How are we doing church? Good. All right. You all have a good Christmas. All right. Love to hear it. You guys ready for the new year, though? Ready to leave 20, 25 behind, or are you just looking forward to the next one? The good news is I don't know where you guys are at with your New Year's resolutions. You still have three days to get it done. You guys can do it. I believe in you. I think I'm actually going to get mine this year. I only have £20 to lose in the next three days. So I think we think we're right on track, right where I want to be. But no, we're glad that you guys are here. Every year, as we kind of turn around from Christmas and head into the new year, we do a rhythm series. And when we talk about rhythms, we're talking about spiritual rhythms, or maybe you know them as spiritual disciplines, things that we do to cultivate a love for Jesus. And so that is what we're going to do as we start this morning and go into next week. We're going to talk about Bible in prayer. But before we do that, I want to talk about why we do a series like this. Because it can become just a rhythm. It can become just something we do every single year. And that's not what we want it to become for you guys, because we truly want to have a church that people love coming to. Anyone want to love going to church? Yeah. How? Like, that should be all of us, right? Like, you're here. I want you to want to be here. Like, I want you to love your church. But when you ask people, hey, what. What do you love about your church? Or what makes a church that people love? You get all kinds of different answers. You get answers like, the worship. I love the worship. I love the music. I love the way that they lead us in song. And it's like, that's great. Like, I do, too. I love that, too. But is the music or the worship through singing? Is that what makes a church that people love? Or maybe people point to different ministries in the church. They're like, oh, I love Salt Company. I love our youth ministry. I love our kids ministry. I love the classes. I love gospel pathways. I love all of these things. And that's great. I love those, too. But does that actually make a church that people love? Or they'll say, I love the preaching. Especially when Ian preaches. I love the preaching. Hear that one all the time, right? I don't know why you guys are laughing. That's not a joke. But we hear things like that. It's like we love the preaching. We love preaching God's word, We love opening God's word together. And we're going to continue to do that. But I think there's something deeper that makes a church a church that people love. A church that we as like elders and pastors, a church that we love. And here's what it is. Here's the secret sauce to a church that we love. It's people who abide closely with Jesus. That's what makes a church that we love, that we want to have, that we long to have. You could have a church with all the bells and whistles, all the screens, all the ministries, all the budgets to do all of the things, all the activities. You could have a church that has all of that. But if you don't have people who love and abide closely with Jesus, you're not going to love that church. Or at least we're not going to. But what we really believe is that if we were a church, even with our broken people, our broken ministries, the broken stuff that we have, no matter what, if we were a church that had people who loved Jesus, abided in Jesus, loved the word of Jesus, if we were that kind of people, that would be a church that we love, that we would love to be a part of, that we would love to have. Because that sort of abiding of God's people overflows into everything that we do. It overflows into the way we greet people, it overflows into the way we show hospitality. It overflows into the way that we serve and the way that we give, the way that we interact. When people love Jesus and abide closely with Jesus, that creates a church that we love. And that's the kind of church that we want to have. And if that's the type of church that we want to have and type of church we want to be, then we need to make sure that we don't neglect the practices that make abiding in Christ possible. We need to make sure that we don't neglect the practices that create abiding, growing, maturing, Jesus loving people. And so that's why we do this series, is because we want to remind you guys of the important practices, the important disciplines and rhythms that Christians need to practice so that we can be an abiding people. So like I said, we're going to look at prayer next week. This morning we're going to look at, at the Bible. And so I'm going to spoil my message Right off the bat for you this morning. You guys ready for it? I want you to read your Bible. Shocker, right? Like, I'm glad I came to church this morning. I didn't know that. I want you to read your Bible. Like, that's what I want. I want you to be in it often. I want you to be someone who's just captivated by the word of God. But even judging by the snickers of when I said, I want you to read your Bible, I think that's part of the problem, that we know that we should read the Bible. If you're in here, there's a good chance that you know that Christians should read the Bible, right? But if we're honest, which I know that's a scary thing to be in church, but if we're honest, how many of us actually want to read the Bible Bible. How many of us actually desire to read the Bible? Crave it. It's the thing that we need most in life. All throughout Psalm 119, you get this idea that God's word is sweeter than honey. It's to be desired. It's our joy. It's our life. What happens when it doesn't feel that way to us? And, like, if that's you, like, I. I don't want to, like, cast blame or shame. Like, I can find myself in that place, too. Like, we have four kids. Our youngest is two and a half. For the first year of that boy's life, we never knew if he was going to sleep all night or none of the night. Like, those were