The wonderful Gospel of John as he portrays The Christ.

Chapter 1.  He is the Son of God.

 2.  The Son of man.

 3.  He is the Divine Teacher.

 4.  The Soul winner.

5.  The Great physician.

6. The Bread of Life.

7. The Water of Life.

8. The Defender of the weak.

9. The Light of the World.

10. The Good Shepherd.

11. The resurrection and The LIFE.

12. The King.

13. Assumes the place of a Servant.

14. The consoler.

15. The true Vine.

16. The Giver of the Spirit.

17. The Great Intercessor.

18. The Model Sufferer.

19. The Uplifted Savior.

20. The Victor over Death.

21. The Restorer of the Penitent.

Jesus is the Bread of Life

The Bread of Life is the spiritual food needed by man. Without the bread of life man cannot live spiritually. Just as physically man needs to eat in order to live, the bread of life gives nourishment for the soul. Unless one eats from the bread of live he faces eternal death.

In the Old Testament God provided the Israelites with manna from heaven. They were told only to take what was required for a one day supply and they had to trust that God would send more the next day. The manna served as salvation for the Israelites physical needs on a daily basis. God, however knew of a greater need for the salvation of man's soul and he also had a plan to meet that need -- His Son, the Bread of Life. The Israelites needed to eat daily, but once one has tasted the bread of life he does not need to ask for it again, because his soul has been saved.

John 6:35 (KJV)And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
John 6:48-48 (KJV) I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life. It is he whom I need to eat in order that I might have eternal life. He is the manna for my soul that God promised. Though I don't need to wait each day to take part of the bread of life, I do need to be sure that my life is lived like Jesus. He was the example of how I am to live and part of what it means for me to eat the bread of life is to live my life the way Jesus, the Bread of Life, lived his.

Since Jesus is the Bread of Life, I will treat Him with as great importance as actual food. I will partake of Him each day by praying, reading His word and listening for the Holy Spirit, knowing that as I focus on Him, He is nourishing me spiritually. Also, as I eat, I will remember that physical food is a symbol of how we are to relate to Jesus spiritually, and I will thank Him for providing me with both physical food for my body and spiritual food for my soul.

Blessings,

Pastor Cleve



Why Jesus Cried

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

— Romans 5:8

As Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on what we know as Palm Sunday, He looked at the city and wept. In the original language, the word used to describe His weeping speaks of bitter anguish, as though one were mourning the dead.

Jesus cried because He knew what was coming. His ministry was almost over. The time was short. And by and large, He had been rejected. He had healed their sick. He had raised their dead. He had cleansed their lepers. He had fed their hungry and forgave their sins. But He remained mostly alone and rejected.

He also knew one of His own, Judas Iscariot, was about to betray Him. Judas was a friend of Jesus'. That is why it was a betrayal. Jesus knew that Caiaphas, the high priest, would try Him on false charges. Jesus knew that He would be sent to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and ultimately be sentenced to die on the cross. He knew the people who were crying, "Hosanna!" that day would turn against Him. And it broke His heart. Jesus knew they would face the repercussions for their sin, and He didn't want that.

However, God will not force His forgiveness down anyone's throat.

I know people who have made wrong decisions in life, despite being warned by their pastor or Christian friends not to do a certain thing. And later they come back and say, "Oh, I should have listened to you!" And I wish they had.

God will not violate our free will. God will not make us believe. God will not make us love Him. If we don't want to, we don't have to. But that is what is so amazing. God, having foreknowledge, still loves us and still extends his grace to us.

Blessings
Pastor Cleve

(Shared from devotional of Greg Laurie)

Yes I walked the streets of Capernaum.

Early morning on the Sea of Galilee

 

Changing computers and several other things have kept me from spending as much time on the computer since the last post. For the month of August please read through the gospel texts found in the book of John Chapter 6 using verses 24-69. The Focus will be on the words “ Work of God, The Bread, I Am…,The Spirit”.

The hymns this month will include Be Thou My Vision, To God be the Glory, Rescue the Perishing, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, Precious Lord, Great is Thy Faithfulness, Break Thou the Bread of Life, Stand Up Stand Up for Jesus, God be With you till We Meet again.

