Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost B

The traditional Christian church calendar is comprised of seasons and special days. We are in the season of Pentecost. The season of Pentecost is the longest season of the church calendar and concludes with Christ the King Sunday. In this season, let us consider how we are empowered to act for God.

Brief Order For Confession and Forgiveness

Music to accompany this worship is on Spotify at:

Pentecost 11 B

Entrance Hymn

Jesus Priceless Treasure

Kyrie

Hymn of Praise

Prayer of the Day

Gracious God, your blessed Son came down from heaven to be the true bread that gives life to the world. Give us this bread always, that he may live in us and we in him, and that, strengthened by this food, we may live as his body in the world, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

The First Lesson

1 Kings 19:4-8

4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” 

5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 

6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 

7 The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” 

8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. 

Psalm

Psalm 34:1-8 (8)

1 I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 

2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. 

3 O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. 

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. 

5 Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed. 

6 This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord, and was saved from every trouble. 

7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. 

8 O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him. 

The Second Lesson

Ephesians 4:25—5:2

25 So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. 

26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 

27 and do not make room for the devil. 

28 Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 

29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 

31 Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 

32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

5

1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 

2 and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

The Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia. I am the living bread that came | down from heaven.*

Whoever eats this bread will | live forever. Alleluia. (John 6:51

The Gospel

John 6:35, 41-51

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 

41 Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 

42 They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven’?” 

43 Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. 

44 No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 

45 It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 

46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 

47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 

48 I am the bread of life. 

49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 

50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 

51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The Sermon

Nurturing others with truth and compassion will provide returns beyond measure

The Hymn of the Day

O Bread of Life From Heaven

The Creed

The Peace

Perfect Peace

The Prayers

The Offering

Communion

The Lord’s Prayer

Communion Hymns

Havlan Lahma

Communal Blessing

Dismissal

The Bible readings are from the New Revised Standard Version. I wish to thank the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, ELCA, and its predecessor bodies for all their teaching throughout the years. I’ve used the Lectionary published on the ELCA website at elca.org in preparation for this worship.