I am the bread of life
Invitation to Worship
We are here together
in the name of Christ Jesus,
in the Presence of an awesome, Holy Love.
A person without God is like a feather in a perpetual wind,
blown all over the place without any control or choice in where to rest.
O come, let us return to the living God,
Let us bow before the One who is our Maker.
Hymn: StF 322 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
- How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear. - It makes the wounded spirit whole
And calms the troubled breast;
’Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary, rest. - Dear Name! the Rock on which I build,
My Shield and Hiding Place,
My never-failing Treasury filled
With boundless stores of grace! - Jesus! my Shepherd, Brother, Friend,
My Prophet, Priest, and King;
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
Accept the praise I bring. - Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see Thee as Thou art,
I’ll praise Thee as I ought. - Till then I would Thy love proclaim
With every fleeting breath,
And may the music of Thy name
Refresh my soul in death.
John Newton (1725 – 1807)
Prayers of confession and thanksgiving
Lord, when we fail to trust you in all things:
forgive us, and help us to trust you more.
When we complain that you have forsaken us,
you have left us, abandoned us:
forgive us, and help us to trust you more.
When we choose to go our own way
because your way doesn’t seem to make sense:
forgive us, and help us to trust you more.
When we don’t challenge injustice,
and instead, accept things as they are:
forgive us, and help us to trust you more.
When we keep asking for more signs,
more proof, more of everything:
forgive us, and help us to trust you more.
When we trust a little, then snatch it back:
forgive us, and help us to trust you more.
When we have not trusted God with our lives and walked away,
we can always come back into God’s everlasting arms,
knowing that we are loved and forgiven.
Thank you, Lord, that we can trust you in all things.
Even when we don’t understand,
when we feel lost and alone,
we can trust you.
When we wander in the wilderness,
thank you that you are there by our side,
that you reach out and touch us
with outstretched, open arms.
Thank you, Lord, that we are safe with you.
For you provide all we need,
that which is ‘on earth’ and that which is eternal.
Amen.
Reading: John 6:24 – 35
24 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.
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ 26 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. 27 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.’ 28 Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ 29 Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ 30 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? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”’ 32 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. 33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ 34 They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’
35 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.
Hymn: StF 576 Bread is blessed and broken
- Bread is blessed and broken,
Wine is blessed and poured:
Take this and remember
Christ the Lord.
- Share the food of heaven
Earth cannot afford.
Here is grace in essence –
Christ the Lord
- Know yourself forgiven,
Find yourself restored,
Meet a friend for ever –
Christ the Lord
- God has kept his promise
Sealed by sign and word:
Here, for those who want him –
Christ the Lord.
John Bell (b.1949) and Graham Maule (b.1958), © 1989 WGRG Iona Community, reproduced under OneLicence 390972
Reflection
This week, the news brings us the horrifying story of the stabbings in Southport, little girls and their teachers killed and terribly wounded, in an attack with no apparent motive. Following the town’s mourning, the disturbances on the streets can only have made matters worse for local people facing raw shock and disbelief. And in this city, these shocking events resonate with the deaths of the twenty-two innocent victims of the Arena bomb in 2017. We have some sense of what it means to be part of a community which needs to lay flowers and light candles in the face of horror.
How does our faith help us engage with tragedy such as this? Paul tells his hearers ‘We proclaim Christ and him crucified’. Since its earliest days, Christianity has acknowledged the unreasoning violence that is part of the make-up of the world. There is no pretending that all is well, no running away from the harsh reality. People do horrendous things to each other, and Jesus himself was a victim of human cruelty among so many others.
Yet there is far more to our faith than empathy, however important that is. We believe that love is stronger than hate, life is stronger than death. The description of Jesus’ death is followed by the stories of the voice in the garden at dawn, the unexpected presence of a friend in a locked room or by the lakeside. And these testimonies of the risen Lord sit alongside thousands of accounts of hope and life emerging from disaster in new and wholly unexpected ways, often understood and described as life coming out of death.
I’m thinking of a family I’ve been involved with quite recently. They lost a husband, a father, after a long, hard illness. For a time, the wife could do nothing, but now she is picking up her life again as part of an organisation campaigning for better understanding of the illness that took her husband’s life. I’m thinking of the work we’re doing to renew Trinity Ancoats as a centre for mission and community support in that very deprived area of the city, after the building was severely damaged by a storm and then by vandalism. Now, people come into the rebuilt hall and say ‘what a lovely space – we could make such good use of this for our work in the community’.
In the face of tragedy and horror, the church needs to affirm its experience of the persistence of God’s love, the ‘bread of life’ that keeps body and soul alive and supports life in all its fullness. This picture of Christ’s everyday presence, reliable nourishment for the journey, asks to be shared, sensitively and at the right time. And in order to do that, we need to be there for people who are pushed to the limit of their endurance, to weep with them, to speak or to remain silent, to hold a hand, to bake a cake, to embody the bread of life in whatever ways we can. Then when the time is right, we can be alongside people as they begin to recognise ways in which they can imagine a new hope, a new life, nourished by the bread of life. We can reassure them that this is what God wants for them because God is the one who says, behold, I make all things new.
And always, always keep on praying.
We pray for all the victims of the horrifying incident in Southport. We pray for the families of those who have been killed – we pray that they will feel God close to them in their grief. We pray for the injured and their families, for all those who witnessed the incident and the aftermath. We pray for those who are caring for the injured and bereaved and all those caught up in the events of the day. God meet our fears and distress with your peace.
Prayer shared by Mrs Carolyn Godfrey, Vice- President of the Methodist Conference
A prayer for all in need
God of all,
As we have been reminded of Your power and Your promise to provide,
we pray for those who may be facing practical struggles with health or livelihood
or uncertainty about their future.
May they find comfort and strength in Your promises,
knowing that You are a God who never fails.
May we never take Your blessings for granted
and may we seek to pass on those blessings to others,
reflecting Your goodness and generosity in our lives.
Give us hearts of compassion, we pray.
Amen
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 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, the power and the glory
For ever and ever Amen
Hymn: StF 465 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.
William Williams (1717 – 1791)
Closing Prayer
As we go out into the world,
may we be like bread, broken and shared,
bringing sustenance and hope to those in need.
May we be filled with the joy and peace
that comes from knowing You, the bread of life.
May Your presence be with us always,
guiding and sustaining us on our journey.
We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.
Amen.
Some materials taken from re:worship, rootsontheweb, Church of Scotland Weekly Worship
