WEBVTT 00:00:00.960 --> 00:00:06.380 Hey, just so you guys know, this morning, last week we prayed for, um. 00:00:06.900 --> 00:00:08.440 I keep calling them baby Ethan. 00:00:08.460 --> 00:00:09.040 He is a baby. 00:00:09.180 --> 00:00:12.560 But, the Pennington family, they were here. 00:00:12.600 --> 00:00:13.900 They came down for Easter. 00:00:14.300 --> 00:00:16.200 Their child had a surgery up in children's primary. 00:00:17.200 --> 00:00:18.240 Complications in that. 00:00:18.700 --> 00:00:24.300 And the kid had to go to the PICU and was, in a medically induced coma for a whole week. 00:00:25.380 --> 00:00:27.880 And the doctors were concerned that they would not be able to get the kid off the respirator. 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:31.600 It was a pretty, precarious situation. 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:32.820 Didn't give all the details out. 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:37.180 We didn't want to make the family worried, but it was a little bit touch and go for a little while for the child. 00:00:37.740 --> 00:00:45.120 Anyway, we prayed for him last week here right after the service and the family went up to the hospital right after church and for the first time when 00:00:45.120 --> 00:00:47.640 they got there, the kid's eyes were open and he was alert. 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:50.560 So thank you guys for praying for that family there. 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:52.620 Very much appreciated it. 00:00:52.620 --> 00:00:55.100 And within a couple of days, they had released him from the hospital. 00:00:55.100 --> 00:00:56.120 And now they're back up in Idaho. 00:00:56.600 --> 00:00:59.670 And Lord willing, that family wants to come down and join our church family. 00:01:00.220 --> 00:01:04.410 It's great when you pray for someone and then something miraculous happens like that. 00:01:04.660 --> 00:01:06.980 And then they get to come and join us afterwards, right? 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:08.660 It's like we just draw them in like magnets. 00:01:08.860 --> 00:01:10.390 Once you come in, you cannot escape. 00:01:11.180 --> 00:01:14.310 It's just so you give God a hand for that. 00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:17.460 That's what I want to happen when I pray. 00:01:20.120 --> 00:01:20.570 pray for myself. 00:01:20.900 --> 00:01:21.460 Right. 00:01:22.080 --> 00:01:22.960 I'm still waiting on that Mercedes. 00:01:25.060 --> 00:01:26.420 Yeah. 00:01:27.160 --> 00:01:29.880 Well, we've been studying a series right around the time of Easter. 00:01:29.880 --> 00:01:34.900 We've just been specifically focusing on Jesus, his nature, and our desire to follow him as people. 00:01:36.280 --> 00:01:41.160 And one of the interesting things about Jesus was he was extreme. 00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:48.620 It's as if he's trying to speak to a religious world and wake them up of their need for God in their lives. 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:56.420 Jesus made such crazy, extreme statements as love your enemies and even pray for your enemies. 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:02.100 I won't even ask because most of us don't even pray for our friends, let alone our enemies. 00:02:03.880 --> 00:02:05.620 But Jesus tells us to pray for them. 00:02:06.600 --> 00:02:13.890 In fact, Jesus goes on to say, if someone comes to you a stranger, and asks for your coat, don't just give him your coat, give them your shirt also. 00:02:15.080 --> 00:02:16.340 Go for a tan that day, I guess. 00:02:18.620 --> 00:02:20.930 Jesus was asked, how many times should we forgive? 00:02:21.700 --> 00:02:23.920 And his response was 70 times seven. 00:02:23.920 --> 00:02:27.980 Meaning every time someone offends you, forgive. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:33.640 He told us his people to make sure this is very important, timely for this point of year. 00:02:33.720 --> 00:02:35.220 But pay your taxes. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:39.500 Render to Caesar what is Caesar's. 00:02:40.460 --> 00:02:41.220 How about this one? 00:02:41.220 --> 00:02:44.140 If your eye causes you to sin, pull it out. 00:02:45.080 --> 00:02:47.980 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. 00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:51.180 Come back next week with both hands and both eyes, okay? 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:59.080 I think sometimes we try to read the extreme statements of Jesus and attempt to dumb it down. 00:03:01.180 --> 00:03:06.760 But Jesus's teaching style was a confrontational, in-your-face. 00:03:06.760 --> 00:03:08.120 Understand me for who I am. 00:03:08.120 --> 00:03:11.060 Let me make this extreme statement in order to wake you up. 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:15.160 That way, you can begin to understand the significance of who I am as a person. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:23.580 In fact, I think that these statements are so extreme that Jesus made that attests to the validity that Christ actually made them. 00:03:24.860 --> 00:03:31.200 You can't make this kind of thing up, especially if you're trying to start a spiritual movement in this world. 00:03:32.060 --> 00:03:32.380 Think about it. 00:03:32.440 --> 00:03:36.190 If you wanted to start a movement, would you start by telling people you need to pay your taxes? 00:03:37.300 --> 00:03:41.300 We say revolt against the government and let's go beat up our enemies together, right? 00:03:41.760 --> 00:03:42.860 That would start a movement. 00:03:43.800 --> 00:03:48.300 Remember the Wall Street, Occupy Wall Street movement? 00:03:49.860 --> 00:03:52.820 How quickly that gained momentum around the world. 00:03:53.880 --> 00:03:58.100 Most of it were college students being paid by their parents to do what they were doing by corporate America. 00:03:58.380 --> 00:04:06.420 But nonetheless, it was a movement that gained momentum because it was against something in 00:04:06.420 --> 00:04:08.140 which people could jump on and join along. 