Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost- Week of Aug. 8, 2021 - Proper 15
Praying
God sightings and prayer offerings Invite each person to share where they saw or experienced God this week. Invite each person to share something — a person, community, experience, event, etc. – for which they want to offer prayer.
Good and gracious God, we thank you for all the ways you were and are present in our lives and in the world. [Invite each person to say aloud the sighting they named earlier.] We bring our prayers to you, prayers for… [invite each person to say aloud the prayer need they named earlier]. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
Reading
Set the context for your children. Explain that before the story they are about to hear, Jesus performed a miracle. He fed a crowd of 5,000 people who gathered to hear him teach with only a few loaves of bread and fish. The next day the people realize Jesus has gone from their town. They are confused because they didn’t see him get in the boat with his disciples. They hear he is in the town of Capernaum, so they travel there to ask him questions.
Read aloud John 6:24-35.
John 6:24-35
Jesus 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.
John 6:41-51
New Revised Standard VersionThen the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They 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’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It 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. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I 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.”
1 Kings 19:4-8
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
Read aloud John 6:24-35.
John 6:24-35
Jesus 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.
John 6:41-51
New Revised Standard VersionThen the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They 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’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It 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. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I 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.”
1 Kings 19:4-8
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
Reflecting and Responding
Reflection on John 6:35, 41-51
Adult and Small Child
Reflect: Some people thought Jesus was way too much. People paid attention to Him because he could heal, feed and teach people. It is hard to learn how He did these things except with God’s help. Jesus wanted too much attention so he could help people and teach them about God’s love. In John 10:10 he said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (NRSV) Abundant means too much to understand. We can have too much love to understand. Too many stars to understand. Too many questions to understand. Many of Jesus’ friends were hungry, so Jesus compared Himself to bread that was too much to understand. Not just normal bread, but the bread of life. What would it be like if you had more yummy, fresh bread than you could eat? You might have seconds or share your bread. Jesus’ bread of life meant that people learned to be braver at the end of life. Later, Jesus would teach us to know Him from the inside out by eating special bread whenever we want to remember Him. I wonder what you might learn from being part of Jesus’ thanksgiving meal?
Respond: Color a picture of your family gathered around a table for a meal. Who can be part of God’s thanksgiving meal? Is there a place for you? Is there always room for one more friend? Yes! God makes a place at the table for everyone who wants to come. God promises to teach everyone who has a question. You are never too much for God. This kind of God love is abundant! It never runs out, never gets tired and is forever and ever. It is too good to understand.
- Lea Colvill
Adult and Elementary
Reflect: Our Way of Love practice this week is learn. We can grow closer to God by studying the life and the teachings of Jesus and the many people of faith in the Bible. In this passage, Jesus references several other Bible stories. Can you spot any of them? You can understand when people talking to Jesus mention Jesus being born to Mary and Joseph because you know the story of the first Christmas. In verse 45 Jesus also mentions the words of the prophets from the Old Testament. Jesus is talking about Isaiah 54:13 where the prophet Isaiah assures the people of Jerusalem that God will find a special way to teach their children. Jesus is that way! Not everyone believes Jesus when he tries to tell them he is God’s son. Jesus does not get angry, but he repeats his important message. If we believe in Jesus as the son of God, Jesus will take care of us and let us live with God forever. Have you ever spoken about something that was very important to you but others did not listen? Try to remember a time when you told the truth but others did not believe you? How did that make you feel? Thank goodness Jesus kept telling the truth and did not get discouraged.
Respond: Play a game of “truth or lie” and take turns having one person be the speaker (this generally works best if an adult goes first.) That person shares a simple fact about themselves and other players get to guess if it is a true or false. You can also draw a simple figure or even trace an outline of yourself of a large piece of paper or use blank paper people cutouts if available. On the paper, write things that are true. Make sure to include things that are true about you because you are a child of God, examples of this are: “forgiven,” “loved,” or “blessed.”
- Carla Christopher Wilson
Adult and Small Child
Reflect: Some people thought Jesus was way too much. People paid attention to Him because he could heal, feed and teach people. It is hard to learn how He did these things except with God’s help. Jesus wanted too much attention so he could help people and teach them about God’s love. In John 10:10 he said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (NRSV) Abundant means too much to understand. We can have too much love to understand. Too many stars to understand. Too many questions to understand. Many of Jesus’ friends were hungry, so Jesus compared Himself to bread that was too much to understand. Not just normal bread, but the bread of life. What would it be like if you had more yummy, fresh bread than you could eat? You might have seconds or share your bread. Jesus’ bread of life meant that people learned to be braver at the end of life. Later, Jesus would teach us to know Him from the inside out by eating special bread whenever we want to remember Him. I wonder what you might learn from being part of Jesus’ thanksgiving meal?
