John 6:35-40 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
I’m here to talk about my two favorite things: Jesus and Bread. When we hear the word bread, what do we think of? Food, Carbs, Jesus? Jesus had a few things to say about bread. Bread in the scriptures was a symbol of spiritual life. “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” John 6:26-27 As I heard in a Sermon by John Piper, “Jesus came into the world not to give bread, but to be bread.” When Jesus came to feed the 5000 he was not just there to give bread but to give spiritual provision. Christ’s descent as the bread from heaven was to provide eternal life. This was accomplished when Jesus Christ gave his life as payment for our sins. Because of this we have an aching hunger for something more than what this world has to offer. It happens so often in life that we continue to try to find these temporary fixes but those can only go so far. We will never be satisfied with anything less than God. He alone supplies the bread which will fulfill our spiritual longings and the hunger of our hearts. He completes the missing parts of our lives. Coming from experience, I myself have tried to fill many voids in my life with relationships, partying, and drugs which ultimately backfired, and left me feeling depressed and suicidal. I was truly at rock bottom and it was apparent I needed something more. God called me out of my destructive life style and for the first time I listened. The Lord changed the desires of my heart. When I tasted His goodness I truly knew that Jesus was the Bread of life which would fulfill my spiritual longings. Those worldly experiences always failed me but the Lords love never will. No matter what circumstances happen in my life I know that as long as I seek Him first, the Lord will provide for me. Matthew 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” The one thing we must always do is seek Him, Know Him and believe that he is truly the Bread of life! With Christ we have the ultimate gift of all which is Eternal life with our Savior and freedom from our sins. Remember: Christ Always Rescues Broken Sinners I will leave you with this, after I do a CrossFit workout I am always hungry afterwards and in need of food. So I listen to my body and eat a meal (typically this is Chipotle). For those who know me, this hunger comes back often for me so I must continue to feed myself very frequently because that one meal will only temporarily satisfy my needs. Just like in life we will always have a deeper hunger for more and the only solution is God. We continuously feed that hunger by reading the word and growing our relationship with the Lord. That is exactly what Jesus is wanting us to comprehend when we read the “I AM” statement, I AM the Bread of Life. He is the only one that can deliver on His promise to satisfy our hunger.
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“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” – John 4:24
Nicholas Parsons is mid 30s and from Coppell, Texas. He graduated from Midwestern State University and played football there. He is a CrossFitter and used to work for Honda and know is doing admin work in the nation of Denton, Texas. He is at Watermark Community Church and is pursuing theological education through Young Guns at Denton Bible Church. He is currently pursuing vocational ministry to collegiate athletes. By God’s grace, Nick is one of my dearest and closest friends. But one could know this by simply looking at his social media. Why do I start off this story? There are two types of knowing. There’s knowing and then there is knowing. I may know about someone but not have an actual relationship with them. There is a difference between knowing Jesus as a historical figure and knowing Jesus as the Lord of my life and my greatest joy. The main aim of our time together today is having the fullest experience of worship of the Lord as the Lord has revealed Himself through Scripture. Philosophy and experience can sometimes sway from the revelation of God’s character and who He is. Today we are starting a new series on the seven I Am statements in the Gospel of John. I Am the bread of life, John 6:35. I Am the light of the World, John 8:12. I Am the door of the sheep, 10:7. I Am the good shepherd, 10:11. I Am the resurrection and the life, 11:25. I Am the way, the truth, and the life, 14:6. I Am the true vine, 15:1. The purposes of the I Am statements in John is for the declaration that Jesus is the existing God that is incarnate before those whom Jesus was around and who had asked Jesus who He was. As Jesus was declaring I Am meant that Jesus was declaring to His listeners that He was identifying Himself with God, as God described Himself as I Am in Exodus. With each metaphor in which Jesus describes Himself after His declaration of I Am, we see that each declaration is tied with an action and to declare that there is no other God then Himself. We can see that Jesus is the provider through the statement that He is the bread of life. When Jesus states that He is the light of the world is that He is the fulfillment of the feast. When Jesus states that He is the door of the sheep and the good shepherd is that Jesus is the way in which one enters and also the one who cares for His people. Through the statement of I Am the resurrection and the life are that only God can resurrect the dead. Through Jesus saying that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and we can see that Jesus is the only way to God. Through Jesus stating that He is the true vine that He is the true Israel and to be connected to Jesus. Our hope and prayer through this study of the 7 I Am statements is to see that Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15). If we want to know how God is like, we are to learn how Jesus is like. We are to worship the Lord and love the Lord, not as a mere figure in the Bible but as the living God who is reigning and ruling, who not only is sovereign over all things but knows us intimately. May our eyes be fixed on how God has revealed Himself to us through the Scriptures and not our own perceived version of God in how we would want to envision God to be. Last week Mike finished up our series on 1 John on the topic of Confidence and how we can be assured of our salvation in Christ, and quoted Andy Mineo stating, “You Can’t Stop Me!”
