I AM the Bread of Life

[0:00] Good morning. Thank you, Uncle David, for reading the Bible passage. Coincidentally, Uncle David is the one who read this passage today because one of my first earliest memories of Uncle David was this story.

[0:16] ! He told us when we were young, almost 30 years ago, that he worked so hard because when he was young, he wanted to eat tomato me every day because it was 50 cents.

[0:30] So I don't know whether he still does, but if he still does, we can ask him. Alright, my name is Benjamin, and for those who not know me, I'm one of the elders here at BMKAC, and we'll be continuing in our John series on the Book of John, also known as the series to give Pastor Brian a break.

[0:47] We will be exploring various I Am claims that Jesus makes as we see him proclaiming who he is to the audience of his time. Before that, just a caveat, I would like to let you know that I am still recovering from a cough, so there is no polite way of coughing.

[1:04] So if I do, do forgive me when I do. Alright, so if you followed us last week, you have heard that Jesus is love of the world. This week, we will be exploring John 6 as he claims to be the bread of life.

[1:18] But before going into the text, we will look at why these I Am statements are significant. Now, if you skim through John's Gospel, you'll notice that John wrote this Gospel in a very different way from the three other Gospels.

[1:34] Where the other Gospels were more of a straightforward chronological narrative of the Gospel accounts. In the Gospel of John, he uses a unique literary style and communicates the Gospel in a more symbolic or thematic sort of way.

[1:47] Case in point is the I Am claims, which we will be exploring for the rest of December. Part of this style is his symbolic language. Much like the parables Jesus tells in the other Gospels, his symbolic language here becomes a source of uncertainty and disagreement to his listeners.

[2:06] But to his disciples, he reveals and teaches the meaning behind what he says. Now, we will get into the hearts of the listeners a bit and the importance of being taught by Jesus.

[2:17] But the I Am statements have Old Testament authority for Jesus as he proclaims it. Now, we go back to the book of Exodus chapter 3 when we find Moses in the wilderness, tending to his father-in-law's flocks.

[2:31] And he comes across the burning bush. Now, through the burning bush, God talks to him and in verses 14 and 15 of chapter 3, God said to Moses, God also said to Moses, So, I Am is a name that was revealed to Moses from God.

[3:07] And this name draws the Jews back to the roots of their nation and history. It should remind them of the purposes and promises of God and their deliverance from Egypt.

[3:18] So, when Jesus says, I Am the Light, I Am the Bread, he is using parallel language to identify himself as God. He is saying, I Am God.

[3:30] And so, Jesus' claims to the Jews should have caught the attention of the Jewish ears. But as we will see later, that is not always the case. Sometimes it clicks.

[3:42] Sometimes it just goes over their heads. But for us today, having the whole text of scripture before us, we can see the pattern that John is communicating through his gospel.

[3:52] But before we head into the passage proper, I have a question for you all. Now, this involves a little crowd work. And it may be high risk, but does anyone know Fuzzy Wuzzy?

[4:06] Okay, this is not the poem or rhyme. This is a riddle. Does anybody know Fuzzy Wuzzy? Can you leave your hand? Is there anybody who knows?

[4:18] Okay, just Adrian behind there because I talked to him about it. Okay, so if nobody knows, Mr. Fuzzy is someone who likes to go certain places. And when he does, he brings certain things, alright?

[4:33] And he wants you to go with him. And in fact, invites you to go with him. But only if you bring something that he likes. So, he likes hills, but not mountains.

[4:47] He likes going on strolls, but not walks. And he wants you to go with him. So, what are you going to bring? Justin, since you came back from Melbourne, do you want to give it a try?

[5:00] Name something. What do you want to bring? Beef pie. Yes, you can come with him.

[5:11] Beef pie. Anybody else want to give it a try? I think Christine, what do you want to bring to go on this stroll? Water?

[5:25] Oh, I'm sorry, Auntie. You can't go on this trip with Fuzzy, alright? So, he likes muffins, not cupcakes. He likes lorries, but not trucks. He doesn't like breakfast or lunch, but he likes dinner and supper.

[5:41] Alright? So, this may be a bit confusing, and this may be, you might be wondering, why is this going on? But this riddle is actually a riddle that was quite popular during my time in college.

[5:53] And before Google searches were a thing, it took weeks for someone to understand the secret behind this riddle. Now, if you're confused or wonder why I'm actually bringing up this riddle, just remember what's going on, and I'll explain the point of it all near the end, and I promise you it will make sense later, okay?

