The Table Series | The Best Meal You Could Ever Have | Pastor Mylon Anderson (Hudson Campus)

[00:00:00] Welcome to the C3 Church Sermon Podcast. We pray that this content uplifts you, encourages you, and challenges you to walking in a life full of belonging and becoming. Belonging to the family of God and becoming all that He has created you to be. Now let's dive into today's message together.

[00:00:22] All right. Good morning, C3 Church. How's everybody doing this morning? Great. How about that worship? Come on now. That was so good. So grateful for a team that leads us into the presence of God. Well, it's been a while since I've preached. I was talking to Aiden the other night. It's been five weeks since I've preached. So four hours. Let's do this thing, baby. Come on now. Come on. I'm just kidding. It'll be five. All right, here we go.

[00:00:48] So just so grateful. If you don't know me, my name is Pastor Mylon. I'm the campus pastor here at C3 Church Hudson and just so grateful that you decided to come. And I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, we love each and every one of you. Aiden and I love each and every one of you. And you made a great decision in coming to church today. And no matter what church you're in, you're in here today. But there's something beautiful about coming together, which is actually what we're going to be talking about here in a moment. But I have actually a couple announcements on behalf of myself for us at our church.

[00:01:17] Some crazy things, some awesome things going on. And the first one I want to announce is that our staff at C3 Church is growing. And we were able to bring someone on in a role of operations director, because how many know that Pastor Matt and Pastor Mylon don't do admin very well? Come on, somebody. That's right. That's right. So we've brought this person on to be more organized, to help us, but also to bring just the spark of energy.

[00:01:45] And that person is actually Breanne Stites. Come on, somebody. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. We're so excited. Breanne also co-leads the Young Adults Ministry with myself. And we are just so honored to have you. And we wanted to honor you and just so excited. And who's ready for more organization? Come on. Let's go. All right. I better hear that big of an amen while I'm preaching to. I'm just saying it. But Breanne, we're so excited to have you.

[00:02:12] Another thing that's going on is, where's Farrah? Is Farrah in the room right now? You want to lift your hand? Actually, okay. I know I didn't tell you what you were going to do. Why don't you stand just so everyone can see really quick. So Farrah has started a small group for young women. Come on now. Come on now. That's right. And they're meeting tonight at 6 o'clock. So if you are a, here at this campus, so if you are a young lady who's like, you know what? I need community of people, my own age, my own gender, contact Farrah. It's going to be amazing. Awesome.

[00:02:37] You can sit down to be embarrassing. Beautiful. Super excited. So a lot of good things happening. We are going to be returning back to our table series, the table. And I want to recap really quick what we've kind of covered. But before we do that, I want to read the word of God. So if you would open up to John chapter 6, verses 32 through 35, or sorry, 38. And then we're going to also go to our two main scriptures today are going to be John 6, 32 through 38.

[00:03:05] And then Acts chapter 2, 42 through 47. It's been a while since I preached, like I said, and I'm just so excited. But I just felt very convicted as I was leading in this that we need to read the scripture first and then we need to pray. Because yes, I might have some things to say, but nothing matters unless it's coming from the word of God. So let's lay a foundation of where we're going to be studying today and then we'll get into the word. So I want to read this for us right now. So John chapter 6, verse 32 through 38. Let's read this together.

[00:03:35] I'll read it. You can read in your head. You don't have to read with me. But Jesus said to them, very truly, I tell you, it is 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. So they said, always give us this bread. And then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life.

[00:04:03] Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never go thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. Although the father gives to me will come to me and whoever comes to me, I will never drive them away for I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of him who sent me.

[00:04:28] Let's skip really quickly over to Acts chapter 2, verses 2 through 4. I read a church model the other day that said you should only read three passages of scripture in order to grow a church. I'm sorry. I thoroughly disagree with that. I think we should be reading more scripture in our church. Come on, somebody. Three passages, maybe. Here we go. Acts chapter 2, verse 42 through 47. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship,

[00:04:58] to breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.

[00:05:26] And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Will you pray with me? Lord, we love you so much. And we thank you for today. We thank you for this opportunity to serve you, to look into your word. God, we pray in this moment that we would decrease and you would increase, Lord. And we pray that you would fill us with your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, help us to see how we're supposed to look more like Jesus today. In Jesus' name, everyone said amen. All right, turn to your neighbor and say, I'm ready. All right, let's do this. So Acts chapter 2.

[00:05:56] So we're going to say that for a second, but I just want to recap kind of what we talked about. If you're new with us, we took a break from the series, but now we're kind of wrapping it up, Pastor Matt's preaching to Ellsworth right now. But we've talked about this concept of the table. And what we've covered really in big arching terms is that the table is a place that's sacred. We talked about stories of how, for me personally, like my favorite memories are around the table with my family. There was something that was safe about it, something where it was like we all were on the same page.

[00:06:23] We all had everything in common and we were all eating the same food. Some of us not eating it. Some of us getting forced to eat it. What I'm saying is there's something deep and sacred about the table. There's also the table is really more of a symbol that Jesus is using to have deep fellowship with him. But when Jesus invites us to the table, what he's inviting us to is not just to a meal. It's not just to have good food. And I'm not talking McDonald's.

