I AM THE BREAD (2)

Communion Sermon

John 6 :35

Do we really know what it is like to be hungry?

The hunger we feel is no that of a third world country.

When your, hungry and you have no idea when your, going to eat again. You don’t own a refrigerator to check if any food is there to eat.

You next meal is dependent on the kindness of a ministry that has a heart for missions.

You are so hungry there is aching pains in your stomach, you feel light-headed, and your totally fixated on when you are going to eat again.

The hunger Jesus is talking about here in John 6:35 is not a physical hunger, but a spiritual hunger.

A real craving to meet God!

Mark 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

An inner sensation that goes beyond words, a passionate desire to know God plan and purpose for your life.

To Know God in a real way. Jesus said I AM THE WAY the TRUTH and the LIGHT!

Have you ever had this kind of hunger for the realness of God?

John 6:35: I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

Jesus is not talking about eating and drinking, his conversation is about hunger or thirst.

Hunger and thirst mean to have a deep desire to find answers to questions you carry around inside yourself.

Questions like, how can I be saved from my sins when I enjoy doing what I do.

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with mouth The Lord Jesus, and shalt believer in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

A strong desire to find you purpose in life.

There are people here who are trying to satisfy souls with all kinds of things that will not satisfy, sex, drugs, alcohol, which are only temporary satisfaction. (let look in the window of temptation across the street) plenty of pleasure of every kind, but nothing satisfy.

When we as believer have to have all these other things, sex, drugs, alcohol.

We are not satisfied with Jesus!

I don’t need a New Port to clam my nerves.

I don’t need a shot, to relax at the end of a busy day.

Things I use to do, I don't do no more...

Because I have The Bread of Life.

All they can see is a building filled or at least slightly less than empty once a week with lukewarm believers who don’t really want to be satisfied.

My person question is do we really believe Jesus is The Son of God.

As Jesus says to the restless and impatient crowds in verse 29: The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.

And in verse 47 he makes a simple and a very wonderful promise:

I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.

All the way through the scripture Jesus makes it clear that to come to Jesus means to believe in Him.

Not simply to know about Him, or even to acknowledge Him as some great teacher or miracle worker, but to put your faith and trust in Him.

I am sure that most of you here would say that you believe in Jesus and that you have claimed His promise of eternal life.

What does the word, “Believe” actually means.

Believing in Jesus isn’t just about making a decision to follow Him at a particular point in your life, but rather to have an ongoing, lifestyle, and deeper relationship with Him.

After all, it seems to me that there are plenty of Christians who have a wonderful story of what Jesus used to do in their lives, or they can give a good testimony of how years ago they were commitment.

But what is Jesus doing in your life now!

All I can hear is an embarrassing silence.

Where is the different’s in your life.

Have you ever come across a person who won’t discuss what they believe but simply says, “I have faith”.

Faith without works is dead!

As far as they are concerned, faith is something you either have it or you don’t, something kept in a drawer for special occasions like Sunday's Best...

That’s not what Jesus is talking about.

He’s telling you to have a relationship whit Him, day by day, month by month, year by year so you can know Him better and better and better.

Let me return to the scripture where Jesus declares I am the bread of life.

We need to eat and drink at regular intervals to stay alive.

And it’s also true of our spiritual life?

If Jesus is our bread of life, then presumably we need to feed off Him regularly.

We can’t simply come to a service and declare our faith in Jesus, then go on living as before.

Just as we need regular meals where we eat and drink, so we need regular times where we can read the Bible and pray and find out more about the one who promises us eternal life.

Being a Christian means we live in the real world.

I know you have to get up and do your jobs and live your busy lives, doing the week.

And if we’re not careful we can so easily get distracted away from the faith we claim to have or find that other priorities become more important than doing Jesus’ will.

So coming to Jesus involves a change of lifestyle, making space and time every day where you spend a few minutes discovering your wonderful, Savior who longs for you to discover fullness of life in Him.

The sad truth is, some people are, eager for money, and have wandered from the faith and pricked themselves with griefs

(1 Tim 6:10) For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

I can think of plenty of people who seem no longer to be walking with the Lord because they decided it was more important to pursue their career, or to work overtime, or invest in property.

And the tragedy is that they did not set out to wander from the faith, indeed they had every intention of following Christ, but when it came to make hard-edged choices about their daily lives they put their pay-check. and their financial security first.

Now I guess when we hear Paul’s command to Timothy to fight the good fight of faith we have this rather romantic picture of Christians slaying demons and overcoming the forces of evil.

But in fact the real battle is joined in the decisions which we make each day that reveal just how much or how little our relationship with Jesus means to us.

Are you forgetting Jesus though your day to day activities?

Do we have the desire to come into His presence?

Now in theory, it is possible to spend all our time eating alone.

We would get all the nutrients we need to stay healthy and we would remain fit and active.

Food is so much better than vitamins and proteins.

Food is cooked for sharing and fellowshiping…

Meals are for social occasions where we can share news and enjoy company, where we have a good time together.

It should not be any different when communing with Jesus, the bread of life.

Of course, it is just about possible to have some kind of private faith where we never meet with other Christians, or share in fellowship. But

Jesus never meant for our faith to be, private.

He meant for us to live our life together, sharing with one another the joys and sorrows, showing one another genuineness of Christ love and compassion, yes, sometimes just having a good time together.

our heart our together is our Sunday worship.

But what does it actually mean for us in practice to share together in Jesus as our bread of life?

Let’s go to John 6 verse 53 Jesus said, I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.

And over the centuries countless Christians have assumed that Jesus was talking about Holy Communion, that eating His flesh and drinking His blood refer to what we do when we gather around the Lord’s Table.

Now don’t get me wrong.

It is vitally important that we do take part in Holy Communion.

It’s what Jesus commanded for us to do, and it reminds us of Jesus’ death on the cross, and that it is real and alive to us.

But Jesus is not talking about Communion.

John makes clear in verse 59, Jesus said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. He was in other words addressing not disciples but a whole group of people, both believers and non-believers, who could not possibly have guessed Jesus was referring to a sacrament He had not yet instituted.

Besides which, if Jesus really was talking about Holy Communion, he would be saying that unless we take bread and wine we do not have eternal life, which clearly cannot be correct.

It is perfectly possible to be saved and yet not receive the sacraments think, for example, of the thief on the cross.

Yes, it is desirable that we receive bread and wine, yes Holy Communion can and does strengthen us in our faith, but it does not of itself give us eternal life.

So what is Jesus talking about here?

Well, there’s an important clue in verse 63:

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.

In practical terms that means, whatever we do on a Sunday service, the most important thing is that we are together in Jesus’ name.

Whether we have a beautiful, formal service with, robed choir and processions, or an informal service with lots of singing and hand clapping, raising our hands high in the air, the most important thing is that the Holy Ghost is working in us and through us together.

I think sometimes Jesus would have us be less concerned about the words we use, or whether we stand up or sit down or whether we raise our hands in worship rather than whether we are prepared to changed and renewed by His Spirit.

How do you open yourselves up to the working of the Holy Ghost?

The answer comes in the second half of the verse: The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.

If you are to receive salvation and grow in your relationship with Jesus you need to hear and respond to the word of God.

Because when the word is read, and when the word is preached, the Holy Ghost, that caused it be written speaks into the hearts and knocks on the door of your heart asking to come in.

I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. Don’t just memorize it today and then forget about it Monday morning.

Are you spiritually hungry?

Is Jesus what you really desire?