The Bread of Life | I AM - Part One | Sunday Service

There is an invitation going out across the earth even now.

And it's the invitation of the Lord, saying, Whosoever will.

Come to my throne.

Come to my feet.

Come to me.

You who are weary and heavenladen.

Come unto me and find rest.

For I am gentle and humble and humble, and you will find rest for your stomach.

There's an invitation being extended from the throne of heaven.

The Bible tells us that the eyes of the Lord are rolling to and fro across the earth, looking for those whose hearts are fully devoted to him.

He's searching for men and women of faith.

Who will do what Pastor Noah said.

You will remember and you will refocus.

You will set your eyes on things above, not on things below.

You know, we live in a day and in a time and an hour where it would be easy to focus upon the nations that are raging.

It would be easy to focus upon the oceans that are roaring.

But the Bible tells us that there is a king on a throne.

And nothing catches him off guard.

He is surprised by nothing.

Our attention off things that are swirling around us that are nothing more than a distraction from the enemy to keep our eyes off the Lord.

Set your heart on things above, not on things below.

I want you to be seated for just a moment.

Worship team, I want you to just kind of hang out with me for a minute.

You can be seated.

Caleb, if you could hang with me for a moment.

I I feel a shift of the presence of the Lord.

Keith, could you bring me my podium?

I want you to turn with me to John chapter six.

No.

Thank you.

In John chapter six, Jesus makes one of seven first I am statements in the book of John.

Seven times in the book of John, Jesus repeats, I am.

I am.

I am.

I am.

I am.

And then he inserts an image to help us to understand who he is and what life lived with him looks like.

He says, I am the bread of life.

I am the Good Shepherd.

I am the vine.

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

I am the light.

I am the door.

And each of these images gives us a picture of who Jesus is and what life lived with him looks like.

And in John chapter 6, we find the very first I am statement.

John 6 · chapter mention

Jesus says, I am the bread of life.

Bread in Scripture is always a symbol, a representation, a metaphor of life, of what is needed to live, of how life is sustained and how life is perpetuated.

And starting in verse 25, I want to read a few verses here that conclude in verse 35, where Jesus makes this I am declaration because I believe that this is the invitation that Jesus is making, and he's giving us a window into our natural tendency to focus on the wrong thing.

And he says this in verse 25.

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, Rabbi, when did you get here?

And Jesus answered, Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.

Let me pause here for a moment.

The disciples come to him and say, Master, it's late, and we're in a remote place, and there's no food here.

You need to send these people away so they can go find something to eat.

And then Jesus says something remarkable.

He doesn't blink, he doesn't fret, he just says, You give them something to eat.

I said, Well, all we have is five loaves and two fish.

And Jesus said, That's enough.

From those five loaves and two fish, Jesus feeds five thousand, the Bible says.

That's really not the total number, it's five thousand men.

So when you include women and children, the number probably grows to somewhere around twenty thousand people on the hillside.

From five loaves and two fish.

Can I just pause here for a second?

Far too often in life, we look at what we have in our hand and think it's not enough.

But when God gets on what we have, it's always enough.

You could look at the situation that you're facing right now.

And you can look at the health situation that you're facing, the relationship situation you're facing, the financial situation you're facing, and you can measure what you have against the problem, and it would be rational and logical to declare it's not enough, but we don't live by rational logic, we live according to the spirit.

So I want to declare over you this morning for the situations that you're facing in your life.

With God, you have more than enough.

Jesus feeds the multitudes, and this is where we we pick up the story.

On the next day, they found him on the other side of the lake, and they asked him, Rabbi, when did you get here?

And very truly I tell you, you're looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.

Let me break that down for you for just a moment.

They're missing the signs and they're focusing on the bread.

What signs did they miss?

The sign that they miss is that Jesus is recreating the miracle in Exodus in his day.

Think about the parallels for just a moment.

As we go on to read, you're gonna find Jesus does this at the time of Passover.

Passover celebrates the Exodus out of Egypt and the children of Israel going into the wilderness, and God miraculously feeding them manna from heaven.

In this story, Jesus takes them to a remote place where there is no food at the time of Passover, and he multiplies the bread to meet the need that's in front of them.

See, the sign that they're missing is that he is the bread of life.

They're so focused on what they physically need that they miss what they spiritually need.

And in case you didn't know it, your spiritual need is far greater than your physical need.

Church, our natural human tendency is to approach God for what we can get from Him rather than who He is.

You found me on the other side of the lake because you just want something from me.

But you just really don't want me.

Let's keep reading.

Verse 27.

Listen to what Jesus says: Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.

For on him, God the Father has placed his seal of approval.

I want you to get this in your heart.

If you if you have your Bible or you have a uh have an iPhone or an iPad, I want you to underline or highlight or circle where it says, do not work, do not work, do not work, do not work what?

For food that spoils.

What's he talking about?

He's talking about physical bread.

He's saying, don't live your life, don't spend your energy, don't spend your time, don't spend all that you have, all of your effort on food that's going to spoil or going to perish in a day.

Instead, spend your time, your energy, your talent, everything you are on something that's eternal.

Let's be honest.

Where do we spend most of our time?

We spend most of our time on food that perishes because we're hungry.

Because our desires and appetites are for things around us rather than things above.

And in the process, our relationship with God changes.

When I need something fixed, when something's not right, and I go to him and I put a quarter in the slot and I need a result.

Far too many believers treat God as a vendor that they can put a quarter in to get what they need in the situation that they're going through.

That's what the people in Jesus' day are doing.

You came to me not because you really know who I am, you miss the sign.

In Deuteronomy chapter 18.

Deuteronomy 18 · chapter mention

The sign of the prophet of Moses was that there would be one that would come after him that is like him, but is greater than him.