[00:06:52] Remember when we talked about that? Not fast food. I don't want to fast food Jesus. No, it's talking about a deep fellowship where you know him and he knows you. That's what the table represents. And also, guess what? Spoiler, if you forgot it, I'm going to repeat it. But if you never heard it, you have an invitation to the table. Like Jesus gives all of us an invitation to the table. All throughout the Bible, we see invitations. Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laded. Come, follow me.

[00:07:22] It's an invitation. Elder Daniel covered it today. Come to me. There is an invitation for all of us. The question always, every single day is, are we willing to accept it? And today I'm preaching from the thought or teaching on the thought. And I do believe it's going to have some breakthrough for some people in the room. The thought that we're preaching from today is this is the best meal you could ever have. And why I want to preach from this thought is we've talked a lot in this series about getting to the table. But I want to take a moment to describe what's on the table.

[00:07:53] Just for a second, like what makes the table so good? And yes, spoiler alert, it is Jesus. That's the thing about a preaching. You have to literally describe the same thing over and over again in a different way. And hopefully somebody gets it. It's the easiest, hardest job in the world. Like I already know what I'm preaching on. Jesus. What? I don't know how I'm going to say it, but it's Jesus. Okay, so spoiler alert, we're going to get to that in a moment. But like there's something beautiful about the table.

[00:08:23] And today I want to talk just for a moment that about some components of the best meal that I've ever had. And again, I kind of already alluded to it, but the best meal that I've ever had. Well, there's people there, right? I think all of us would say that the best meal we've ever had was never sitting alone. Nothing against it. For a while, I would go to a restaurant on Friday night for about a year all by myself to spend time with the Lord and have dinner with Jesus. Because I was scared to be by myself.

[00:08:51] Because I pictured being by myself meant I'm lonely. And can I just tell you something? First off, you're never by yourself because God is always with you. Secondly, just because you may be physically alone doesn't mean you're lonely. Just because you may be feeling an anxious thought doesn't mean anxiety is conquering you. Just because you may feel a little bit sad doesn't mean you're depressed. It's not equal to those things. That's a different message for a different time. But what I'm saying is the components of a meal. It usually has people. It usually has food that, like, is really good.

[00:09:20] We have a lot of weddings coming up. And I've told some of them, some people that, you know, weddings now in America, everyone stresses about the day. That's because the day for a lot of the world is the finish line when really it's the starting line for us. Come on, somebody. I'll say that all day. If you see your wedding day as the finish line, you miss it. It gets better and better. It should, anyway. But I've told some couples, hey, there's only two things that people remember at a wedding. It's not your dress.

[00:09:50] Love you, brides, but it's not. Sorry. And that doesn't mean you shouldn't have an awesome dress. It's the food, whether it's good or bad. And it's the dance. I'm serious. You could boil a wedding down to that. Did we have a good time? And was I full? That's how simple humans are. Right? Come on. You're laughing because you know it's true. You've been to a wedding where it's like, bro, that food was rough.

[00:10:21] You've also been to a wedding where you're like, I don't know where they made that. They must have gotten that cow from heaven because that thing was kissed by an angel. That's a food like that. You've had some dances where it's like there's one person dancing and it's not the bride and groom. They're nowhere to be found. You remember that because of how not great it was. But you remember also good memories because of the people usually that were with you in that moment.

[00:10:50] The best meals that I've ever had are surrounded by a table that's probably too crowded. Sometimes it's sitting at the kid's table as an adult because some of those conversations are hilarious. But it's a crowded table. And it's not that it's a special table. It's not that literally the physical stature of the table is amazing. No, it's just because the people that I'm surrounded with are making memories that I'll never forget. And we're never forgetting. And that's what's happening here at the table in Acts chapter 2.

[00:11:18] You see, the believers devoted themselves, as Luke writes, devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Can I just burst your bubble for a second? All of the early church was participating in the move of God. They didn't just attend church. No, they had communion with one another. This is something we often miss. And that's why we do the fellowship nights.

[00:11:48] And that's why we have small groups. Because this life that we do in following Jesus is never meant to be alone. So isn't it like the devil to make it seem like you can figure it out by yourself? Well, when the early church that I read that I'm trying to follow and be like is together, and later it says every day. Could you imagine if we were together every day how well we would know each other?

[00:12:17] How well we'd be known? How well we'd know each other. They were together every day. They were truly devoted. Now, if we look at that word devoted, some of you know that I'm a nerd and I really like words. And it's important because when we understand words, we understand what God is trying to communicate. But devoted, the Greek literally means to stubbornly. Some of us are stubborn in the room. We're from the Midwest. We're all stubborn. Amen. Whoa. Jesse, Jesse. Whoa. I'm just kidding. That threw me off. I was not expecting that for us. I'm sorry.

[00:12:48] He's like, yeah, we're stubborn. Come on. Keep preaching, preacher. All right. Stubbornly stick to a task with fierce and un-youthing persistence. To refuse to be distracted. Putting their phone down. Come on. And to continually attend to something with absolute fidelity. It literally means to go after something so aggressively that nothing else matters in the room. Think about that.

