You can watch today’s service here.
If you are watching our live stream this morning, you are invited to find a candle, so that we can all light candles at the same time.
OPENING PRAYER LITANY: PSALM 145
Pastor: The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,
Peoples: slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Pastor: All your works shall praise you, O Lord,
Peoples: and your faithful ones shall bless you.
Pastor: They shall tell of the glory of your kingdom
Peoples: and speak of your power,
Pastor: that all peoples may know of your power
Peoples: and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Pastor: My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord;
Peoples: let us bless God’s holy name forever and ever. Amen.
CALL TO CONFESSION (Mark 9:24)
I believe; help my unbelief! Let us pause now to examine our hearts and confess our sins to God.
I invite you to join with me in our unison prayer of confession, followed by a time either for silent personal confession.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (TERI MCDOWELL OTT, PRESBYTERIAN OUTLOOK)
God of grace, the world’s problems test our faith. We don’t believe all the hungry people can be fed. We don’t trust your promise to provide. We don’t jump to help when you seek to perform miracles. We make excuses for our sins and deny our complicity. Forgive us, Holy God, and free us to serve and not impede our liberating work. Amen.
Moment of silent prayer–people of God, what do you need to confess this week?
ASSURANCE OF PARDON (2 Corinthians 5:17)
If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see everything has become new! In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven and freed. Amen.
PRAYER FOR UNDERSTANDING (TERI MCDOWELL OTT, PRESBYTERIAN OUTLOOK)
God, you are faithful, guiding us through your Word. Open us to your Spirit’s presence, humble us in our listening, soften our certainty and stubborn wills, so that we might hear and receive the message you intend for us today. Amen.
FIRST SCRIPTURE READING
John 6:1-14
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.’
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This miracle is the only one that is recorded in each of the four gospels. Why do you think that is?
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What if Communion was a celebration of this miracle – a remembrance of the abundance of Jesus, not just the sacrifice. How could we reframe our own liturgy and understanding of Communion?
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What does it mean for Jesus to be the bread of life?
SECOND SCRIPTURE READING
2 SAMUEL 11:1-15
In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, ‘This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.’ So David sent messengers to fetch her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house. The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, ‘I am pregnant.’
So David sent word to Joab, ‘Send me Uriah the Hittite.’ And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, ‘Go down to your house, and wash your feet.’ Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. When they told David, ‘Uriah did not go down to his house’, David said to Uriah, ‘You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?’ Uriah said to David, ‘The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.’ Then David said to Uriah, ‘Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.’ So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day, David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, ‘Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die.’
HYMN Come to the Table of Grace
music and lyrics by Barbara Hamm, 2008
© 2008 Hope Publishing Company
Used by Permission. CCLI License #3456351 and ONE LICENSE # 738214-A
1 Come to the table of grace.
Come to the table of grace.
This is God’s table; it’s not yours or mine.
Come to the table of grace.
2 Come to the table of peace.
Come to the table of peace.
This is God’s table; it’s not yours or mine.
Come to the table of peace.
3 Come to the table of love.
Come to the table of love.
This is God’s table; it’s not yours or mine.
Come to the table of love.
4 Come to the table of hope.
Come to the table of hope.
This is God’s table; it’s not yours or mine.
Come to the table of hope.
5 Come to the table of joy.
Come to the table of joy.
This is God’s table; it’s not yours or mine.
Come to the table of joy.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE (TERI MCDOWELL OTT, PRESBYTERIAN OUTLOOK)
Holy God, how can suffering come to an end? How can pain ease? Grief ebb? Hunger be satiated? Weapons laid down? Anxiety calmed? Corruption fought? Division overcome? Your promises to provide and the path of hope you lay out, Holy God, seem impossible under the weight of our woes.
Yet still we pause to pray. We turn to you, speak to you, shorten the distance between us and you, in the hope and the faith that you listen when your people pray. You love. You weep. You act. Grateful for your ear, Holy God, we lift our prayers to you.
May those in need of healing experience the balm of your nurturing care …
May those in need of courage find inspiration in the heroes and heroines of your written Word …
May those in need of reconciliation find empowerment in your path of peace …
May those in need of guidance be blessed with your insight and wisdom …
Eternal One, who blesses all of life, bless and renew us all. Time moves so fast, life always ahead of us, urging us faster and faster. May this moment of prayer and pause help us hear the wind paging through the trees, feel the warm hug of the sun, see the stars flaring, smell the lilacs across the street. May this moment of communion help us remember the support and sustenance we have here with each other and with you.
United as a family of faith and as the Body of Christ, we lift these prayers up to you, God our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Finally, hear us pray the prayer Christ taught us, saying,…
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 Healer of Our Every Ill
Refrain:
Healer of our every ill,
light of each tomorrow,
give us peace beyond our fear,
and hope beyond our sorrow.
1 You who know our fears and sadness,
grace us with your peace and gladness;
Spirit of all comfort, fill our hearts. [Refrain]
2 In the pain and joy beholding
how your grace is still unfolding,
give us all your vision, God of love. [Refrain]
3 Give us strength to love each other,
every sister, every brother;
Spirit of all kindness, be our guide. [Refrain]
4 You who know each thought and feeling,
teach us all your way of healing;
Spirit of compassion, fill each heart. [Refrain]
MORNING OFFERING (Psalm 145:16)
“You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing,” the psalmist writes. God, open our hands and our hearts as we return our tithes and offerings to you.
If you are able to, please consider mailing your offerings to the church (210 Smith Street) or dropping them off in the mail slot. Alternatively, if you visit peoples presbyterian dot org, you’ll find a donate button at the top of the page that will link you directly to a secure page where you could make a donation online. We appreciate the generosity of the Peoples family as we live out our faith in MISSION and ministry.
PRAYER OF DEDICATION (TERI MCDOWELL OTT, PRESBYTERIAN OUTLOOK)
God of Provision, gather these offerings and bless them, so that all may be satisfied, all the hungry may be fed, nothing is lost and no one left behind. Amen.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (Colossians 1:15-20)
Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible. All things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn of the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. Amen.
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May God’s face shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
May God’s countenance be lifted upon you and give you peace.
From wherever you are, serve the Lord: Creator, Son, and Holy Spirit.