Tag: bread of life

January 18th 2026: John Funnell

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“Give us day by day our daily bread.” (Luke 11:3).

To watch this service, please click on the link to our YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/1SIXK2a3rU4?si=jwivMjTmWCuCTcig

This verse comes from the prayer that the Lord have us. It is a prayer from an eternity of fellowship within the God-head.

Each word in this prayer has been chosen specifically and derives from God Himself who delivers it to us. The timing of these words is also significant. It comes after acknowledging that God is Father and in recognising where He is (heaven), and it also comes after the declaration that His will is paramount (Luke 11:2). Only after these important things do we get this attention to our daily needs.

            As a first lesson then, always put God first. When you come to prayer, give attention to the worship of God and remember who He is and what He has done before making any supplications. Joy in the Christian life only comes when we know Him truly through saving faith. The knowledge of God (truly) necessarily leads to the worship of God, for to know Him is to love Him. We worship God for whom He is and not just for what He gives us. To live truly, is to live for God. Job declared: “I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). When we are absorbed with love for God, food no longer has prime place. When the Lord Jesus was urged to take something to eat by the disciples after He had spoken to the woman of Samaria at the well, He declared: “I have food to eat of which you do not know,” and then when the disciples were puzzled about this, Jesus went on and said: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:32-34). When a young man falls in love with a girl he can barely eat! So, Christians can only be happy if God is first in their lives.

Bread. The small things of life.

            The Greek word for bread actually means the basic essentials of life, not just bread. In some cultures that do not use bread as a basic staple in their diet they may well have some other word suggested in this text. The point is that the request is for the basic essentials of life. We are speaking of ‘needs’ here and not ‘luxuries.’ Now this reminds us instantly of how God works. He blesses us through the small things in life. Take for example the wonderful miracle of gathering in the manna as recorded in Exodus 16:14f. The Israelites were told to gather this manna that settled on the ground each day for their needs. They were explicitly told not to gather a surplus and hoard this for the next day because it would go rotten (Exodus 16:16,19). But some ignored the instruction and out of greed gathered more than they needed.

Consider also the story of the widow who had a small jar of oil left in the house as recorded in 2 Kings 4:2f.  Elisha the prophet told her to gather lots of vessels and to pour the oil from the jar into the vessels. The Lord blessed this widow from a small jar of oil. Out of the lord’s provision she was enabled to pay off her debts and have what she needed. Or think also of Gideon who had 32,000 men in his army but faced 135,000 men in the opposing force (Gideon 7). Gideon thought ‘we cannot do this,’ ‘we are outnumbered.’ What did the Lord do? He made Gideon whittle down his army to just 300 men!

            And then consider the fact that in Bethlehem long ago there was a weak baby boy lying helpless and in need in a manger, utterly reliant upon his teenage mother. How could this work out? And yet this baby boy was none other than Immanuel, God with us, and He broke the curse of sin though His sacrificial death at Calvary.

Bread. Our daily need.

            God loves to bless people in the small things. We think we need all sorts of things in life but what we really need is this baby boy and this mighty Saviour whom to the world looks weak and impotent as He lay dying on the cross, but to us He is life! Now the Lord loves to bless not only in the small things but also even in the impossible things too. In Luke 16:10 we hear from the Saviour: “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much” (Luke 16:10). If we had an abundance, we could easily be led astray by our own greed and sin. Those who seek riches are those who “fall into temptation and a snare,” because “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” and some who have gone this way have “strayed from the faith in their greediness,” (1Timothy 6:9,10). A covetous or greedy man has no inheritance in the kingdom of God (Ephesians 5:5). James points out that Christians sometimes “ask amiss” in their seeking for pleasure and the things of this world (James 4:3,4). Thankfully, the Lord mercifully withholds some things we seek for. So, we should ask for our needs and avoid greed. Our joy does not come from what we have, although He is a wonderful giver, but it comes from knowing Him.

            We ask for our daily bread but know too that the Lord loves to give! We have abundant testimony to this in Scripture. For example, the Psalmist exhorts us to delight in the Lord:

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4,5).

When we delight in the Lord we find that he will also give us the desires of His heart because our hearts will be in tune with His. James also speaks to us of the goodness of God in giving wisdom:

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. (James 1:16,17).

How easily we can be deceived by the world’s trinkets! The Lord delights to give wisdom to the lowly and humble, to such as have true faith (Proverbs 2:6,7). What an incredible God who demonstrates His love to us in the giving of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Romans 5:8; Colossians 2:3). If we are overrun with difficulties God gives grace (Ephesians 2:8). If we face times of conflict or anger against us, God gives peace (John 14:27). In those times when we have had enough and want to run away He gives us a new start, a new beginning, a new creation (2Corinthians 5:17). When we are weak, alone, and without strength, He gives us His strength (Philippians 4:13). When we are lost and without hope, the Lord gives us hope (Romans 15:13).

Bread. Communion in fellowship.