the two options. And on the days that he chose to sleep none of the night, guess what? It was really hard to get up early and do read because I wanted sleep instead. Like, I've been there. We've all been there to some extent. But what if there is a secret to not just knowing you should read your Bible, but to actually wanting to read your Bible? What if there's something that makes you crave the word of God, makes it desirable, makes it something that you long for, makes it something that you need, that no matter how tired you are, how stressed you are, how overwhelmed you are, no matter what's going on in your life, that there is something that. That would just make you want God's word, Something that would give you a response similar to what we see from Peter in John chapter six, where he says, you have the words of life. Where else would we go? What if there's something that made you react to Scripture in that way, that made you Say, where else would I go when I'm tired? Where else would I go when I'm needy? Where else would I go when things are going well, when life is going fine, when I'm overjoyed, when I'm successful? Where else would I go then to God's word? What do you need in order to say that with confidence? Where else would I go? With you are the words of life. And so turn to John 6. That's actually where we're going to camp out most of the morning. John chapter six. So as you open there, we're going to start at the end, kind of near the end of John 6. We're going to start in verse 60. So it says, when many of his disciples heard it, they said, this is a hard saying, who can listen to it? This is a hard saying, who can listen to it? And by a hard saying, it's more of like an offensive saying. Not it's hard to understand, but it's hard to be like, really? That's what you mean? It's an offensive statement. It's an offensive teaching that Jesus just got done teaching. And so what is so offensive? I'm glad you asked. We're going to kind of backtrack through John chapter six. We're not going to read all of it. Just want to point out why these disciples. And when it talks about disciples here in this verse, specifically, it's talking about all of the people that were following Jesus at this time. There's probably thousands of people following Jesus right now. And so when it's talking about disciples, that's what it's talking about. It's not talking about just the 12 apostles. It's talking about all of these people who are following Jesus. And we want to know what was so offensive to them? What was this hard saying? And so when you look at John chapter 6, we see that Jesus feeds the 5,000 miraculously. So we see that at the beginning of John 6, miraculously feeds over 5,000 people. It's awesome, right? Like, sweet miracle that we see Jesus do. Here's the issue. The disciples, these followers of Jesus, they see that Jesus feeds the 5,000, and now they want to make him king. They're like, oh, this is it. This is the Promised One. This is the Messiah. He's going to free us from Rome. Like, let's make him king now. And so Jesus knows this because he's Jesus. And he withdraws, he leaves and he sends out his disciples. And then he closely he follows by later walking on water, another really cool thing There's a lot of cool stuff in the Bible, guys. You should read it. But. But. So he walks on water, gets to his disciples, but then the crowd finds him. These disciples find him. These followers of him find him. And we see that they're chasing after Jesus not because they want more of Jesus, but because they want more of what Jesus can give them physically. They want more food. They're looking for a free lunch. That's what they're looking for. And so that's what we see happening. And then this is what Jesus says in verse 26. He says, Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. And then he continues in verse 27. This is where he starts to kind of dig into them a little bit. He says, do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on him, God the Father has set his seal. So he's saying, hey, don't work for food that's going to perish. Don't work for food that's going to make you hungry again, work for the food that doesn't perish. And so they're like, okay, that sounds good to us. What do we need to do? And then so Jesus responds in verse 29, this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent. So you want to know what you need to do to get this bread? This bread that doesn't perish. You need to believe in me. And so these people, they're like, okay, but why should we? Give us a sign? Like, what sign can you give us that would make us believe in you? Which is kind of funny because he literally just performed a miracle the day before. He just fed them a ton of bread with a little bit of bread and fish with a little bit of fish. He just multiplied all that. And they want a sign. It's like, I just gave you a sign. Which that can be kind of like us too, right? Like, we get so focused on what we want from God that we forget what he's already provided for us. And so that's what these followers are doing. They're like, okay, give us a sign if you want us to believe in you. Why? I mean, even Moses, when he brought our fathers out of Egypt, he gave them manna in the wilderness. What are you going to give us? And so this is where Jesus really starts to get offensive to them. This is where he really Starts to dig into them. He says, well, actually, it wasn't Moses that gave you bread. It was God. Stop thinking as highly as you do of Moses. Okay? So that's offensive. And then he said, the bread that he gave you was temporary. There's true bread that gives true life. Okay? So not only is Moses not as good as they think he is, the bread that he gave wasn't as good as they think it is. And then he says, I am the bread of life that came down from heaven. And then we get to the point where he says he tells them to eat his flesh and drink his blood. I think that's the one that really did them in, though. Jesus is