Good morning.
Today is Tuesday,
March 2nd,
2021.
Oh Lord,
Let my soul rise up to meet you as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to God,
The three in one,
Creator,
Redeemer,
And sustainer.
As it was in the beginning,
Is now and will be forever.
Amen.
Come let us bow down and worship.
Let us kneel before the Lord,
Our maker.
Remind yourself that you are in God's presence.
Notice how God may be speaking to you today.
Let yourself dwell on any word or phrase that catches your attention or moves your heart and let your heart respond to God in prayer.
Please repeat these words.
Hear the cry of your children,
Lord.
Come quickly and set us free.
Our reading today is from John 6,
Verses 41 through 51.
At this,
Because he said,
I am the bread that came down from heaven.
The Jewish leaders started arguing over him.
Isn't this the son of Joseph?
Don't we know his father?
Don't we know his mother?
How can he say I came down out of heaven and expect anyone to believe him?
Jesus said,
Don't bicker among yourselves over me.
You are not in charge here.
The father who sent me is in charge.
He draws people to me.
That's the only way you'll ever come.
Only then do I do my work,
Putting people together,
Setting them on their feet,
Ready for the end.
This is what the prophets meant when they wrote,
And then they will all be personally taught by God.
Anyone who has spent any time at all listening to the father,
Really listening and therefore learning comes to me to be taught personally,
To see it with their own eyes,
To hear it with their own ears from me,
Since I have it firsthand from the father.
No one has seen the father except the one who has his being alongside the father.
And you can see me.
I'm telling you the most solemn and sober truth now.
Whoever believes in me has real life,
Eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate manna bread in the desert and died.
But now here is bread that truly comes down out of heaven.
Anyone eating this bread will not die ever.
I am the bread,
Living bread who came down out of heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live and forever.
The bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself,
This flesh and blood self.
On Tuesdays we pray for our friends.
So I invite you now to let your imagination rest on your friends or a friend in particular,
Whoever is on your heart today,
And lift your friend before God in this moment of silence.
May the light of Christ go before you and behind you,
Beneath you and above you,
On your right and on your left,
When you rise and when you lie down,
May the light of Christ be with you.
May the light of Christ be in you.
May the love of God go before you and behind you,
Beneath you and above you,
On your right and on your left,
When you rise and when you lie down.
May the love of God be with you.
May the love of God be in you.
We pray all of this in the name of Jesus who taught us to pray.
Our Father which art in heaven,
Eternal God,
Earth Maker,
Pain bearer,
Life giver,
Source of all that is and all that shall be,
Not only Father but Mother of us all,
May the hallowing of your name echo through the universe.
May the way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world.
May your heavenly will be done by all created beings.
May your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another,
Forgive us.
In times of temptation and test,
Strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure,
Spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil,
Free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,
Now and forever.
Amen.
Jesus you are the bread of life.
Give us this bread so that we may never go hungry.
Show us how to work for the food that endures for eternal life.
The food that comes only from you.
Amen.
And now my friends may the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ go with you wherever he may send you today.
May he guide you through the wilderness,
Protect you through the storm.
May he bring you home rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you.
May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
Go in peace.
