Grace Presbyterian Church
Seeking to equip people to live as Christian disciples wherever God has placed them.
Welcome And Opening Prayer
Prelude Piano Sonata in C, K. 189e W. A. Mozart
I. Allegro assai
Responsive Call to Worship
One: Let us pray together a prayer by Saint Anselm.
All: Lord Jesus Christ, Let me seek you by desiring you, and let me desire you by seeking you; let me find you by loving you, and love you in finding you…
I do not seek to understand so that I can believe, but I believe so that I may understand; and what is more, I believe that unless I do believe, I shall not understand. Amen.
Hymn Red 124 (sung 3 x) I Love you Lord
I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice
to worship you, O my soul, rejoice!
Take joy, my King, in what you hear:
may it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.
Call to Confession
Confession of Sin
Bread of Heaven, we confess our need for you, but even as we say that I wonder if we even know the half of it. We need food. We need clothing. We need shelter. We need health and healthcare. We need love. And we can outline in detail how we think we are deprived in any of these areas. And we could add to the list! But in this moment and with your people, we sit with the deeper questions: How do we need you? How is your abundant life not fleshed out in our lives? How do we need salvation? Lord, you know. Forgive us our hunger for things that are not of you. Fill us with all that we need including the knowledge of your grace. In Jesus’s name, we pray (Let us continue in prayer silently.)
Assurance of Pardon
In Jesus Christ you are forgiven. Thanks be to God! Amen.
Gloria Patri
Waving of the Peace
Prayer for Illumination in Unison
Gracious God, we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from your mouth; make us hunger for this heavenly food, that it may nourish us today in the ways of eternal life; through Jesus Christ, the bread of heaven. Amen.
First Scripture Reading Exodus 16:2-4; 9-15
The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.
Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’” And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”
In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.”
Second Scripture Reading John 6:24-35
So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Sermon “The Bread that Gives Life to the World” Rev. Robin Miller Currás
Hymn Red 634 Guide me, O thou Great Jehovah
Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty–
hold me with thy powerful hand:
Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven,
feed me till I want no more,
feed me till I want no more.
Open now the crystal fountain,
whence the healing stream doth flow;
let the fire and cloudy pillar
lead me all my journey through:
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
be thou still my strength and shield,
be thou still my strength and shield.
When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside;
death of death, and hell’s destruction,
land me safe on Canaan’s side:
Songs of praises, songs of praises
I will ever give to thee;
I will ever give to thee.
Affirmation of Faith The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
Offertory Horn Concerto no. 2 in E-flat: Andante W. A. Mozart
Richard Hagen, Horn
Doxology
The Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
Pastoral Prayer/The Lord’s Prayer
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 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 forever. Amen.
Hymn Red 442 O Come to Me, the Master Said
O come to me, the Master said,
my Father knows your need;
and I shall be, the Master said,
your bread of life indeed.
By faith in him we live and grow
and share the broken bread,
and all his love and goodness know,
for so the Master said.
Abide in me, the Master said,
the true and living vine;
my life shall be, the Master said,
poured out for you as wine.
His body to the cross he gave,
his blood he freely shed,
who came in love to seek and save,
for so the Master said.
Believe in me, the Master said,
for I have called you friends,
and yours shall be, the Master said,
the life that never ends.
And so, with sin and sorrow past,
when death itself is dead,
the Lord shall raise us up at last,
for so the Master said.
Benediction
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