Tag Archives: Tabgha

Devotion and Readings May 1

Posted by mllccarmine in Pastor's Ponderings and tagged with , , , , , ,

Tabgha Baptismal Bowl

Bible Readings and Devotion for May 1, 2020

 

Here are the references for the readings.  Please look these up in your print Bible, your smartphone app Bible, or your online Bible:

John 6:1-14

1 Corinthians 15:35-49

Psalm 146, 147

Ezekiel 21

 

Devotion for May 1, 2020

By Pastor David Tinker

 

There is one ministry miracle account which is presented in all four of the Gospel Books:  Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  It is the account of the Feeding of the Five Thousand.  Our reading from John 6 tells this story in John’s Gospel book.  This event shows the people, and us, that God is powerful and provides us what we need.  This miracle also points us to the Sacrament of Holy Communion.  This Sacrament points us to the most important thing of all:  the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sin.

In August 2014 MLLC acquired a communion set which shows an ancient depiction of the Feeding of the Five Thousand.  The article about this tells more about the special communion set as well as information about the miracle and the historic location of this miracle.

Click this the link to that article on our web site from several years ago.

 

Prayer

Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you love us beyond measure. Help us to know you and to understand the depth of your love for us.  Enliven our faith, and guide us to trust in you as the bread of life for the world.  We pray this in the Holy Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Tabgha Loaves & Fish Communion Set

Posted by Pastor David Tinker in Announcements, Pastor's Ponderings and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Tabgha Communion Set

On Sunday, August 3, 2014, we dedicated a new set of communion ware and a baptismal bowl for use at MLLC.  These depict the miracle of the Feeding of the 5000 as noted in all 4 Gospel books.  Our Gospel reading for the day was Matthew 14:13-21.

Here is a closer look at the pattern:

Tabgha Baptismal Bowl

 

The pattern on these new chalices, paten (bread plate) and baptismal bowl is taken from the design of a Byzantine mosaic which adorned a church building built around AD 480.   This was just in front of the altar at that church building. The church was buried over for many centuries, but was rediscovered by German archaeologists in 1932.  In 1982 a church building was dedicated which now preserves this beautiful and meaningful mosaic.  The mosaic depicts 4 loaves and 2 fish, but the account in the Gospels refers to 5 loaves and 2 fish.  It is commonly understood that the “missing” 5th loaf of bread is the one which is used for the Holy Communion at the altar above the mosaic.  The modern church building is called, “The Church of the Multiplication”.

The original church building was placed in this location to commemorate the great miracle of the Feeding of the 5000.  Some early Christians considered this to be the location.  There is some debate about this being the actual location.

Here is a photo of the original mosaic from the church building in Tabgha in the Holy Land.  Tabgha is located on the Northwestern coast of the Sea of Galilee.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPhoto from Avishai Teicher via the PikiWiki – Israel free image collection project

Here is a link to an article about the church.

Here is a link to an article from 1984 about the restoration of this ancient Christian church building.