Respond: Color a picture of your family gathered around a table for a meal. Who can be part of God’s thanksgiving meal? Is there a place for you? Is there always room for one more friend? Yes! God makes a place at the table for everyone who wants to come. God promises to teach everyone who has a question. You are never too much for God. This kind of God love is abundant! It never runs out, never gets tired and is forever and ever. It is too good to understand.
- Lea Colvill
Adult and Elementary
Reflect: Our Way of Love practice this week is learn. We can grow closer to God by studying the life and the teachings of Jesus and the many people of faith in the Bible. In this passage, Jesus references several other Bible stories. Can you spot any of them? You can understand when people talking to Jesus mention Jesus being born to Mary and Joseph because you know the story of the first Christmas. In verse 45 Jesus also mentions the words of the prophets from the Old Testament. Jesus is talking about Isaiah 54:13 where the prophet Isaiah assures the people of Jerusalem that God will find a special way to teach their children. Jesus is that way! Not everyone believes Jesus when he tries to tell them he is God’s son. Jesus does not get angry, but he repeats his important message. If we believe in Jesus as the son of God, Jesus will take care of us and let us live with God forever. Have you ever spoken about something that was very important to you but others did not listen? Try to remember a time when you told the truth but others did not believe you? How did that make you feel? Thank goodness Jesus kept telling the truth and did not get discouraged.
Respond: Play a game of “truth or lie” and take turns having one person be the speaker (this generally works best if an adult goes first.) That person shares a simple fact about themselves and other players get to guess if it is a true or false. You can also draw a simple figure or even trace an outline of yourself of a large piece of paper or use blank paper people cutouts if available. On the paper, write things that are true. Make sure to include things that are true about you because you are a child of God, examples of this are: “forgiven,” “loved,” or “blessed.”
- Carla Christopher Wilson
about three minutes to watch and listen
Check out an entire playlist about this scripture by clicking on the image
Connecting
Mom Pie by Lynne Jonell
(Written for ages 5-9)
Comment: These bread texts can be weird, even for adults, yet Jesus as the Bread of Life is an important enough concept that the lectionary dwells on it for several weeks in a row. A book called Mom Pie parallels well with this text, exploring what it is that Jesus as bread teaches or reveals to us. In the story, boys who are aching to spend time with their mom make a pie out of things that remind them of her. For we who are aching to know and dwell with God, Jesus is like that pie, he is the thing that can be touched, smelled, tasted, heard, to better help people connect to God.
Connecting through story
“Something Inside So Strong” is a song used every day in the Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom Schools. The servant leaders (college students) and student scholars (grades K-12) have added motions. In this clip, servant leaders (current and alum) have gathered for CDF’s 40th anniversary celebration. You can learn more about Freedom Schools here and here.
(Written for ages 5-9)
Comment: These bread texts can be weird, even for adults, yet Jesus as the Bread of Life is an important enough concept that the lectionary dwells on it for several weeks in a row. A book called Mom Pie parallels well with this text, exploring what it is that Jesus as bread teaches or reveals to us. In the story, boys who are aching to spend time with their mom make a pie out of things that remind them of her. For we who are aching to know and dwell with God, Jesus is like that pie, he is the thing that can be touched, smelled, tasted, heard, to better help people connect to God.
Connecting through story
“Something Inside So Strong” is a song used every day in the Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom Schools. The servant leaders (college students) and student scholars (grades K-12) have added motions. In this clip, servant leaders (current and alum) have gathered for CDF’s 40th anniversary celebration. You can learn more about Freedom Schools here and here.
- What is the message of this song?
- What is the “something” inside each person that is so strong?
- Why is the “something inside so strong” important?
Connecting with our lives
Engage in dialogue:
- What does it feel like to be hungry or thirsty?
- In what ways does it interrupt life?
- What do you think Jesus meant when he said “I am the bread of life”?
- Jesus was talking to a group that included his fellow Jews. What story from their faith do you think they thought about when the heard the phrase “bread from heaven”?
- How is God providing bread in the wilderness and God providing Jesus as the bread of life similar or connected?
- The Jew’s ancestors complained in the wilderness and they are complaining now. Why do you think they are complaining?
- Jesus is not literarily bread, so how does he provide life?
- What does it mean for Jesus to give us life?
- The text mentions “they shall be taught by God.” What were the ancient Israelites taught by God giving them bread to eat each day in the wilderness? What is God teaching us with Jesus as the bread of life?
