Prelude - “Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling” [by W. L. Thompson] Sarah Park
Welcome to Mantua Center Christian Church -- a community seeking to have open minds, open hearts, and open arms.
Welcoming Music -“How He Loves” [by John Mark MacMillian] - Ryan & Karly Lind
Scripture - Psalm 100
1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
*Response - Weave #495
Weave, weave, weave us together, Weave us together, in unity and love.
Weave, weave, weave us together, weave us together, together in love.
*Call to Worship - Katie Baird
One: Come bless the Lord with me!
All: For God is like a parent to his children, compassionate and merciful, filled with endless love.
One God forgives our sins, and heals the sickness inside us;
All: He surrounds us with love and mercy and fills our lives with good things.
One: Come, let us worship God together!
*Opening Hymn - “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” #2, v. 1, 3-4
1 Joyful, joyful, we adore thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
hearts unfold like flowers before thee,
opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,
drive our fear and doubt away;
giver of immortal gladness,
fill us with the light of day.
3 Thou art giving and forgiving,
ever blessing, ever blest,
well-spring of the joy of living,
ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou the Father, Christ our Brother,
all who live in love are thine;
teach us how to love each other,
lift us to the joy divine.
4 Mortals, join the happy chorus;
stars of morning, take your part;
love divine is reigning o'er us,
binding those of tender heart.
Ever singing, move we onward,
victors in the midst of strife,
joyful music lifts us sunward
in the triumph song of life.
Invitation to Generosity
Invitation - Katie Baird
Offertory
Music - “We Shall be Like Him” [by C. H. Gabriel]
Response - “Give Thanks” #528
Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One,
give thanks because he’s given Jesus Christ his Son. Give Thanks!
Offering Prayer - Katie Baird
Extravagant God, lavishing your love on our poverty of heart: inspire us to give with generosity, to love life so that we may find it again, and thus the world will be filled with the fragrance of your love; through Jesus Christ, who offers himself as our example. Amen.
Children’s Moment - Kathleen Lewarchick
Pastoral Prayer & The Lord’s Prayer - Katie Baird
Merciful God, We confess that we have not always lived up to the example set by Your Son, Jesus Christ. In Your mercy, hear our prayer of confession. We confess how difficult it is to truly love the people around us; to care as deeply for their well-being as for our own, to delight in their good fortune without feeling envious. Forgive us.
Teach us to whole-heartedly love one another. We confess how often we act out of our own self-interest; putting our needs and desires ahead of the needs of others, hoarding our resources rather than sharing them freely. Forgive us.
Teach us to live with generosity and compassion. We confess how easy it is to do what we know is wrong: to rationalize our bad decisions and behaviours, to make excuses for our hurtful words and actions. Forgive us.
Teach us to turn away from what is wrong and pursue what is right. We confess that we find it very difficult to love our enemies: to pray for their well-being, to act in their best interests, to leave thoughts of vengeance behind. Forgive us.
Teach us to love even those who hurt or offend us. You call us to turn away from the behaviors and attitudes of the world around us; and to be renewed and transformed by Your grace at work in our lives. Through Your Holy Spirit, continue the work that You have begun in us, so that our words and deeds may bring honour and glory to You. We pray all of this in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray, saying:
Our father…
Holy Communion
Meditation- Beth Schabel
Hymn - “Seed, Scattered and Sown” #395
Refrain:
Seed, scattered and sown, wheat, gathered and grown,
bread, broken and shared as one, the Living Bread of God.
Vine, fruit of the land, wine, work of our hands,
one cup that is shared by all; the Living Cup, the Living Bread of God.
Is not the bread we break a sharing in our Lord?
Is not the cup we bless the blood of Christ outpoured? [Refrain]
The seed which falls on rock will wither and will die. The seed within good ground will flower and have life. [Refrain]
Prayer Rev. Nancy Humes
Words of Institution Rev. Nancy Humes
Music - “Since Christ My Soul From Sin Set Free” [By J. M. Black] Sarah Park
Special Music - “All I Can Say” [by David Crowder] - Ryan and Karly Lind
Scripture - John 6:1-15 (Primary) Rev. Dr. Alecia Evans-Hayes
Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17 (Supportive Scriptures)
6After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” 10Jesus 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. 11Then 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. 12When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14When 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.”
15When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
Matthew 14:13-21
13Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Mark 6:30-44
30The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 35When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; 36send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.” 37But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” 38And he said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” When they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. 42And all ate and were filled; 43and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.
Luke 9:10-17
10On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. He took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. 11When the crowds found out about it, they followed him; and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured. 12The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.” 13But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” 14For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15They did so and made them all sit down. 16And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
Sermon - “You Just Never Know” Rev. Dr. Alecia Evans-Hayes
*Closing Hymn - “I am the Light of the World” #469, v. 1-4
I am the Light of the World
You people come and follow me.
If you follow and love, You'll learn the mystery
Of what you were meant to do and be.
1 When the song of the angels is stilled.
When the star in the sky is gone.
When the kings and the shepherds have found their way home.
The work of Christmas is begun!
2 To find the lost and lonely one,
To heal that broken soul with love,
To feed the hungry children with warmth and good food,
To feel the earth below the sky above!
3 To free the prisoner from his chains,
To make the powerful care,
To rebuild the nations with strength and goodwill,
To call a man your brother everywhere.
4 To bring hope to every task you do,
To dance at a baby's new birth,
To make music in an old man's heart,
And sing to the colors of the earth!
Benediction - Katie Baird
As you go from here, remember this:
the same Spirit of God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead,
also lives in you,
breathing new life and freedom into your hearts and minds.
So go from here with joy and confidence,
knowing that God Is at work within you.
Postlude - “Saviour, Like a Shepherd Lead Us” [by W. B. Bradbury] - Sarah Park