The flowers in the Sanctuary today are to the Glory of God and in loving memory of the Knight Family given by Bruce Jackson.
*Welcome Jeremy Smith. Today. 2:00 p.m. Admitance is free.
Free will donations are welcome to support our outreach programs.
Coffee Hour in the basement to follow. Speak to Jan to help.
*We take a break from services for August until September 8. The board gently reminds us that expenses go on even while we have a break.
*Trivia Night. October 12. For the lights fund.
*Mint smoothies Sandra $3
*Sept. 22. Bishop Todd visits.
*There are three ways to support our church. Volunteering at events. Generosity. Prayer. Our church is a team
*Meat and Veggie Pies. 5$ for a great meal.
*Our food cupboard needs help.
Looking for: Microwave rice or pasta. Pancakes & syrup.
Cereal. Juice. Crackers. Jam. Peanut butter.
Pasta and sauce. Butch 519-615-9106.
*Come for lunch. The sign up sheet is available.
*Craft Club. Third Saturday at 10 a.m. All welcome.
*Cancelled stamps. Gloria Thompson.
*Rinsed empty drink containers Dan Davies
*If you wish, our regular weekly donations or special donations may be sent to our Envelope Secretary:
6:1After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.
6:2A large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.
6:3Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples.
6:4Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near.
6:5When 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?”
6:6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.
6:7Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.”
6:8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,
6:9″There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?”
6:10Jesus 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.
6:11Then 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.
6:12When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.”
6:13So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.
6:14When 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.”
6:15When 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.
6:16When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,
6:17got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
6:18The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.
6:19When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified.
6:20But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
6:21Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
Sermon
John 6:1-15
An old prospector came into a saloon
and ordered a glass of milk
with a shot of whiskey in it.
While the bartender was fixing his drink,
the old prospector wandered over
to speak to some of his friends.
Before he came back,
a man came in wearing a black threadbare coat.
He walked up to the bartender
and timidly said,
“Sir, I’m a poor traveling Methodist preacher.
I’ve just made it across the desert.
I’m bone dry.
Could you let me have that foamy glass of milk
I see you’ve just poured?”
“Take the milk,” said the bartender
with a twinkle in his eye.
“We’re glad to have you in our town.
Take that glass of milk and drink it up.”
The preacher drank that milk
with the whiskey in it real slow
savoring every drop.
Then he looked up towards the ceiling
and with a smile on his face he declared,
“Lord, what a cow!”
==
This morning we want to think
about the bounteous goodness of God.
And we want to say,
“Lord, what a bounteous God!”
==
Our text tells the story
of the feeding of the five thousand.
It is a marvelous story
of God’s provision
for human need.
You know the story well.
A multitude of people
had come out to hear Jesus teach.
Many had probably come
hoping for a miracle of healing.
Some came,
doubtless,
out of curiosity.
“How shall we buy bread
for all these people?”
Jesus asked his disciples.
For he knew that though
we cannot live by bread alone,
we cannot live without bread either.
The disciples were able to scrounge up
only 200 denarii—
not enough to even begin to feed this mob.
Andrew came to the rescue.
“There is a lad here who has
five barley loaves and two fishcakes,” he said,
“but what are they among so many?”
It can’t be done.
Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.”
The boy gave his whole lunch.
We experience the bounty of God,
first of all,
when we take time to sit down
as we are this morning.
We experience the bounty of God
when we are not afraid to give like the child.
Giving his food when he is hungry
…the only one generous enough,
caring enough to share…
===
Someone from Hawaii once
spoke on prayer
to a seminary audience on the mainland.
“Before the missionaries came to Hawaii,” she said,
“my people used to sit outside their temples
for a long time meditating
and preparing themselves before entering the Temple.
Then they would go to the altar
to offer their petition
and afterward would again sit a long time outside,
this time to `breathe life’ into their prayers.
The Christians,
when they came,
just went up,
uttered a few sentences,
said Amen,
and were done.
For that reason
my people called them `without breath,’
or those who failed
to breathe life into their prayers.”
If we think about it, we realize that
we rarely set aside time
to breathe life into our prayers.
We are so busy doing,
so rushed in worship,
so lets remember to slow down when we are here
, …take time to breathe life into your prayers.
==
When we shut God out of our lives,
we, too,
shut out the very One
who can meet our deepest needs.
For you see,
God’s greatest wish is to provide.
God’s very nature is to give.
God is love.
Love is always giving.
If we are not receiving from God,
the problem may be on our end,
for He is a giving God.
==
“Make the people sit down,”
Jesus commanded his disciples.
Then he took the loaves,
and when he had given thanks,
he distributed these loaves
and these fish
to all who were seated,
as much as they wanted.
So also do we receive God’s blessings
when we sit and wait.