            To end our message note that the statement we are looking at is: “give us ..” not “give me ..” We are commanded to walk and live in a community with other brothers and sisters in the faith. Our plea for daily bread is a corporate one. As the body of Christ we seek the Lord for all our daily needs, and we do this together in fellowship with one another. Christ, in His infinite wisdom, calls us to make requests in community. The Lord Jesus is not a vending machine. We are not simply to ask and receive blessings and then go off on our own way. We are a family. The world will come to know that we are Christ’s disciples if we truly love one another (John 13:35). Our gathering together draws our focus upon the Lord and not upon our own self-indulgences. We seek what he wants and desires and not what we want.

September 15th 2024: John Mann

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1 Samuel 21:1-9 Faith in difficult times

Liars need good memories! Having lied once, the second time is easier, the third one easier still. David, God’s chosen king, is finding life difficult. Saul has become very jealous of David and has sought to take David’s life. David is finding the way hard and it is damaging his integrity. Fear is chipping away at David’s principles. His walk with God is compromised.

Sadly, lying is becoming a habit. David is seeking to escape from Saul. As he plans his escape his says to his friend Jonathan, “If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’” (1 Samuel 20:6). It is a blatant lie, a total fabrication. He is concocting a false alibi. In so doing, he makes Jonathan complicit in the deceit as well. The world would say, ‘The end justifies the means. Needs must, a white lie causes no harm.’ But the Bible is very clear – we are to be truthful at all times, even those times when we find the going difficult.

David escapes under rives in the town of Nob, where the Tabernacle has been established and where the priests are there to carry out their daily duties. He arrives not far short of destitute – virtually nothing and no one with him. He hopes to find some assistance in the Tabernacle. Ahimelech is a friend, but he is anxious. He knows Saul is out for David’s blood. It is also the Sabbath day. David would not normally travel alone on this day. David senses Ahimelech’s mind. He is afraid he won’t give him the help he needs so he invents a pack of lies, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” (v2-3). He says he is on a hush-hush mission. David comes to the priest for support and food.

Fear has lowered his standards. Desperation and deception have overcome his faith and his trust in God. On many occasions God has proved His faithfulness to David: spared him from harm, protected his life. This is the man who took on and defeated Goliath, the ten foot giant. God had appointed Samuel to anoint him to be the king of Israel. You would think David would feel untouchable, knowing that he is under the protection of the sovereign God. But he is suffering from spiritual amnesia. God’s goodness has become a dim and a distant memory. He is depending on own initiative and his own ingenuity to see him through this difficult time. He has decided to go it alone without seeking God’s help. He resorts to deception and lies.

We cannot justify David’s actions, but we are in no position to criticise. We have all felt the heat and burden of the day in our Christian lives. Do I deal with anxiety any better than David when the pressure is on? Does fear and anxiety get to me? Where is my first port of call when things get difficult? Is it the throne of grace?

We can learn from David’s failure. We go through the trials. If we turn to the Lord, we can find Him closer than ever. He is our God. He is faithful, shaping us more into the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4). That is God’s invitation as He takes us through difficulties. It is always for our good. When the Lord leads us down difficult paths, it is always for our own good and blessing. There may be torrents of hardship, floods of sadness, but God will always keep our heads above water and be with us. We won’t be completely consumed. If there are hardships that come your way, we need to look to Him, the Father of all mercies and the God of all comfort.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:26-27). These are the promises of Jesus Himself. Every promise is a blessing to us, and we should hold onto them.

David’s circumstances were desperate and he had legitimate concerns. He fell into the trap of falling away from the Lord. Thankfully, God never took His eyes from David, or from us. David is hungry but all Ahimelech has is the holy bread of presence. The loaves were renewed every Sabbath day, but they were only to be eaten by Aaron and his sons, the priests. The bread also pointed forward to God’s great provision, that of satisfying our spiritual hunger. “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. 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 whoever comes to me I will never 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 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:35-40).

In Bible times bread was the staple diet of the people for physical existence and well-being. Without the bread of life, Jesus, there is no possibility of spiritual life. He is fundamental and essential to our eternal existence. If we refuse to feed on Him by faith, then we starve ourselves of life and we will be afflicted, as David was. Are you feeding upon the bread of life, the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you looking to Him for your spiritual and eternal well-being?

David’s need is legitimate; he is suffering from real hardship and is desperate. He requires assistance. God had made provision for such circumstances. Compassion and kindness is more important than the law. The law was an incentive to lead them in God’s ways, but not a set of handcuffs to bind the people. There was no allowance which permitted anyone but Aaron and his sons to eat the bread. But the spirit of the law allows love and compassion.

“One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:23-28).

The Levitical law gave Jesus the right to pick the grain for those who were hungry and in need. God makes provision for all our needs. He provides that spiritual help and strength in times of difficulty. Jesus came to be the instigator and fulfiller of the new covenant. Praise God the Lord Jesus came and did what we could not do for ourselves. All that the Lord does is to reveal our sin and show us the need for salvation. Jesus came to obey the law for us. It frees us from the condemnation of sin. We are a privileged people. God has drawn us, opened our eyes to see the need for salvation.

