Transcript

All right, good morning, church. Good to see you today. Welcome those who are watching the live stream as well. My name is pastor Steven Combs, and I am just so honored to have this privilege to continue this series that this is part three of the real community series, the four devotions for authentic fellowship. And we've been going through these four devotions that we see in the book of acts that the early church devoted themselves to.

And God honored it, and they grew by the thousands. And so today we're gonna be talking about this third devotion of a shared food. Now we're getting ready to. We're entering to Stephen Combs favorite season of the year. And that is the season of fall.

I walked out the door this morning and that crisp air hit me, and I was like, oh, man, come on, fall. Bring it on. I know it's not fall yet. You summer lovers, you got a few more days left. But my season's coming.

And what I love about it, I love that crisp air. I love the pumpkins. I love the hay rides. I love the bonfires. I love the decorations.

I even love the pumpkin spice latte. I know there's, like, a lot of division over that. But with the fall comes my favorite holiday, which is the holiday of Thanksgiving. And so with Thanksgiving, I feel like it captures, like, the best of both worlds because you still do have all that stuff I just said about fall and the bonfires, the pumpkins, all that stuff. But you're also beginning the Christmas season.

My family, we buy our Christmas tree before Thanksgiving. And so it's kind of like merging the two together. And I do love Christmas. I love the lights. I love the coziness.

I love the movies and all that stuff. Thanksgiving's, like, right there in the sweet spot. And maybe the biggest reason why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, it is the one major holiday that is completely based around food. If you think about it, like Christmas, Easter, July 4, all these other ones, food's there, okay? It's part of it.

Be part of it. But Thanksgiving, the entire origin of Thanksgiving was that the Native Americans and the pilgrims came together and they shared a common, peaceful meal. And so the whole idea of Thanksgiving is that we should eat together. Love this holiday. And as you consider Thanksgiving, it is.

You know, as Americans, we have one thing in common, that we all typically are going to be eating turkey on that holiday. However, I recognize that there's multiple ways that people prepare it at their own homes. Some people will oven cook it. I've heard of others that smoke their turkey, or they'll cook it on the grille, my family, as you can. This is an example from last year.

We love to fry our turkey. We started that tradition probably around ten years or so ago. And ever since we did that, we're not turning back, man. It's just too good. And so when you're thinking of Thanksgiving, you're thinking, man, that's the way my turkey is supposed to be prepared.

It's in this way, and that's. And you're just salivating right now thinking about that turkey. And then you think about the side items that come with it. And so, for my family, look at that happy boy right there, man. He loves so happy.

That's going to be me in a few months again. And so there's the staples that are typical with Thanksgiving. I would say, like, cranberry and, like, maybe mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, you know, deviled eggs. Might be unique to my house. I'm not sure.

I'd say maybe two that probably are unique to us, but maybe I'm wrong. Would be pineapple casserole and sweet potato casserole. I don't know how many other people do that, but I bet you if I were to have private conversations with you, you'd be like, oh, man, staple. We always have this particular thing at Thanksgiving, and so it represents who we are as Americans. But then when you look at all those extra side items and the way the turkey's prepared, it represents who your family, your actual personal, private culture is.

It's actually representative of you as well. So people for Thanksgiving, they come from all over the place, because, you know, maybe your family is divided all over the nation, but for that holiday, they're coming home. And as they're traveling, man, they're just. It's on their lips. They're just tasting that Thanksgiving meal that's coming.

And so we come from all different places. And then I, when we sit there at that meal together, even though you might even ordinarily be very divided as a family, you might have your differences. You might even look at your family and be like, man, we're at war with one another. But when I sit across the table from that person, no matter what their political opinions are and their cultural opinions are, we got one thing in common. We both love that meal.

And so you experience a brief peace time, maybe similar to how the Native Americans and pilgrims experience in your own life. See, now imagine, though, that one year that the person in charge of coordinating the meal got a wild hair. Or maybe they just were tired and they said, you know what? This year, we're just going to order pizza. Well, screws would pop loose in people's minds.

They'd be like, you're going to do what? Thanksgiving is not thanksgiving without these things. This, this, this. It's that meal. It's that culture that you expect to come into Thanksgiving.

See, there's something about shared food, there's something about the shared meal that leads to real community. And this was true in the first century church as we study it. And so, in the book of Acts, Luke described the real community of the first century church, and he said that they were marked by four devotions. Now, we've already talked about the devotion of a shared faith. You heard us talk about that two weeks ago.

