Worship for 8 August 2021

by Andy Cokayne 8 August 2021

A Call to Worship Psalm 34 v 1-8 a Psalm of praise, and an encouragement to ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’.

I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
² I will glory in the Lord;  let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
³ Glorify the Lord with me:  let us exalt his name together.
⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
⁵ Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.
⁶ This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
⁸ Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

Our first hymn is : 'In Christ alone'

We turn to Our Lord in prayer 
We are invited to offer our own prayers of adoration and confession, to the God who is worthy of all our praise and worship. Remembering particularly his goodness to us and his patience with us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. 

Our second hymn is : Break Thou the bread of life

Once more we turn to Our Lord in prayer 

We bring to Our Heavenly Father this morning the thoughts and concerns that are on our hearts.

We pray for the world at large, the countries struggling to deal with the continuing pandemic. For countries where the pandemic has had a catastrophic affect on the health system, the economy, and the country as a whole. We pray also for the countries that in  the midst of the pandemic are having additionally to deal with wild fires raging out of control. We bring our own prayers to you now.
Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

We pray for our own country, and the immense affect the pandemic has had upon us. For those suffering in hospital, both those with the virus and those suffering other ailments, and those seeking to care for them. For those who have lost loved ones. For those who have lost jobs and incomes. For those who remain isolated due to the pandemic, age, or infirmity.  We bring our own prayers to you now.
Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer

We pray for the people and situations that are on our hearts and minds, that you will meet each at their point of need, that you will grant your peace and strength to each.

In quiet we bring our own prayers to you now. 
Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer

We finally pray for ourselves, that you will grant us the wisdom and courage to be your  disciples, to be your mouth, your ears, your hands, and feet. That you will continue to mould us into the disciples that you would have us be.

In Jesus name we pray, and for his praise and glory.

Let us share together in the prayer that Jesus taught us,
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.

On this Sunday, one of the passages of scripture set from the lectionary for today is from John's gospel chapter 6 verses 30-35 & 41-51,

Message - ‘Jesus the Bread of Life’
I think like many others, I love the smell of fresh bread. When you see programmes that contain a short caption in a bakery, the physical sight of the bread and kneading the dough doesn’t really interest me, but this is where I realise that we need ‘Smelly Vision’ where we can not only hear and see, but actually get the smell as though we were really present. I can remember my Mum occasionally bringing home a fresh uncut loaf, and cutting me a slice, I would love eating all the white out of the middle and leaving the crust. 

Bread is familiar to us all, that may be one of the reasons why Jesus chose to use it as a symbol likening it to himself.  

In verse 35 we read ‘Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” This is the first of the  famous ‘I am’ sayings in John’s gospel. This one is so important that its repeated twice, in verses 48 and 51. It looks on to others, such as 8 v12 “I am the light of the world”, and “I am the good shepherd.” in 10 v11. And of course it is another way of saying what the prologue, in John’s first chapter, said: Jesus is the Word, the one who comes from the father into the world to accomplish his purpose. And in this case the particular emphasis is on nourishment. Until they recognise who Jesus really is, they may be fed with bread and fish, but there is a deeper hunger inside them which will never be satisfied.   

During his earthly ministry, Christ taught the multitudes that He was the promised Messiah. He authenticated His claims through many signs and wonders, such as the feeding of the 5000. The supply of bread and fish satisfied the crowd's physical hunger and excited their carnal cravings, but they neglected to understand the deeper meaning of this miracle of Jesus.

Knowing that the Lord had crossed to the other side of the Galilee caused the people to pursue after Him, in the hopes that they would get more free food! But Jesus knew that they were following Him for the wrong reason. They were not seeking Him because they understood the sign, but because they ate of the loaves and were filled. They were not   following Him because their soul was hungry for forgiveness, but to satisfy their physical appetite.

Jesus warned them not to work for the bodily food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life... which He alone could give them... He was the One on Whom the Father set His seal. It was not being fed on bread and fish that these lost souls needed but feeding on the Bread of Life from heaven - feeding on Christ, the Son of Man, in Whom is life eternal.

What then can we learn from this passage, what message was Jesus trying to teach by  referring to himself as “I am the bread of life.”

Firstly, in v49 we read “Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.”

Manna was something that God had miraculously provided for 40 years, to sustain his people Israel as they wandered in the desert (Exodus 16 v13-36). When they first saw it on the ground outside the camp in the morning, they said “What is it?” It was like flakes, tasted sweet and could be made into loaves. It was part of Gods miraculous provision, along with the Quail, to supply food for his wandering people. They had therefore as a people experienced Gods miraculous provision before.  

Jesus draws their attention to this and reminds them that their staple diet of bread, had been provided miraculously by God before. Yet Jesus goes on to say that he is different, he is new and far more, they have not experienced anything like him before. He himself, not the manna, is the true bread from heaven.

Secondly, we read in v51 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever.” 

Not only is Jesus the bread of life, giving and sustaining life, but he is the source of this life,  because he is the living bread, having within himself the source of life (5v26). We must eat this bread, not just taste it (Hebrews 6v4-5). To eat Christ as the bread of life means to accept him, to believe in him (6v47), so that he begins to live in us and we in him. And when we do that we have everlasting life, we will live for ever.    

Thirdly, we read further in v51 “This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” 

What Jesus means here is that he is going to give himself (6v57) as a sacrifice for sin, that he will offer up his human nature to death on the cross. Note that Jesus says He will give, distinct from the Father, he gives his human nature up himself willing on the cross. When he says “I will give” he is clearly thinking of the future and of one definite act, and that being his death on the cross. To believe in Christ means that you accept, and appropriate for yourself, that Jesus was crucified on the cross as a sacrifice for your sins, your wrongs that you have committed, and will commit. That is what Jesus means by “This bread is my flesh,”   

Jesus is not suggesting that his followers become cannibals and start eating his physical flesh. Rather that he is about to make the supreme sacrifice and give his life ‘for the life of the world.’  

Jesus is far greater than Manna, the previous bread that came from heaven, he is the true bread that came down.

Jesus is the living bread within him is the source of life, he is the one that gives and sustains real life, everlasting life.

Jesus spoke of giving his own flesh and blood, his own life, which he termed bread, as a sacrifice for all the sin and wrong ever committed, on the cross, and he would do that willingly, for you and for me.

To believe in Christ means that you accept, and appropriate for yourself, that Jesus was crucified on the cross as a sacrifice for your sins, your wrongs that you have committed. And to eat Christ as the bread of life means to accept him, to believe in him, so that he begins to live in us and we in him. And when we do that we have everlasting life, we will live for ever.    

People eat bread to satisfy physical hunger and to sustain physical life. We can satisfy spiritual hunger and sustain spiritual life only by a right relationship with Jesus Christ. No wonder he called himself the bread of life. But bread must be eaten to give life, and Christ must be invited into our daily walk to give spiritual life. 

How can Jesus give us his flesh as bread to eat? To eat living bread means to unite ourselves to Christ. We are united with Christ in two ways: (1) by believing in his death (the sacrifice of his flesh) and resurrection and (2) by devoting ourselves to living as he requires, depending on his teaching for guidance and trusting in the Holy Spirit for power. 

Our final hymn is : Guide me O Thou great Jehovah 

We are united with churches throughout the country as we share together in the 'The UK Blessing'.