Series: Committed
Message: Acceptance
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira
Refresh: Open with prayer. Read or listen to Psalm 60:1-5.
Read: John 6:22-59 — As you read in the NLT translation, note 1-3 insights/questions that arise.
Reflect: It is easy to be distracted by details and forget the big picture—to be so focused on the bread itself that you misunderstand the purpose (nourishment). It's easy to be so lost in the metaphor that you forget the point. I am confident that some have taken the flesh and blood metaphors literally and focused on the impossibility of this transformation. This was the struggle that Jesus had when shifting the world paradigm of everyone He encountered. The vision Jesus shared was one of repairing more than four thousand years of oral history. It would shape the next 2,000+ years of undeveloped history. Every word, every action, every moment recorded and shared would be pivotal to Christian understanding and practice. Quite frankly, since Jesus came to earth as the son of God—the promised Messiah—we have moved with incredible strength as indicated in Matthew 11, and with tragic weakness because of the attacks indicated in Revelation 12. This is one of the many reasons that it is so critical to return our attention to the Gospels. To return to the first testament and then to the second testament, and refresh ourselves in the source of all Truth—Jesus. He is the Bread of Life. Every page, every text, every verse in the entire Bible speaks of Jesus. The more you know Jesus, the more you know God the Father, and this is only possible because of the steady gentle guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The details are so interesting and yet they can be misinterpreted, causing wars, pain, and division. The painting, the forest, the big picture, the point of everything is to present the truth—Jesus—so that we may accept and embrace the character of God. When we read the Bible, when we process and dissect the text through the art of exegesis, we must never forget to stop and ask, "What does this reveal to me about the character of God?"
Back to the story at hand. The people were hungry; Jesus met their physical needs and then took them to a place where they would start to see their spiritual needs. Our faith governs our values and our values govern our practice and our practice is our reality.
Recalibrate:
Respond: Pray for a place to serve, care, and offer your gifts.
Research: What mission project could you join? The One project offers three mission projects during the summer of 2017. Perhaps one of these would be worth exploring.