John 6:32-35, “Bread of Life”

Date: 11/09/25 (Sunday)

Time: 6:00 - 8:00 PM

Audience: 6th - 12th Grade Students (Middle & High School)

Location: 1677 Delaware Crossing, Independence, KY 41051

Passage: John 6:32-35

John 6:32–35 (ESV)

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.

STAGE 1 - ANNOUNCEMENTS

MISSION PLUG:

* Be praying for a possible missions trip that could be happening in July

Taking a handful of people to Malaysia to help a church put on a missions conference and they need help

There are a lot of details regarding the trip that are being ironed out, but if you are a junior, senior, or leader… I would ask that you begin to pray for the trip and ask God if he would want you to go on the trip…

There is an application for those who would be interested…

With all this in mind - please PRAY with me for the potential trip to and people who live in Malaysia

STAGE #2 - WORSHIP

At this time… I am going to ask that you students stand as we approach our time of worship

Would you please pray with me… 3….2….1… initiate prayer

PRAYER BEFORE WORSHIP:

“Father in heaven… I want to thank you for another week that we get to gather together… to open up your Word… for another week of your love, grace, forgiveness, and mercy… especially when we miss it… when we fail to see it… not because its not there… but because we get so consumed with the the here and now that we miss what matters most - which is you…

Oh Lord… would you please… step into this room and fill us with your Spirit and allow us to worship your glorious name… may our public and private life proclaim that you are our Lord and Savior through Christ Jesus!

It is in your Sons Name - Jesus Christ - who defeated death and sin and was raised to life.. in whom we place our faith, trust and hope in… that we pray these things AMEN…

STAGE #3 - STUDENT VERSE & PRAYER

Student: Caleb Crigler

Passage: TBD

STAGE #4 - INTRO & WARM-UP NT PASSAGE

WU PASSAGE:

Good evening everyone it is always oh so good to see you each week! I can not tell you how big of an encouragement it is to see you all and how much you each mean to me. THANK YOU for making youth group a priority in your life…

Lets not waste any time… lets jump right into God’s Word to see…

What is God trying to teach us?

How do we apply that teaching to our lives?

Please open your copy of God’s living… breathing… and active Word to Jeremiah 15:16

Jeremiah 15:16 (ESV)

Your words were found, and I ate them,

and your words became to me a joy

and the delight of my heart,

for I am called by your name,

O Lord, God of hosts.

ATE = “TO LEARN SOMETHING”

In other words… when the Words of the Lord were - presented to Jeremiah… he learned them…

- Learning requires you to Labor…

For example: I am learning the game of basketball…

I love playing it here on Sunday nights… not because I think I am good… actually… I do not think I am good at all… but I love learning it…

In fact, I will watch NBA games and pay close attention to screens, how people drive, the way players shoot… simply to learn and so as much in as I can…

When I play every Sunday against Lincoln & Titus Mello… I watch them…

I watch them because they are better than me so I can improve my own game by watching theirs and I want to learn how they play their game…

What they are good at… their weaknesses… which moves they go to… whether or not they prefer to drive on the left or right side of the rim…

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When I went to HS Summer Camp I learned from David and Elijah… they taught me how to fish…

I would ask questions… listen… and watch them fish…

I examined the the bait they used… asked about their fishing poles and lines… and even tried to understand why they love it so much…

In order to learn something new… something different… something that I have never done before… I have to be willing to labor and work hard to learn it…

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Everyday I am learning my more about my daughter and son… who they are… what they like… what they prefer… how they think… but it takes work and a labor to learn them…

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What Jeremiah is saying is simply this…

You will not LABOR after it or LEARN it if you do not LOVE it…

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I learn and labor after learning the game of basketball because I genuinely love playing it…

I would get up early with David & Elijah to go fishing with them not because I love fishing… but because I love them… and I want to get to know them.. which requires me to labor and work to get to know them…

If I did not love them… I would not get up early and attempt to learn how to fish…

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I take the time to get to know my son and daughter and learn them who they are… not because I have to… but because I love them… and I want to learn and labor and put the work in to get to know them…

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Remember…You will not LABOR after it or LEARN it if you do not LOVE it…

QUESTION: Do you eat, consume, and learn God’s Word because you LOVE it? or do you not take the time to learn it and labor after… because you do not LOVE it?

Do not believe the lie… that if you LOVE something then it will be easy, automatically click, and go smoothly…

LOVE is not CONVENIENT or CASUAL..

LOVE is COSTLY and requires COMMITMENT

In other words, Loving my wife Brooke is COSTLY…

It cost me my time, energy, attention, desires, money, and plans…

It is not a casual relationship that we have… It is not a come and go situation… its a commitment from today and until we take our last breathe… it means that I am hers and hers alone… for a lifetime… there is nothing casual about a commitment until the day I am dead in my casket…

LOVE is not CONVENIENT or CASUAL…

LOVE is COSTLY and requires COMMITMENT…

Just look at the life of Jesus… the LOVE that he displayed for you on the CROSS COST him his life… and he was COMMITTED to you even until he took his last breathe…

QUESTION: If you relationship with God has not COST you anything… and if you have not been committed to your relationship with God… then can you honestly say that you LOVE him?