And then last week, you heard Mike talk about a shared family. And then today, we're gonna be talking about a shared food. And then, spoiler, next week, we're gonna be talking about a shared focus, and so we can experience the same real community that they experienced as the early church when we pursue these four devotions. And like I said, if it wasn't obvious already, today we're gonna be talking about the devotion of shared food. Now, I have to admit, I have to be honest with you about something that when I was assigned this task of talking about, I was excited at first because I love food.

But then the idea, how do you preach on this, you know, for however long? How am I gonna preach a whole sermon on this? Talking to Mike Laramie, who preached last week, he was like, man, I feel for you, brother. You know, I said, I'll tell you what, man. I've been studying this this week, and I think I might have gotten the ace in the hole.

This might be my favorite sermon that I've ever preached. Because when we start digging into this, you're gonna find that there's so much about food that I feel like is like God ordained, and it's actually gonna make an impact on us. Here's my hope, and my prayer for us today is that we will all be so challenged and ignited by this topic that we will devote ourselves to the breaking of bread in the community of believers. Now, today's text is going to give us three reasons why the breaking of bread is essential for living in Christ's community. And as we look at the book of acts this morning, if you would, let's stand to our feet right now and get your bibles out and your smartphones and whatnot.

Go and stand a feet with me, and we're going to turn to the book of acts of. We're going to turn to the chapter two, and we're going to look at verse 42. Chapter two, verse 42. And that's obviously on the screen as well. So it says in 42, and they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of bread, and the prayers, and all came upon every soul.

And many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles and all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And let's read this last sentence together. And the Lord added to their number, day by day, those who were being saved.

And may God bless the reading of his word. Amen. All right, you can have a seat. So what we. When you look here, you see, like I said, there's three reasons why the breaking of bread is essential to Christ's community.

And so the first reason we see is that it recognizes the Lord's provision. It recognizes the Lord's provision. Now, there's a discipline that we like to have here at Eastgate church, and that is when we read the word of God together, that we like to go through and point out particular words and phrases that need more explanation. And I personally have thought this series has been really cool, because if you've been following with us this whole time, you know, this is the same home text that we've used. We did acts 242 through 47, both two weeks prior to now.

And we're doing it today, and we're going to do it again next week. And this just can show you just an example of why you can read the word of God over and over and over again and get something different from it every time. Well, today we're going to be pulling out the texts that involve this devotion to the breaking of bread. So it's important that we recover this word devoted. I know you've heard us talk about this the past two weeks, but when it means, when it says this word devoted, it means to face towards something, it means to have a strong and steadfastness.

It means to earnestly attend and continue in, be constantly diligent towards something, to give oneself to. Holy. Okay, so this word devoted is loaded with those meanings. And they devoted themselves to what? Well, we see, just like the previous two sermons, it's not just they devoted themselves to breaking a bread, they devoted themselves to the breaking of bread.

And so this definitive article, the means that it's a specific pursuit. So this was more than just a meal. It was a sacred recognition and an awareness of our common dependence on the giver of life. And so some of you, as you were reading this, you might see the similarity to the Lord's supper. When you think about breaking a bread, you think about how Jesus.

Bread of the Lord's supper. Perhaps others are thinking about the Agape feast, which for me personally was a new idea. This week, as I was studying, I was like, agape? What's that? I was in Pennsylvania this past summer when we ate at a restaurant called Agape.

And the whole time we were eating there, I was like, that's a neat name, Agape. That means unconditional love. But no, even that's pointing to this agape feast. What is that? The Agape feast would have been otherwise named a love feast.

It was a fellowship meal that the early christians had together as an early church. All this to say whether it's Lord's supper, whether it's Gabe feast. This is not just any ordinary meal. It's a meal that is shared specifically with the fellowship of believers. And so if you're like me, you're looking at this and you're like, why would I need to devote myself towards something that I was born naturally devoted to?

Now I think about my son Deacon, you know, popping up a picture here of him that from the time he was born, we didn't have to tell him, now, be hungry now, okay. No, he came out crying because he was hungry. And so here we are at a soccer game, and if you don't come prepared with the milk and the snacks and things like that, he was going to let you know, and he was not going to relent until you fed him. He was born naturally devoted toward food, and so do we have to. Naturally, we have to devote ourselves towards being hungry?