[6:12] Now, we all look, now we will look at the text where, and if you have your Bibles, we will back up a bit to the beginning of the chapter to verse 1. Now, our passage today starts at verse 22 or 25, but it's a continuation of a very famous miracle.

[6:29] And John 6 is actually a whole theological truth that John is writing about. So you need to know what happened before to make sense of our passage today. Now, this story in verse 1 is a story that many of us know, a significant miracle that we may have heard of, but for those who may not, I'll give you a summary of what happened from verse 1.

[6:50] Now, it is the feeding of the 5,000. In the book of Matthew, it's pointed out that this was excluding women and children, so the real number, scholars estimate, could be upwards of 15,000 people or more.

[7:05] So at this time, a great number of crowd, a great crowd, came to look for Jesus, for they heard he was doing signs of healing the sick. Now, Jesus' disciples had wanted to send the people away because evening was approaching and they were in a remote place.

[7:20] Jesus wanted to feed them, but Philip exclaimed, it would take more than half a year's wage for everyone to even have a bite. But there was a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two fish.

[7:32] So Jesus took the bread and fish, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples to feed the crowd. Amazingly, the entire multitude was fed from that small meal.

[7:44] Jesus provided as much as they wanted and they ate until they were satisfied. He did not just meet their needs, he provided so much food that there were twelve baskets full of broken bread left over.

[7:58] After this miraculous sign that Jesus performed in verse 14, it said that the people began to say, surely this is the prophet who is to come to the world. And in verse 15, it says that Jesus knew what they intended to do and that was to make him king by force, so he withdrew to be by himself.

[8:17] Now remember, remember just that what they said here in verses 14 and 15. They said, oh surely this is the prophet who is to come to the world and they wanted to make him king by force. This will be relevant and important later in the sermon.

[8:32] After that, there is a short story and another miracle about coming a storm, his disciples being terrified in a boat and Jesus walking on water. But that itself is a miracle story for another day. But we take note from verse 22 that the very next day, the crowd that was fed that had eaten the bread realised that Jesus was not there and came looking for him.

[8:52] So we are all caught up and are at verse 25. It says, the crowd found him and they asked him, Rabbi, when did you get here? Now this form of greeting is one of those mindless greetings that we sometimes make when we see someone else eating in a restaurant and say, eh, hi, you eating here, is it?

[9:11] Although we sort of know the answer because he is sitting right there eating. And so in verse 26, Jesus sees through this greeting and knows that the reason they came for looking for him was not because of who he is or who he claims to be but because of what they think he can offer.

[9:30] They came because they wanted to be fed. Jesus answered, very truly I tell you, you are looking for me not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.

[9:43] Now, arguably, this is a time different from where we are living today. You want bread? Mita is just behind there or Aunty Esther and the Saudo gang in church.

[9:54] You can find them. You can find almost anything in the supermarkets but during the time of the Gospel of John, wheat, barley, any form of grains only come after a harvest.

[10:06] You have to ration, store your harvest properly. You have to secure the ration away from sunlight and moisture, from insects and pests, from thieves and robbers, lest you starve.

[10:16] So their desire and the need for food was so great that the filling of their stomachs totally eclipse the miracle and sign performed. And to add to that, Jesus is talking to the people that literally ate, went into a food coma, slept outside next to a lake, woke up the next day and the first thing on their minds is to track Jesus down to ask for more food.

[10:37] So Jesus here then directs them to see past their stomachs. He says in verse 27, do not work for food that spoils but for food that endures to eternal life which the Son of Man will give you.

[10:50] For on him, God the Father has placed his seal of approval. Now notice this is where Jesus begins to reveal the idea of the bread of life. It is a bread that doesn't spoil and endures eternal life.

[11:03] This must be music to the ears of the Jews that hear. What wonderful bread that doesn't spoil and is eternal that the Son of Man on whom God approves can give this bread?

[11:14] So they ask naturally, what must we do to do the work God requires? In verse 28. Now in typical fashion, this is the mindset of the Israelites of the day.

[11:27] Part and parcel of the religious tradition of the time typically was work-based. They had to do certain things, make sacrifices, thinking that they had to do certain practices at a certain time or abstain or avoid certain things, to remain blessed by God so naturally.

[11:45] They expected that to receive this special bread that the Son of Man was offering, they had to work for it. But Jesus' reply was simple. He answered, the work of God is this, to believe in the one he has sent.

[12:01] All they had to do was believe in the one he has sent. Now church, it's important to take note that in the Gospel of John, the theme of belief or believing is central to his literary style.

