Good morning.
Today is Wednesday,
March 3rd,
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 scripture reading today is John 6,
Verses 51 through 58.
The bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself,
This flesh and blood self.
After Jesus said this,
The Jewish leaders started fighting among themselves.
How can this man serve up his flesh for a meal?
But Jesus didn't give an inch.
Only in so far as you eat and drink flesh and blood,
The flesh and blood of the Son of Man,
Do you have life within you.
The one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking has eternal life and will be fit and ready for the final day.
My flesh is real food,
And my blood is real drink.
By eating my flesh and drinking my blood,
You enter into me and I into you in the same way that the fully alive Father sent me here,
And I live because of God.
So the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me.
This is the bread from heaven.
Your ancestors ate bread and later died.
Whoever eats this bread will live always.
Please repeat these words.
Hear the cry of your children,
Lord.
Come quickly and set us free.
On Wednesdays,
We pray for our communities.
So I invite you now to picture your community,
Whatever community your imagination lands on.
Let the Spirit of God lead you to who you need to pray for today.
Perhaps it is a church community or a neighborhood or maybe a school.
But whatever community you are led to lift up before God,
Please do so in this space.
Don't worry about diagnosing your community's need or telling God what to do.
Just hold this group of dearly beloved people before the Lord.
May the light of Christ go before us and behind us,
Beneath us and above us,
On our right and on our left.
When we rise and when we lie down,
May the light of Christ be with us.
May the light of Christ be in us.
We pray in the name of Jesus who taught us to pray.
Our Father 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.
