YOU GONNA EAT YOUR BREAD?

Romans 12:1-2, Mark 6: 51-52

Hook: (Introduction)

You cannot conquer what you refuse to confront.

You will never overcome what you refuse to undertake.

If you refuse to face the situation, you will never fix the situation.

Great achievement is the result of great sacrifice and is never the result of selfishness.

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Book:

Scripture

Commentary

Romans 12:1

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Present Yourself

Are you involved or are you committed?

The story of the chicken and the pig.

Romans 12:2a

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Prepare Yourself

You are either trained or you are untrained.

There is no such thing as tough. There is only trained or untrained (Denzel Washington, Man on Fire).

Goliath was tough, but David was trained.

If a child was acting up, the old folks used to say, “That child ain’t got no home training.

We must renew our minds. Change the way we think about the situations that arise in our lives.

Romans 12:2b

That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Prove Yourself

The purpose of being a living sacrifice is to:

Do good

Please God

Know and do God’s perfect will

Jesus will not ask you to do anything that He hasn’t already done Himself.

Jesus will not ask you to do anything that He hasn’t already done Himself.

Matthew 3:13-17

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and [a]He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Jesus Presented Himself

John the Baptist baptized Jesus

Jesus did it to "fulfill all righteousness.” He did it for us, as an example of what we should do.

What Jesus did pleased God. We should do the same because it pleases God.

Matthew 4:1-2

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

Jesus Prepared Himself

Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights

Jesus made Himself hungry so that He would be ready to eat. (Emphasize the gesture that athletes make about eating).

Matthew 4:3-10

3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Jesus Proved Himself

It was a battle of the minds

Jesus proved Himself by knowing the Word of God.

Satan knew the Word as well, but he didn’t believe it.

After the angels ministered to Jesus, He started His ministry.

Jesus is the Master Teacher

Jesus is the Master Teacher

Mark 6:30-44

30 Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.

31 And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. 32 So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.

33 But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. 34 And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things. 35 When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. 36 Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.”

37 But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.”

And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?”

38 But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”

And when they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.”

39 Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. 41 And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. 42 So they all ate and were filled. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. 44 Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.

Mark 6:45-52

45 Immediately He [a]made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. 46 And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray. 47 Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. 48 Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. 49 And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be[b] of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” 51 Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. 52 For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.

30-32 The disciples told Jesus about their success. Jesus told them to get into the boat and let’s go to the other side to get some rest.

33-34 The crowd saw the disciples in the boat going to the other side, so they ran around and met them on the other side. Jesus saw the crowd, had compassion for them and began teaching them many things.

35-36 After Jesus was done, the disciples wanted Jesus to send the crowd away so that they could find something to eat. But Jesus said, “You give them something to eat.”

Being a Living Sacrifice is Hard

It takes TIME (35a).

You must go to undesired TERRITORIES (35a).

You have to TOLERATE people (36).

You have to give of your TREASURES (v. 37).

You have to utilize your TALENTS (v. 38-40).

You have to lay aside your TITLES (v. 30). The apostles had to become servants.

WHAT DOES CONFORMING LOOK LIKE?

POINT 1: A HARDENED HEART

The disciples had hardened hearts and wanted to turn the people away (conforming). Jesus had compassion and fed them. Jesus showed the disciples that:

You don’t need much to make a big difference. You just have to place what you got in God’s hands.

God can turn your little into a lot.

What you got isn’t just for you

Don’t let anything go to waste

Don’t waste your life

Remember what Jesus has done.

HAVING A HARDENED HEART IS ONE WAY THAT WE CAN CONFORM.

WHAT DOES CONFORMING LOOK LIKE?

POINT 2: A SOFTENED HEART (A HEART OF FEAR)

After Jesus and the disciples fed the 5,000, Jesus immediately told them to get in a boat and go to the other side and he would meet them there. In the middle of the night while they were in the boat a fierce storm came and the disciples were struggling to keep the boat afloat. Jesus saw them and started walking on the water, not towards the boat but to the other side. The disciples saw Him and thought it was a ghost. Jesus heard their cry, came to the boat and said “Be of good cheer, it is I, don’t be afraid.

A HEART OF FEAR IS ANOTHER WAY WE CAN CONFORM

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Look:

HOW DO WE TRANSFORM:

EVERYWHERE JESUS WENT HE MADE THE PLACE BETTER

Jesus turned water to wine

The disciple got the water pots.

2. Jesus fed the 5,000

The disciples got the fish and the loaves

3. Jesus calmed the storm

He sent the disciple into the storm

4. Jesus paid the taxes for the disciples

He sent Peter to get the fish and take the coin out of its mouth

B. YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH AND THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

(Matthew 5:13-14)

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Took:

WHAT IS THE PERFECT WILL OF GOD?

John 6:26-40

26 Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

30 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who 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 the one who comes to Me I will by no means 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 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

TAKE IT TO THE CROSS:

My question to you today is “ARE YOU GOING TO EAT YOUR BREAD?”

Jesus will never ask you to do anything that He hasn’t already done Himself.

He went to Gethsemane and prayed three times for God to find another way to do what He had to do, but in the end He said not your will but thy will be done.

Then one Friday, He died! Didn’t He die!

But early one Sunday morning He rose from the grave and He lives!

And because He lives I can live!

Because He lives , I can face tomorrow!

Because He lives, all fear is gone!

Because I know, I know, I know, He holds the future!

And life is worth the living just because He lives!