- How is living in Christ different from just living?
- What empowers us to live as Christ raised us to live?
- What gives you strength when we are struggling?
- What is the “something so strong” in you that gives you life and strength?
- How do you know it’s there?
- What can you do to remind yourself that Jesus (the Holy Spirit) continues to live in you and give you life and strength?
Teaching points that can be incorporated into your discussion:
- Last week we explored the story of the ancient Israelites in the wilderness who were hungry and complained to the point of wishing they were still enslaved.
- God heard their cries and gave them bread from heaven to eat and relieve their hunger.
- They were taught God’s ongoing providential care through the command to only pick up enough bread for one day. They learned to trust that God would provide.
- Jesus’ people, the Jews, had waited and hoped for a very long time for God to send the new Messiah. They had endured exile and a significant loss of power through the years as a consequence of their own unfaithfulness. They had lived for many years under the rule of other government. They wanted their own sovereignty and power to be restored and believed in the prophets’ message that a new Messiah would be sent by God to deliver them.
- Christians believe Jesus was the new Messiah sent by God and the fulfilment of the prophecies.
- Jesus’ idea of deliverance was very different than his people’s expectation. They had in mind a military messiah as a means of release from bondage.
- Jesus as Messiah came to set captives free from all that shackled and kept people from full, abundant and faithful life.
- In the preceding verses in John 6, the disciples and the crowd ask for a sign so they would know they could continue to do the work Jesus’ had set before them. Jesus, the rabbi, took the opportunity to teach them that it is God who does the work. It is God who gives life through the bread the God provides. In verse 34 they reply, “Sir, give us this bread always.” It is here today’s passage picks up.
- It is God, through the gift of Jesus, that gives and empowers life. It is the continuing presence of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit that makes us strong and faithful — not our own doing or the doing of any one leader, but God’s work and presence in and through us.
Play the song “Something Inside So Strong” again and this time stand and join in the singing and the motions as a reminder that the Bread of Life, Jesus, lives in and through you, giving strength and courage.
Praying
Close your time together by praying for one another, your neighbor, community and the world.
Sources:
Exodus Passage
REBECCA DAVIS is the associate professor of Christian education at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. A teaching elder and certified educator, she served congregations for over 20 years before moving into academic teaching. In addition to teaching and mentoring students, her passion is child advocacy and ministry.
John Passage
JOELLE BRUMMIT-YALE is the director of children’s and youth ministries at Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. When not at the church, she can usually be found at home with her son and husband caring for their many animals and developing their family homestead.
Sources:
Exodus Passage
REBECCA DAVIS is the associate professor of Christian education at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. A teaching elder and certified educator, she served congregations for over 20 years before moving into academic teaching. In addition to teaching and mentoring students, her passion is child advocacy and ministry.
John Passage
JOELLE BRUMMIT-YALE is the director of children’s and youth ministries at Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. When not at the church, she can usually be found at home with her son and husband caring for their many animals and developing their family homestead.
PRAYground is Open on Sundays in Worship
8:30 am, 9:00 am, and 11:00 am
PRAYground pictures
8:30 am, 9:00 am, and 11:00 am
PRAYground pictures
The Nursery is open again inside on Sundays
Children of all ages are always welcome outside to roam around the PRAYground during All services 8:30, 9:00, and 11:00 am services.
Meet Janae and another caring adult will be caring for our cherished children.
Message from Janae Gipson:
"I have always loved working and being around children. I volunteered for four years at St. Paul’s Catholic Church nursery every Sunday. I volunteer weekly at Gigi’s Playhouse, a Downs Syndrome Achievement Center and at Tampa Bay Boulevard Elementary. I really enjoy children and believe that they make the world so much better. Although I have the most experience with nannying and babysitting with children of all ages, I prefer to work with infants and babies under two years. I’ve just graduated from Brooks-Debartolo Collegiate High School in Tampa and am entering Hillsborough Community College in the fall in Child Development. I am CPR and first aid certified. I’m looking forward to spending time with the children at Palma Ceia."
"I have always loved working and being around children. I volunteered for four years at St. Paul’s Catholic Church nursery every Sunday. I volunteer weekly at Gigi’s Playhouse, a Downs Syndrome Achievement Center and at Tampa Bay Boulevard Elementary. I really enjoy children and believe that they make the world so much better. Although I have the most experience with nannying and babysitting with children of all ages, I prefer to work with infants and babies under two years. I’ve just graduated from Brooks-Debartolo Collegiate High School in Tampa and am entering Hillsborough Community College in the fall in Child Development. I am CPR and first aid certified. I’m looking forward to spending time with the children at Palma Ceia."