2022-05-22

Morning Liturgy

Third Form - The minister welcomes the congregation. He announces the choruses.

18 - In moments like these

Chorus introduction - As we present ourselves, body and soul, as offerings to the Lord, let us sing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbsfkpYuB1I

74 - Jehova Jireh

Chorus introduction And who is it that meets all the needs of those who love and obey Jesus?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy2FFM9Kjqw

After the hymn has been sung he says :

Dear Friends, we have come here to worship God for His greatness, power and glory; to praise and thank Him for His goodness and love to us and especially for sending the Lord Jesus Christ to be our Saviour; to hear His holy word and to pray for His forgiveness, help and guidance.

The minister reads one or more of the following or other suitable verses from the Bible. He says : Let us hear from the Word of God :

“If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand ? But with You there is forgiveness; therefore You are to be feared”. Psalm 130:3-4.

“Seek the Lord while He may be found; call oh Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon Isaiah 55:6,7.

The minister says : (onscreen)

Let us pray to Almighty God together

Almighty God, heavenly Father, we confess that we have failed You in our thoughts and words and deeds. Because we are sinners by nature we have strayed from Your ways and not only have we done wrong but we have failed to do right. Lord, You alone can forgive sin, have mercy on us, pardon our sins and help us to serve You not only with our lips, but with our lives, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Minister :

Our heavenly Father has promised to forgive all those who truly repent and trust in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord and Saviour. God’s word declares that they have been reconciled to Him by Christ’s death on the cross. In Christ, and through faith in Him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence. Christ has made peace between God and His people.

Minister : Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Congregation : As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.

Minister : Sing to the Lord a new song.

Congregation : For He has done marvellous things.

Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, He died and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; Christ’s holy universal church; the fellowship of Christians; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

The minister says Let us pray :

The Lord’s Prayer is said together.

Our Father, which art in heaven,

Hallowed by thy Name,

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

In earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive them that 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.

The minister says the prayer for the day The following prayers are said together.

Other suitable prayers may be included.

Prayer for our land

Almighty, everlasting God, bless our land, its rulers and people. Grant that all of us may live in obedience to Your Word and follow after truth, righteousness and justice. Lord, give peace in our time, to the glory of Your holy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for our church

Heavenly Father, you have called us to be living members of Christ’s holy church. Bless the fellowship of the Church of England in Southern Africa, its bishops, other ministers and those in responsible positions. Grant to all who belong to it sure faith in Your holy word and lives obedient to it. May we always serve You and each other in prayer and love, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for all in need

Almighty, merciful Father, You have told us not to think of ourselves only, but to remember the needs of others. We pray for all in want or need, for the sick in body or mind, for the poor and lonely, for those in distress and despair and for all who have strayed from Your way.

Merciful Lord, deliver them, strengthen and restore their faith, bless and help them through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Then follow :

The hymn before the sermon.

34 - God is our strength and refuge

The sermon.

THE TRUE BREAD,

JOHN 6. 30-40.

John 6:30–40 ESV

30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

"Unlike philosophy, the Gospel has an ideal life to offer, and not to a few only, but to all. "—Jowett

The Jews, in the blindness of their hearts, still clamoured for a sign from Christ, that He was that "meat which endures to everlasting life," after He had already fed them with miraculous bread.

None are so difficult to convince as those who have made up their minds that they will not be convinced. I really love it when people say there is no God, because that is the silliest thing to say

They said, referring to Moses"Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT." It is one of the glories of the Gospel that such questionings often lead to fuller revelations of the mysteries of Christ's character. It was so here. Jesus now shows Himself as that Bread from Heaven, of which the manna was a type. Observe the-

1. The Source of this Bread. "My Father giveth you the true Bread from Heaven" (v. 32). “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. 33 “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”

"I am from above," He said. Every aspect of Christ's character, every act and word all prove that He was from Heaven.

This world could not possibly produce such a unique Personality. His parents, His surroundings, or, in fact, anything outside of Himself was utterly powerless to manufacture such Bread as this. “For I have come down from heaven, (v. 38).

I AM

II. Form of this Bread. "I am. " Christ does not give this Bread, but He is the Bread. "I am the Bread of Life" (v. 35). "This is the Bread which the Lord hath given you to eat, " was said of the manna (Exod. 16. 15), and is absolutely true of Him who is the gift of God. Surely the form in which this bread is served to a perishing world is very attractive. What could be more inviting to a weary, hungry soul ?

He is altogether lovely, and to the hungry heart He is always and everywhere precious. "My flesh is meat indeed" (see Hebrews 10:19-20).

III. Nature of this Bread. It is called

(1) the true Bread (v. 32). The true Bread is that which fully meets and perfectly satisfies all the needs of man. The vain philosophies of worldly wisdom can never do this. None but Christ can satisfy.

None other Name has the virtues in it needed for the healing of the sores and sorrows of a sin-smitten soul. He is the true Bread because He satisfies every part of the deep and complex character of man.

(2) The Bread of God (v. 33). Not only does Jesus Christ meet all the hunger of man's heart after God, but He meets all the hunger of God's heart after man. "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. " Let us adore Him who can both satisfy the heart of God and man (Prov. 8. 22-30). He is also called

(3) The Bread of Life (v. 35). He is the living and the life--giving Bread, so, to come into personal contact with Him by faith is to receive the life eternal.

IV. The Purpose of this Bread. To give "life to the world." The world of unspiritual humanity has many things attractive and useful without Christ, but it has not life.

The world is dead in trespass and sin.

The world needs the Light and Life of Christ before it can become pleasing unto God.

The world is hungry at heart for the true Light and the true Bread of satisfaction, but, in unbelief, it will not look beyond itself for these infinite blessings.

Whatever men may think or say, God deals with this world as a blind and dead thing, and so in mercy sent His Son as its Light and Life.

V. The way this Bread is to be Taken. Two simple words are here used to express this act of appropriation. “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. To come to Christ, or to believe on Him, is that definite exercise of soul toward Him which makes Jesus Christ and all that He is our own (v. 35).

Then after the soul has received Him by faith it must go on clay by day appropriating Him as its daily food.

Living by faith in the Son of God. They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. Eat, my friends and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, you have no life in you.

AMEN

Notices

Collection

The closing hymn.

Hymn: When the roll is called up yonder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwuUHtRXDFE

The blessing.

Blessing

The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord turn His face towards you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

Now unto Him