[00:13:15] They were in the presence of God with the people of God so aggressively. And aggressively, I know it's a weird word to say, but think about this. They were so in tune to what God was doing that nothing else mattered. Could it be that maybe God is calling us to be so in tune with what we are moving towards, with the movement that God has called us to, with the family that God has called us to, that nothing else matters except for getting together and seeing God do miracles? Could it be? Could it be? See, because God has not called us as a church to be passive.

[00:13:44] God has called us to be active. If they're going to be together, all together, that means they leave the chairs, but they leave the chairs to go to a different place with each other. We can't be as a church, just a church that gets together on Sunday mornings. That just doesn't work. I would argue that maybe some of us in this room, the reason we don't see breakthrough is because we don't actually go out with God's people in other places.

[00:14:12] I mean, God uses people all through the Bible. James 5, 16, confess your sins to one another so that you may be healed. He makes us a part of the healing process. There's verses across the Bible. God has meant us to do life together, and some of us know that if we get in the room with the right people, then the things that we may have been hiding will probably come out.

[00:14:37] You know what I've noticed as a young preacher about authority, as I've come into a role of campus pastor, being a youth pastor is great because you can preach a sermon and everyone goes, ah, it's just a youth pastor. He's figuring it out. You become the campus pastor, all of a sudden I'm getting emails. Hey, man, I don't know about that. What? Where's this? Or like authority when you walk into a room and there's some authority that you may have. Maybe if you have employees or if you're a parent, you have authority. You should have authority and you're out.

[00:15:07] Like there's something that authority does that makes people uncomfortable. Let me say it like this. Authority makes the spirit of pride in us very uncomfortable. And it's just interesting to me that if we want to be passive, passive usually adds to our own personal pride. But the early believers were not passive. No, they were humble and active together because they knew if they got together that needs were going to be met, that God was going to move.

[00:15:36] But they had to lay down things. They had to put stuff down in order to see God move. Because nobody also cared about who was at the meal. It was just about being together. My first point today is very simple. At the table of Jesus, there is no favorites. I want to say it again. At the table of Jesus, there is no favorites.

[00:16:01] First Corinthians and First Corinthians, Paul literally goes after the Corinthian church who was super wealthy, unbelievably wealthy, unbelievably immature. You put those two things together, not good. And Paul writes to the church and they were literally debating. You can read it. First Corinthians 10, 11, and then all of a sudden it goes to spiritual gifts, 12, 13, 14. But 10 and 11, Paul is literally writing to a church and he goes, would you guys stop?

[00:16:26] You rich people that are bringing the food, stop eating it before the people that don't have money get there. There's no favorites at my table. And you are disgracing what I did on the cross because you think you're better than everybody else. It doesn't matter how much money you have in your bank account. It doesn't matter where you're at, whether you are the wealthiest of the wealthiest or the poor of the poor. What Jesus communicates to us and what we see in Acts is none of that mattered.

[00:16:52] The thing that mattered was going to Jesus, spreading his wealth, and seeing people come to him. There's no favorites at God's table. Well, they treated me like, no, no, there's no favorites at God's table. Some of us need to remember that we're not God's favorite just because we do our prayer time in all the verses. There's no favorites at God's table. That doesn't mean we don't do those things, but there's no favorites at God's table. It's not. It doesn't matter where all of us are sitting.

[00:17:18] If we keep reading for just a moment, I love this verse 47. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all people. And the Lord added to their number, enjoying the favor of all people. Guess what? They also, you read that, it's not just all believers. It's all people. It's all people.

[00:17:43] Because when we're operating as the church together, and when we sit at the table and we actually act like there's no favorites, and we're like, you know what? I'm so glad you're here. Welcome to God's table. Hey, Jesus has a place for you. When it says there's favor of all people, the world gets attracted to something that they've never seen. Because in the world, there's favorites everywhere. But at Jesus' table, because we are a countercultural religion, you're going to go against the grain if you're actually walking with Jesus.

[00:18:11] There are no favorites at his table. And so what Jesus shows us in this, by this writing, what we see is that the world is attracted to something that they so desperately want and need, but they don't know. So there's favor with all people. When we sit at the table and we act like there's no favorites, it's attractive to a world that has brokenness.

[00:18:37] And the enemy loves to try and convince us that we can receive what we need outside of the church and through Jesus. He loves to convince us. Let me just say it like this. I want to encourage us today. Some of us, maybe you're in a season, you're like, it's been really hard. Like I've been doing the God stuff, but like my pastor, it's been like really hard. Well, guess what? The table of Jesus is different. It's going to be hard.

[00:19:07] I heard a quote literally on a podcast. I've heard it my whole life. Well, if it was hard or if it was easy, everybody would do it. It was easy being a Christian. Everybody would do it. Now, I'm not here to say like, oh, it's the worst thing in the world. It's the hardest. No, it's really hard, but it's way worth it. It's way better. It is way better being a follower of Jesus and going through storms like Elder Daniel talked about today with Jesus than without.

[00:19:34] The truth of that story is the storm's coming no matter what. The question is, like Elder Daniel said, are you going to go after Jesus? The storm's coming no matter what. But the table of Jesus is different. I was just talking to my wife actually yesterday. I was like, hey, I think this is how I'm trying to map out the sermon. What do you think? And I know I get way in the weeds and she'll be like, no, no, come back.

