generous with your grace and your presence,
you walk with us into new life, life that is freely given.
RESPONSE: Thank You, Jesus Black hymnal # 2081
Thank you, Jesus, Amen. (Repeat 4 x)
We thank you for Jesus, your Christ.
He taught and healed, he fed the crowds, he loved without holding anything back.
He showed us the abundance of grace you have given us,
not for our own sake, but for the sake of the world.,
so that all we have we might share in love.
[The Blessing and Covenant…]
Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
As often as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection until he comes again.
Remembering these, your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving
as a living and holy sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again
Response: Thank You, Jesus
Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us,
that we may be for the world the Body of Christ,
trusting in the abundance of your grace,
overflowing with your love,
generous with our lives, for the sake of the world.
Response: Thank You, Jesus
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
SHARING THE HOLY MEAL [Everyone is welcome at the table of Christ’s self-giving love.
The bread is wheat-, soy- and dairy free. We dip the bread in the juice.]
PRAYER OF BLESSING
Gracious God, we thank you for this mystery in which you have given yourself to us. You give with such infinite generosity; help us so to be grateful, trusting and generous with our love, with our time and goods, with our blessing, for the sake of the world, in the name and Spirit of Christ. Amen.
______We Are Sent in Ministry to the World_____
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah Blue hymnal #127, v. 1-2
* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
RESPONSE We stand and sing to our neighbors:
May the grace and peace of Christ be with you my friends.
Go and share the love of God, love that never ends.
POSTLUDE Lyric Psalm George Blake
[During the postlude there are people ready to pray with you at the candles in the corners.]