[12:13] No doubt you'll see this throughout the other I Am statements or sermons that are upcoming and in today's sermon you will see quite a repetition of this idea. So have this at the back of your mind as we explore the Book of John and to hammer this point home, this is what the Apostle John himself wrote in chapter 20 verse 30 to 31 the purpose of John's Gospel.

[12:35] Verse 30, Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name.

[12:54] So as we read the Gospel of John this month, what is written is to give you confidence and reason to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, Son of God and that you may have life in his name.

[13:05] So here he says believe in the one God has sent essentially saying believe in me and the Jews kind of get it but not really. They understand that Jesus is talking about himself being sent by God but they maintain their desire of being fed.

[13:21] In verse 30, 31 they ask what sign then will you give that we may see and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness and as it is written he gave them bread from heaven to eat.

[13:36] Now as they ask this question it might seem quite odd and funny question to ask Jesus. Don't you remember what happened yesterday? Wouldn't you dare when he fed the multitude from five loaves and two fish?

[13:48] Perhaps you were stuffing your face full of bread that the miracle was overlooked. Why or how they are not able to realize the obvious when even in the beginning of verse 2 they came to him because they saw signs Jesus performed by healing the sick.

[14:06] Now at this point I want to also point out the state of the Jews listening to Jesus at the time. Although it may seem so they weren't actually intellectually handicapped. If you were here last week you would have heard how among the listeners there were disputes, confusion and they weren't understanding what Jesus was saying.

[14:28] Now in some places you would hear that some accused Jesus of being a Samaritan or a demon possessed. Now we must understand that among the Jews there is a spiritual blindness and primarily among the teachers of the law of the time.

[14:41] They claim to believe and follow God but they are no way close. Here are three passages that give some insight into the attitude and the minds of the Jews and why some of them were not able to see some of the plain things in front of them.

[14:56] Now it will be on the screen behind me as I read this three passages to you. In chapter 9, 39-41 after healing the blind man Jesus alludes to spiritual blindness that has overcome those who claim to see saying in verse 39 Jesus said for judgment I have come into this world so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.

[15:21] So Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked what are we blind to? Jesus said if you were blind you would not be guilty of sin but now you claim to see your guilt remains.

[15:34] And in chapter 12 37-40 this spiritual blindness is in fact part prophecy of Isaiah saying in 37 even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence they still would not believe in him that was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet Lord who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed for this reason they could not believe because as Isaiah says elsewhere he has blinded their eyes hardened their hearts so they can neither see with their eyes nor understand with their hearts nor turn and I would heal them also in chapter 5 37 47 the chapter before this morning's chapter this reveals the attitude of some of his listeners and the Jewish leaders of how John the Baptist God the father the scriptures and even Moses testifies who Jesus is it says in verse 37 and the father who sent me has himself testified concerning me you have never heard his voice nor seen his form nor does his word dwell in you for you do not study the scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life these scriptures that testify about me yet you refuse to come to me to have life in 42 it says but I know you and I know you do not have the love of

[16:52] God in your hearts I have come in my father's name and you do not accept me and 46 if you believed! this could be because of the centuries of tradition laws that were added on and on by the teachers of the law the oppression and the conquering of multiple nations over the nation of Israel perhaps diminishing what they thought was the failure of the promises of God of Israel and because of all this oppression the idea of a conquering Messiah that caused the Jews to close their eyes or harden their hearts to listen to and those who believe some could not understand the totality of what he taught so as you read the gospel of John it will be helpful to understand why the people are reacting and responding to Jesus words the way they did now that took a bit of time to go through but since this is a series that is topical in nature and some of these passages so today in the coming weeks as we explore other parts of the gospel of

[18:11] John keep two things in mind the unique literary style of John and the state of the heart of the Jews okay so now back to verses 30 and 31 where they say in 30 what sign will you give that we may see and believe!

[18:27] you what will you do? Our! Now this question and statement about manna they pose to Jesus here is essentially like a challenge it was not really a genuine question but they were saying something along the lines of you know Moses fed our ancestors manna the bread from heaven for 40 years he produced that miracle and filled our bellies their bellies but you talk about this everlasting bread so how long are you going to feed us for their minds were still on something physical and material looking back at the time of Moses and the manna in the desert and being fed for 40 years things they could have been thinking wouldn't it be great if I don't have to worry about my next meal anymore I just have to follow Jesus and he can provide bread and food for me just like Moses did now Jesus then corrects them from verse 32 but he plays along with that trail of thought reminding them that it wasn't

[19:30] Moses but God who gave manna and who is giving you the bread of life from heaven that gives life to the world and of course in anticipation the crowd at the edge of their seats were saying always give us this bread I mentioned earlier that John 6 is one whole chapter that centralize in this one statement I am the bread of life so we see the miracle earlier in the chapter then we see the revelation of the statement at verse 35 and the discourse continues all the way to 49 so to get a full understanding of what Jesus is saying now I will be cross referencing some of the verses that we did not read this morning so in verse 35 Jesus throws!

