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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">A Reminder of Our True Home</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">The
influence that food can have on us appears in a Chinese story
originally told by Linda Fang. She presented this story at the
Smithsonian Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C., March 19, 1988.<br>
<br>
At the foot of a great mountain in China lived a father and his three
sons. They were a simple and loving family. The father noticed that
travelers came from afar eager to climb the dangerous mountain. But not
one of them ever returned! The three sons heard stories about the
mountain, how it was made all of gold and silver at the top. Despite
their father's warnings, they could not resist venturing up the
mountain.<br>
<br>
Along the way, under a tree, sat a beggar, but the sons did not speak to
him or give him anything. They ignored him. One by one, the sons
disappeared up the mountain, the first to a house of rich food, the
second to a house of fine wine, the third to a house of gambling. Each
became a slave to his desire and forgot his home. Meanwhile, their
father became heartsick. He missed them terribly. "Danger aside," he
said, "I must find my sons."<br>
<br>
Once he scaled the mountain, the father found that indeed the rocks were
gold, the streams silver. But he hardly noticed. He only wanted to
reach his sons, to help them remember the life of love they once knew.
On the way down, having failed to find them, the father noticed the
beggar under the tree and asked for his advice.<br>
<br>
"The mountain will give your sons back," said the beggar, "only if you
bring something from home to cause them to remember the love of their
family."<br>
<br>
The father raced home, brought back a bowl full of rice, and gave the
beggar some as a thank-you for his wisdom. He then found his sons, one
at a time, and carefully placed a grain of rice on the tongue of each of
them. At that moment, the sons recognized their foolhardiness. Their
real life was now apparent to them. They returned home with their
father, and as one loving family lived happily ever after.<br>
<br>
Today we gather in this church to receive a reminder of home, a taste of
food that will help us remember who we are. I mean the bread of life,
our Father's gift to us. This is the food of God's kingdom, and reminds
us that this kingdom is our true home.<br>
<br>
Charles Hoffacker, Food from Home<br>
________________________________________</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Missing the Point</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">The
German theologian Helmut Thielicke told of a hungry man passing a store
with a sign in the window, "We Sell Bread." He entered the store, put
some money on the counter, and said, "I would like to buy some bread."
The women behind the counter replied, "We don’t sell bread." "The sign
in the window says that you do," the hungry man said. The woman
explained, "We make signs here like the one in the window that says ‘We
Sell Bread.’" But, as Thielicke concludes, a hungry man can’t eat signs.
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Life
sometimes fools us too. Bread isn’t always found where it seems to be.
Today’s Gospel lesson picks up where we left off last week in John 6.
Like the crowds looking for something else or that man looking in the
wrong store, we often miss the point when God offers us enduring life in
Jesus.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Michael J. Heggen, The Bread of Life</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">_____________________________</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Spirit and Life</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Years
ago, Harry Emerson Fosdick, then at the height of his influence as
minister of the Riverside Church, New York City, was making a tour of
Palestine and other countries of the Near and Middle East. He was
invited to give an address at the American University of Beirut,
Lebanon, where the student body comprised citizens of many countries and
representatives from sixteen different religions. What could one say
that would be relevant or of interest to so mixed and varied a group?
This is how Fosdick began: "I do not ask anyone here to change his
religion; but I do ask all of you to face up to this question: What is
your religion doing to your character?" <br>
<br>
This was a call to consider one of the great issues of human belief:
religion and life, Christianity and character, word and spirit. Emerson
once said, "What you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear a word you say."
Jesus' discourse in this whole sixth chapter of the Gospel of John had
two foci - spirit and life. "The words that I have spoken to you are
spirit and life." By this he meant that those who appropriated his
spirit, i.e., fed upon him as the bread of life, would find, thereby, a
fulfillment and satisfaction no other means could give. <br>
<br>
Donald Macleod, Know the Way, Keep the Truth, Win the Life, CSS Publishing Company <br>
_______________________</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">A More Wholesome Grain</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Turkey
Red Wheat. The hard wheat from which a high quality flour is made has
an interesting history. Mennonites lived in the Ukraine, a part of
nineteenth century Russia. Because of their opposition to war arising
from their Christian faith, they decided to emigrate when Russia
introduced military conscription. As families packed to leave, they
selected the best of their Turkey red seed grain and filled a trunk to
take with them.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">When
the Mennonite refugees migrated to the prairie provinces of Canada and
the plains states of the United States, they brought the seed with them
and found the prairie land receptive. From these trunks of wheat have
come the hard flour that is preferred for many purposes over the soft
wheat which was the only kind available earlier. This wheat made the
prairies a breadbasket that has shipped wheat and flour all over the
world.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">William E. Keeney, Preaching the Parables, CSS Publishing Company</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">_________________</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Human Knowledge</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Listen
to this statistic: Knowledge is exploding at such a rate--more than
2000 pages a minute--that even Einstein couldn't keep up. In fact, if
you read 24 hours a day, from age 21 to 70, and retained all you read,
you would be one and a half million years behind when you finished
(Campus Life)</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">An
amazing statistic. Now tell me when do you suppose this information was
compiled? It will alarm you that these statistics do not take into
account the Internet…</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div>
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<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman, Times; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><span>Dear Friends,</span></div>
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<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman, Times; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><span>A
few weeks ago I asked for help. I asked for this community, which I
have served for 14 years, to give. It's the first time I have done so in
all this time. The response was abysmal. My wife's parents suffered the
loss of their home in the Colorado fires. They lost everything in their
home. I would like to be direct this time. The campaign will end in a
week. We are far from our goal. I know that everyone in this community
can give at least $10 each.</span></div>
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<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman, Times; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><span>Please
go the links below to help. They have no idea this is being done for
them and I would like them to see that the Christian community can give
profoundly in a time of need. Help us give them a wonderful surprise. </span></div>
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<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman, Times; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><span>I have set up a website to make contributions. Please go to:</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman, Times; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><span><a shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001_hWONQ4NNgT7Jfe8lwlfpu2FowwngNxH5J9BXGA3JvlFgD6UenSyFg5J5sUAS44phvNeT2M0iJlFIyRQMsOoyb1pH4KLl2fq_Wfbnavp9i_H_oyQwHJJYRnhOzBxBIB0">www.indiegogo.com/thayerfund</a> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman, Times; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman, Times; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><span>In addition to your financial support please share on twitter and Facebook this link: <a shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001_hWONQ4NNgRoAs6Mqr821oP3R_JthkuKHwe5FKKSRPofOxObLQFu86jHwMgd_4xi6c7zvVgnabq7_No8tJh_E_CjN-agzLycFXaENelA05s1L_kVlg_dgw==">http://igg.me/p/149866</a> </span></div>
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<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman, Times; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><span>Many Thanks,</span></div>
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<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman, Times; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><span>Brett Blair</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman, Times; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman, Times; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><span>If you wish to send a word of encouragement to my wife: <a shape="rect" href="mailto:cyndi@clergy.net">cyndi@clergy.net</a></span></div>
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