For David, in his desperate situation, he was entitled to eat of the bread from the Tabernacle. But, as a result of David’s deceit, if we read on, so much grief and tragedy resulted. For us, as believers, obedience to God’s law is important. But now, it is written on our hearts. Jesus has fulfilled that law. We should have a desire and honour to please Him.

We cannot use grace as an excuse to live our lives as we please. God’s commandments show He wants us to live in accordance to His ways. He wants us to be good ambassadors for the Lord Jesus Christ. We are saved by grace, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We should long to walk in God’s ways. We should have total reliance on the promises of God.

For unbelievers, failing to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, their situation is even more desperate than David’s. They are eternal souls are in grave danger. God says you are invited, welcome to eat of the bread of life.

Satan is the father of lies. He will whisper deceit into our minds. Don’t believe this nonsense that you can get by on your own. None of us are good enough to come into the presence of a holy, righteous God, unless we are covered in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you clothed in garments of salvation?

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Look only to the one who says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.  If we are children of the living God we have that wonderful, eternal future that lies before us, when we will see Him, our Saviour, face to face.

12th March 2017: Pete Hilder

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John 6: 1-40

Pete Hilder - March 2017The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 is in all four gospels. Here, in John 6, we read of three miracles: Jesus feeds the 5,000, Jesus walks on water and is verse 21 the disciples were teleported to their destination. The disciples had rowed for hours, making little progress, then Jesus teleports their boat, ‘Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.’ (John 6:21). The disciples had experiences three miracles, now the crowd expected one.

As they arose the next day the crowd wondered where Jesus was. Only one boat had left and that just had the disciples in. Where did Jesus go? Knowing the disciples were in Capernaum, the crowd decided to go travel there in boats. They put effort in to find Jesus. ‘When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”’ (John 6:25). This may have had a tinge of annoyance. They wanted Jesus as their king but He had wandered off. ‘Perceiving then that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by Himself.’ (John 6:15). Jesus, in His answer, doesn’t seem to be very impressed, ‘Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.”’ (John 6:26). They were seeking Him but their motives were wrong; they wanted an experience. They wanted more of what they had. We can be like that – searching for the experience. Jesus uses the bread as a spiritual picture, ‘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.’ (John 6:27).


If you wanted bread today you would need money. The people talk about labouring for God, ‘Then they said to Him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”’ (John 6:28). Jesus says no-one can earn this blessing. ‘Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”’ (John 6:29). God requires us to believe, we can’t earn this bread. We must trust in the Son. It is a gift we cannot buy.


Today, there is a best before date’ on a packet of bread. We check the label to see if it’s fresh and will taste good. Jesus 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 (v.27). Jesus speaks of a different bread, a bread that endures, it goes on for eternity, never needing to be replaced. But the crowd aren’t satisfied, ‘So they said to Him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?”’ (John 6:30).  They want a guarantee. We can’t have a guarantee for a loaf of bread from a baker. The people wanted proof. They want heavenly bread that Moses gave, ‘Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”’ (John 6:31). They had their own idea of how they wanted God to save them. We can be just like this ourselves, wishing we could have seen miracles during Jesus’ time. We want stipulate the way we want God to provide for us.

The manufacturer and the brand name. May be sometimes we go somewhere and have a really nice slice of bread or cake and we want the recipe or want to know what shop it came from. Jesus is saying to the people, ‘you’ve got the wrong manufacturer.’ ‘Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.”’ (John 6:32). It wasn’t Moses who gave the bread, but God. We need to realise there’s something far more special and wonderful to get right with God. ‘This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds o this bread will live forever.”’ (John 6:58). Ultimately, the bread of Moses did not save the people. We are to take the real heavenly bread – Jesus’ bread – the brand name we’re after. Jesus says, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’ (John 6:35). He is the food we need for our souls.

Most of us have bread every day. If we lives in a less well-off culture we’d probably eat more bread, but we have more choice. Bread is a staple food. It equals life. This is the case spiritually speaking, it doesn’t cost anything, it endures. If we don’t have this bread we will starve. There is no other way of feeding our souls and sustaining a spiritual life. We must receive this bread.

What are the benefits of this bread? If you look at the details on the packet, you see the goodness and energy it provides. The benefits of Jesus’ bread is far more, it has wonderful spiritual benefits.

  • You shall not go hungry if you receive Jesus Christ. Spiritually speaking you won’t require anything else (v.35)
  • You will never thirst. (v. 35)
  • You’ll never be driven away from God, you’ll be welcomed in. (v. 37)
  • You’ll never be lost, you’ll be saved, secure. (v.39)
  • You’ll be raise up on the last day, it leads to the resurrection.

(v. 39)

  • You will have eternal life (v.40).

Isn’t this the quest of humanity? It is freely offered to you, a bread that gives eternal life. It has unique benefits, nothing else comes close.

Perhaps you’ve been let down. Sometimes food looks great but it lets us down, it hasn’t lived up to our expectations. But this bread has the name of the Father and the Son on it. He guarantees it. Jesus Christ, the bread of life, fulfils all of the above. Nobody can snatch us away, God is all powerful to do the things He has promised.