[00:20:00] But I was talking about this and Pastor Matt and I share this thing where we have, as we've aged, I made myself sound super old. As I've grown, not higher height wise, but grown, I used to hate certain foods that I now like can't live without. And one of those foods that Pastor Matt and I share is avocados. I don't know what it was, but I was like, ah, that's disgusting. It doesn't even taste like anything. The texture's weird.

[00:20:30] Ugh. Then I had guacamole and chips. And I was like, Lord, you're really doing something on here, aren't you? Chipotle with the lime chips. That's right. Oh, Jesus. Come on, Jesse. He preaching now. Something happens and it just tastes better. Now it's great.

[00:20:58] And now my table when I was young was more like chicken nuggets. Hey, don't sleep on chicken nuggets though. A postmark. Hey, just say it. But chicken nuggets and definitely not broccoli. I love broccoli now. I love broccoli. Cauliflower. Steamed veggies. Ooh. Avocado. How about this? Avocado. A bacon toast. A little balsamic. I used to be scared of balsamic dinner. Come on. Now it's like, get that on there.

[00:21:28] Drench it. Drench it. I mean, like super simple stuff. But like the table that I used to be at looks a lot different now. Because I understand what I love and what I need. And can I just encourage you? Yeah. When you invite your friend to church, it should be different than what they can get at a club. Than at a bar. It should be completely. Oh, I don't know. They might do some spiritual gift stuff. Good. Because we're a church. We should be.

[00:21:56] Like it should be different. What you can get here, you can't get out there. That should be evident. It breaks my heart when people come into church and they're like, yeah, I mean, it was good. Wait, you didn't taste and see that the Lord is good today? We missed. We missed. Oh, you didn't get in the presence and it didn't wreck you? We didn't crave the Holy Spirit enough, I don't think. Because when you come into God's place, into God's house, with God's people, it should knock you on your butt. Because the presence of God is here every single time.

[00:22:26] It's different. It's different. So can I just remind us? We come together as a church. We come to worship. Psalm 150, verse 6. Let everything that has breath, that's you. Praise the Lord. And then he doubles down again and says, praise the Lord. Come on, somebody. You can find entertainment somewhere else. If you want our worship team to just sing a good song, go to the bar later. We're here to worship the king. You can't find that anywhere else.

[00:22:53] Yeah, you can worship in your own devotional time. Absolutely. But you can't worship God with the people of God outside of church. Like, you need to be in the presence of God with the people of God. We come to worship the king. We need to come to church. The reason we come together is to be convicted and corrected and a little bit celebrated by God's word. Like, it's okay to come to church and be uncomfortable.

[00:23:22] Just let that one sit for a second. It's okay if I say something and you go, oh, well, guess what? I'm just reading most of the time. So I didn't say it. God did. So that might be something you need to take up with him. It's okay to be corrected and go, okay. Okay, Lord, you're putting me back in a better spot. And also, if we read something and we're like, hey, I'm doing that. It's okay to be like, celebrated. That's okay too.

[00:23:46] But can I encourage you that Jesus, in Matthew chapter 4, verse 3 through 4, he goes after the devil. He beats the enemy. This is when he's being tempted in the wilderness. He's been fasting. He's hungry. And he beats the devil at his own game by knowing scripture better than the devil. Hey, the enemy knows scripture too. So you better get in your word. That's why we come to church to be reminded of who Jesus is. You know what Jesus says in verse 4?

[00:24:13] He says, it is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. If you want to go to a place for information, don't come to church. We're here for transformation. That's a very different thing. I want to be convicted by the word of God. The enemy loves to try to paint the picture that we can live on bread outside of Jesus and outside his church. He loves to do that. We come to church to be encouraged. If you want inspiration, if you want an inspirational quote, go on Instagram.

[00:24:42] Do your thing. For sure. But if you just want inspiration, great. If you want real, true encouragement, come to church. That's what we're supposed to do. In Hebrews, the writer says, let us consider how we may spur one another toward love and good deeds. It's not giving up meeting together as some of you are in the habit of doing. Because being in the place of God with God's people is so important. But encouraging one another all the more as you see the day approaching.

[00:25:11] Come on, we come to church to encourage each other. If we're not leaving church smiling, I get it when we're convicted and when we lay sin down, it's a little bit emotional. But when that sin is laid down and Jesus has filled the hole that may have been or when we cast the weight off or all of that, we should leave church smiling because you've been redeemed. So many of us sometimes come into church and it's like we're leaving. It's like a funeral. Yes, something did die. But now the new creation has risen to life.

[00:25:39] We should be coming to this place looking for someone to encourage. Hey, if you've been going through the thing, we should know details of each other's lives. First, encourage one another. And lastly, this is something you can't get anywhere else. We come to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. I'm not saying that God is not omnipresent. That is not what I am inferring. But there's something about the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit when people come into a room together.

[00:26:07] That little tingle you felt during worship today? Yeah, that's him. And he's speaking to us. Because here's the thing. Just like I said in the Old Testament. Old Testament scripture is still good for us today, by the way, because it's the same God. Jesus just fulfilled it. So if there's anything you see online where it's like, well, it's an Old Testament God. No, no. Same God. He fulfilled it through Jesus. It's important that we know our Bible. Jesus fought the enemy with Old Testament scripture.