00:04:10.340 --> 00:04:13.940 Jesus was one who desired to wake us up from his shocking statements. 00:04:15.640 --> 00:04:22.720 If you got a Bible with you this morning, I'm going to encourage you to turn to John chapter six, because we're going to look at one such statement in our idea of who Christ is as 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:25.420 we desire to follow him. 00:04:26.580 --> 00:04:30.280 If you want, you can grab a Bible from the front of your seat before you. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:34.680 It's on page 75 and the Bibles that we have in our pews, and you can follow along. 00:04:36.180 --> 00:04:38.980 But let me set the backdrop to John chapter six. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:44.100 In the first 15 verses of John six, we have Jesus feeding 5000 people. 00:04:46.380 --> 00:04:48.200 And we know the way that he did that was miraculous. 00:04:48.760 --> 00:04:52.430 But we take apart the miraculous for just a moment and think about this. 00:04:52.820 --> 00:04:54.260 Jesus fed 5000 people. 00:04:56.560 --> 00:05:02.340 Even if you had enough food to feed 5000 people, how amazing would it be just to perform the miracle of feeding 5000 people? 00:05:04.360 --> 00:05:06.820 You ever watch the family around Thanksgiving? 00:05:08.380 --> 00:05:09.500 Mom's in charge of that. 00:05:09.660 --> 00:05:16.400 How frantic does she get as the hour draws near to the time when everyone is supposed to eat and nothing is ready, and we're talking a dinner party for 20. 00:05:18.340 --> 00:05:20.330 Jesus fed 5000 people. 00:05:20.580 --> 00:05:20.720 And. 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:26.590 And what adds to the miracle of Jesus doing this is that we're talking about a time in life when there was no refrigeration. 00:05:28.840 --> 00:05:31.080 Feeding people and food was a big deal. 00:05:32.120 --> 00:05:33.030 You think about cooking. 00:05:33.420 --> 00:05:35.420 It didn't happen in your Maytag oven. 00:05:36.820 --> 00:05:38.720 It took place over a fire. 00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:47.780 I think in the history of the world, never before other than in stories that account for in Scripture will you ever find a group of 00:05:47.780 --> 00:05:50.120 5000 people being fed at one time? 00:05:51.800 --> 00:05:56.840 Because it takes a miracle of God at the time period in which it existed to do so? 00:05:59.260 --> 00:06:06.280 Jesus, after feeding the 5000 people, he crosses over to the of the of the Sea 00:06:06.280 --> 00:06:08.260 of Galilee into the town of Capernaum. 00:06:09.310 --> 00:06:16.600 It tells us at this point in his ministry it had reached an all time high, and people are just pursuing Jesus 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:17.660 like crazy. 00:06:18.840 --> 00:06:21.250 You think about this food is a big deal. 00:06:21.420 --> 00:06:27.980 You would wake up in the day and you would think consciously how you're going to get dinner ready, because there was no easy to bake all ready made. 00:06:27.980 --> 00:06:29.060 Just throw it in the oven, heat it up. 00:06:29.480 --> 00:06:30.440 Stouffer's lasagna. 00:06:30.440 --> 00:06:30.540 Right? 00:06:31.520 --> 00:06:35.000 I mean, you had to cut the green bean, process the green bean, and then cook the green bean. 00:06:35.840 --> 00:06:37.380 There was a lot involved with this. 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:39.760 And this group of people saw Jesus come up. 00:06:39.760 --> 00:06:41.540 He has no problem at all feeding 5000. 00:06:41.540 --> 00:06:46.000 They're thinking, let's just keep telling this guy, hey, Jesus, you forgot dessert. 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:47.440 What about that? 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:57.260 Jesus tells us in verse 26 that when he gets to the other side of the town of, into 00:06:57.260 --> 00:07:04.640 Capernaum, he talks to the people and said, truly, truly, I say to you seek 00:07:04.640 --> 00:07:10.540 me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 00:07:12.780 --> 00:07:18.340 Jesus poses an interesting question for the people here, leading to an interesting question, I should say. 00:07:20.220 --> 00:07:21.390 What's your heart motive? 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:24.100 And following after Jesus. 00:07:26.400 --> 00:07:27.760 Why do you think I'm so significant? 00:07:31.180 --> 00:07:38.300 When I was younger and I started my spiritual journey, sometimes I pictured church like I had to come to church in order that God would 00:07:38.300 --> 00:07:39.820 maybe be happy with me. 00:07:42.060 --> 00:07:48.900 sometimes I came to church because it made me feel good inside, like I did a great deed that day, as if that's just what good people do. 00:07:50.900 --> 00:07:52.940 And Jesus kind of poses the same question. 00:07:53.000 --> 00:08:00.060 They've been having church on hillsides and masses have been following him, and he looks at the group of people who realized they 00:08:00.060 --> 00:08:01.400 have just been fed. 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:05.730 It says in verse 15 that after that feast, they literally wanted to make him king. 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:13.340 Feed the people and you become king, right In verse 26, Jesus just simply wants to discover their 00:08:13.460 --> 00:08:13.720 heart motive. 00:08:15.700 --> 00:08:16.400 Why are you following me? 00:08:17.760 --> 00:08:20.260 It's because you think that you get something from doing that. 00:08:21.500 --> 00:08:23.540 And what is my value to you? 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:32.880 It goes on and says in verse 27, do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give 00:08:32.880 --> 00:08:33.220 to you. 00:08:33.659 --> 00:08:36.100 For on him the father God has set his seal. 00:08:37.559 --> 00:08:40.230 And Jesus is saying to them, I fed you. 00:08:40.460 --> 00:08:43.039 Big deal, big deal. 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:43.840 You got food. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:46.180 It just filled your bellies for a little while. 