Family Service - I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE

John 6:35 "Jesus replied: I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

PART 1 - What makes you HAPPY?

Happiness oftentimes feels fleeting.

We have all heard of “blissful moments’ but that’s the thing, they are merely moments

After all, there are so many times in the day when we're not having positive feelings (when you’re stressed at work or enduring a chaotic day at home or worried about wehat’s going on with your lfie that elaves you so, so unhappy!).

John Lennon tells the story of a project that his class was set at school - "When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life." He “imagined” a world without war, violence, religion; social and ethic devisions; without heaven or hell. It’s “easy if you try” BUT IT’S NOT REALLY! Mark David Chapman shot and killed him on December 8, 1980.

Happiness is a hard thing to get and a really hand thing to keep. If we are still looking for it, it is elusive; if we find it, it may not last and anyway someone may steal it from us for as Oscar Wilde once said: “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”

If you want a definitio of happiness, this is one of my favourites - "They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for." (Tom Bodett).

If you could choose 1 thing you think would make you happy what would they be?

Who likes chocolate?

Who wants some? Here you go - the condition of your eating it! Gloves; blindfold; scarf for tying aroudn their hands; knife and fork to cut it!

Play a short burst of the Rolling Stones Song ‘I can’t get no satisfaction’ whilst they try to eat the chocolate

Next illustrate with an excerpt from Lord of the Rings Two Towers where Merry and Pippin receive Elven bread.

What makes you SATISFIED?

Can you think of a time when you really wanted something? When you got it what happened? Were you satisfied? Yes! BUT Did it make you happy forever?

We can feel satisfied when we get something that we need or something that we have wanted for a long time. When we are satisfied we feel like we have enough.

Let’s explore this a bit more with some more food!...

Taste and See! - Different TYPES OF BREAD:

Have a selection of different types of bread and bread from different countries. Identify the types of bread and where they originate from. You can talk about this in the meeting if you have time or just have the bread on display as people come in.

Accompany the bread with food it would typically be eaten with e.g. French bread with honey or soft cheese, Pita bread with olives or hommous, stottie cake with ham and pease pudding. Which is the best? It’s all down to choice!

Faith makes a choice! - Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

BUT it’s up to you to “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”(Psa 34:8).

PART 2 - Jesus is our Ultimate Source of Satisfaction!

Let us note the context: John 6:22-58

Jesus had been busy. He fed five thousand people then slipped away to spend some time alone. He came back, to reassure the disciples when a storm came up, walking on the water to get to them in their boat. They then continued across to Capernaum.

The next day the crowd that had stayed on the far shore saw that the disciples had taken the only boat, and they realized Jesus had not gone with them.

Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where Jesus had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. So when the crowd saw that Jesus and his disciples were not there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. They found him on the other side of the lake BUT Jesus challenged their motives for seeking Him - “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 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 6:25-27).

It’s amazing to think that they wanted Jesus as an easy source of food rather than their eternal Saviour! “Rice Christians” - Looking for temporary solutions rather than eternal ones. Their words and their behavior portrayed a misunderstanding of God’s salvation plan. Like some believers today, they followed Jesus for what they could get out of him - a practical resource; a social or political ally; a guarantor of health, wealth and happiness — and Jesus is not fooled by such pretnece, He can see right through us! (see Rich Young Ruler “one thing you lack”).

so Jesus said to them, “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.” THIS IS WHAT WE REALLY NEED TO WORK OUT! By FOOD, we refer to that which enables us to LIVE; FOOD ENERGISES and FUELS us! It’s what we LIVE FOR!

This begs an Important Question - What DO WE REALLY NEED TO LIVE?

“What do you need to live?” Open Question, please respond!

Another question, “Are you satisfied now or will you only be satisfied when you get what you want/need?

A final question at this point - If you get the very thing you feel you need to live, will you be able to live forever if you have these things?”

“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.”

Jesus is drawing out the fact that although there are different sorts of bread but ultimately they CANNOT SATISFY when it comes to filling us so that we need nothing else, they just will not do!

Jesus is saying here that there is nothing on this earth apart from him that was truly satisfying.

I want you to imagine for a minute that you are very hungry. Imagine that you haven’t had anything at all to eat for days. It’s been so long since you had something to eat that you are feeling sick. You can barely even stand up.

Now, someone comes along and gives you something to eat. What happens? Food gives our bodies energy – it helps us to keep on going when we have work to do.

Jesus gives our lives energy – he helps our hearts and minds to keep on going when we have work to do.

Food gives our bodies all of the vitamins and minerals it needs to be strong and healthy. Jesus gives our hearts and minds all that they need to be strong and healthy.

Food gives our bodies life! We can live for a little while without food but we can’t keep living for long. We have to have it. Jesus gives us life! People can live without Jesus on earth but their lives never seem very satisfying. They always feel like they need something more.

If we want to live well now AND keep on living forever, we need Jesus. Jesus wants you to be hungry for life in all its fullness (John 10:10) and he tell us he is the one who can satisfy that hunger! Jesus gives us a full and healthy life for now and for always.

This begs another really important question - How much do we want it?

John 6:28-40 “Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 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. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do…”

“Sir, give us this bread always.” - What a prayer!

It reminds me of the woman of Samaria who when being told about the water that Jesus had to give that would “well up t eternal life” said John 4:15 “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

She like the Jews was thinking of how Jesus could make her everyday life easier BUT JESUS IS OFFERING MUCH MORE - ETERNAL LIFE! To never hunger or thirst again! - John 6:47-50 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.”

Response - What are you hungry for this morning?

Take some time to talk to God about what you are spiritually hungry for. Listen to Jesus words – “I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never be hungry”.

“If you don't feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great.” ― John Piper, A Hunger for God: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer.

As the music plays (Hungry) use it as a prayer in response to Jesus words – I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never be hungry. Will you eat the bread that is offered to you this morning?

Benediction God is wonderful and glorious. I pray that his Spirit will make us all to become faithful followers opf Jesus and that He will live in our hearts by faith so that we may stand firm and be deeply rooted in His love. May we know its full measure and be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.