1 John 4:7–8 (ESV)

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

LOVE IS FROM GOD…

IF you are looking for LOVE… then look at what it COST GOD to LOVE you… and see how COMMITTED he has been to LOVING you…

And I HOPE you heard it… GOD IS LOVE… if you someone does not know Jesus Christ as their LORD and savior… they have not tasted… experienced… or seen Authentic… Pure… LOVE…

Some of us in this room do not know what LOVE is because we have been trying to get it from anyone or anything besides God…

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MAIN PASSAGE:

Turn with me to John 6:32-35… for it says this:

John 6:32–35 (ESV)

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.

With the time we have left I want to emphasize the fact that the Book of John HIGHLIGHTS how your HEART being made right with GOD HINGES upon your RELATIONSHIP with JESUS…

I I had a physical copy of my bible with me I would highlight…underline… and circle the phrase “I am the bread of life”…

… THE “I AM” STATEMENTS in the book of John occur 23 times in total…

In several of these “I AM” Statements… he joins his “I AM” with seven tremendous metaphors that express his saving relationship towards the world…

1.) I am the bread of life

2.) I am the light of the world

3.) I am the door of the sheep

4.) I am the resurrection and the life

5.) I am the way, the truth, and the life

6.) I am the good shepherd

7.) I am the true vine

I bring this up because… POINT #1: Jesus KNEW who HE WAS

Jesus was well aware of his mission… his purpose…

His job… his devotion… his meaning… his values….

Jesus KNEW WHO HE WAS…

He knew he was the Son of God…

He new he was the bread of life… the light of the world… the door… the resurrection… the life… the way… the truth… the life… the good shepherd… and the true vine…

QUESTION: Do you know WHO YOU ARE?

When I graduated from High School, everyone would ask me…

Whats your major? Where you going to college? What are your plans? What do you want to do with your life?

Those questions are not bad… but they point to something bigger…

Those questions are trying to uncover… and answer the ultimate question.. WHO ARE YOU? DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR SUPPOSE TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE?

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE? JESUS KNOWING WHO HE WAS?

Never start with the WHAT YOU WILL DO… before figuring out WHO YOU ARE…

For example if I said I want to be a chemical engineer… yet, I hate math… do not understand chemical compounds… and prefer to work with my hands… then being a chemical engineer would not be a good thing for me to do…

I need to figure out who I am first… before deciding what I will do next…

In the same way… if Jesus arrived on Earth… but did not know who he was… his mission… his what he will do next would be unknown… and unclear…

Rather… he first understood WHO he WAS and allowed WHO HE WAS to lead him to what he would do next…

AND…

KNOWNG WHO YOU ARE… ALLOWS YOU TO REST… even when you do not know the exact next step…

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IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHO YOU ARE… YOU WILL NOT KNOW THE NEXT STEP…

IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHO YOU ARE… YOU ARE UNABLE TO REST…

EXAMPLE:

I know WHO I AM… A child of God… God provides me with my next steps… and I am able to rest in the reality that I am his…

This is how this applies to my life…

I graduated from high school not knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up…

But I knew I wanted to be surrounded by Christian students and professors because I knew who I was - A child of God…

I go to CCU… graduated with a Business Degree in Marketing… still not sure of what I wanted to be when I grew up.. but I knew who I was and God provided the next step…

Agent at an insurance company…

I leave the insurance agency and go to work for a marketing firm…. still not knowing exactly what I wanted to do but I knew who I was and had the next step…

Left the marketing firm to be a youth pastor… blown away that God could do something like that! Still well aware of who I was and waiting for the next step…

Knowing who I was allowed me to rest in the fact that I may not know what I am going to be exactly when I grow up… but I know my mission… my purpose… my values… and who I am as a child of God… and that gives me rest…

ALL THIS TO SAY… BECAUSE JESUS KNEW WHO HE WAS… BECAUSE JESUS SAID ‘I AM” You and I can know WHO WE ARE AND EXPERIENCE REST!

WORSHIP TEAM BACK UP!

Matthew 11:28 (ESV)

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you REST.

REST = To cause someone to take a break from their activities in order to be refreshed…

NOTICE… how This word REST does not mean… the no more work…

it means… any time I need to be refreshed… anytime I need rest… from my labor and from being heavy laden - I CAN GO TO JESUS! AND REST!

This Word REST was not meant for you to experience a one time offer or special on the day you were saved to experience REST…

It was meant to communicate… that every day and night… you have access to Jesus you can allow you to be refreshed… even while you are laboring and heavy laden…

QUESTION: Are you tired? are you exhausted? Are you Heavy Laden? WHERE DO YOU GO TO GET AND BE REFRESHED? WHERE DO YOU FIND REST?

In other words… when you are in your mind… resulting difficult thoughts like…

Jesus says - I AM

Is there anyone who could actually love me?

Jesus says - I AM

Who can I turn to for a break… for a breathe?

Jesus says - I AM

Who understands what I am going through?

Jesus says - I AM

Who can I give my anxieties and worries to? Not just for a day but for a lifetime?

Jesus says - I AM

Who can free me from my sin and shame?

Jesus says - I AM

Who can remind me who I am and what I am to do next?

Jesus says - I AM