Texts: Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15; Psalm 78:23-29; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35
Call to Worship
We come in these moments
drawing near to our God,
God hears our souls and
listens to the burdens of our hearts.
We come in these moments
looking for the One who feeds us.
Jesus is the Bread of life,
who fills the emptiness of our souls.
We come in these moments
looking not for signs, but for faith.
The Spirit brings us together as one body,
giving us all the grace we need.
Prayer of the day
You give each of us grace
so that others might be embraced,
you give each of us love
so that the lonely might have a friend,
you give each of us gentleness
so that the bullies lost power.
May we be your manna in our time,
God who blesses us.
You give each of us hope
so that scared will lose their fear,
you give each of us justice
so that the forgotten will be remembered,
you give each of us strength
so that the weary will not walk alone.
May we be your manna to others,
Jesus our friend.
You give each of us kindness
so that the hurting might be healed,
you give each of us peace
so that the victims might know
the end of violence,
you give each of us serenity
so that a noisy world might find solitude.
May we be your manna to others,
Spirit who is with us.
God in Community, Holy in One,
may we your manna, here and now,
even as we pray as we are taught,
(The Lord’s Prayer)
Call to Reconciliation
Because we know ourselves so well, all our foolish choices and words, we think God wants nothing to do with us. But in truth, God wants us to draw near, offering our prayers to the One who hears them, and responds with words of grace and forgiveness. I invite you to join me as we pray together, saying,
Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
You call us to lives of grace, Loving God, but we choose to be mean-spirited. You remind us of all the gifts we must share, but we complain that they are not enough. You beg us to build up the hopes, the lives of those around us, but it is easier to tear them down.
In your mercy, God of life, forgive us. While we hunger for power, for wealth, for control, continue to open the doors of your heart and shower us with love, hope, justice, and peace, so we can share these gifts with everyone we meet. In the name of our Brother, Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Silence is kept
Assurance of Pardon
Hear is the good news, dear friends of God. God’s grace is poured out upon us like that ancient manna from heaven, to give us hope and mercy.
Now, may we live as those who have been forgiven, sharing God’s love with everyone we meet. Thanks be to God, we are forgiven. Amen.
Prayer of Dedication/Offering
May our gifts serve those who feel so hopeless, so empty, so forgotten, so they would know the presences of God’s love and grace in their lives. Amen.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts, people of God.
We lift them to our God who pours
out the manna of grace on us.
Let us give thanks to God who loves us.
May our complaints be replaced
by choruses of thanksgiving to our God.
You opened the doors of your imagination,
Amazing God,
and the wonders of creation
flowed into the emptiness of chaos:
raindrops falling to fill
ponds, lakes, rivers, and oceans;
wind-rippled wheat in fields
waiting to be harvested for bread;
grapes clustering on vines
to be picked and crushed into wine.
All of these wonders, and more, were created
for your children formed in your image,
but we grumbled, ‘if only we were gods’
as we turned to the foolish choices offered.
But you would not give up on us,
sending women and men time and again
calling us, begging us to return to you,
but we followed the signs of sin,
turning down the streets marked death.
So then, out of the ultimate gift of love,
you chose to become one of us,
as your Child was born in our midst.
Which is why, in this place,
with these people, in these moments
we lift our voices in praise to you:
Holy, holy, holy are you, Manna Giver.
All creation sings in one voice to you.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the Bread of life broken for us.
Hosanna in the highest!
In humility, you set aside your holiness,
God of wonder and joy,
your glory transformed into that grace
revealed to us in Jesus, your Child.
We murmur and complain that
you do not listen to us,
yet Jesus is the One who
sat by wells, at tables, and
by roadsides to hear our hearts.
We whine of how empty
our lives are,
but Jesus shows us that
we have the gifts to be
the caregivers, the hopeful,
the healers the world needs.
We toss to and fro as we worry
about what happens when
we will take our last breath,
and Jesus experiences death
and demonstrates the ultimate love
you have for each and every one of us.
As we remember all that he said and did,
as we come to taste the bread and cup,
we speak of that faith which is so mysterious:
Jesus died, as a sign of ultimate trust.
Jesus was raised, God’s sign of death’s defeat.
We await the sign of the fulfillment
of the Beloved Community.
Here in these moments, in this place
the foolish as well as the faithful,
the stumbling as well as the strong,
the hesitant as well as the hopeful
become one through the gifts
of the bread and the cup blessed
by the presence of your Holy Spirit.
This ordinary bread, in pieces,
does not seem like much,
but it is that manna which enables us
to bring food to the truly hungry,
to provide shelter for those who have none,
to be the voice for those ignored.
These cups of juice seem
so tiny in our hands, but they hold
the grace the hopeless need,
the comfort mourners long for,
the healing longed for by so many.
When that moment comes when
all time, all worries, all fears end,
we pray you would gather us
around your Table of love and life
where together, with our siblings
from every moment and place
we will sing your praises,
God in Community, Holy in One.
Amen.
Sending
Gathered as God’s people,
we will scatter to bring grace to all.
Gathered as the Body of Christ,
we will scatter to share justice for everyone.
Gathered in the presence of the Spirit,
we will scatter to be healers of our world.
© 2024 Thom M. Shuman