offending them left and right here. This is the hard teaching that brings us back to verse 60 where it says, this is a hard or offensive saying. Who can listen to it? They're offended. And they're offended because one Jesus, he says, Moses doesn't have the kind of authority that you think he. That you think he has. And so he kind of flips their religious. Religious tradition on its head, saying, moses doesn't have the kind of authority that you think he does. I have better authority than Moses. And then they're also offended because Jesus doesn't fit the mold of their expectations. They wanted him to be king. They wanted him to deliver them from Rome. But Jesus had different plans. So he doesn't fit their religious expectations. He flips their religious framework work all on their head. Then now he's saying not only is he the bread of life, but that they need to eat his body and drink his blood. This is a pretty offensive thing that Jesus is telling this group of Jewish followers that Moses doesn't have the authority that he says he does. I actually have more authority than him. That Moses didn't give you the best bread, but I give you the best bread. In fact, I am the best bread. And. And now you need to eat my flesh and drink my blood. You can see why that they're offended. But ultimately, I think it comes down to this. The ultimate reason why they're offended, why this is a hard and offensive thing for them to believe, is because of the identity that Jesus claims. The thing that is so offensive to them is the identity that Jesus claims to have. That he is life, that he is the bread of life, that he is the only one that can offer true and lasting life. That would be offensive for them. And that's offensive for us today too. You try telling people, hey, the only way you can have real, lasting, eternal life is Through Jesus, in a culture that claims to offer so many ways to have abundant, satisfied, fulfilled, eternal life, says, it doesn't need to be Jesus. It can be this or it can be that. It's offensive when you say Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. But not only was Jesus's claim to be life offensive, but Jesus claimed to have ultimate authority offensive. And I think maybe for our culture, that's even more offensive to us. Like, I don't think we would have a problem or people today would have a problem with saying, Jesus has more authority than Moses. Cool. I'll give you that. But what about when you start to say, hey, also, Jesus has more authority than your government? Or what about when you start to say Jesus has more authority than you? Jesus has more authority over your life than you have over your life. Jesus has more authority over you than your wants, your desires, your longings, your cravings, your plans. That's really offensive today. That's really offensive to a people who don't know Jesus, that you would say that they don't have authority over their own life. What? But Jesus does. Jesus is offending them left and right over the claim of who he is. And here's why we need to get this. Because if you want to be someone who craves God's Word, you first have to have a right understanding of God's son. You're not going to care about His Word. You're not going to desire His Word, you're not going to listen to His Word, you're not going to obey His Word if you don't rightly understand who he is. And so Jesus is telling his fathers, this is who I am. I am the bread of Life. I'm the better Moses. I'm the better manna. I have all authority. They don't really like that too much. But if we really want to crave God's Word, we have to start here with understanding who Jesus is, that he is life, and that he has all authority. So that's the hard saying. Who can listen to it? Let's keep going. But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to him, do you take offense to this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? And so Jesus understands that they're offended. He gets that because he's Jesus, right? Like, he understands the feelings that the people have around Him. So he understands they're offended. But here's what he does. He says, hey, you think you're offended now? What if you see the Son of Man raised back up? What do you. What if you see me raised back up to where I came from, at the right hand of God Almighty? What about then? And so he's offended them. And now he says something like this. And this saying, it's going to do a couple of things for some people. It's going to add to the offense. We're like, oh, you say that you're the bread of life. You say you have authority, and now you say you're going back to the Father from where you came. So like you're giving yourself equality with God. That adds to the offense here for some people, but also it takes away the offense for some people. Because if some people were to see the Son of God, Jesus Christ, raised back up and ascended back to the Father, that means that what he said is true, that he is who he said he is. And so that removes offense. It gives a reason for belief, not for offense. And so Jesus is saying here, he's saying, hey, you're offended now. What if you saw me raised up? What then? And what I love about this interaction, or this part of the interaction specifically, is how Jesus handles offensive truths. Because what does Jesus do? He says a lot of hard stuff. He's offended a bunch of people, but he doesn't walk it back. He doesn't try and make it seem more approachable. He doesn't try to make it seem less offensive. He doesn't try to nuance it or apologize for it. He doubles down. He holds the line like he stands on business, like that's what Jesus is doing here. And I think we need to take note of that. I think oftentimes we shy away from saying hard things because we don't want to be offensive. And then when we say something offensive, we try to nuance it. We try and skirt our way around it a little bit. We try to make it seem easier to hear. But guys, the gospel is offensive first and foremost because