Sunday 2nd August

Welcome

Song of Worship

Summer Memory verse

This weeks memory verse to download is Phil 4:13

Where are you putting your verses to help you learn them ?

Update from the Fletchers

This morning’s memory verse was written in the context of Paul acknowledging the changeability of his life – he knew times of plenty and times of struggling, times of joy and times of hardship. In all of this, he says, he has learned the secret of contentment: faith and trust in the goodness of God. These are some of the themes that our mission partners Jon and Elise Fletcher touch on as they give as update from Thailand. You can watch their video below:

If you’d like to learn more about the work of UNOH, you can hear more from Jon, Elise, and others in the team about what they do to bring the love of Jesus into the Klong Toey slum here: https://youtu.be/x7Gxx71iWpY

Bible Reading – Matthew 14:13-21

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹³ When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

¹⁶ Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

¹⁷ “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

¹⁸ “Bring them here to me,” he said. ¹⁹ And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹ The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

For children and families

This weeks summer superhero is all about Joseph. I wonder what you know about Joseph already. I wonder what amazing things you’ll find out about him over the next week.

Sermon

Delivered by Pete Clarke

Song of Worship

Prayers

Prepared by Sue Karsten

In the Matthew passage we read that Jesus withdrew to a solitary place on hearing of John the Baptist’s beheading. He needed to grieve. He experienced the sadness of bereavement so we can confidently come in prayer to Him for those who are sad:

Loving Heavenly Father we thank you that you understand our sadness over the loss of those we love. We pray for all those who in recent months have lost loved ones to COVID 19. We pray you will bring them comfort in their grief and give them peace in their hearts and mind – Take a moment of quiet to pray for any you know who are bereaved or sad.

We pray in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Jesus had little opportunity for quiet as the crowds followed Him. When He saw them He had compassion on them and healed those who were ill:

God of compassion, we pray for those who are ill. May they know your healing touch. Give skill and wisdom for all the medical staff caring for them. Oh, Lord we thank you for the continuing commitment of care shown by keyworkers and we pray for them, for their health and wellbeing. We pray for LAMB hospital in Bangladesh, thanking you that no staff have contracted COVID 19 and pray for the protection of the staff as they treat all their patients – Take a moment of quiet to pray for any you know who are ill or who are frontline workers.

We pray in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.

And then with 5 loaves and 2 fish Jesus fed the crowd and they were satisfied:

God of creation we thank you for the beauty and diversity of creation, for the abundance of your bounty and all you have given us for food. We thank you for all those who produce the food to bring to our tables, often facing difficult conditions of weather and market forces.

We remember those facing food poverty in this country, thanking you for the contributions of help food banks and organisations like Fare Share make but pray for just policy decisions so everyone has a fair share of food resources. We pray for those in other parts of the world facing hunger and famine . We pray for adequate aid to reach those who need it and for lasting solutions for sustainable food production.

We pray in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Jesus said “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty”. John 6:35

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6

Lord Jesus, bread of life, we come to you hungry and thirsty. Feed us we pray, that we may know you more deeply and be filled with joy in believing.

In your precious name we pray. Amen.

Song of Worship

Final Blessing

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my body, which I will give for the life of the world.” – John 6:51

Thank you Jesus that you came down from heaven
so that we could know your love for the world.
Thank you Jesus that you gave your life upon the cross
so that we could live the life you give to the fullest.
Thank you Jesus that you rose from the dead
so that we can spend eternity with you.

So may our living, loving God bless us and keep us safe,
and may He be with all those who we love,
and those for who we pray, now and forever. Amen.

Thank you for joining us for worship today! We look forward to seeing you again either online or in person. Don’t forget to book a ticket for church next week at www.stjameswoodley.eventbrite.co.uk – spaces will be limited!