We welcome you to either virtual or in-person worship on Sunday, August 15, 2021 at 10am! You are welcome to join us for in-person worship in the Essex Center UMC sanctuary (please wear a mask), you may participate on Facebook Live by clicking here, or you may watch below. After worship concludes, a recording will be posted on this page.
Dear Guests – WELCOME!
We are thankful for your presence with us this morning. We pray that you will be blessed and strengthened by the Holy Spirit in our time together and you will continue to join us for worship and ministry in the weeks to come.
The Church Gathers
WELCOME, ANNOUNCEMENTS,
& PASSING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
ORGAN PRELUDE
*CALL TO WORSHIP adapted from Psalm 111
Praise the Lord!
With my whole heart, along with all God’s faithful,
I give thanks to the Lord our God!
Great are the works of the Lord, full of honor and majesty;
and all of us who delight in them
study and meditate their wonder.
The Lord is gracious and merciful,
renowned for wonderful deeds,
and God’s justice and faithfulness endure forever.
The Lord feeds the faithful,
for God’s works and ways are unbiased, true, and trustworthy.
They are established forever and ever, to be practiced
with faithfulness and honor as a Divine covenant by the people.
May our lives and reverence reflect our eternal praise
for the God who claims and restores us!
Indeed, in our worship and by our actions
wisdom and holiness become a part of our being
and reshape the world forever!
*H78YMN OF PRAISE No. 2022, TFWS
Great is the Lord
MORNING PRAYER (unison)
God who made us, your sunrise wakes us.
Your sunset amazes us. We come to praise you.
God of hope, your promise sustains us.
Your power upholds us. We gather in thanks.
God of love, your patience humbles us.
Your touch heals us. We pray to be closer to you.
God of peace, you break down barriers and walls that divide us.
Help us walk in your ways.
God of eternity, you have always loved us,
And by grace you save us. We praise your holy name. Amen
YOUNG DISCIPLE’S TIME
All the children are invited to come to the Chancel for a time of discipling!
SONG OF RESPONSE Super/Supper Grace
Thank you God for giving us food!
The Sharing of God’s Holy Word
FIRST READING John 6:51-55
51I 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.”
52The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to Christ!
*HYMNS OF RESPONSE No. 395, UMH
Take Time to Be Holy
SECOND READING John 6:56-58
56Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.
57Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father,
so whoever eats me will live because of me.
58This is the bread that came down from heaven,
not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died.
But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
59He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to Christ!
SERMON The Rev. Dr. Joel Daniel Hubbard, III
Consumer Report: Justice, Mercy, Humility
Responding With Faith
*HYMN OF RESPONSE AND INVITATION No. 2149, TFWS
Living for Jesus
PRAYERS FOR GOD’S CHILDREN AND THE WORLD
THE DISCIPLE’S PRAYER
SUNG RESPONSE Through it All
(played before & sung together after the prayer)
Through it all, through it all,
I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God;
through it all, through it all,
I’ve learned to depend upon God’s word.
THE GIVING OF GOD’S TITHE AND OUR OFFERINGS
The Church Goes Out in Mission
*BLESSING
*SUNG BENEDICTION
O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to thee;
for thou in thine atonement didst give thyself for me;
I own no other master, my heart shall be thy throne,
my life I give henceforth to live, O Christ, for thee alone!
ORGAN POSTLUDE
