Weekly Greeting - August 4th, 2023

Dear Bethlehem Family,

In the book, Bread for the Journey, Henri Nouwen writes that when Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to his disciples at the Last Supper he was summarizing his whole life.

Jesus is chosen from all eternity, blessed at his baptism in the Jordan River, broken on the cross, and given as bread to the world.  In the Upper Room, Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to the disciples saying, “Take this is my body.”  Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them saying, “Drink from this all of you.  This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:26)

Jesus follows the same movements in our text for this Sunday as he feeds the multitudes in the desert.  

He took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and give them to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the crowds…

All who ate were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.” (Matthew 14:19-20)

Matthew wants the church to know we cannot rely upon our own resources.  The church faces a world of deep hunger and is itself hungry and poor in so many different ways. We cannot meet the needs of the world in our own strength, but we can point to Christ’s presence with us and God’s love for all people as the One who can provide for us everything we need.

Join us for worship this week as we celebrate the faithfulness of God and gather at the Lord’s Table to receive the bread of life offered to all who hunger without price.  God is good!

Blessings,

Craig