the gospel says you are a sinner, deserving hell, eternal punishment from God. That's what the gospel says. That's offensive. The gospel says, pick up your cross and follow me. That sounds offensive. You need to lose your life to find your life. Unless you hate your mother, your father, your brother, your sister, or even yourself, you can't follow me. That sounds pretty offensive. Guys, the truth of the gospel is an offensive truth. And I think we so often try to make the gospel non offensive. We try to apologize for the hard things. We try to qualify and nuance it. But Just because something is challenging and offensive doesn't mean that it's wrong. And just because something is challenging and offensive doesn't mean that you shouldn't say it. Jesus challenges them, he offends them, but he doesn't back down. He doesn't nuance it. He holds the line. He's doubling down on who he is. He's doubling down that he is true life, that he is sent from God, that he is God, that he will return to God, that he is the only source of life. Jesus is doubling down on saying who he is. And then Jesus keeps on going. Verse 63 says, it is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh is no help at all. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who don't believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe and who it was who would betray him. And Jesus said to him, or and he said, this is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father. I want to bring your attention back to verse 63 because this is where I really want us to gain some good understanding. Because in verse 63, Jesus says it is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh is no help at all. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. Guys, Jesus is showing us something foundational here. He's saying it is the Holy Spirit who gives life. And guess what my words are spirit and life. My words are what gives life through the Holy Spirit. And my words are life through the Holy Spirit. He's saying it's my words that give life and salvation. And it's my words that are life, sustenance. That's what Jesus is getting at. Here we see the life giving nature of the Word of God. And we see the life sustaining nature of the Word of God. And we see this in other places too. We see in Romans 10 the life giving nature of the Word of God. In Romans 10 it says this starting in verse 13 for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us. So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word Christ. What Paul is saying is that true life comes from hearing the Word of God preached. True life comes from the very words of God. That's where life is found. That's where life is given. The Holy Spirit moves through the Word of God to give life to people who hear in faith. So that's what Paul is saying. He's pointing out the life giving nature of Scripture, but it's not just life giving, it's life sustaining. See, this whole conversation that Jesus is having with these followers, it would have reminded them of their forefathers coming out of Egypt, being in the wilderness, being fed manna from heaven. And we know this because they even bring it up right as the followers are saying, hey, give us a sign like Moses gave us, who gave our fathers bread from heaven. Like they're already going there. And so as Jesus talking about being the bread of life that comes down from heaven, there's a very good chance that all the listeners would have thought back to the Israelites leaving Egypt. They would have thought back to their time in the wilderness and their time being fed manna from heaven. That's what they would have gone back to. And because most of them had a lot of the Old Testament, especially those first five books memorized, there's a good chance they would have even gone specifically to Deuteronomy 8 with their head. And so I want to read this for you. Deuteronomy 8, verses 2 and 3. This is after they're getting ready to go into the promised land, or right before they go into the promised land, says, and you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these 40 years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and he let you hunger and he fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. There's a good chance this is what they would have been thinking about, that Jesus is alluding to. And see, Jesus is wanting them to put the pieces together. He's wanting them to do a little bit of math here, right? He's saying, remember your fathers, they were in the wilderness, they were fed bread from heaven, but guess what? They were still hungry for it. Every single day, every single day, they needed more bread from heaven. Every single day, they needed to be sustained more and more and more. And then God says, you don't live by bread alone, but you live by every word that comes out of my mouth. Then you fast forward all of these years later, and the same thing is happening. Jesus had just fed them miraculously. And what do they do? They want more bread. They're hungry for more bread, say, give us more. And Jesus is wanting them to put the picture together. He's wanting them to connect the dots. They still longed for more. And Jesus is saying the same thing to them that Yahweh said to their fathers. You don't live by bread alone, but by the words that come out of my mouth. He's saying my words, life. My words are what sustain you. My words are what nourish you guys. And this wasn't just something they needed to hear, but something we need to hear as well. Because just like these disciples, we often we just want God to provide for us the way we want him to provide for us. We just want God to provide physically for us over and over and over again without realizing that he offers us something better. We want Jesus to provide physically. We want satisfied bellies more than we want satisfied souls. That was their problem. And that's our problem. That we want Jesus to heal our cancer, provide for our bills, to give us a spouse, to