This is part of the worship series
"Picture Jesus"
Introduction
Lent 1 | Lent 2 | Lent 3 | Lent 4 | Lent 5
Palm Sunday | Good Friday | Easter
The First Sunday in Lent
The Bread of Life
Service of Confession
Call to Confession
In this season in which we remember our Savior’s suffering, let us confess our sinfulness to him.
Our Prayer of Confession
Most holy and merciful Father, we confess to you and to one another that we have sinned against you by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not fully loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not always had in us the mind of Christ. You alone know how often we have grieved you by wasting your gifts, by wandering from your ways, by forgetting your love. Forgive us, we pray you, most merciful Father, and free us from our sin. Renew in us the grace and strength of your Holy Spirit, for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son, our Savior. Amen.
Assurance of God’s Pardon
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.
—1 Peter 3:18–22 NRSVUE
Hymn:
“Christ, the Life of All the Living” (st. 1) Homeburg et al.
A Commitment to Holy Living
Since we have been saved by grace, how shall we live in obedience to Him who saved us?
We will love the Lord our God with all our heart, our mind and our strength; and we will love our neighbors as ourselves.
And how will it be clear that your Lord has first place in your life?
We will have no other gods before God; we will not make for ourselves any substitute gods; we will not abuse the name of the Lord but speak it only in reverence and love; we will honor the Lord’s day through worship, witness, and fellowship with God’s people.
And how will it be clear that you love others as yourself?
We will honor our parents and hold the family in high esteem; we will not abuse, hate, or injure our friends or neighbors by word, gesture or deed; we will live sexually holy and disciplined lives; we will not steal; we will not lie; we will not grasp for what we do not have, nor reject others for having it.
Will you commit yourselves to this obedience?
Yes, by God’s grace we will do it!
The Word
Scripture
Psalm 25:1–10; 1 Peter 3:18–22
Text:
John 6:25-40
Sermon Notes
We began this series by explaining our intent to take worshipers through a seven-week tour of a portrait gallery. Each portrait was intended to give them another view of the character of the Savior. Our aim was to shape their expectations and encourage them to prepare for Holy Week.
In this first passage Jesus claims to be the bread of life. Contemporary Christians have two obstacles in understanding the intensity of what Jesus was saying. First, few of us have ever been so desperately hungry that we crave a piece of bread. And second, in our society bread is devalued; it’s toward the bottom of the ladder as far as desired foods are concerned. (We’d much rather have meat or some special dish!) So we need to make a large adjustment in order to enter this passage.
John 6 is a chapter with a good bit of bread in it, beginning with the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus makes the transition here from physical bread to spiritual bread and gives a rather extended discourse on what spiritual bread involves. By the end of the chapter he speaks about eating “my flesh” and drinking “my blood” (v. 54ff.).
To really understand this passage, worshipers need to sense that the centrality of bread continues throughout Jesus’ ministry. At the Passover he instituted the Lord’s Supper with its bread (Matt. 26:26-29). And on Easter Sunday two disciples recognized him “while he broke the bread” (Luke 24:35).
Jesus is dealing here with two very deep hungers in our lives, hungers far more important than physical hunger. First of all, we all have the hunger for acceptance. In that culture the offer of bread was an expression of acceptance, hospitality, and friendship. Second, we all have the hunger for eternal life, for knowing that after this life there is another glorious life that will go on forever. Jesus alone can provide an answer to that hunger.
We concluded our service and formally entered Lent with the Lord’s Supper, in which we especially focused on Jesus offering himself to us as the bread of life.
Other Service Elements
Congregational Songs
“Lift Your Heart to the Lord” Bowers and Williams (The congregation joined the choir on the refrain of this introit hymn.)
“God Is Here” Green and Janson
“Gift of Finest Wheat” Westendorf and Kreutz
“O Jesus, Joy of Loving Hearts” Palmer and Baker
“Eat This Bread” Batastini and Berthier
“I Received the Living God” Anon
“We Are People on a Journey”/“Somos pueblo que camina” Davila
Choral Suggestions
“Take and Eat This Bread,” Francis Patrick O’Brien (G.I.A. G-3768; SATB anthem with optional instrumental parts and congregational refrain.)
Instrumental Suggestions
Note: Unless noted, instrumental music suggestions are organ selections.
“Partita on ‘Come, Let Us Eat,’” Tim Fields (a va de; Morningstar MSM-10-824)
“Lift Your Heart to the Lord,” Robert Hobby (3 Hymns of Praise, Set 5; salve festa dies; Morningstar MSM-10-760)
“Break Now the Bread of Life,” Jack Goode (Preludes on Hymn Tunes; bread of life; Hope)
Meditation Music for Communion
“In the Quiet Consecration,” David Cherwien (Interpretations IX ; kingdom; AMSI SP-106)
“O Jesus, Joy of Loving Hearts,” Jack Goode (Preludes on Hymn Tunes; quebec; Hope)
Liturgy Notes
- We presented the John 6 passage as a dramatic reading, adapted from The Dramatized New Testament (Baker, 1994).
- The selections for the meditation music were played by organ and solo violin.
- All worshipers were invited forward to receive the bread and the cup. Readings, congregational song, and meditation music were woven through the time of the sacrament.
- Psalm 25:1–10 can be read with a congregational refrain, “To You, O Lord, I Lift My Soul” Haugen sung at the beginning, after stanzas 3 and 7, and at the end.
Revised Common Lectionary
Year B: Lent—First Sunday in Lent