[20:11] the curveball a plot taste that they weren't expecting I am the bread of life whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty now if you are a Christian for a number of years this statement doesn't seem so extraordinary you perhaps understand what it means last week I am the light of the world understandable and perhaps you've heard it before and perhaps sung it a hundred times in our songs but I'm not presumptuous to think that everyone would understand what it means because if I said this statement to someone who has never been to church never heard about Christianity I think they'll be asking questions what are you talking about and that is fair so if taken literally it may be confusing but remember I said there is a symbolic writing here in John as we can see from the text the Jews themselves began questioning and grumbling at Jesus' claims and if this is potentially confusing to you remember what we read in verse 53 but let's not get ahead of ourselves and let's break it down for us to understand and apply so as we have read so far from verses 25 34 it's fairly understandable what

[21:26] Jesus is saying but it's from 35 onwards that Jesus taken literally now he goes on to say eat my flesh and drink my blood these are hard things to accept and Jesus knows this he knows what he is saying he knows the effect of what he is saying on the Jews they are listening so they were first interested and they became confused and they started to grumble and ended up arguing!

[22:03] Jesus knew the hearts of the people as I mentioned earlier and he reinforces this idea in verse 36 as he says but as I told you you have seen me and still you do not believe and in 64 speaking about his own disciples for Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him and after that many no longer followed Jesus so I believe that Jesus didn't want fair weather followers who came to him looking for handouts or just to see miracles remember his primary mission was not to build an earthly kingdom but to establish a spiritual one through the cross a huge fanfare of followers wasn't going to achieve this goal it would be in fact a hindrance in verses 14 and 15 remember they wanted to he didn't want to start a rebellion that was not the type of king he intended to be he wanted to continue his ministry teaching his disciples and with his end goal of getting to the cross

[23:15] I believe he intentionally thinned the group that was following him he didn't want an army of followers he was satisfied and intended to keep a small remnant of dedicated followers to himself and just like in the other gospels where he spoke parables to the cross and in private he taught his disciples the meaning of the parables that's why he doubled down on this language he was using he meant it symbolically but he knew his listeners would take it literally because he knew their hearts and their disbelief in him so knowing their hearts knowing their intentions and knowing how they would react he way he does to challenge their thinking to allow him to get to the cross that is why he used this hard language so what does this hard language then mean in verse 60 even some of his disciples said this is a hard teaching who can accept it and they were referring to this in verse 53 to 54 it says

[24:23] Jesus said to them very truly I tell you unless you eat blood you have no life in you whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise them at the last day so if you take it literally it sounds like we are supposed to be cannibals and here I would like to segue just talk a bit about why I believe our Catholic friends may have got this wrong now remember last week when we took the Holy Communion Pastor Brian mentioned that we take this bread in remembrance of him in remembering what he did on the cross for our sins but the Catholic tradition teaches a doctrine called transubstantiation where the bread and wine miraculously transform into actual flesh and blood of Jesus as you take communion but then again if we take Jesus' claims literally Jesus' would have to be an actual gate!

[25:21] ! Now I'm referring to the other I am statements where he says I am the gate which we'll hear next week last week's sermon I am the light I am the vine I am the good shepherd and so on and clearly there were no signs of disciples eating Jesus any time during his ministry and if Jesus meant to make this connection with the Holy Communion why was the Last Supper the do this in remembrance of me account not recorded in the Gospel of John that's because that was not the intention of the teaching here in John 6 so as we do during Holy Communion we take bread wine or juice to take it symbolically in remembrance of Jesus' work on the cross and lastly Jesus also ended the discourse with this verse at verse 63 the would be able to discern what is spiritual again