then change our spouse, to make them more like we want them to be, to give us children and then change our children so that they actually listen to us. Like, we want Jesus to provide all these physical things for us. We want him to do all of this. But that's not what we need most, what we need to hear. So we don't live by bread alone. We live by every word that comes from the mouth of God. The Word of God should be more satisfying to us than our desires, than our families, than our careers. Then all those things, all those things should pale in comparison to the Word of God that gives life. We don't live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the Word of God should outweigh all of that. Our craving for God's Word should outweigh all of those things, guys. And I think that's why, like, I know we're talking about Bible reading and God's Word, but this seems like a good time to talk about fasting for a second. Because when we fast, when we withhold food from ourself, what we are saying is we're saying we agree with this. We agree with God's word. We agree that we don't live on bread alone, but by every Word that comes out of the mouth of God. We agree that this is more sustaining to our souls than food ever could be to our bodies. So I want to encourage you, maybe you need to practice the discipline of fasting periodically, regularly, because you need to remind yourself that you don't live by bread alone. And you need to take time to meditate on God's word, to dwell on it, to crave it, to grow your longing for it. Guys, it's in this teaching that Jesus is proclaiming that His Word gives life, in His Word, sustains life. In His Word people find salvation, and in His Word people find sustenance. And when you hear this, there's two different responses that you can have. And we see both of those responses in this text. Go back to John chapter six. We see both of these responses. We'll look at the first One in verse 66 says, after this, many of his disciples turned back, they no longer walked with him. These people who had been following Jesus, listening to his teachings, wanting to be around him, they heard something hard, they heard something they didn't like and they got offended. And what is their response? To turn around and walk away. To turn around and walk away. Because as a pastor, like that is a fear for the people. That is a fear for me, for the people in this room that you're coming around, you're hearing the words of Jesus, you're singing the songs, you're checking it out, but you don't actually believe Jesus. You don't believe in who he is. Like that's why we said at the beginning you need to understand who the Son of God is. If you're going to love the word of God. And there might be so many of you in here this morning where you don't truly believe in who Jesus is. And you're going to hear something offensive, you're going to hear truth that you don't like. And your response is going to be, I'm turning around and walking away. That's so incredibly sad that you would walk away from the Savior of the world all because you don't like the fact that he's in charge of everything and he's the only one who gives life. It's sad, but at least it's honest. At least there's integrity in what these so called followers of Jesus are doing. They're saying, actually, I don't like this, I don't believe this, I'm going to go do my own thing, I'm done following you. At least there's integrity with that. Because what we're seeing here is a logical conclusion to, to understanding who Jesus is. You either understand and believe that Jesus is who he says he is, or you don't. And if you don't believe that Jesus is who he says he is, that he is the bread of life, that he has come down from heaven, that he will go back to the Father. And if you don't believe that, your response is to turn away and stop following. That's the first response. Like I said, at least there's integrity in that. Because I think there's far too many people who claim to be followers of Jesus, that claim to love him and follow him, yet pretend like half of what he says isn't actually true. They say, yeah, I believe in Jesus, I just don't like the things that he said. I believe in Jesus. I just don't submit to the word of God. I pick and choose the teachings that I like. I pick and choose the truths that I want to submit my life under. And that's not how it works. You can't claim to know Jesus, believe in Jesus, and follow Jesus and not submit to his every word. That's not an option. And so at least they have integrity. But here's the second option. So Jesus said to the 12 after they had left, Jesus says to the 12, do you want to go away as well? Simon Peter answered him, lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have believed and we have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. To where shall we go? Like, I love the answer that Peter gives here. He doesn't give a yes or no. He doesn't answer straightforward, but he gives a logical reasoning. He says, jesus, we've come to believe. We believe that you are the Holy One of God. We believe that you are who you say you are. And the only logical response say, where else would we go? You're the bread of life. You were sent from heaven. You're going back to your Father someday. You have the words of eternal life. Like, where else would we go? There's nothing better than being with you. There's nothing better than hearing your words, Church. That's what I want our response to be. Where else would we go? This is the words of eternal life. This is the word of God that gives life to our souls, that gives us salvation. This is the life that sustains our bodies and our souls. This is what actually gives us nourishment for our body. Where else would we go? You see, Peter understood that if Jesus is the Holy One of God. There's nothing better than than his words. Do you understand that? Do you get that. In him are the words of life. And when you rightly see Jesus for who he is, and you