00:08:46.180 --> 00:08:47.640 But let me tell you what I have to offer. 00:08:47.780 --> 00:08:54.980 It's much more in this life than just filling your bellies, than just temporarily satisfying yourself or making 00:08:54.980 --> 00:09:02.300 you feel good because you came to church and they said to him, Lord, always give us this 00:09:02.300 --> 00:09:02.760 bread. 00:09:04.920 --> 00:09:09.940 Saying, Jesus is telling the people that he has this food to give them that can satisfy much more than the food that they just ate. 00:09:10.740 --> 00:09:15.780 Like as if there's this meal they can eat and it's going to fill them up for the rest of their lives. 00:09:17.100 --> 00:09:21.920 And they say to him, okay, magic man, bring it on. 00:09:23.800 --> 00:09:30.820 And Jesus response comes to him in verse 35, Jesus said to them, I am the bread of 00:09:30.820 --> 00:09:31.000 life. 00:09:32.460 --> 00:09:37.460 He who comes to me will not hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst. 00:09:38.800 --> 00:09:44.460 For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:51.360 Extreme statements are about to take place from Jesus's mouth, and all of a sudden these people begin to realize. 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:53.600 This man's got some crazy talk right here. 00:09:55.800 --> 00:09:58.640 Jesus refers to himself as this bread, first of all. 00:09:59.660 --> 00:10:03.660 Not a food substance that's going to satisfy our soul, not spiritually. 00:10:03.660 --> 00:10:05.160 An act in which we can do. 00:10:05.160 --> 00:10:07.800 But it's you yourself, Jesus, that satisfies our soul. 00:10:08.100 --> 00:10:11.220 How in the world, Jesus, are we going to put you in us when you're standing before us? 00:10:13.140 --> 00:10:14.480 It says in verse 38, he. 00:10:14.800 --> 00:10:18.140 He then blows their minds when he says to them, I've come down out of heaven. 00:10:20.020 --> 00:10:23.120 Never had a Jewish mind conceived of anything like this. 00:10:24.300 --> 00:10:28.850 According to the Jewish mind, we were born on earth, and when we died, we would go somewhere for the rest of eternity. 00:10:29.880 --> 00:10:33.580 And Jesus is sharing with the people that my home existed before this place. 00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:37.680 I've come down out of heaven and this blows the mind of the people. 00:10:37.680 --> 00:10:43.270 And Jesus does begin to understand and teach these people how he alone can satisfy their soul. 00:10:44.300 --> 00:10:45.220 But the Jews didn't understand. 00:10:47.860 --> 00:10:50.190 The disciples began to grow skeptical. 00:10:51.760 --> 00:10:54.620 My disciples, we don't simply just mean the 12. 00:10:54.880 --> 00:10:56.600 We mean all who were following Jesus. 00:10:56.760 --> 00:10:57.220 At this point. 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:04.660 Disciple is a follower says, therefore the Jews were grumbling about him because he said, I am the bread that came 00:11:04.660 --> 00:11:05.300 down out of heaven. 00:11:06.460 --> 00:11:08.760 They were saying, is not this the Jesus, the Son of Joseph? 00:11:09.400 --> 00:11:12.990 We know this guy whose father and mother we know who does. 00:11:14.100 --> 00:11:17.180 How does he say, I have come down out of heaven? 00:11:19.070 --> 00:11:26.220 The point that he wants to draw for these disciples who are following him is that Jesus's desire for our 00:11:26.220 --> 00:11:28.880 lives is to give us so much more than a temporary fix. 00:11:31.240 --> 00:11:38.340 God's desire for us is to offer eternal solutions, and Jesus has made 00:11:38.340 --> 00:11:42.280 this statement to these people about the appropriateness of who he is in their lives. 00:11:42.580 --> 00:11:45.030 And here they are with a lack of understanding. 00:11:46.900 --> 00:11:47.990 It's time for the shocking statement. 00:11:49.700 --> 00:11:51.210 He looks at the group and says, you know what? 00:11:52.140 --> 00:11:52.460 You aren't. 00:11:52.680 --> 00:11:53.340 You aren't getting this. 00:11:54.620 --> 00:11:55.070 You aren't understanding. 00:11:55.940 --> 00:12:04.020 And as I'm communicating to you the significance of who I am in your life, it's 00:12:04.040 --> 00:12:05.680 not about just coming to church. 00:12:07.040 --> 00:12:09.900 It's not about just a good deed. 00:12:11.460 --> 00:12:12.240 It's about him. 00:12:14.280 --> 00:12:20.880 And Jesus says to them, truly, truly, this means listen up. 00:12:21.240 --> 00:12:21.990 This is like the Amen. 00:12:22.160 --> 00:12:25.180 You know, sometimes we pray and we say Amen at the end of our prayers, which means let it. 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:25.960 It means let it be. 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:28.080 So if you didn't ever know that, let it be so. 00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:29.940 This prayer that I just prayed, let it be so. 00:12:30.340 --> 00:12:42.460 Jesus is saying to these people, listen, 00:12:42.740 --> 00:12:42.740 I'm about to tell you something, and it's way true. 00:12:42.740 --> 00:12:42.740 All right. 00:12:42.740 --> 00:12:42.840 You got that? 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:42.840 I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:45.960 You didn't know today that you're going to come to church and get a verse for Twilight fans, right? 00:12:46.820 --> 00:12:48.680 This is the vampire verse of the Bible. 00:12:49.540 --> 00:12:52.260 Jesus is saying, eat my flesh and drink my blood. 00:12:52.260 --> 00:12:53.700 You have no life in yourselves. 00:12:53.740 --> 00:12:56.340 He eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. 00:12:56.440 --> 00:13:02.260 You guys may laugh about that vampire thing, but I know some of you are going to use it and I will raise him up on the last day. 00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:03.960 This is like spooky verse. 00:13:05.140 --> 00:13:08.290 Jesus is saying, listen, the importance of me is I'm going to give you eternal life. 00:13:08.500 --> 00:13:11.510 This is not just a duration of life, of living forever. 