[00:26:37] Just putting that out there. Zechariah verse 4 and 6. So he said to them, this word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord Almighty. You can't do what you need to do in life to the very fullest fulfillment without the spirit of God. You can't. That doesn't mean you can't be temporary happy. That doesn't mean any of that stuff. But what I'm trying to tell you is it's not by your own power. It's not by your own bite.

[00:27:06] But it's by the spirit of God. And when we come into the house of the Lord, the spirit of God to transform us. That's simply what this means. When we're at the table, when we come together, and we're talking about the best meal that we've ever had, well, the best meal that we have ever had should probably have the people of God at it. It's just very simple. We need each other.

[00:27:35] We need each other deeply. And in a world that just preaches individualism, preaches you can do it by yourself. Just keep hustling. Can I give you another remedy that is way better than just doing it by yourself? And that's simply get around the people of God. And start thanking God for his presence. And start being and breaking bread. There's something spiritual about breaking bread, about eating together. Because here's the truth.

[00:28:04] When we are at the table of Jesus, there is a guest of honor that should be there every time. Jesus. Some of us have missed that. And we'll fellowship, but we don't invite God into our fellowship. We might be meeting in Jesus' name, but God ain't present. How many of us have prayed over a meal really fast? Me? Thank you, Lord, for this food. Bless you for your body.

[00:28:34] Bless your hands and prepare it. In Jesus' name, amen. Boom! All right, God. Now let's start talking about taxes. Very real thing. But like, I got this much of Jesus and a lot more about my problems. Now, I'm not saying we need to just sit in prayer and just like intercede over our food. You're eating Taco Bell, maybe. But I'm not saying we just sit and intercede. But what I am saying is, Lord, be present with us today. As we break bread, we take a moment to pause because it's your goodness that we even have this right now.

[00:29:04] Like, don't be in a rush to invite God's presence into what you're doing because it's by God's grace that you have breath in your lungs anyway. We need the people of God, but we also need God in our midst. You see, Jesus, in John chapter 6, brief context, he's just fed the 5,000. Then he goes away. And then, as Elder Daniel shared today, it's crazy how the Holy Spirit works. He walks on water.

[00:29:34] Walks on water with his disciples. Peter walks, falls, picks him back up. All the while, while this is happening, there's people looking for him because he had just fed the 5,000. So they're like, I want some of that miracle bread. Like, I want some of that. And now we find ourselves in John chapter 6 in the middle of a conversation where Jesus is preaching and talking to people that had followed him. And he just starts laying down some absolute bars.

[00:30:02] And if you don't know what bars is, it's a rap term. Sorry, my. It's coming out. I like some rap sometimes. Christian rap, of course. But he's laying down some absolutely theological huge statements that we have to understand. I just want to read in verse 35 quick. Jesus declared. Before this, they say, Jesus is basically saying, I am the one that's come from heaven. That is the bread of light. And the people say, sir, always give us this bread.

[00:30:32] That sounds amazing. And Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. And whoever believes in me will never go thirsty. Now, if we keep reading this verse, this is where some denominations, I would argue, get it a little off, where they take this and they think he means his actual flesh and blood, like his legit flesh and blood.

[00:30:53] And I would say, I think it's more of a metaphor that he's talking about a physical need to also show that he can satisfy our spiritual need. So when Jesus says, I am the bread of life. At the time in ancient times, bread was like the staple of being able to survive. Like bread was what you ate in order to sustain life. It was the staple of what they ate.

[00:31:19] So when he's saying that, he's blowing the Jewish people's minds because he's saying, I'm the staple of what you need to live. Jesus, like how we need bread to live, we need Jesus to be spiritually alive. That's what he's saying. And before that, before he said that, he goes at Moses and he goes, hey, what Moses gave you is not the bread of heaven.

[00:31:45] Now, he's not saying that the manna from heaven that fell for the Israelites in the wilderness wasn't good. But he later says, hey, all those people that ate that died. But if you eat from me, if you come to me, you will have eternal life. Those are two different things. He's not minimizing the manna. No, he's restoring the order in which it came from. Bread that equals eternal life.

[00:32:17] You see, here's the thing that I noticed as I was reading. You know, the people of Jesus that he was speaking to, they were excited about the right thing. But they had the wrong motive. When Jesus says, hey, I'm the bread of life, they were coming because they just wanted to get more full again. Because you fed those 5,000. You fed us before. Now I'm full. Just keep doing that and I'll be good. They didn't come to see that Jesus is performing miracles and signs.

[00:32:46] No, they just wanted the sign so then they can move on with their life. Right thing to be excited about necessarily. Wrong motive. How many of us approach Jesus with great excitement but with the wrong motives? God, just do it for me. If you just do it for me, like, that would be great. And then we can move on with our lives. It's like an agreement with Jesus. That's not how Jesus works. He says, I'm the bread of life. Jesus is making the claim, I'm all you need.

