The "Bread of Life" Sermon

The “Bread of Life” Sermon

1. What miraculous event had taken place the day before the Savior preached the sermon on the bread of life? (John 6:1-14)

* He feed 5,000 followers with 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fishes. There were even 12 baskets full of excess food.

2. According to John 6:22-26, why were many people seeking out the Savior at this time?

* Due to being fed from Him physically with the bread and fishes they continued to follow Him because they wanted more food. He told the followers, “not because ye saw the miracle, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.”

3. What motivates you to “seek” the Lord today?

* To become better then I currently doing. I want my life, my marriage and my family to be better and I cannot do that without the Lord. It’s only when I “seek” Him that I can have the best outcome. His guidance is needed to get beyond my own understanding.

4. What did the Savior teach in response to these people in John 6:27-51?

* The need to see after Him to receive strength and nourishment. When we turn to Him, it provides strength and nourishment that doesn’t end it’s eternal. They need to believe in Him. Christ is the bread of life and the source of everything that we need in this life. It’s through Him that we gain eternal life and we receive more then just our temporal needs.

5. In John 6:27, the Savior spoke of “the meat which perisheth” and “that meat which endureth unto everlasting life.” Read Matthew 6:19-21, and identify another way the Savior described the difference between that which perishes and that which endures. In what ways do people today labor for “the meat which perisheth” or “that meat which endureth unto everlasting life”?

* In Matthew the Savior describes to us with another way in which things we can place value in perish. What we believe to be our treasures and what we seek as our treasures on earth clarifies whether we are placing importance in worldly cares or with Heavenly Father. When we place more importance on our Heavenly Father, those things can never be taken away from us. They only deteriorate if we don’t nourish it.

* Today, people put a great amount of importance on entertainment and things of the world as if that is a sign of your “good life”. While these things within the world aren’t bad, it’s whether we place greater importance in them rather then our relationship with our Heavenly Father. It truly is labor to seek for “that meat which endureth unto everlasting life” because it requires you to seek Him out during your daily life and to make time for it. When we allow this time to happen, then we allow ourselves opportunities to grow.

6. After the Savior taught the bread of life sermon, what was the response of many of the people described in John 6:60, 66?

* They weren’t able to understand the sermon and they thought that what the Savior was asking of them was hard and they stopped following Him.

7. According to verse 69, what enabled Peter and the other Apostles to respond in this way?

* Peter and the other Apostles have a testimony of the Savior and they believed His words.

8. What examples can you think of (in the scriptures, Church history, or the lives of people you know) where someone responded to a “hard saying” with faith like Peter?

* There are many stories that I have heard about when President Gordon B. Hinckley gave, ”A Prophet’s Counsel and Prayer for Youth” where he gave the 6 B’s and there were and still are some who struggle with the “one modest pair of earrings is sufficient.” But there were some who immediately heeded the prophet’s words without doubt. These types of stories are common. There are some who try to justify what they are doing and take those words to be hard to do, while there are other who never doubt and promptly follow the Lords words.

9. Explain what John 6 teaches you about following Jesus Christ even when it’s not convenient.

* In the world today it is becoming more “inconvenient” to live the gospel and we are bombarded daily with temptations that lead us away from Heavenly Father. If we have a firm testimony in the gospel of Jesus Christ and rely of Him, then we aren’t left alone in this world to just figure things out He will be our guide. We must have our treasure be in Him, we much place ultimate importance on our eternal life. This is what Jesus wants us to do, to follow Him especially when it isn’t convenient.