00:13:11.620 --> 00:13:12.940 It's also a quality of life. 00:13:13.760 --> 00:13:17.860 When Jesus gives you eternal life, it starts the moment that you trust in him. 00:13:18.560 --> 00:13:21.280 You'll live for all of eternity in relationship with him. 00:13:22.100 --> 00:13:23.180 He's saying, you need to eat me. 00:13:23.180 --> 00:13:26.500 You need to drink me because I'm about to give you this life that will last forever. 00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:28.540 And it will be this quality of life that you'll enjoy. 00:13:30.160 --> 00:13:33.970 It says, I will raise him up on the last day. 00:13:35.820 --> 00:13:38.450 As your body dies, Jesus will bring it life. 00:13:40.100 --> 00:13:45.920 In verse 55, for my flesh is true, true food, and my blood is true drink. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:52.980 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 00:13:54.900 --> 00:14:02.980 And Jesus, in his last statement in verse 55, points out to us his goal that we abide 00:14:03.040 --> 00:14:06.580 in him and he abides in us. 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:17.480 So the reason we come to worship on a Sunday isn't so that we make God feel happy that he has us as his wonderful followers, right? 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:22.840 The reason that we come is that we know that our soul needs satisfied with Christ alone. 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:23.950 We do me a favor. 00:14:24.500 --> 00:14:25.430 We pop the air down. 00:14:25.580 --> 00:14:27.300 Lower air conditioner turned down. 00:14:28.300 --> 00:14:28.460 Sorry. 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:34.260 Jesus alone satisfies the soul. 00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:41.630 And we come here as a part of his community because our desire is to yearn and seek his face above and beyond anything else. 00:14:43.160 --> 00:14:50.300 As Jesus spoke in hyperbole here, we don't literally eat and drink the blood of Christ, but what our desire is to pursue him in such a way that we want 00:14:50.300 --> 00:14:52.120 to be that close to God. 00:14:53.760 --> 00:14:55.880 And I like the disciples, good old disciples. 00:14:56.400 --> 00:14:58.820 They always give us the wonderful things to say. 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:01.720 I like how they say the dumb things before we have opportunity to say it. 00:15:01.820 --> 00:15:04.260 That way we don't ever have to worry about making those statements because someone else did. 00:15:04.900 --> 00:15:08.000 And they say in verse 60, they give the understatement of the year. 00:15:08.900 --> 00:15:15.300 Therefore many of his disciples went and they said they heard this as a difficult statement and said, who can listen to it? 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:17.000 Hmm. 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:18.920 This is challenging. 00:15:20.300 --> 00:15:23.420 It means it means who can accept it or who can follow it. 00:15:23.420 --> 00:15:30.560 In the Greek in verse 61, it goes and says, But Jesus, conscious that his disciples grumbled at this and said to them, 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:32.820 does this cause you to stumble? 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:38.570 And as a result, it tells us many of his disciples withdrew. 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:41.730 Were not walking with him anymore. 00:15:45.080 --> 00:15:50.080 Passage of Scripture reveals to us what the desires of their hearts were. 00:15:51.560 --> 00:15:57.760 And I could imagine if you were one of the 12 disciples sitting with Jesus in this moment, how you could perceive what's taking place. 00:15:59.960 --> 00:16:01.000 Jesus makes his statement. 00:16:02.280 --> 00:16:09.300 The crowd gets a little bothered, flustered by it, not understanding what it means. 00:16:10.700 --> 00:16:13.240 The crowd was significant to Jesus's followers. 00:16:14.680 --> 00:16:20.200 Understand at this point in Jesus's ministry, the Pharisees hate him, but the people love him. 00:16:21.880 --> 00:16:26.140 And the crowd sort of works as a buffer between the Pharisees and Jesus. 00:16:26.160 --> 00:16:33.320 And as long as they persuade the masses that the group of the disciples, the 12 that are following Jesus and Jesus himself, is 00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:36.260 going to be protected from any harm that could come their way. 00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:40.580 But the moment they lose the crowd, their life is in danger. 00:16:42.680 --> 00:16:49.260 You can imagine if you're one of the disciples and you're starting to listen to Jesus and you're going, oh, no, he's making one of those wild statements again. 00:16:50.060 --> 00:16:51.720 It's like as if you want to just call a timeout. 00:16:51.800 --> 00:16:52.460 Hold on a second. 00:16:52.500 --> 00:16:52.700 Crowd. 00:16:52.700 --> 00:16:53.520 All these people follow us. 00:16:53.520 --> 00:16:54.160 Let's huddle together. 00:16:54.160 --> 00:16:55.390 You get all the disciples and you huddle together. 00:16:55.900 --> 00:16:56.840 You be like, Jesus. 00:16:56.840 --> 00:17:01.160 Listen, I want you to tell one of those stories that make him feel happy. 00:17:01.880 --> 00:17:02.520 Pray for them. 00:17:02.880 --> 00:17:03.740 Talk to them about forgiveness. 00:17:04.200 --> 00:17:05.640 Share one of those stories they don't even understand. 00:17:06.520 --> 00:17:08.640 But whatever you're saying, don't. 00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:10.980 Don't continue with it. 00:17:12.700 --> 00:17:19.880 It tells us in verse 66, because Jesus makes this outlandish statement about eating his flesh and 00:17:19.880 --> 00:17:24.640 drinking his blood, that the magnitude of his ministry never reached that pinnacle again. 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:33.320 In fact, as Jesus went through on the rest of his life, he would never have that number of people following him to the point that he goes to the cross 00:17:33.600 --> 00:17:36.460 and even the father turns his back on Christ. 