No, but this idea here is that we would devote ourselves towards this type of food. And as you consider the whole concept of eating, I don't know if you ever thought about, like, why did God create us this way? It's actually fascinating, because if you connect the dots that we physically are reliant upon food for life, and that in the same way Jesus, the bread of life, we are spiritually reliant upon him for life as well. And if you've ever studied fasting, if you've ever fasted yourself, you know that one of the practices of fasting is that when your stomach growls because you're hungry for that meal. It's a reminder to pray.

It's a reminder to say God, as just as I am relied upon food for physical survival, I'm reminded, as my stomach growls right now, that spiritually I need you, Jesus. And so this devotion is to the breaking of bread, which is meant to be a meal with Christ's community. And sure, that community is certainly evident at church, okay? That we are a community, a gathering of believers here today. And yes, we will take Lord's supper later in the service.

Certainly in view as well. As you know, you've heard us talk about community groups and that we literally meet in one another's homes during the week and we practice this devotion of eating together. But I would say that it's also can be represented by our own families that you can devote yourselves towards the breaking of bread with your families. It's basically, think about it this way, it's a devotion to break bread intentionally with other believers. And so as we devote ourselves to this breaking of bread, we recognize a few things here.

One is that we're valuable to God. If you look at Book of Luke, chapter twelve, it says, look at the ravens. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are more valuable to him than any birds. And so when we recognize his provision, we recognize, first of all, I matter.

God cares about me. I'm valuable to him. And then second, as we devote ourselves towards the breaking of bread, we recognize that he supplies. It says in the book of Philippians, chapter four, and my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. So we recognize that we're valuable.

We recognize that he supplies for us. And then finally, we recognize that he provides. And if you look at the book of Psalm, chapter 105, it says, he spread out a cloud as a covering and a fire to give light at night. Now, I think this is pointing towards in the Book of Exodus, whenever he's guiding the Israelites through the desert by the fire at night. And then it says, they asked, and he brought them quail.

He fed them well with the bread of heaven. That's speaking of manna, that we saw Israelites eating in the desert. And then it says, he opened the rock and water gushed out. It flowed like a river in the desert. This is another story.

This is how they got water, the Israelites, when they were wandering the desert. And just a little side note, I thought about this while we were studying this week that he's basically, in verse 39, he's saying something similar to when Jesus said, I am the way. In verse 40, when it's talking about food, we know that Jesus said, I am the bread of life. And then in verse 41, he says, he opened the rock, and water gushed out. Jesus said, I have living water.

All those three things I think are evident right here as we consider what God provides. That. That in Jesus Christ, we get more than food, we get more than water, we actually get the way to salvation. We actually get that bread of life, which. Which always satisfies.

We get that living water, and that we will thirst no more. So my question this morning is, are you satisfied with God's provision? I mentioned a second ago that this. That in view here were the Israelites when they were in the desert. And so we know, many of us know the story.

They're wandering the desert for 40 years. It was a long time. And there's thousands of them together here. It's not just one person. And so, like, if you've ever watched man versus wild, you're like, yeah, I mean, you know, you can find a snake and cook that up and eat it.

Well, we're talking about thousands of people, not one person. So what does one do when you're in the desert and you're hungry? Well, God provided them with this manna, which, which there's never been any other existence of it other than these years with the Israelites and what we know it to be. It was something that had, like, a honeydehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe type of flavor to it. And God would provide it every single morning.

It would just be out there ready to be collected. And the Israelites, here they are. They're in the desert, and God is giving them literally what we would call heavenly bread every single day for free. It's right there just to be collected. And they still found reason to complain about his provision.

Give us some meat. Okay, so he heard that. And so then every evening blows this wind that brings in quail. And if you look at. If you study, like, what does a quail bird look like?

It's this tiny, little two pound bird. So he's basically giving them chicken nuggets and bread every single day. And yet they were still complaining. They were saying, man, we had it so much better when we were slaves in egypt. What?

We ate so much better. Are you sure about that? Are you just glamorizing your past? Seems to me like you prayed to God for years and years and years to deliver you from that place, and now you're thankful or you're not thankful. You're like glamorizing, like how good we had it.