[26:50] Jesus taught spiritual truths using parables metaphors and symbolism so that only those with the spirit can understand so now what would this passage mean then or what is Jesus trying to say here as I mentioned earlier the language gets harder as we go down but as we look at the verses it becomes clearer to what Jesus meant and now the comparison will be on the screen so we'll read a few verses starting in 54 it says whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life sorry Chloe can we get the slide up so 54 it says whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life 47 very truly I tell you the one who believes has eternal life 40 for my father's will is that everyone who looks to the son and believes in him shall have eternal life and 29 when in answering how to get this bread Jesus said the work of God is this to believe in the one who he has sent so contextually the meaning is simple and was answered in verse 29 in response to how to receive this bread believe in the one he has sent believe in

[28:01] Jesus remember I said the theme of believe it's a repeated theme here in John so even as you read these four verses again those verses that sound familiar to that of the famous verse in chapter 3 as Jesus speaks with Nicodemus that we should all know John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life so that is the meaning of what Jesus is trying to say here that is the call for us today as we hear this message believe that Jesus is the Messiah the son of God and by believing you may have life in his name now we know what it actually means to eat his flesh and drink his blood then we ask or answer two questions that we may!

[29:00] So how do we come to believe? Now from the passage we can see from 44 to 46 where it says no one will come to me unless the father who sent me draws them I will raise them up at the last day firstly we believe that the father needs to draw us to him he is the initiator and we are responders of his offer of salvation in this sense we do not work or do anything to merit our salvation then we ask who does the father draw who comes to him and we continue reading 45 and 46 it says it is written in the prophets they will all be taught by God everyone who has heard the father learn from him comes to me no one has seen the father except the one who is from God only he has seen the now those who heard or listened to the father but it then says in 46 no one has seen the father except the one who is from

[30:08] God only he has seen the father and the only one who has seen the father is Jesus so they have listened and learned from Jesus after learning and listening from Jesus they come to him acknowledging who he is!

[30:25] and what he offers them now in verses 68 and 69 we can see the reaction from the disciples who accepted and understood better what he meant in verse 68 Simon Peter answered him Lord to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life we have come to believe and to know that you are the holy one of God now you may be thinking is it possible for us to perceive!

[30:50] something differently from of exercise that I tried to do to demonstrate this very thing so we go back to fuzzy wuzzy so many of you may be confused or wondering what it was all about now you could remember that I was saying English words that you understood but perhaps made no sense in its form or pattern now for those who don't know most likely the words make no sense to you but for those who know those with ears and that hear and minds understand is actually very simple so if I told you this that the secret to fuzzy wuzzy is he likes things things with double letters so just like what Justin said he liked beef pie that's correct he likes beef pie and therefore Justin gets to go but Aunty Christine's water is not correct what's your answer

[31:51] Christine! two letters next to each other try again I'll ask you after this so like this example statement behind Fuzzy Wuzzy likes to go on strolls along the street wearing boots and bringing sweet apple muffins with cookie floss fillings so if you said anything with two letters connecting each other you would go and so this is the secret to the riddle that we played in during college so does it become when you can see the truth or pattern behind the words I'm saying in the simplest of ways I'm trying to demonstrate in an experiential way for you how from listening and learning something you could not understand before it becomes understandable so just like how perhaps the phrase in my flesh and drink my blood seemed confusing hopefully now it becomes a bit more clear in its meaning just like how you listen and learn from

[32:58] Jesus in the same way so how can we listen and learn from Jesus only if there was some way we can access we have access to Jesus teachings his commentaries or explanation about his teachings the apostles writings the full authority of scripture and most importantly Jesus words that he wrote in red ink while the rest in black right where can we find them we have it right here church in the bible the fullness of god's word in scripture in the bible that's why we believe that scripture the gospel is powerful it's living it's active able to change and transform lives sharper than any double than any double edged sword reveals truth and being filled with the spirit that guides us into a deeper understanding and relationship with god that's why when we preach we try our best unpack scripture for you to understand to listen and learn from the words of god that's why we encourage bible study in our fellowship groups that's why we organize seminars and equip classes to go through books of the bible that's why when evangelism is done we share the good news of the gospel we believe the importance of scripture and that the gospel is able and sufficient to draw us to

[34:13] God and grow us in God we can come to God by listening! and learning from the father so we come to believe him by listening and learning but what does it mean to believe in Jesus church there are two types of belief here that sometimes even us who call ourselves Christians may confuse over and in fact to our detriment if we do the first understanding of belief is like if I say I believe that sarak laksa is the best type of laksa and that is objectively and empirically true or I believe this poppet is made of wood this type of belief is an intellectual ascent or factual agreement now you can say I believe in Jesus as someone who exists or someone good and does miracles but this type of belief is not the biblical understanding of belief and it's not the belief that Jesus talks about in the book of John biblical belief asks far more than do you believe he exists now do you believe that