00:17:38.360 --> 00:17:45.480 This was a pinnacle moment for Christ, but it revealed something about the people who were following Jesus that when 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:50.020 the going got tough, they weren't interested in following Christ anymore. 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:58.580 Jesus makes an interesting statement after he sees the magnitude of the people that walk away. 00:18:00.760 --> 00:18:04.400 He looks at Peter and asks him a question. 00:18:04.460 --> 00:18:07.660 He says, so he said to the 12, you don't. 00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:09.360 You don't want to go away also, do you? 00:18:12.140 --> 00:18:19.200 Can think in a moment picturing this idea of feeding 5000 thousands upon thousands of people following you. 00:18:19.480 --> 00:18:21.140 You make a crazy statement at the. 00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:23.400 For the moment, you felt like a rock star. 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:26.920 You could imagine these disciples looking at Jesus thinking, yeah, we're famous. 00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:28.510 Thousands of people everywhere. 00:18:28.600 --> 00:18:29.020 Who cares? 00:18:29.020 --> 00:18:29.540 10,000. 00:18:29.540 --> 00:18:30.420 Jesus can feed him. 00:18:30.420 --> 00:18:31.000 Let's do this. 00:18:31.900 --> 00:18:33.500 And all of a sudden, Jesus makes one statement. 00:18:33.640 --> 00:18:35.580 Everyone turns their back and walks away. 00:18:37.040 --> 00:18:38.400 And you watch the crowd go. 00:18:39.560 --> 00:18:41.920 Friends, family. 00:18:43.020 --> 00:18:45.920 All of a sudden following Jesus isn't so cool anymore. 00:18:47.760 --> 00:18:50.940 Jesus turns to the 12 disciples and he asks them the question. 00:18:52.560 --> 00:18:54.420 This is like a I got you moment. 00:18:55.500 --> 00:19:00.920 This is like revealing your heart and speaking to the people that Jesus was closest with. 00:19:00.920 --> 00:19:02.300 And Simon Peter answered him. 00:19:03.600 --> 00:19:09.360 It's as if he perceives in his own heart everything that Jesus has taught them, everything that Jesus has been to them up to this point. 00:19:09.360 --> 00:19:14.280 And he responds in verse 68, Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? 00:19:15.340 --> 00:19:17.100 You have words of eternal life. 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:22.900 We have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:24.000 Amen. 00:19:27.780 --> 00:19:34.960 To be honest and just say, when it comes to following Jesus, it's not always easy 00:19:36.180 --> 00:19:37.240 and it's not always convenient. 00:19:39.220 --> 00:19:46.760 But the reason I follow Jesus, the reason that we should follow Jesus, isn't 00:19:46.760 --> 00:19:48.760 because of what we get from him. 00:19:49.820 --> 00:19:50.660 It's because he's worth it. 00:19:51.960 --> 00:19:52.840 Amen. 00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:58.600 John 16 and verse 33 tells us Jesus was open about it. 00:19:59.840 --> 00:20:02.260 You were going to have tribulation in this world. 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:07.780 Even his own followers didn't even understand him. 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:12.320 And he reminds us that in this world, it's never going to be easy. 00:20:12.360 --> 00:20:14.820 But in 1633 he also tells us that. 00:20:15.320 --> 00:20:18.420 But it's okay because I have overcome the world. 00:20:20.620 --> 00:20:23.790 It may not play out with us for a little while in our pursuit of Jesus. 00:20:23.940 --> 00:20:27.060 It may not always be convenient, but in the end you win. 00:20:29.140 --> 00:20:30.460 And what's this all about? 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:31.580 Why do we exist in this world? 00:20:31.780 --> 00:20:32.730 Why are we here? 00:20:32.800 --> 00:20:39.080 Jesus said in this passage that he would abide in us and that we would abide in him. 00:20:41.140 --> 00:20:44.500 Life is all about that relationship with Jesus. 00:20:46.380 --> 00:20:50.200 Experiencing that eternal, eternal life that he offers for us. 00:20:51.980 --> 00:20:59.320 I liken John if we were to stay in the book of John in chapter 21 tells a story of the life of Peter, who just made this confession 00:20:59.460 --> 00:21:00.000 about Jesus. 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:06.200 It was after the crucifixion had taken place, after Jesus's resurrection had taken place. 00:21:06.600 --> 00:21:07.580 Peter had just given up. 00:21:08.420 --> 00:21:09.740 He watched Jesus die. 00:21:09.740 --> 00:21:12.220 Remember that Peter had denied Jesus three times. 00:21:12.220 --> 00:21:16.620 He was ashamed to say he was a Jesus follower, and he just lived in guilt because of that. 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:19.240 And he walked away and said, forget it, I'm going fishing. 00:21:21.300 --> 00:21:28.380 In John chapter 21, it tells us after Jesus's resurrection, Jesus showed up on the shore of Peter before 00:21:28.380 --> 00:21:33.960 the Sea of Galilee as he was out on a boat fishing, and Peter saw that it was Jesus. 00:21:33.980 --> 00:21:37.580 And he jumps out of his boat, and he swims to shore, and he and he runs up to Jesus. 00:21:38.040 --> 00:21:39.620 He's so excited to see him again. 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:42.600 And Jesus starts by asking him a question and their conversation. 00:21:43.120 --> 00:21:49.800 Since after Peter had denied Jesus while he hung on the cross, he comes back to him and says, Peter, do you love me more than these? 00:21:51.900 --> 00:21:57.760 Jesus asked the question three times, as if Peter had denied Jesus three times a few days before. 00:21:57.780 --> 00:22:01.520 Now Jesus is asking him that pointed question three times. 00:22:01.940 --> 00:22:02.720 Peter, do you love me? 00:22:03.040 --> 00:22:04.060 Peter, do you love me? 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:05.260 Peter, do you love me? 00:22:07.700 --> 00:22:14.960 I love the way Jesus phrases it because he actually says, Peter, do you love me more than these? 00:22:16.760 --> 00:22:21.120 I think in that moment he's referring to the fish that Peter is catching in the Sea of Galilee. 