No, you didn't have it that good. Just in the moment. You're not grateful for the provision he's given you and somebody right now, this is like a zinger in their heart and they're saying themselves, man, it's so true with me. I'm not grateful for how God's providing right now. I do glamorize the past, even though when I was in the past, all I could think about was getting out of that situation.

All I could think about actually was having what I have now. And here I am now, and I'm still unsatisfied. And so I'm just thinking about the future of the things I want, or I'm glamorizing the past. Are you grateful? Are you satisfied with God's provision?

And along with this, are you teaching your families about Jesus, the source of life when you're at the table together, are you part of a community group? That's something that you hear us push often, but we wouldn't be pushing it if it didn't have results, if it didn't actually impact lives. And I'm a personal testament to that. And part of community group is that we do break bread together every single week. And here's what I would ask is, like, as you break bread with believers, whether it be with your community group, whether it be with your families, or whether it just be with that intentionality that you're like, okay, let's get together and let's break bread together, that are you pausing for a moment and recognizing, hey, I'm not just going to dig in.

I'm going to stop, say, you know what, God, thank you for providing. And I'm going to remember we learned in psalm 105 today, you didn't just provide this food, you provided a way in Jesus Christ. You've provided us with water. You provided us with a roof over my head. And there's so many things that you can go through, pause, lift your eyes instead of having them lowered here to the world, which the world is always, there's always more we want, right?

So pause at the dinner table and break that bread and say, you know what? Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for how you've provided for me and let that mark how you break bread together. So that would be the first reason why breaking a bread is essential to Christ's community, is it recognizes the Lord's provision. The second reason we see here is that it unifies the Lord's family.

It unifies the Lord's family. Now, in verse 46, it says, and day by day, attending the temple together. So if we see here these words day by day. And so that's supposed to tell you this was a common practice. It was consistent.

The new King James version says, and continuing daily, they attended the temple together. Now, the King James version says, one accord. It literally means to have one mind or to have the same mind, when you look at the greek word here. So every day, continually, they came together with this one mind, this one purpose, and they broke bread. And now it actually says where they're doing it, it says they broke bread in their homes.

Okay? So not only are they eating, but they're inviting one another into their house. So breaking bread has this idea here. Then it's like, I'm sharing life with these people. I'm sharing my personal life.

You're getting ready. You're getting to see who the real Stephen is. You see how I keep my house. You see the things that I value at home. And so they came together.

Day by day, they were together of one mind. They broke bread in their homes. And it says, they received the food with glad, which is this meaning of celebratory and generous hearts. And I learned a new description this week. My brother taught this to me.

He said, that's a hapax legomenon. And I was like, what? And I don't know if he spoke Latin or he spoke Greek or what he spoke to me, but he said, yeah, hapax legomenon. He said, that means that that particular greek word is only in the Bible once, and it's right there. And so this idea of generosity or generous, it's multifaceted.

And if you look at multiple translations here, they all kind of get it at it a different way, because this word is big. Generous has this idea of sincerity. It's of simplicity. It's of oneness, okay? It's a singleness of heart.

And so basically it's saying, like, when they ate, things just were simple. It just slowed down. You just kind of breathed. And we had one mind together. We had a simpleness of purpose, a singleness there.

And there was a sincerity that came along with it. Doesn't that sound appealing to you? I know it does to me. And so, as we consider this idea of breaking up bread, research shows that it holds direct benefits for our families. In the book by Merriam Weinstein, the surprising power of family meals, how eating together makes us smarter, stronger, healthier, and happier.

She says this eating ordinary average everyday supper with your family is strongly linked to lower incidence of bad outcomes, such as teenage drug and alcohol, youth use, and to good qualities like emotional stability. It correlates with kindergarteners being better prepared to learn to read. Regular family supper helps keep asthmatic kids out of hospitals. It discourages both obesity and eating disorders. It supports your staying more connected to your extended family, your ethnic heritage, your community of faith.

It will help children and families to be more resilient, reacting positively to those curves and arrows that life throws our way. It will certainly keep you better nourished. The things we are likely to discuss at the dinner table anchor our children more firmly in the world. Of course, eating together teaches manners, both trivial and momentous, putting you in touch with the deeper springs of human relations. And this is just one little excerpt from that book.

We get the idea here that there is something about eating together that has benefits that are hard to describe. How is all that tied up and eating a meal together? I gotta tell you that this is hard for me. When I come home from work, there's like a tractor beam attached to my recliner that just wants me to go there. And it's telling me, Steven, let's just eat all separate meals tonight.

