CreatingCommunity is an email devotion to guide your preparation for worship next Sunday. Imagine how much more clear and relevant God's Word will be if you have had an opportunity read, reflect, and dwell in the Word prior to worship. You may do this devotion alone, with others, as a family, or over Zoom as a small group.

This devotion is to be done in preparation for Sunday, July 25, 2021, The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost.

Please follow these three steps:

1. Read through the text
2. Respond to the questions (select one of the sets of questions)
3. Offer a Prayer
John 6:24-35
When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were [beside the sea,] they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
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.”
No Experience Necessary Questions:
  1. What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?
  2. What delights me in this text?
  3. What stories or memories does this text stir in me?
  4. What is God up to in this text?
Family Questions:
  1. Do you like bread? Make a list of the variety of bread you have eaten, those you like, and those you don't like.
  2. Bread is a word often used to speak of things that we seek in life. What are some other things (in addition to money or success or happiness) that might be called "bread"?
  3. We serve bread at worship. Is that Jesus, the bread of life, that we share? Why do you say so?
Advance Questions:
  1. How is this crowd scene similar to Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:4-26)?
  2. Why do you think many of the five thousand people Jesus fed in the wilderness (last Sunday's gospel) continue to follow him throughout the countryside? What are they seeking? Do they find it?
  3. What does this episode tell us about the real nature of the quest for those who are following Jesus? Is that still true for us today? Explain.
Click here to watch this week's CreatingCommunity hymn
“We come to the Hungry Feast" with lyrics.
Sing or meditate on the words.
Pray a Prayer of your own or this one.
Loving Father, Your Word is food for my soul and refreshment for my hungry heart. Thank You for sending Your precious Son into the world to be the Bread that came down from heaven to feed our hungry soul . Amen.