00:22:22.940 --> 00:22:24.890 Peter had left Jesus to go back fishing. 00:22:26.360 --> 00:22:33.360 And I think what Jesus is attempting to do by asking Peter, if you love me more than these, is that he's trying to get Peter to recall a time 00:22:33.360 --> 00:22:38.800 when Peter left the fishing industry to follow after Jesus. 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:42.040 He sang to Peter. 00:22:42.040 --> 00:22:46.940 Peter, do you remember that time when you had no idea who I was? 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:48.510 You just knew the Messiah was coming? 00:22:49.020 --> 00:22:52.140 I walked along the shores and I said, follow me. 00:22:53.360 --> 00:22:58.220 And you gave up everything to love me and to pursue me. 00:22:59.900 --> 00:23:01.200 And Peter, sitting in that moment. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:05.800 And Jesus is recalling one more time, Peter, do you love me? 00:23:08.380 --> 00:23:14.140 It's as if somewhere along the way, Peter had lost track of what life with Jesus was all about. 00:23:16.360 --> 00:23:18.380 And he looks at Peter and says, do you see? 00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:23.080 Once again, you've left me for these things in this world that you've come to place before me. 00:23:23.140 --> 00:23:24.640 But, Peter, I'm asking you one more time. 00:23:25.760 --> 00:23:27.760 Do you love me more than these? 00:23:32.060 --> 00:23:35.840 Jesus makes an outlandish statement to us in this passage of Scripture. 00:23:37.420 --> 00:23:40.920 Interested in one idea for us as people? 00:23:42.840 --> 00:23:43.740 Why do you follow Jesus? 00:23:47.140 --> 00:23:52.120 Is it because you think that you get something from him, or because you realize that he is worth it? 00:23:54.220 --> 00:23:55.980 As Peter says, he stopped in the moment. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:59.020 He examined all the other things in life that he could pursue in verse 68. 00:23:59.420 --> 00:24:01.660 And he stood there and he thought, man, everyone's leaving. 00:24:01.660 --> 00:24:02.960 What in the world am I going to do? 00:24:03.180 --> 00:24:04.170 This is going to be inconvenient. 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:05.700 The Pharisees hate him. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:06.780 They could kill him. 00:24:06.780 --> 00:24:08.280 They could take our lives as well. 00:24:08.500 --> 00:24:10.560 But man, Jesus, he's worth it. 00:24:11.300 --> 00:24:13.400 Amen. 00:24:13.400 --> 00:24:19.580 Because Jesus has the words of eternal life. 00:24:20.620 --> 00:24:24.040 I like the way Jesus said it in John six, in verse 28. 00:24:28.180 --> 00:24:34.250 The crowd said to him, what shall we do so that we may work the works of God in this passage of Scripture? 00:24:35.160 --> 00:24:35.500 God, what? 00:24:35.820 --> 00:24:36.660 What is it so important? 00:24:36.700 --> 00:24:40.260 What religious deed can we do today to make you happy with us or satisfied with us? 00:24:40.320 --> 00:24:41.200 And Jesus says this. 00:24:41.540 --> 00:24:44.980 He answered them, this is the work of God, not religion at all. 00:24:46.500 --> 00:24:51.680 But you believe in him who he has sent, that the passion of your heart. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:53.840 Just be focused on Jesus. 00:24:57.340 --> 00:24:59.280 Jesus is always the answer. 00:25:00.500 --> 00:25:07.560 I guess if we left with one idea today of what this whole sermon was about, we could say it in two words um, 00:25:07.620 --> 00:25:08.070 eat Jesus. 00:25:12.100 --> 00:25:20.080 Matter of fact, if you're here for an Alpine Bible Church for any amount of time, that's the theme of our church, Eat 00:25:20.080 --> 00:25:20.540 Jesus. 00:25:24.540 --> 00:25:31.160 We have two focuses that we like to think about when we look at Christ, and the significance of our life here at church. 00:25:33.340 --> 00:25:34.320 The first is this. 00:25:34.420 --> 00:25:36.260 This cries out throughout all of Scripture. 00:25:36.300 --> 00:25:40.710 I just selected some and pulled it, pulled it out and put it on here for us to look at together. 00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:47.960 But as Jesus tells us to eat him in this passage of Scripture, the disciples continue to say the same thing throughout the rest of the Bible. 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:51.660 You ask the question, why am I here on earth? 00:25:52.680 --> 00:25:55.700 The answer to that question is simple it's a relationship with Jesus. 00:25:55.800 --> 00:26:00.120 Life is all about relationships, and it starts with your relationship with God. 00:26:00.680 --> 00:26:03.660 And the theme of that idea is carried throughout the rest of the Bible. 00:26:03.700 --> 00:26:08.120 It says in first John 512, we see we've seen this quite a bit in the last few weeks. 00:26:08.540 --> 00:26:10.560 He who has the son has life. 00:26:12.040 --> 00:26:13.720 You get life by eating Jesus. 00:26:14.860 --> 00:26:20.380 Romans 829 tells us he has also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son. 00:26:20.980 --> 00:26:24.470 Meaning God's goal for us is as we eat Jesus is to look like Jesus. 00:26:24.540 --> 00:26:26.280 You know, you've heard the phrase you are what you eat, right? 00:26:27.620 --> 00:26:29.440 Consumed by Jesus and now reflect Jesus. 00:26:30.100 --> 00:26:36.660 Galatians 220 Paul cries out, I have been crucified with Christ and is no longer I who live, but Christ lives within me. 00:26:38.360 --> 00:26:41.380 Paul eight Jesus, it says, Christ is in me, right? 00:26:42.380 --> 00:26:49.540 Philippians 310 I like this how Paul says this, that I may know him and the power of 00:26:49.540 --> 00:26:50.100 his resurrection. 00:26:52.300 --> 00:26:58.700 Paul's statement stating the desire of his heart in this passage of Scripture, and it says that I may know him. 00:26:59.240 --> 00:27:00.420 Paul, what is your goal in life? 00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:02.820 I just want to know Jesus. 00:27:03.980 --> 00:27:07.140 It's more than just an intellectual knowledge that he's talking about here. 