PRELUDE Brahms Intermezzo Op 18 No. 2

GATHERING SONG                “He is Exalted”     

CALL TO WORSHIP

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit

be with you all.

  And also with you.

You are the treasured people of the Lord,

  a people holy to the Lord our God.

Keep the words of the Lord in your heart; teach them to your children.

 Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and

     when you rise.

One does not live by bread alone,

  but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.   - Deuteronomy 26, 11, 8

CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

Through water and the Spirit God gives us new life.  Let us confess our sin, that we may be renewed in the covenant of baptism.

  Silence for reflection and self-examination.

Strong and faithful God,

we confess that we have not lived as the body of Christ in the world.  We have veiled  our hearts from your light.  We have resisted your call to follow.  We have failed to exercise your gift of love.  Forgive us for the sake of Christ, heal us with your abundant grace, and help us walk as children of light. Amen

In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ came among us to proclaim release to the captives, to let the oppressed go free.  Today the promise is fulfilled: God forgives you all your sins.  May the Holy Spirit strengthen you to follow Christ in newness of life.  Amen

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Let us pray. Gracious God, your blessed Son came down from heaven to be the true bread that gives life to the world. Give us this bread always, that he may live in us and we in him, and that, strengthened by this food, we may live as his body in the world, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

PSALM 34:1–8

I will bless the LORD at all times; the praise of God shall ever be in my mouth. I will glory in the LORD; let the lowly hear and rejoice.

Proclaim with me the greatness of the LORD; let us exalt God's name together.

I sought the LORD, who answered me and delivered me from all my terrors. Look upon the LORD and be radiant, and let not your faces be ashamed.

I called in my affliction, and the LORD heard me and saved me from all my troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear the LORD and delivers them.

Taste and see that the LORD is good; happy are they who take refuge in God! 

THE EPISTLE: Ephesians 4:25—5:2

So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Word of God, word of life.  Thanks be to God. 

THE GOSPEL FOR THE DAY: John 6:35, 41–51

The holy gospel according to Saint John. Glory to you, O Lord.

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.

Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"

Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON                         “Living Bread”          Pastor Phil Wold

HYMN OF THE DAY   “I Am the Bread of Life”

THE OFFERING AND OFFERING PRAYER

Let us pray. Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things. Through your goodness you have blessed us with these gifts: our selves, our time, and our possessions. Use us, and what we have gathered, in feeding the world with your love, through the one who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. 

THE PASSING OF THE PEACE

The peace of the Lord be with you always. And also with you.

THANKSGIVING FOR THE WORD

O God of justice and love, we give thanks to you that you illumine our way through life with the words of your Son. Give us the light we need, awaken us to the needs of others, and at the end bring all the world to your feast; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory forever. 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, and the power, and the glory,

  forever and ever. Amen

BLESSING

SENDING SONG       “Send Us Out”

SENDING           Go in peace. Share the good news. Thanks be to God.

POSTLUDE Rachmaninoff Op 3 No. 3 Revision

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