[35:17] Jesus is the son of God do you believe that he died on the cross to pay for the penalty of your sins do you believe in Jesus sacrifice is the only adequate atonement for your sins if so great but again believing facts is only part of the process biblical belief is far more than believing certain things to be true believing also is relying and trusting on those facts so a parachute is a good illustration you can look at a parachute and believe it is made of materials that can support your weight you can believe that the designers designed it properly that it will operate as designed in such a way that once it is deployed from free falling after free falling from a plane it will bring you safely to the ascent but biblical belief is putting on the parachute and jumping off the plane it is actually relying on the parachute fully and it will bring you safely to the ground so are we trusting in

[36:23] Jesus as our savior are we depending on his death and his resurrection as a guarantee of eternal life are we allowing our lives to be transformed into Christ likeness if we understand and believe what the Bible says about Jesus and if you are trusting in these truths as the basis for salvation you believe in Jesus in the biblical sense now to see why this is important we go back one round a full circle to the early verses in our passage today now we see from the Jews of the day as they come to Jesus they come to Jesus to fulfill!

[36:59] their needs they didn't come to Jesus for who he was and what he was offering but because they were hoping for some earthly need some wanted food some disciples who deserted him may have wanted power or status perhaps that's how some of us are like today we come to Jesus thinking that if we come to him he will bless us with wealth and health that if I come to church enough times or I stay long enough I help out some sort of gifts the Jews receive like the bread now God can bless and even do miracles but I believe this is all purposed so that you and I are redirected and appointed to God reminded that these things come from God and to turn to him and not like the crowd that saw the miracles with their own eyes but their focus fell on their bellies their earthly desires and there now if you are from

[38:03] Kuching and born in the 80s and 90s you would know Hutt's chicken buffet now it's one of the most nostalgic and sentimental places for people my age ever since primary school after every exam or for a birthday celebration we will go there to eat now I've been there loads of times as you can see but the same thing happens 100% of the time for me and perhaps for you too when you go to a buffet I will go in and eat my fill make my money's worth right and at the end of the night with food up to my throat I would think to myself I'm so full I'm not going to eat for another week or I'm never coming back here again even the thought of food suddenly becomes repulsive but after a night sleep after waking up one of the first things I would think when I wake up is I wonder what's for breakfast the fullness is gone the hunger is back and a week's time

[39:06] I will even be asking who wants to go to heart our desires are insatiable and never ending the same goes for anything else more money the next promotion a newer car the next iPhone that comes out next year I wonder we'll keep on one thing these needs and desires will go on and on and on but whether we realize it or not Jesus knew that we had a greater need than earthly sustenance or earthly desires that satisfies temporarily church we have a sin and death problem and he came offering an eternal solution and that's why Jesus directs the crowd saying do not work for food that endures to eternal life by ourselves our efforts will eventually spoil but if we feed or believe in the bread of life we will have life eternal through Jesus so the good news for everyone is therefore this the bread of life has indeed come down from heaven in the person of

[40:09] Jesus through his sacrificial work on the cross he gives life to the world to you to me and to everyone who is listening today and we do not preach Jesus as a teacher or as a miracle worker but as the son of God to be believed to be trusted and taken into the very being of our souls and remember that believing in Jesus is not just a point in time where we heard the gospel and decided to believe we raised our hands and we believed but it is a continual feeding day by day we return to him listening and meditating to his word trusting in his sacrifice turning to him in prayer living our lives as a living sacrifice day in and day out when we feed on him our spiritual hunger is met our strength is renewed and our lives sustained by grace we could never earn when we rely and trust in him our thoughts and actions ought to change and align with the desires and heart of God the way we look at family the way we look at church the way we look at our work the way we look at our friends we see all through the eyes of

[41:17] Christ we are by no means perfect and yes we all struggle at times but when you are weary! God come to him believe and live let us pray Father in heaven thank you for sending Jesus the bread of life the one who came down from heaven to give his life for us thank you salvation is not something we earn but something freely given and we receive by believing and trusting in him Father draw our hearts to your son teach us by your spirit give us ears to hear and hearts to understand that we may not only know the truth about Jesus but rely on him fully for life and salvation teach us to feed on Christ daily to listen to your word to trust in your finished work on the cross and to live in dependence on you may we leave this place trusting in what we can do but in what

[42:29] Christ has already done may our lives reflect the truth that Jesus Christ alone is sufficient and enough for us in Jesus name I pray amen