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:07.780 It's an intimacy. 00:27:08.340 --> 00:27:13.980 It's an experiential lifestyle of living your life in light of everything that Jesus is in this world. 00:27:15.040 --> 00:27:17.640 I like these last two phrases, these last two verses. 00:27:18.180 --> 00:27:22.460 I got to tell you this week as I was studying the sermon, my mind was exploding throughout the Bible. 00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:29.740 I was trying to put this all this down on paper and it was hard for me to get because this theme is throughout all of Scripture and it's the focus of us as a church. 00:27:29.880 --> 00:27:31.440 It's the desire of our hearts. 00:27:31.520 --> 00:27:35.270 It's what we want to be about as a community here, he says in John 17 three. 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:41.900 This is eternal life, and this is what life is going to be about as you live forever. 00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:50.310 This is eternal life that you may know him. 00:27:52.060 --> 00:27:56.660 Living forever is about being in the presence of Jesus and enjoying his company. 00:27:58.820 --> 00:28:05.680 And I got to tell you, this verse for me has continued to work miracles in my heart. 00:28:07.620 --> 00:28:15.480 Because here's what happens as a pastor or someone who just desires to do ministry, is that you tend to make the focus about ministry and 00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:16.520 you forget it's about Jesus. 00:28:18.980 --> 00:28:22.420 You know what happens to a Christian when that starts to take place? 00:28:23.500 --> 00:28:30.420 They get burned out because they've taken the focus away from the joy of Jesus and just loving him. 00:28:31.980 --> 00:28:32.220 They can't. 00:28:32.840 --> 00:28:33.100 They don't. 00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:34.580 They don't even like going to church anymore. 00:28:37.080 --> 00:28:44.300 The moment that we lose perspective of what living forever is all about is the moment we're robbed of our joy and experience our relationship with 00:28:44.300 --> 00:28:44.640 Jesus. 00:28:47.640 --> 00:28:50.780 This is a good verse for us to stop and in our hearts. 00:28:51.060 --> 00:28:53.100 Just ponder and pause for just a moment. 00:28:54.200 --> 00:28:56.820 I tell you, as a church family, when the weather starts to warm up. 00:28:56.900 --> 00:28:57.720 It's warm here today. 00:28:57.720 --> 00:29:00.880 I'm not sure why the air conditioner is not working the way it should apologize for that. 00:29:03.260 --> 00:29:07.530 but as the weather starts to warm up, we do a tremendous amount of outreach all summer long. 00:29:07.690 --> 00:29:11.440 I mean, it's like states now look at each other in May and we say, see you in August. 00:29:11.940 --> 00:29:13.760 It runs that high, high pace. 00:29:15.520 --> 00:29:22.600 But I remember every year when we get to this point of ministry and it warms up outside, that I just need to pause and let this verse seep into 00:29:22.600 --> 00:29:28.660 my heart, my life, what I'm about as a person. 00:29:29.540 --> 00:29:32.780 It's about experiencing that relationship with Jesus. 00:29:35.120 --> 00:29:37.140 Eternal life is about knowing him. 00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:43.140 I come to church when we practice till 10 or 11 at night for music on Wednesdays. 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:50.120 Not because I like to be here that late, but to remind myself because it's about him. 00:29:51.600 --> 00:29:57.120 We go out, we set booths up all summer long in different parks throughout the northern Utah county. 00:29:57.720 --> 00:30:01.860 It's because we desire to know him and for others to know him. 00:30:03.520 --> 00:30:10.680 And Jesus said in Mark chapter 12 and verse 30, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, 00:30:10.680 --> 00:30:11.700 and with all your strength. 00:30:11.740 --> 00:30:15.620 You see Jesus answering the question, God, what is the greatest commandment we can do? 00:30:16.440 --> 00:30:23.420 And Jesus says, through all this area of us as individuals, loving with everything that we are, take all that you are and pour it into Jesus. 00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:31.740 Love him with everything that you are, everything that you've got, everything that you've been given up I love as a church. 00:30:31.760 --> 00:30:34.220 We've got those books out front, the know and grow. 00:30:34.980 --> 00:30:36.000 To me, that gets me excited. 00:30:36.620 --> 00:30:37.900 Not that we even have to use them. 00:30:37.900 --> 00:30:39.230 I just get excited that they're there. 00:30:39.740 --> 00:30:40.300 Here's why. 00:30:41.160 --> 00:30:45.740 It's because it gives us the opportunity as people to take those books and say, you know what, I love Jesus. 00:30:46.220 --> 00:30:50.200 I want to be a part of what Jesus is doing, and I want to encourage other people as well to do it. 00:30:50.520 --> 00:30:57.540 And anybody can just take one walk out, meet with somebody for some coffee or whatever it is that you drink, and just discuss Christ and 00:30:57.540 --> 00:30:58.240 His beauty in our lives. 00:31:01.340 --> 00:31:03.200 God tells us, church if we forgotten. 00:31:05.320 --> 00:31:12.400 Because if we're not pursuing with the right reasons, if we're just going through the motions, what God wants to 00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:13.670 do is speak to your heart. 00:31:15.620 --> 00:31:20.480 And the response from that is that Jesus begins to change your life. 00:31:22.980 --> 00:31:30.500 This is why Jesus said, after he told us the greatest commandment in the world, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and mind, he gives 00:31:30.500 --> 00:31:31.340 the next response. 00:31:32.980 --> 00:31:35.260 The second is this you shall love the neighbor. 00:31:35.300 --> 00:31:36.780 Your neighbor as yourself. 00:31:41.340 --> 00:31:44.320 God isn't just interested what and what he wants to do in your world. 00:31:44.380 --> 00:31:47.820 He's interested in what he wants to do in and through you in this world. 