Everybody go their own way. And you're just gonna sit here and just eat and just do your show, because that's the easy thing. And I genuinely think that that is a spiritual battle. I think there is something spiritual. If we will make that.

It's so silly to say it's a sacrifice, but if we will make that sacrifice, you know what? We're gonna eat together. Everybody come to the table. We're gonna eat the same meal. What did I just do?

We're gonna eat the same meal. We're going to talk and not be on our phones. Phones. No phones, no tv on. And we're gonna.

We're gonna do this. And I gotta tell you that there have been things that have come out of that meal time that have been so beneficial to my family for us. I try. I try to do that with. In mind that I'm not just eating the meal.

I try to bring up life. I try to talk about things deeper than just, hey, you know, how was your day? I try to actually get into, like, what? You know, how are you doing? Like, how are you actually doing?

I even take advantage of the opportunity. My kids will tell you, like, we. I've got flashcards. Yes, I'm that nerdy parent. I've got flashcards that I'll ask them biblical questions.

Last night we went through, I was teaching them the states of America. You know, that's not even spiritual. But it was just like. I just like there to be an opportunity to learn. And they love it, but it does take a devotion.

So recognizing Christ's presence. Why am I talking about family? Because as a church, we are unified into one body and one family. In one corinthians, it says, by sharing in the same loaf of bread, we become one body, even though there are many of us. I'm telling you, man, there's something mysterious here about eating together that unifies us.

First Corinthians eleven. So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat a, you should all eat together. Okay. Okay. So that got me thinking about something popping up.

This picture here, this is just one of probably many, many pictures that Caroline and I have taken together. Eating together. That one, we were debating about whether that was anniversary or whether it was the meal we shared before Deacon was born. We don't really know. It was one of many.

But when we go out on a date, food is involved. If I go on a date with my wife and there's no eating, it wasn't a date, I'm hugely disappointed. That's pretty much the main event I'm looking forward to. Okay? That's where I'm at in life.

Maybe you're not there yet. You'll get there. Trust me. Food is just the main attraction when it comes to a date. And so imagine if you would, that you're going on a first date with somebody and you're trying to get to know them, and you're like, what do you do?

Generally? You say, hey, would you like to have dinner with me? Hey, would you like to have coffee with me? Okay, let's say you do it. You go out to eat, and you sit down, and you place your order, and it gets to them, and they're like, oh, no, no, I'm not gonna have anything I ate earlier.

You what? What? I just have some water. So then you sit there and eat your meal, feel super awkward. Then you go to a movie afterward, and you get the big, large popcorn, and you're watching it.

You're like, want some? And they're like, oh, no. Like, what do you eat? And so then let's go have some coffee. After we go get some coffee.

And they're like, no, you can have some. You just. You just drink your coffee. You would be like, this is the weirdest person I've ever been around. Like, what is their.

What's wrong with their brain that they can't eat in front of me. And you would. And so you're like, okay, maybe you'll give them another chance. Well, if they do it again, you're like, oh, that's it. I ain't going out with them no more.

They're not an eater. I don't understand it. They're not human, okay? And strangely enough, you'd be saying to yourself, there's just like a disconnect. I can't put my finger on it, but I just feel like I can't get to know that person.

Well, there's something about eating that unifies us. And so we talk about this idea of being a family, and I know that I've said it a few times already. I just want to show you here in scripture that as Christ followers, that we can actually be a family. It says this in Ephesians, chapter one. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.

This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. And so it's worthwhile for us to consider the benefits of breaking bread with your family, because Jesus has adopted you into his family. And so if it benefits your physical family, it also can benefit your spiritual family as well. So my question to you today is, are you making this a commitment in your life? I can tell you with complete honesty that there's, like, a ticking clock for me, of I think about my friends, and if it's been a while since we've shared a meal together, there's a ticking clock that's gone, and we got it.

We got to get together. We got to get together. Because I feel like I'm strangely feeling distant from that person. And I'm like, well, you know, it's probably been three months since you got together. Well, it's super busy, right?

There's reasons why this happens, but I have to just make a point. You know what? Hey, I don't say let's break bread together, but I just say, hey, let's. Let's have dinner sometime. They're like, yeah, man, it has been a while.