Today let us continue as the song would say, “Make moves or make excuses!” As a boy one of my favorite hobbies growing up was fishing. I remember my family and I over the summers would take trips to either Lake Palestine near Tyler, TX or down by the Gulf Coast in a town called Port Aransas to do some deep-sea fishing. I remember as child getting excited and intentionally going to bed early the night before so the next morning would get here fast to hit the waters. I envisioned the night before always thinking about what kind of fish I would catch. I’d think of everything from the fun boat ride ahead, to what kind of slimy bait I was going to use, to wonder how long the battle would be to reel in the biggest fish out there. To me there is something relaxing about enjoying God’s beautiful creation of the waters and peacefully waiting on the fish to snag the lure. Pro Fishermen or expert Anglers as they call them, know the ins and outs of certain waters, they know the best seasons when fish are biting harder compared to other seasons, and they also know what bait to use to tempt the fish to snag the lure. In the same way, I see Satan as a fisherman and his schemes used in a crafty way either fishing for our souls for the non-believer to draw you away from God’s mercy and grace found in Jesus Christ or entangle those Followers of Christ keep you immobile from furthering the Kingdom of God. The Bible describes Satan as Crafty, A Thief, A Deceiver, A Tempter, A Murderer, A lion and so on. Imagine Satan putting on his hook, the temptations of the flesh and this world hooking it with the things that can get your attention and cause you to fall or stumble. Imagine those alluring baits such as Anxiety, Worry, Lust, Porn, Vanity, Pride, People Pleasing, Overindulging, Passivity or Laziness, Substance Abuse, Greed, Money, Material Things, etc. Also think about it, Satan doesn’t always attack immediately, as a fisherman he can wait patiently in and out of seasons you’re going through in life. The devil fishes for you all your life until Jesus’ return and he is thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20). However, God gives us His Armor (Hebrews 6:10-17). Part of that armor is the Sword of the Holy Spirit which is God’s Word, The Bible. Let’s reflect on the Scriptures to see how Jesus responded to the fishing lure of Satan in the Wilderness. Passage: Read Matthew 4:1-11 Temptation # 1
What are they saying?
What does that mean for us?
Temptation # 2
and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ Psalm 91:11-12”
What are they saying?
What does that mean for us?
Temptation #3
What are they saying?
What does that mean for us?
In conclusion, Jesus reflects simply 3 things you can take away. That is:
Closing Prayer: As Hebrews 4:14-16 says, Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need They try to shut us down, and it aint't gon' slide
Only thing I fear is GOD and he on my side That's the confidence of GOD, 'cause he got me That's why I really feel like You can't stop me -Andy Mineo 1 John 5: 13-21 " I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask- we know that we have what we asked of him. If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of GOD keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of GOD has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true GOD and eternal life. Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. Today's theme in 1 John 5:13-21 is Confidence We know that confidence is the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust. The state of feeling certain about the truth of something. ----- This section gives us confidence in 3 ways---------- Confidence in eternal life "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." 1 John 5:13 !! John wrote his letter to encouraged the readers to keep the faith in Jesus, and their faith in Jesus should give them confidence that they truly have eternal life in Jesus. During this time, John wanted to counteract wrong teaching about Jesus that was started from people who'd left the church which was the reason for the letter. Today as believers we can still find confidence from John's writings knowing we will spend eternity with our Lord. Confidence in Prayer "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask- we know that we have what we asked of him." 1 John 5: 14 Because our faith in Jesus gives us access to God not just for our benefit but for benefit of our church community, particular those struggling with sin. Let's make this clear, God is not a genie in a bottle ready to handout wishes (answered prayers). When we pray we should remember that God hears and God acts "according to his will". We should pray like Jesus taught us to pray, "Your kingdom come, your WILL be done." Matthew 6:10 As one person has put it, " God is not going to answer all our wants and greed's, but he does promise he will answer all our needs, according to his will." Confidence in Spiritual warfare "We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one." 1 John 5: 19 Whether you want to believe in it or not, we face a battle. It's an everyday part of our lives as a believer. As I started to prepare this message I could feel satan start "turning up the heat!!" I was finding it hard to get started, focus, and at one point I just didn't want to do it. We see clear signs of the evil that is in our world, and it should not come as a shock. But John reminds us " We know that we are children of God" and also " the One who was born of GOD keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them" When we are called to go into battle " Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." Ephesians 6:11 When faced with those battles remember to pray to our God " Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies." Psalm 60: 11-12 So before I read 1 John 5:13-21 I read a poem to you... Im sure you recognized the words from the Rap song by Andy Mineo "You can't stop me" I feel like those words are full the Confidence that is found in the 1 John 5: 13-21 They try to shut us down, and it aint't gon' slide Only thing I fear is GOD and he on my side That's the confidence of GOD, 'cause he got me That's why I really feel like You can't stop me So I will leave you with one last thing.... God is saying to you today, " I will never send you into a situation alone. I go before. I am standing beside you. I walk behind you. Whatever situation you are facing now, be confident that I am with you!" |
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