rightly believe in Jesus as the bread of life, you crave His Word because you know that it is life. When you rightly see Jesus as life, you crave His Word because you know that that's where real life is found. You know that's what sustains you. Know that it's not food alone. You know that it's not your family alone, not your bank account alone, your 401k alone. You know none of those things actually sustain you. What sustains you is the very word of God. And you start to see the Bible not as something that you just do to add to your life, but you see the Bible as your very source of life that you have. That's what I want our response to be. So what do we need to know? You need to know that Jesus is life and His Word sustains life. That Jesus is life and His Word sustains life. That through His Word we are given it and it sustains us. And when you see Jesus as life and His Word is what sustains life, where else would you go? Where else would you go then, to God's Word? Where else would you go when you're tired? Where else would you go when you're stressed? Where else would you go when you're sad and lonely and anxious? Than the Word of God because it sustains you. It gives you what you need. So what do we do with all this? We see Jesus as life. That's the first thing we have to do. We have to see Jesus as the life that he is, see him as the bread of life. Some of you, you need to see him as that for the very first time. Because you've been blind. You've been blind to the reality of who Jesus is. This morning I pray that the Holy Spirit would take the scales off of your eyes, that he would give you a heart that can have faith in him, that he would give you new life, that he would give you eyes to see that Jesus is true, lasting, eternal life. That you would see Jesus as life for the very first time this morning. If that's you, please come down front at the end of the message. We'd love to talk to you about it. We'd love to talk to you about what life following Jesus looks like, what it means to believe in him for life. But some of you, you believe that Jesus is life, but you need to see him as life for the thousandth time time this morning that you need to remind yourself that life isn't found in any of these other places, but true, lasting life is only found in Christ. You need to be reminded that you were dead in your trespasses and sins. You were an enemy of God, but Christ came so that you could have life, so that you could have it abundantly, so that you could have it with the Father for eternity. You need to be reminded of that. You need to see Jesus as the bread of life this morning. So see him as life. And as you see him as life, the only response, or one of the responses at least, is you feed on His Word for living. You feed on His Word for living because you know that it's His Word that gives life and sustains life. And so just really practically go grab a Bible reading plan from the bookstore before you head home this morning. Start the new year off saying, I'm going to feed on God's Word because I have seen and believed that Jesus is the Holy One of God. And if that's too much work, let's make it even more simple. All right? Pick one book and read it as many times as you can this month. Not like any book. Like a book from here would be great. Pick one book, read it as many times as you can this month. Maybe even read First John. That's our next book. Study how sweet would it be if, as we're going through First John, you've just been saturated in it. Feast on the Word of God because it gives real, lasting life when you're tired. Feed on His Word because it's not life when you're lonely. Feed on His Word because it's life. And when things are going well, feed on His Word because it's better life than anything else that you're experiencing. Feed on it day after day. Eat it. Feast on it. Consume it. Be like the prophet Jeremiah who ate the words of God, and the words of God became joy and his desire and his delight. Be like the prophet Ezekiel, who ate the Word of God, and though it was bitter to the stomach, it was hard to swallow, it was sweet to the taste. Be like the old pastor Charles Spurgeon, who understood that the laws of God were the daily bread of the true Christian. Be like the woman in our church suffering from cancer, who knows that this is what sustains her, this is what gives her life. Be like the family struggling through loss and miscarriage that understands that this is where life is found. This is where nourishment is found. This is where comfort is found. Be like the tired mom and dad struggling with work, with parenting, struggling to keep a healthy marriage. That know that this, that the words of God is the nourishment that they need more than anything else. Feast on the word of God. Crave the word of God and you crave the word of God. When you understand who Jesus is, that he is life and that His Word sustains life, may we see it in that way. We're going to get ready to take communion in a minute. And communion is one of the ways that we remember who Jesus is, that he is the bread of life, that he is life, that he sustains it. So as you take communion, as you partake in the bread that represents his body and the juice that represents his blood, and remember that his body was broken, that the command of eat my body and drink my blood, we can symbolize that in communion where we are sustained by the sacrifice of Christ. And so take some time, reflect on your heart. And then when you're ready, take the bread, take the juice. Be reminded of Jesus body, which is the bread of life that sustains you. Let's pray. Father, your word is life. Thank you for giving it to us. God, we pray that we would love your word more than anything else. God, give us that desire, give us that longing, give us that craving that can only be satisfied through your word. God, may we feast on your word. People who love your word, abide closely to you. God, we love you. Help us to love you more. It's in Jesus name, Amen.