And then you eat, and all of a sudden, it's like that relational meteor feels right back up and you're like, all right, you know, we're good. Because there's something about making an intentional point of saying, I'm going to break bread together with the family of God, because I know it's going to unify us together. Do you practice this? Do you go to a small group? Do you go to a community group.

This isn't meant to just be a plug for community groups, but it should be a no brainer that that is one of the best ways to connect to God's family is to go to somebody's house and eat with them and fellowship with them and discuss the word of God and pray together. In my personal life, it's been life changing being part of a community group. And you would assume you're like, well, he's a pastor in the church. Like, course he's connected community groups where I really feel that connection. And so that's one of the reasons we're pushing it, is that's one of the things we do.

That's one of the. One of the devotions we keep is breaking of bread. Are you here this morning? And you're like, I feel so disconnected. I feel like, you know what?

I might leave this church. I just feel like nobody there cares about me. Nobody ever, like, wants to do anything with me. And what you're finding is you're pointing fingers and you're making excuses, but when's the last time you invited somebody to your house and said, let's have dinner together? When's the last time you did that?

Have you. Have you ever checked out community groups? Maybe you've never done it. Maybe you've. Or maybe you've just fallen out of it and you're, like, looking in the mirror right now and going, well, no wonder I feel disconnected.

I don't ever do anything with any of the people of God. And so this morning, maybe that's something you should be asking yourself, is, am I opening my home? Am I sharing meals with other believers? And then third, we saw here that they had, it helps us recognize the Lord's provision. It helps us unify with the body of Christ, the family.

And then third, it remembers the Lord's sacrifice. Breaking your bread is essential to Christ's community because it remembers the Lord's sacrifice. So looking at the very last verse here, verse 47, it says, praising God and having honor with all the people. Right there, those two words praising God. This is not like a woo.

Praise the Lord. You know, like, I'm gonna be, like, super quiet about it. Cause I don't want anybody to hear me get too excited about praising the Lord. No, this is. It says extol.

Okay, Stephen. Right over my head, buddy. Okay. That means praise enthusiastically to God with some passion, with some fire behind it. And what happened here?

They devoted themselves to these four things. They praised God enthusiastically, and then what did God, do not. What did they do? What did God do? The Lord added to their number, day by day, those who were being saved.

Amen. So this word saved right here might trigger somebody today. I need to explain something to you. We're born in need of being saved, and you can't save yourselves. There's a chasm between you and Jesus that your greatest work will not bridge.

But Jesus Christ, who saw us in this state of dead in our sins and distant from God, he himself came to earth, took on the form of a baby, lived a sinless life, died on a murderous and scandalous cross for our sake. He rose again the third day, and he appeared to many, and he ascended to heaven. And he offers you this life. And he says, I have bridged that gap. Now you can be saved through me, not through yourselves, not through your own works, but through faith and me.

So what did God do? They devoted themselves. God saved the people. And so I started thinking here, okay, we've talked here this morning about this breaking of bread with, with the family of God, but some of you might have already been feeling this, like, dissonance of, like, man. Something's just not quite there.

Something's missing. I think here we're talking about that they would break bread with those who don't follow Christ. They would break bread with that agnostic, they would break bread with that atheist, but with the intentionality there of man. I'm going to use this, this breaking of bread that there's something just mysterious that God built into this, that it lowers our inhibitions. And I'm going to take the opportunity to, while sharing a meal with somebody, and we have this thing in common together that I'm looking for chances to praise God.

I'm looking for chances to tell them about how he saved me. I might just use the super obvious connection of man. This food sure is good. It sure is satisfying. But, boy, it doesn't satisfy me like Jesus does not.

That was super corny, but, hey, it's a connection that food can make.

In John six, I know that I've been saying this, jesus is the bread of life. Well, here's the scripture that, that's rooted in John six. He says, jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. Somebody here this morning came hungry, and I know it's almost lunchtime.

Literally mean you're physically hungry. I know you probably are physically hungry, but somebody came here today and you're starving spiritually. If you're perfectly honest. You're just like, man. I've tried everything.

I've bought everything I could think to buy. I've gotten every. I've sought after every ambitious finances I could. I've sought every relationship I possibly, and it just always comes up empty. I'm just always hungry, never satisfied.

Well, friend, I would argue that yours is a spiritual hunger and yours is a hunger that will only be satisfied by the bread of life, Jesus Christ. And he says, whoever comes to me shall not hunger. You can go home full today for the first time ever, if you will come to Jesus, the bread of life.