00:31:49.320 --> 00:31:54.740 See, God didn't just come to this world to save you so that you could be selfish in your relationship with him. 00:31:55.900 --> 00:31:58.020 God came in this world to work into your heart. 00:31:58.140 --> 00:32:00.320 That way you may go out and to make disciples. 00:32:01.820 --> 00:32:07.360 Can I get you to think for a minute outside the walls of the church and say, it's great that we do ministry in the church. 00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:09.460 We need to do things in ministering to the body of Christ. 00:32:09.580 --> 00:32:15.360 But if you were to pick up the Bible today and begin to read it through beginning to end, you would understand that what God has called you into this world is a mission. 00:32:16.680 --> 00:32:20.740 God's got a plan and a purpose for our lives to be lived out wherever we go. 00:32:21.800 --> 00:32:27.820 We have the tendency of people to kind of view God as a as a private God and the rest of our lives as a, as a public life. 00:32:28.440 --> 00:32:29.020 You know what I mean? 00:32:30.280 --> 00:32:31.720 Do you believe in Jesus as Lord? 00:32:31.720 --> 00:32:33.800 Yeah, I just I believe in Jesus as Lord. 00:32:33.800 --> 00:32:34.840 But that's just my opinion. 00:32:34.960 --> 00:32:38.020 You're entitled to whatever you want, which people are entitled to, whatever you want. 00:32:39.380 --> 00:32:40.160 But that gives a perspective. 00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:43.120 You know, I believe he is Lord, but that's okay with me. 00:32:43.180 --> 00:32:44.980 But if it doesn't work for you, that's okay with you. 00:32:45.180 --> 00:32:48.480 I'll just continue with what I believe and I'll keep this a part of my private life. 00:32:48.520 --> 00:32:53.140 But then there's a public part of my life that I want to introduce everyone else to, and Jesus will just keep in the closet. 00:32:55.420 --> 00:32:58.080 But what Jesus has called us to is to live in mission. 00:32:59.800 --> 00:33:03.920 And as we love him with all our hearts, he begins to change our lives from the inside out. 00:33:04.200 --> 00:33:06.580 And we don't live our lives so that God loves us. 00:33:06.580 --> 00:33:08.810 We live our lives because God loves us. 00:33:09.700 --> 00:33:14.240 And so it says in Matthew 14, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only. 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:20.020 Ephesians 210 for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. 00:33:20.020 --> 00:33:23.040 This is given the idea that Jesus comes into your world and saves you. 00:33:23.080 --> 00:33:24.660 He transforms you from the inside out. 00:33:24.900 --> 00:33:25.960 He renews you in his spirit. 00:33:26.380 --> 00:33:30.120 And it says, we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. 00:33:32.060 --> 00:33:34.200 I like how Jesus says this in John 15. 00:33:34.800 --> 00:33:36.120 This is another Jesus verse. 00:33:38.460 --> 00:33:41.380 I am the vine and you are the branches. 00:33:43.220 --> 00:33:46.380 He who abides in me and I in him. 00:33:47.380 --> 00:33:48.120 He bears much fruit. 00:33:49.740 --> 00:33:52.380 For apart from me you can do what? 00:33:56.940 --> 00:34:00.260 You know we get burnt out in serving Jesus. 00:34:03.980 --> 00:34:10.659 It's because we're not allowing Christ the time to speak to our hearts, and we've lost perspective of who he is and giving him rightful position. 00:34:10.760 --> 00:34:12.460 And the reason that we do the things that we do. 00:34:15.980 --> 00:34:19.520 It says when Jesus isn't abiding in us, we can do nothing. 00:34:21.780 --> 00:34:28.900 I mean, the reason I likely feel burnt out is because I've lost perspective, and I really am now feeling like I'm doing it 00:34:29.080 --> 00:34:30.800 on my strength rather than Christ's. 00:34:32.620 --> 00:34:38.510 And I'm really doing it because I feel like I have to, rather than because Jesus loves me and I'm just enjoying his presence. 00:34:42.900 --> 00:34:46.120 Jesus came before his disciples and asked them the simple question. 00:34:48.739 --> 00:34:50.300 That's why in the world are you following me? 00:34:54.199 --> 00:34:57.200 Where is your heart and who I am? 00:35:00.620 --> 00:35:02.240 Just stop and ask this morning. 00:35:03.780 --> 00:35:10.840 This is an important part for us to pause in as people, because of the idea of the summer ministry and outreach that we're about to engage 00:35:10.840 --> 00:35:11.120 in. 00:35:12.640 --> 00:35:14.520 Booths. 00:35:15.620 --> 00:35:22.740 Vacation Bible Schools, discipleship camps all summer long provides an opportunity for 00:35:22.740 --> 00:35:24.840 us to get burnt out. 00:35:26.820 --> 00:35:34.780 What's significant for us to recognize is that what God created us for in this world is relationships more 00:35:34.780 --> 00:35:39.760 than anything, what God wants for you is you to experience the joy of knowing him. 00:35:41.340 --> 00:35:45.620 And from that joy in knowing him, let it pour forth into this world. 00:35:47.480 --> 00:35:52.530 And if you're feeling dry right now, the response is just simply spend time with Jesus. 00:35:53.820 --> 00:35:56.380 Don't worry about what you have to do or what you need to get done. 00:35:56.520 --> 00:36:00.860 Just recognize that eternal life is about knowing him. 00:36:03.820 --> 00:36:06.540 Someone comes up this summer and asked you, what's your church about? 00:36:07.740 --> 00:36:09.220 You can say to them, it's about relationships. 00:36:11.500 --> 00:36:12.750 We're all about relationships. 00:36:13.080 --> 00:36:13.780 And the first is this. 00:36:14.060 --> 00:36:16.860 This is eternal life, that you may know him. 00:36:17.580 --> 00:36:19.760 And as crazy as this sounds, it's biblical. 00:36:19.760 --> 00:36:20.850 You need to eat Jesus. 00:36:24.580 --> 00:36:30.820 And so the question we ask is, Does Jesus have your heart? 00:36:33.180 --> 00:36:35.400 And is it evident by your life? 00:36:38.500 --> 00:36:45.820 Jesus shared this entire message with one simple point for us, and that is that we simply focus on consuming him as he's made himself 00:36:45.820 --> 00:36:47.660 available to us.