That's the sign you're missing, who's standing in front of you because you're so consumed with a hungry stomach.

When I have food, it's far better.

We treat him as a vendor.

When we have a problem, when what he wants to be is a friend, a friend that you do life with, a friend that you build your rhythms around, a friend that you bid your world around, a friend that you look forward to seeing every day, a friend that you don't ever want to be far apart, a friend that you're always with.

Jesus at the end of his life called his disciples, my friend.

Why?

Because they had come to understand it's not what he gives, it's who he is.

He is the great I am, the everlasting Father, our Prince of Peace, our wonderful counselor, the mighty God, our everlasting Father, and our soon coming King.

That's who he is.

In Romans chapter 10, we have a salvation passage.

Romans 10 · chapter mention

And unknowingly, we transcribe some words in this passage that are in line with him being more a vendor than a friend.

In Romans chapter 10, verses 9 and 10, it says, if we confess with our mouth and believe in our heart that he is Lord.

Romans 10:9

Everybody say Lord.

That's not what we typically read.

That's not typically what we process.

We typically process it if we believe in our mouth and confess in our heart that he is savior.

Do you know that salvation is the benefit of the relationship with him as Lord?

But when we treat him just as a savior, we're treating him as a vendor.

But when we treat him as Lord, we treat him as a friend.

How are you approaching Jesus?

There's a call going out across the earth.

The eyes of the Lord are searching to and fro for men and women of faith that won't look at him as a vendor, but as a friend that they will spend their lives on.

Do not work, he says, do not work, do not work for food that spoils, but for that which endures to eternal life.

Verse 28.

What must we do to do the works God requires?

Verse 29.

And Jesus answered, The work of God is this.

It's simply to believe in the one He has sent.

Simply to believe.

I want you to say this after me to believe.

Not because of anything that I can do, anything that I can earn.

Because if that's the requirement, none of us pass the test.

Jesus said, if you want to be my friend, just believe.

Believe that I am exactly who I said I am.

That I am the bread of life.

I am the Son of God who has come from the Father.

So they asked him, What sign will you give that we may see it and believe?

And what will you do?

Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

And Jesus said to them, Very truly I tell you, it's not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.

For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

Sir, they said, give us this bread.

Jesus declared, I am the bread of life.

I am the bread of life.

I am, I am.

There is no other.

I don't come to give bread.

I don't come to offer bread.

I am the bread.

I it's me.

I I am the thing that your soul is thirsty for.

I'm the thing that you've been looking for and haven't yet been able to find.

I'm the thing that you've been filling with with I'm the one that fills the void that you've been filling with every other addiction, but have yet to find satisfaction.

I am the one that you need.

And whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never grow thirsty.

From beginning of scripture to the end of scripture, the image of bread is a thread pointing us to the source of life itself, and his name is Jesus.

And our tendency, church, is the same as theirs to approach him for what we can get.

My relationships are a mess.

I need you to reconcile them.

My finances are not enough.

I need you to bless me.

My mind is squirrely.

I need you to give me peace.

I don't have direction for my life, so I need you to give me vision.

It's time to stop approaching him with a list of needs.

And start approaching him for who he is.

He is wonderful, he is beautiful, he is glorious, he is matchless.

See, all the things that you need flow out of the relationship that you have.

And we don't focus on the relationship, we focus on the need, and we wonder why our needs aren't met.

Well, I'm gonna tell you what, if somebody's just in my life for what I can do for them, there's not gonna be much of a relationship.

But when somebody's in my life because they love me and they want to be with me, and they they like me and they spend time investing in me, you know what?

You don't even have to ask for it.

Whatever I have is yours.

To say it another way, we're getting the cart before the horse.

So focused on a belly that's hungry.

You miss a heart that's empty.

How many of you would say, My heart is empty today?

Because I've been so focused on a belly that won't stop crying for more.

How many of you would say, Pastor, my heart, my heart is empty today?

Would you just raise your hand?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Heart, my heart.

I've got things out of order in my life.

And I hear the call of the Spirit of the Lord.

I hear the call of God's Spirit saying, Hey, hey, hey, stop worrying.

Stop worrying.

You know the Bible says that He knows what we're going to ask for before we even ask it.

Just come to me.

I'm going to ask my prayer team to join me to my right and to my left.

And I'm going to ask the worship team to lead us in a song.

And I and I want, I was, I didn't realize it, but I was kind of quoting a song.

Yeah, in your presence.

Can I want to sing that one?

And I, the Lord is here this morning.

Not just to meet a need.

He is here to reintroduce himself to you.

He's here to touch you.

With the warmth of his love and the kindness of his grace to bring you, maybe back into a vibrant, healthy relationship with himself.

Will you stand with me where you are this morning?

Many of you raised your hand this morning that said, I my heart, my heart is empty.

Many of you acknowledge I've got my priorities out of order.

I've been approaching him for what he can do for me rather than who he is.

And I need the fire of the Spirit of the Lord rekindled in my heart.

I need to see him, experience him like I haven't in a long time.

And if that's you, as I'm talking, don't wait, don't delay.

Go ahead and begin to move out of your seat to one of our prayer team members because we are going to agree with you that today is a new day, that the sun is dawning upon your life in a new way.

He is shining over you, and he's going to touch something deep on the inside of you.

Will your needs be met?

Absolutely, because that's what he does for his friends, but that's not the focus.

The focus is him as a wonderful, glorious, mighty God.

Could you stretch your hands towards heaven with me this morning?

Jesus, we heed your call today.

We hear your invitation to draw nigh unto you, to make you our dwelling place, to find ourselves under the shadows of your wings.

Lord, we come close to you this morning.

We beckon to your call.