And it says in one corinthians eleven, for I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And in the same way, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes here in view is certainly the Lord's supper.

That's what we're reading about right now. This is what was called the Last Supper, wherever it was. More than just, you know, a little cube of bread, like we're gonna eat here in a little while. It was a feast. But these two elements were key to it, because Jesus explained here, connecting the dots to the fact that he's the bread of life and his body was broken for you.

And so we make it a point every Sunday to take the Lord's supper because it helps us to. To devote ourselves towards this remembrance of Jesus sacrifice. That right there, that little taste every Sunday, is helping us devote ourselves towards that sacrifice. But what would it look like, friend, if you were to incorporate the breaking of bread with your families and with those who are distant of God, and to let this breaking of bread connect the dots to the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for you and for them, and to use that lowering of inhibitions and that connection, that mysterious, unifying connection of breaking a bread, to use it to see others become saved, because you could talk about the broken body and blood of Jesus even in eating a regular meal.

And then after Jesus died on the cross, so that last supper, the Lord's supper, was the last meal he shared with the disciples. He died on the cross the next morning. He was dead for three days. And then on the third day, he rose again. And he didn't just appear to marry Martha and the twelve disciples, it wasn't just a few people.

It was thousands of people, okay? And when he. One of the stories that I love here is there was this, these two disciples, and it wasn't the twelve, because one of them, I should have wrote it down. His name's Orpheus or something like that. It was not one of the twelve disciples.

It was one of the ones who'd been kind of on, like, the fringes, maybe, and they're kind of, they're just walking along the road. They're going to this city called Emmaus. And then Jesus comes walking up. Now, this is the risen Lord Jesus, okay? And he just walks up to him and he's like, what are you guys talking about?

And they're like, man, haven't you heard? Jesus of Nazareth, Washington, crucified on a cross. Where have you been, man? You've been hiding under a rock. And so he talks to them.

They're going all the way to Emmaus. And then it says in Luke 24, when he, Jesus was at a table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road and while he opened up to us through the scriptures? Is your heart burning this morning for Jesus, as we're talking about Christ?

That burning sensation that you're feeling is the longing in your heart for that bread of life that can only be satisfied by Jesus Christ and not your next meal. You're always going to want more here on earth. You're always going to want that next thing. And you're going to try to convince yourself that you're happy. You're going to post it on social media and try to convince the rest of the world that I got all this stuff, and so I'm happy.

But without Jesus, you will never satisfy that longing, that burning. So I encourage you, friend, today, listen to that burning, and let it be the thing that draws you to Jesus. And maybe you're on the other end of this, and you've already accepted Jesus. Do like he did, and break bread in such an intentional and distinct way that others see Jesus in how you eat. They see Jesus in how you pray prior to eating.

And so I want to share with you this morning, there's this hebrew blessing. You've heard Pastor Gary actually say this before. I don't know that I've ever heard him sing it. And so before we play this video for you, I just want to give a little bit of backstory that this particular prayer has been prayed since the times of the Passover. So that predates Jesus time here on earth.

So when we talk about Jesus breaking bread, it is likely that he prayed this exact prayer. It is also likely that he may have sung this exact tune, because how do things like this get passed on? They get passed on orally and through music. So check this out. Baruch Ataronai.

Eloheinu melech haole kamin Harit. Amen. So that is a hebrew blessing. And so you. You probably can't see it at the bottom, but the english translation of that is, blessed art thou, o Lord our God, king of the universe, who bringeth forth bread from the earth.

Amen. And so they would say this prayer. So here's what I want to do. I played this video for you. We're going to try to practice singing that together.

Let's just see if we can do it. All right, here we go. Try it. Fire it up.

Hamotzil min har.

Okay, so it's the weirdest tune ever. I ain't gonna lie. I was weirded out by it. But it sticks in your head. Get ready.

It's gonna stick in your head, and you're gonna find yourself, you know, trying to say that I practiced this many times this week so I wouldn't make a fool of myself front of you. But I find that it's. There's something about it. And if you think about the blessing that we teach our kids, God is great, God is good. Let us thank him for our food.

Those are good things. By his hands, we all are fed. Give us, Lord, daily bread. There's some similarities even in that prayer. But here we have in the Hamotzi prayer something unique.