Notice, finally,
how John concludes this story:
“So they
filled twelve baskets with fragments
from the five barley loaves,
left by those who had eaten.
When the people saw the sign
which he had done, they said,
`This is indeed the prophet
who is come into the world!'”
==
One of the lessons Christ tried to teach us
was the extravagance of God.
God is the God who provides in abundance–
Most of the worries that beset us
would disappear in a moment
if we could lean back
and rest ourselves
on the extravagance of God’s provisions
for His children’s needs.
All of nature testifies to God’s bounty.
Consider our universe.
Did you know that
if you could bore a hole in the sun
and somehow put in 1.2 million earths,
you would still have space left over
for 4.3 million moons.
Galileo once put it this way,
“The sun which has all those planets
revolving about it
and depending on it for their orderly functions
can ripen a bunch of grapes
as if it had nothing else in the world to do.”
And it doesn’t!
God has brought into being a magnificent creation
with the sole purpose
of providing for His children’s needs.
Isn’t that mind-boggling?
But why such extravagance,
why such bounty,
why such seeming extra?
==
Generations ago John Spencer offered
an interesting theory on this matter.
He noted that the Jewish rabbis taught
that when Joseph,
in the times of plenty,
had gathered much corn in Egypt,
he threw the chaff into the river Nile.
His purpose was to convey
by means of the flowing river
to cities and nations
more remote
the good news
of the abundance laid up,
not for themselves alone,
but for others also.
“So God,” writes Spencer,
“in his abundant goodness,
to make us know what glory there is in heaven,
has thrown some husks to us here
in this world, that so,
tasting the sweetness thereof,
we might draw out this happy conclusion
to the great comfort
–that if a little earthly glory do so much amaze us,
what will the heavenly do?
If he give us so much in the land of our pilgrimage,
what will he not give us in our own country?
==
It reminds us of the old story of two fellows
who died
and were walking the golden streets
of God’s celestial realm.
There was more beauty
and more splendor
and more joy there than they
had ever dreamed imaginable.
One of them turned to the other and said,
“Isn’t this wonderful?”
The other replied,
“Yes,
and to think we could have gotten here
ten years sooner
if we hadn’t eaten all that oat bran.”
===
God has so many blessings to pour out on all of us.
He asks us to sit down
and receive what He has to give. with extravagance.
Hymn: On Eagles Wings
You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord Who abide in His shadow for life Say to the Lord, “My refuge,
my rock in whom I trust!”
And He will raise you up on eagles’ wings Bear you on the breath of dawn Make you to shine like the sun And hold you in the palm of His hand
The snare of the fowler will never capture you And famine will bring you no fear Under His wings your refuge,
His faithfulness your shield
And He will raise you up on eagles’ wings Bear you on the breath of dawn Make you to shine like the sun And hold you in the palm of His hand
You need not fear the terror of the night Nor the arrow that flies by day Though thousands fall about you,
near you it shall not come
And He will raise you up on eagles’ wings Bear you on the breath of dawn Make you to shine like the sun And hold you in the palm of His hand
For to His angels He’s given a command To guard you in all of your ways Upon their hands they will bear you up Lest you dash your foot against a stone
And He will raise you up on eagles’ wings Bear you on the breath of dawn Make you to shine like the sun
And hold you in the palm of His hand
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again
to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Prayers:
As you heard the prayer of Isaac and Rebekah, O God,
and guided them in the way of your love,
so listen now to those who call upon you.
Prayers: Debbie R. (Mary Liz)Jamie;Jackie M (Gloria); Paul; Suzanne; Peter (Ron and Jan);Kenny; Jim T.; Norma A,;Dave F.; Peter T.; Dan B.;. (Garfield & Diane Mike J.; Scott H.; Lisa (Keeling), Roger & Maxine M.; Wendy;Eric P,; Beverley P.;,Sarah-Jane P.; Linda H.; Jacquie and Cam .; Janice & Darrin R; .(Suzie D.)
Move us to praise your gracious will,
for in Christ Jesus you have saved us from the deeds of death
and opened for us the hidden ways of your love.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Glory to God,
whose power, working in us,
can do infinitely more
than we can ask or imagine.
Glory to God from generation to generation,
in the Church and in Christ Jesus,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Prayer based on Scripture:
Source of life,
you feed us with the spiritual milk of your love
and deliver us from darkness to light.
Encompass us in the circle of your protection,
that, secure in your sustaining power,
we may find the wisdom and strength
to challenge the evils of our time. Amen.
Blessing from the Book of Common Prayer:
The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain with you always. Amen.
Our Parting Blessing Song:
May God’s blessing surround you each day
As you trust Him and walk in His way
May His presence within guard and keep you from sin,