[00:33:14] Jesus is not asking for people to do anything. No, he's asking for people to trust him and who he says he is. Can I just remind us quick? We don't do anything for our salvation. We can't do anything to earn God's favor. That's not a thing. We have to receive the very gift that God's given us. That's simple. Why is it so hard for us? Because we have to get us out of the equation.

[00:33:46] And let God be God. Another point that I want to make it and that I want to show us is like, Jesus at this point, he hits us with the first of seven I am statements. I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the door or the gate for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the true vine. Those are the five statements. And aren't you so glad? Can I just for a moment preach a little bit?

[00:34:13] Aren't you so glad that Jesus doesn't say I might be or I could be or if really you need me to, I might? No, he says I am all of these things. I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the resurrection of the life. I am the bread of life. So whatever you need, I am. It's not a question. It's a statement. Jesus doesn't question his authority. He knows who he is, so he has all you need.

[00:34:39] Aren't you so grateful that the God we serve is that confident in his role and his submission to the Father that he can say, I am. And not question who he is. Let me tell you, you can't get this meal anywhere else. I'm going to go for a moment here. And I'm going to be really, really honest. Let me tell you, Islam and Muhammad is not the way. Buddhism is not the way. Confucius is not the way.

[00:35:09] Hinduism is not the way. All other false idols and false gods are not the way. Only Jesus is the way. Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus is the thing that can save you. There's nothing else. And I personally, I'm a little sick and tired of us getting a little lackadaisical. It's Jesus. It's always been Jesus. And it will only be Jesus. And that is all we need. And we need to remember that preaching Jesus does make things get a little bit crazy. But that's because he upsets the spirits and the darkness that might be out there.

[00:35:38] Because there's always a fight for authority. But Jesus will always be the king. And he's always on the throne. And it doesn't matter because he is the bread of life. He's the only God. He's the only king that put his life out first before you. He's the only one. He's the only one that will lay his life down for you so you can pick yours back up. He's the only one. There is no other way. Democrats not the way. Republicans not the way.

[00:36:08] The right amount in your bank account is not the way. Having the perfect amount of kids is not the way. No. It's Jesus. It's Jesus. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He's the bread. And the invitation of Jesus is to come away from something and to come to something else or to someone else. This is Jesus' invitation. This is his call to us.

[00:36:35] It's that he calls us to enjoy the bread of life. We kept reading in John chapter 6, verse 47 through 51. I want to touch just on 51 right here. Jesus, again, doubles down on this statement. He keeps talking. He doubles down on this statement. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. So remember the other verse. He said the father has sent down the living bread. Well, he's claiming that he's the living bread. He's the one.

[00:37:02] And whoever eats from this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world. You know, one thing I remember about mealtime at my family's house before, you know, I started liking avocados was there was a moment where I would get to my meal and I love steak. So like if there was any burgers or steak or red meat of any kind, like that was going to be down in two seconds flat. Then there would be something else like asparagus.

[00:37:32] Pastor Matt's a big fan of beets. A lot of weird amens today, guys. Big fan of beets. And I would sit there with the asparagus and the beets and something else green. And I just look at it. And I'd be like, I'm not eating this.

[00:37:54] And Pastor Angel, with all the love in the world, look at me and go, you're not leaving this table until that plate is empty. And I'd be like, well, I just sit there. And then she would do the old, you know, like, OK, give me five big bites. OK, mom. And I'd eat it and plug my nose and gag and act like it's the worst thing in the world. But here's the thing.

[00:38:21] As I was reflecting on that, as I'm looking back, as funny as it is, my mom never put the fork in the food and forced it in my mouth. No, no, she pushed me and she said, you're not going to leave. But I had to be the one to eat the food, to make the decision. Some of you know where I'm going with this. Whoever eats this bread. Hey, here's a simple point. I can get you to the table, but I can't make you eat.

[00:38:49] I actually believe that some of us in this room, like we get to the table. We've had the conversations. We've been with the people of God. We're reading our word, but we're not actually intaking what God is doing. So so here's the thing. You can have a million excuses all you want. But if you're at the table at some point, you have to make the decision. To let God be the one to sustain you.

[00:39:17] You have to make the decision to have that conversation that the Holy Spirit keeps putting on your heart. You have to be the one to confront. You have to be the one. And when I say you, I'm preaching to myself right now. I am a people pleaser through and through. It's one of my weak points, actually, as a leader. I don't like upsetting people. But here's the thing. Two things. Number one, that's just not realistic. Two, if Jesus upset people, who am I to think that I'm not going to upset people? And let me just preach.

[00:39:47] I can get to the table. I can do all the right things. I can speak super nice and be like, okay, and do like a backdoor way of saying you're wrong. I can do all of that. Or I can just confront the person and actually eat what's right in front of me. What I mean by that is we, I think a lot of us, we're missing breakthrough because we're at the table. But we're not eating what God has given us. We keep shucking the opportunity that, oh, that's a trial. And God's like, no, that's a lesson.

[00:40:17] A really dangerous spot when we get into a place where everything is a trial and there's no lessons. Very dangerous. I'm victim of that. Come on now. I'm human too. But like, we can't, we can only do so much. I mean, the age old saying, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. It's so true.