Blessings,

Pastor Cleve

John 6:24-69

New King James Version (NKJV)

²⁴ when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. ²⁵ And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”
²⁶ Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷ Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
²⁸ Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
²⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
³⁰ Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? ³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”^[a]
32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
³⁴ Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
³⁵ And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. ³⁷ All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹ This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. ⁴⁰ And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Rejected by His Own

⁴¹ The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” ⁴² And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
⁴³ Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’^[b] Therefore everyone who has heard and learned^[c] from the Father comes to Me. ⁴⁶ Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me^[d] has everlasting life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. ⁵⁰ This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
⁵² The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”
⁵³ Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For My flesh is food indeed,^[e] and My blood is drink indeed. ⁵⁶ He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
⁵⁹ These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Turn Away

⁶⁰ Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”
⁶¹ When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? ⁶³ It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. ⁶⁴ But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. ⁶⁵ And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
⁶⁶ From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. ⁶⁷ Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
⁶⁸ But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”^[f]

By Bishop Elaine J.W. Stanovsky July 20, 2012

View from the Mountain Sky Area of
The United Methodist Church

Pastoral Letter to the Rocky Mountain Conference,

For three years the Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone Conferences have been studying how Jesus sent the disciples out to meet people on their doorsteps. To learn their yearnings and sorrows, their aspirations, and to help them follow their imaginations to a new and faithful future.

Today people throughout our area, but especially in Aurora and Littleton, Colorado, have come out onto their spiritual doorsteps in dismay and grief. Once again precious children of God have fallen at the hands of a lost soul bearing powerful firearms. The deaths are senseless. And so people who love God and God’s children pause speechless in their wake. How can it be that a person would wander so far from God that he failed to see the miracle of each one whose life he took? How could God, who created and animated, and loved and nurtured each one, let a lost soul strike them down? And so, spiritually the human community has come out into public in search of solace.

The question for the church today is, how do we venture into the world to meet the collective grief of the community in its many guises: anger, denial, depression, fear. I challenge you, leaders of the church, to use your biblical imagination to generate creative responses to this crisis. Where does the biblical story intersect the public story of this day? How might this intersection lead us into a ministry of healing and hope?

·When Jesus died on the cross, his followers lost their bearings. They wandered away from the place without a sense of direction. Might our churches open and invite the whole community in for prayer and song and sharing?

·When Jesus died on the cross and was buried in a tomb, his beloved went there to honor and tend his body. We know that right now people are drifting together somewhere near the site of the shootings, to pray, to weep, to leave flowers and letters of sorrow. Is the church there? What if a big sign were left saying, “The United Methodist Church is praying with you.” Could we offer tracts with words of hope? “I lift my eyes to the hills. . .” or “Jesus wept.”

·After the devastation of the flood, Noah’s family planted new crops. They invested in the future. Could one of our churches host a neighborhood tree-planting to remember this tragedy with life and beauty and hope?

The whole community is hungering and thirsting for a word of hope, for a communal experience of care in the face of reckless disregard. This is a moment Christ has prepared us for.
God’s spirit “has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” (Isaiah 61:1) We have been touched and nurtured in faith for such a time as this.

Bishop Elaine J.W. Stanovsky

When you Pray

Chorus)At the close of the day,when you kneel to pray, Will you remember me?

I need help every day, this is whyI pray, will you remember me?

Verse1. When you pray will youpray for me, For I need His love and His care,

When you pray will you pray forme, Will you whisper my name in your prayer?

(Chorus)At the close of the day,when you kneel to pray, Will you remember me?

I need help every day, this is whyI pray, will you remember me?

Verse 2. When I pray I will prayfor you, For you need His love and His care,

When I pray I will pray for you,I will whisper your name in my prayer.

Preview of This Sunday’s Scripture Texts

Scriptures: 2 Samuel 7:1-14a; Psalm 89:20-37; Ephesians 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-34, 53-56.  True kingship and lineage come through shepherding love and by bringing enemies together in friendship and kinship, not by keeping them under our feet. The peace Jesus brought, the peace attest to in both Mark and Ephesians, is not accomplished by force of arms or family lineage, but by the love of a shepherd and by the reconciliation of enemies.  The peace that David brought through force of arms could not stand- despite God’s assurances that David’s line would last forever. Perhaps God realized that the peace Israel hoped for by vanquishing its enemies was no real peace.

Words of Assurance –Ephesians 2

In Christ, we are members of the household of God.  In Christ, we become a holy temple, a dwelling place for the Lord of hosts.  In Christ, we find true forgiveness.

Passing the Peace (Mark 6)

Like the people who walked with Jesus, we are like sheep without a shepherd. WE need a shepherd to guide us and give us rest.