We welcome you to either virtual or in-person worship on Sunday, August 8, 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.
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 130
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in God’s word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord
there is steadfast love and great power to redeem.
It is the Lord
who will redeem the covenant people from all its iniquities.
*H78YMN OF PRAISE No. 451, UMH
Be Thou My Vision
MORNING PRAYER (unison)
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
Francis of Assisi, 13th Cent.
YOUNG DISCIPLE’S TIME
All the children are invited to come to the Chancel for a time of discipling!
SONG OF RESPONSE Bread & Juice Rhyme
God is great, God is good,
and we thank God for our food.
When we drink juice or eat some bread
we think about what Jesus said.
He said, “First I give this all to you
so you can share with others, too.”
Share the bread with those around,
share the juice til joy is found!
The Sharing of God’s Holy Word
FIRST READING John 6:35, 41-43
35Jesus 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.
41Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said,
“I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
42They 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’?”
43Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves.
44No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me;
and I will raise that person up on the last day.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to Christ!
*HYMNS OF RESPONSE No. 98, UMH
To God Be the Glory
SECOND READING John 6:45-51
45It 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.
46Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
47Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.
48I am the bread of life.
49Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
50This is the bread that comes down from heaven,
so that one may eat of it and not die.
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.”
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to Christ!
SERMON The Rev. Dr. Joel Daniel Hubbard, III
Looking a gift horse in the mouth…
(…or a mask…)
OR
You are what you eat…
Responding With Faith
*HYMN OF RESPONSE AND INVITATION No. 374, UMH
Standing on the Promises
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 To God Be the Glory
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son,
and give him the glory, great things he hath done!
ORGAN POSTLUDE