[00:40:42] And could I submit to us this morning that what God is calling us to in this next season is to have a way different outlook on what the bread of life actually is. I do believe, and I'm just going to prophesy for a moment. I believe that God has called this campus to something really great. I believe that the move of God that's bringing, and not in the mass of people, I'm talking the depth of where we're going to go. And what Jesus has called us to.

[00:41:10] In the ministry, I know that God has called us to help people. I believe it wholeheartedly. But that means if we're entering into a next season, we can't bring anything really that we had in the old. We can bring the memories. We can bring the lessons. But here's the thing. We can't keep coming to the table and then not eat what God has for us. If God has called us to something great, we got to take a step all in and go for it. And I believe he wants us to.

[00:41:35] But he is not going to, we're not going to be able to handle this season if we try to have the bread of life and then something else. If we try to have the bread of life but don't actually consume it, that's not going to work. You want breakthrough in your life? You're already at the table. Start eating. I can't put the fork in your mouth for you. You want the bread of life? Start eating. You want faithfulness? Start taking steps of faith. Get a little scared.

[00:42:03] You want, I can only get you to the table. At some point, you got to eat. We got to eat. Because whoever eats the bread of life will live forever. Isn't that beautiful that Jesus' promise is not that you just have to do something and then keep doing it. No, he says if you eat this, I'll sustain you forever. I got you forever. Jesus says it's on me. Yeah, before in the Old Testament, you had to eat and every single day you had to wake up and collect more bread and collect more bread.

[00:42:31] No, what I'm saying is I am the bread. So if you come to me, if you follow me, if you trust my teachings, if you read my word, if you submit to my will, I will give you exactly what you need. That's God's promise. Is that he gives us exactly what we need.

[00:42:57] I just think it's so interesting that last night as I was preparing for this message, Lukeworm Coffee is not it. Okay. All right. As I was preparing for today's message this morning, I just felt, and I do this often, but I hadn't done it in a while, but I was like, okay, Lord, what are you? It's praying in my kitchen table. Aiden and Eloise are sleeping and I'm just praying.

[00:43:26] And how many know, like, you can, there just comes a point in life where you're just like, Lord, I just got to pray. Yeah, I've done everything. All I need to do right now is just talk to you. It's to be in your presence. But because I know if I can get in your presence, this sermon is going to make sense. I can do all the research I want, but it doesn't matter if your presence isn't with me.

[00:43:53] So, Lord, you know, maybe for you, it's just like, God, I can do everything I want. And it's not making sense and it's late. And I really need to sleep, but Lord, I really need to be with you. Like, there's just something about that. And I'm praying and I literally just open up the text. I literally closed my iPad and I was like, Lord, what do you want me to say? Because I'm the kind of person, my personality, I'm just going to let you in a little bit.

[00:44:23] I'm the type of person, like, I like to have those moments where I'm like, oh, you learned something that you've never heard before. I do like that. I like to give information. I love to teach. But also, if you have a light bulb moment but don't have the Spirit of God, who cares? You know, this is stuff that I personally wrestle with as I'm preparing. I don't care. Last six months have been pretty crazy for me, personally. And there just got to a point. Last night, it just all came together.

[00:44:53] And I listened to this sermon called Venom in My Veins. It was crazy. I just sit in there and I'm dwelling on my day off and just like crying out to God. And then last night, as I'm preparing, I just closed it. And with Jesus, I felt in that moment as I'm just like crying to God. How many have like had moments where you're just like in the presence of God, you're just crying. You don't know what to do. Your body's so, I'm an emotional guy for sure.

[00:45:19] But like your body's so overwhelmed that there is no words and it's just tears. Like we're almost, not in a bad way, but like paralyzed in his presence. You're encountering God in a way where you're just paralyzed in his presence. I know I'm close in here. Maybe. Who cares? We're paralyzed in his presence. Come on now.

[00:45:46] And as I'm reading and reading, he just kept bringing me back to verse 35. And I'm just, I'm just crying and praying and I'm singing. And there's also something as a dad where, you know, like your wife and daughter are safe and sleeping. That just brings you so much peace. I don't know how to describe that. It's like, Lord, I can be with you because you took care of them tonight. Thank you, Lord.

[00:46:10] And as I'm reading and I'm just like, God, like, what do you have for us as a campus? God, what do you have for me? Like, I really am. I'm not perfect, but I'm trying to be humble enough to see what you have to say. And he kept bringing me to verse 35 where he just declares. A couple weeks ago, we covered that word declares. That it's in authority. Like, you don't declare something like, I am the bread of life. No, I am the bread of life.

[00:46:40] Declares. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. Whoever believes in me will never go thirsty. And as I was praying, I decided at five o'clock that night to fast. And I do often fast before I preach because I do. I want to make sure that it's the Lord. And then Aiden's like, do you want ice cream? I was like, you, come on. I was like, I'm fine. I got the Holy Spirit. He's over here with cookie dough.

[00:47:10] I'm like, oh, Lord, why did you say I'm the ice cream of life? Love ice cream. She did ask me. She's like, are you going to be all right? I'm like, yeah, I'm going to be good. I'm sitting there and I'm like, I'm fasting. And it's funny to me that I'm preaching today about the bread of life. And I chose by the Holy Spirit to not eat last night.