And check this out from Jeffrey Miller. He says, now here's the best part. When he talking about Jesus gave thanks for the unleavened bread. We believe, using the age old Hamotzi prayer, which is what we just sang together, he used the words God, dot, dot, dot. We just talked about this translation.

Who brings forth bread from the earth? Messiah had already specifically made the connection between bread and his body. And so therefore, when he says, bring forth bread from the earth, he's talking about the resurrection. He's talking about his own resurrection. This is why the fire burned inside people when he would talk about this, because there was something getting ready to happen.

And when he talked to those men on the road to Emmaus. This thing had already happened, this resurrection. And guess what? If you believe in Jesus Christ, if you confess him as your lord and savior and believe that God, that water bottle don't want to stay, you gotta. If you believe these things, then I believe wholeheartedly because of what we, we find in the scriptures, in the word of God, the true word of God, you will be saved.

And I believe that not only will you will you be saved, but when you die, that because Christ was resurrected, you are now tied to his fate. You will also be resurrected yourself and spend eternity in heaven with God. I believe that wholeheartedly. And so when we talk about who brings forth bread from the earth, it can remind us as we break bread that, hey, there's more coming. Man, this might not have been the greatest physical meal.

I might have only been able to afford ramen tonight, but there's this bread of life that I'm eating of that is more satisfying than the greatest wagyu beef. And I have an eternity in heaven because of the resurrection, because Jesus brought a forth bread from the earth, man, I'm eating that bread today, and that's what I have to look forward to. So there's this connection of physical food with Christ's body as our spiritual food. I've pointed out that we remember it every Sunday. This is a sacred act to take the Lord's supper.

He said to do it in remembrance of him. And it points to the need that we have, the spiritual need. Do you take advantage of the opportunity to break bread with your families, both physical and spiritual, to break bread with those who are far from God and to recognize his provision as you eat, to allow it to unify you together? And do you break bread with one another to remember Jesus sacrifice? I wholeheartedly believe there is something that mysteriously will happen because it's a mystery of God that he has ordained that food would bring us together.

So I would love it this week. If you get back to me, try this out this week. Schedule a meal with somebody and pray together and use it as an opportunity to speak of the things of God together. And tell me if it unified you. Tell me if it caused you to lift your eyes, man.

Tell me if somebody came to Christ, when's the last time that you witnessed somebody be saved? Is it connected to the fact that if it's been a while, have you had a meal with someone who's far from God in a while, maybe the reason we're not seeing more come to Jesus is because we're not breaking bread enough with those who are far from goddess. This week, let's challenge ourselves to these three devotions of recognizing the Lord's provision, being unified with the Lord's family, and remembering the Lord's sacrifice. Will you do that? Let's pray together.

Somebody's here today. And they're burning with hunger right now. They're longing for Jesus. And they know that there's nothing else that will satisfy if that's you this morning. I tell you, friend, that it says in the scriptures that if we confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in our hearts that God rose him from the dead, that we shall be saved.

So would you make that confession with me right now, Jesus? I confess that I am a sinner and I'm far from you. I'm so dirty and messed up, and I need you to clean me. I need you to forgive me. But I also confess that you are lord.

And I want you to be lord of my life. And I believe that you are risen. I believe that you are God. Would you come into my life? Would you satisfy my hunger.

Hunger and make me the type of person you want me to be? Friend, if you prayed that prayer, I believe you've begun the adventure today. I believe that the satisfaction is coming. And that as you continue to take of the bread of life, you will continue to be satisfied. Maybe you're here today and you've prayed that before.

But admittedly, you have isolated.

Not only are you not eating, breaking bread with. With the family of God, but you're also disconnected from God himself because you've stopped taking of the bread of life. Jesus Christ, you've tried to do things on your own. You've tried to satisfy yourself in the worldly stuff again. And you know it was wrong, but you've done it anyway.

Would you pray this with me, Jesus? I confess that I have gone astray here. I pray, Father, that you would satisfy me, that I would lean into you as the bread of life, but also that you would help me to make this devotion towards the breaking of bread. And I pray, God, that you would use it in my life to be a witness to those who are. Who need to be saved.

Help it to be a witness to my own family and to your family as well. And I pray that together as the family of God, that we would recognize your provision. We would be unified as a family and that we would remember your sacrifice. We ask all this in Jesus name. Amen.