[00:47:41] And yet I feel more sustained and more free and more connected with Jesus than I felt in a long time. And could I just tell you a testimony? I didn't need the ice cream or the dinner last night. No, I needed the bread. And there's something so freeing about saying, God, you are all that I need.

[00:48:09] And I love to be with your people. But I want to make sure that when I'm with your people, Lord, that you're present with us. That you are the master of the meal. That your presence is with me. Because here's the truth that I've learned. Only Jesus will fully satisfy. You want real satisfaction? Come to Jesus. You want real, real bread? Come to Jesus.

[00:48:39] You want to really? It says, I love how he covers. Jesus not only says you'll never be hungry. For those that are thirsty, you'll never be thirsty. Whatever you need. Jesus says, I got. And as I close, this is something that got me so beautifully. The way that bread is made. Hey, hear me. Because in Jesus, we have to be able to see. When we read our Bible, you should be able to see. This is a quick lesson.

[00:49:08] You should be able to see Jesus' crucifixion and his rising again in everything. You should be able to see it every, everything. So when bread is made in the old, in the old times. As you stand with me. Come on. As you stand with me. This is exciting. Worship team, you can get, you can get ready. Let's, let's close with that song that you guys had done a practice. Sometimes I change it on them. That's why I said that. But hear me, hear me in this. Lock in for just two more minutes. You guys got two more minutes? Cool. You got five. Okay. So lock in.

[00:49:38] Hear me in this. So when bread was made, it starts as grain, right? Starts as grain. And in ancient times, they'd take a millstone and they would grind it to break it down, to crush it. And they put water in it. I don't know. There's probably some people that make sourdough that know a lot better than me.

[00:50:00] But all I know is that you put water in it and you try to bring the grain together to make it into one thing. Well, this is going to be good. This is going to set someone free today. Well, we are that grain. And when we come together as one, we turn into a loaf or bread.

[00:50:30] We come together and we create this beautiful thing that can sustain us. That's God's church. Church, it creates this beautiful thing and he puts us all together. But it does take some crushing. In order to make bread, there has to be a place where the seed breaks. The piece of grain breaks. If you're going to be a part of this church, you're going to get crushed. Comma. Not a period.

[00:50:55] Like the Holy Spirit is going to irritate you at times because your flesh needs to get out. Just like me. If you're going to come to this church, if you're going to be a part of this family, we don't settle. We allow the Holy Spirit to crush us. So that we could be a beautiful thing that might help. Maybe the thing that you're getting crushed in right now is going to be helpful for someone in five years that's going through the same thing. And they just need to see that you made it. To keep their faith.

[00:51:25] You never know. Maybe the very thing that is hurting your marriage right now, God's trying to crush out of you. And all you have to do is, okay, Lord. And here's the best thing about that. We serve a God. This is why he's the only thing that can satisfy us. That when Jesus broke the bread for his disciples, he was talking about his own body. God doesn't ask you to get crushed to be mean.

[00:51:53] No, he knows the result of you being crushed. Because he got crushed on the cross. And when he broke his body and poured out his blood, the result of his crushing was that it was finished. And it was paid in full. And that's why he can be the bread of life. Because he understands the ultimate crushing. That's the God we serve. So I can get you to the table, but I can't make you eat. We're going to be crushed.

[00:52:23] But let me tell you. At the other side of the crushing is breakthrough. At the other side of the crushing is freedom. At the other side of the crushing is a marriage restored. At the other side of the crushing, depression is gone in Jesus' name. At the other side of ourselves, Jesus is there with the bread of life.

[00:52:56] He's the only one that will say. I just feel it right now in this moment. We're going to sing this song. It's going to get loud, I'm sure. But the altar's open. Packed house today. Praise God. Cool. But if you like, Pastor Mike, I want that bread. Maybe you've had it before. Maybe you've never tried it in your life. I want to encourage you to come up front to the altar. Lay it down and pick up the bread of life.

[00:53:26] When we said that statement of, I can get you to the table, but I can't make you eat. This is the you eating part. I can't save you. This message can't do anything at all. But God can. I'm just trying to be a vessel for this moment. There's a moment in every service where breakthrough can happen. I truly believe it's right now. I know it's late. We're going to literally sing this song. But guess what?

[00:53:53] I don't want you to miss this moment in his presence for you to actually taste the bread of life and leave here fully satisfied. So if that's you right now, I just want you to come up right now in this moment. Come up front right now if you need it. If you need prayer. If you need prayer of any kind. If you want to give your life to Jesus, come up front right now. If that's nobody, that's fine. Totally okay. My pride is fine. My ego is fine. I don't care. Because altar calls aren't about us. It's about somebody being set free.

[00:54:19] And if you don't feel like you need to come up right now, I just pray that maybe you lift your hands in this moment and receive what God is doing. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for the bread of life. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Lord, we need you today. We thank you for your word. Thank you for joining us today.

[00:54:44] We pray you feel encouraged and equipped as you continue in your faith journey. Please like, comment, and subscribe and share this with somebody who you believe needs to hear this message. We can't wait to connect with you again next week. Now let's show the world what it looks like to belong and become to the family of God. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.