1. "Conversion is kind of like that. Stories we've heard before, phrases, expressions, all of a sudden are clothed in our minds with fresh understanding and additional significance. All at once understanding begins to flood into our minds. What we've thought about Jesus undergoes a change. And with that change, we rethink ourselves."

2. "His very teaching was forcing people to move on from trying to understand what He was saying and what He was doing to the very question of who Jesus was. Who was it that could teach like this? Who knew such things? Who was it who could heal like this? Who could make claims like His claims?"

3. "You and I don't have to know how God will solve our problems in order to be confident that He will solve them. He has shown Himself to be amazingly creative in the way He cares for His children."

4. "One thing we learn here is that we don't need to fear that we will ever face a trouble that's beyond Christ's ability to handle. Because such troubles do not exist. There is no trouble that's beyond His ability to handle."

5. "The additional pain that comes along with any trial of fearing that it will exhaust us and outlast us, need not be ours. If we are in Christ, we will outlast any trial we ever come into."

6. "Brothers and sisters, our poverty is never enough to impede God's riches. Our poverty is never enough to stop God. So if you are someone beyond normal human help right now in sickness or in brokenness, here is hope that God is sufficient, even for you, in your situation."

7. "The apparent need and the apparent provision, in contrast, form the platform for God's fully sufficient providence."

8. "Don't mistake the eternal significance of those things we do in obedience to God. Don't judge your life or your actions by this world's standards because this world's standards are messed up."

9. "The right perspective on this story has all the lines converging on Jesus, drawing our attention to Jesus. It was Jesus who solved the problem. It was Jesus who satisfied the hungry. It was Jesus who provides for those who have nothing."

10. "Jesus did not come only to provide a banquet or even to host one. He came to be a banquet for us."

Observation Questions

1. According to Matthew 14:13-14, what was Jesus' initial response when He heard about John the Baptist's death, and what did He do when He saw the great crowd that had followed Him?

2. In Matthew 14:15-16, what did the disciples suggest Jesus do about the hungry crowd, and how did Jesus respond to their suggestion?

3. What resources did the disciples report having available in Matthew 14:17, and what did Jesus instruct them to do with these resources in verse 18?

4. According to Matthew 14:19, what specific actions did Jesus take before distributing the food to the crowd?

5. What was the outcome of Jesus' provision as described in Matthew 14:20-21, including both the satisfaction of the people and what remained afterward?

6. In John 6:35 and 48-51, referenced in the sermon, what claims does Jesus make about Himself and what does He promise to those who come to Him and believe in Him?

Interpretation Questions

1. Why is it significant that Jesus' compassion overcame His own grief after hearing about John's death? What does this reveal about His character and priorities?

2. The sermon emphasizes that the contrast between the small provision (five loaves and two fish) and the great need (5,000+ people) forms "the platform built to display God's fully sufficient providence." Why would God choose to work this way rather than simply making food appear directly to each person?

3. How does the feeding of the 5,000 serve as a preview or picture of Jesus' later declaration that He Himself is "the bread of life"? What connection does the sermon draw between verse 19 and Matthew 26:26?

4. The sermon states that Jesus' miracles and teaching forced people to move from asking "What is He saying and doing?" to "Who is Jesus?" Why is the question of Jesus' identity more important than simply marveling at His miraculous acts?

5. What is the significance of the twelve baskets of leftovers, and how does this detail contribute to our understanding of Jesus' provision for His people?

Application Questions

1. The sermon describes how we sometimes face circumstances that seem beyond human help and assume this "limits God's ability." What specific situation in your life right now are you tempted to view as too difficult for God to handle, and how does this passage challenge that perspective?

2. Jesus used the disciples as instruments to distribute the bread to the crowds rather than making food appear directly. In what practical ways might God be calling you to be an instrument of His provision to others this week, even when your own resources seem inadequate?

3. The preacher noted that we often pursue satisfaction in things that cannot truly satisfy. What are you currently "feeding on" to satisfy your deepest longings (approval, success, comfort, relationships), and how might trusting in Jesus as the "bread of life" change your daily priorities?

4. The sermon emphasized that the disciples brought their meager resources to Jesus rather than dismissing them as useless. What small gift, ability, or opportunity in your life have you been dismissing as insignificant that you could bring to Christ and ask Him to use?

5. Jesus saw the crowds as "sheep without a shepherd" and responded with compassion rather than irritation at the interruption to His privacy. How might this example shape the way you respond when people's needs interrupt your plans or personal time this week?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Exodus 16:1-18 — This passage recounts God providing manna in the wilderness for Israel, which Jesus references when He declares Himself the true bread from heaven that gives eternal life.

2. John 6:25-59 — Here Jesus explains the deeper meaning of the feeding miracle, declaring Himself the bread of life and calling people to feed on Him by faith.

3. Mark 6:30-44 — Mark's parallel account of the feeding of the 5,000 explicitly mentions Jesus seeing the crowd as "sheep without a shepherd," emphasizing His compassionate response.

4. Psalm 23:1-6 — This psalm, which the congregation sang, depicts the Lord as the Good Shepherd who provides abundantly for His sheep and leads them to satisfaction.

5. John 10:1-18 — Jesus identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd who not only leads His sheep to good pasture but lays down His life for them, connecting to the sermon's emphasis on Christ's sacrificial provision.

Sermon Main Topics

I. The Experience of Recognition: Staring Without Understanding

II. The Compassion of Christ (Matthew 14:13-14)

III. The Identity of Christ Revealed Through the Feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 14:15-21)

IV. Jesus as the Bread of Life: The Deeper Meaning of the Miracle

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Detailed Sermon Outline

Have you ever found yourself caught in a stare?

Maybe like at a word on a page or a scene outside or even a person's face.

And then suddenly it's as if you become aware. Not only of yourself staring, but of what the word is or what the scene is that you're looking at. Or perhaps all of a sudden you recognize the person. It's as if for a split second, or maybe even a few moments, our brains take in information on something or someone that we're familiar with without even realizing that it's familiar. And then all of a sudden for some reason, I mean is it that last bit of information that finally tips us over, a kind of information straw that breaks the camel's ignorance is back?

Maybe we take a fresh look at the crossword puzzle and this time for some reason we see it. Oh, it's clear. This is how it fits together. This is how it works. Particularly when it's not just a word on a page or some scene outdoors, but when it is a person.

We can feel a rush of embarrassment for the moments that we just spent staring at that person, not recognizing them, especially if they know us. How many times have we had someone look at us and say, Don't you recognize me? only to have our embarrassed silence dissolve into, Of course!

With some more additional details supplied. We were on that trip together. I was in your class. I'm your cousin.

We all have experiences of looking, even staring, at things we know, and at least momentarily not recognizing them. In fact, one sense of to stare is simply that, to look at something without recognizing it. To take in the physical sight without memory or reason or intelligence helping us to interpret and understand what we're seeing. Once it does kick in, we can then quickly work backwards and we understand many little details that we had seen but not noticed. All of a sudden, kind of like getting the punch line of a joke.

All of a sudden, ah, we understand and we appreciate this detail and that and it makes sense. A kind of, of course, takes over. Conversion is kind of like that.

Stories we've heard before, phrases, expressions, all of a sudden are clothed in our minds with fresh understanding and additional significance. All at once understanding begins to flood into our minds. What we've thought about Jesus undergoes a change.

And with that change, we rethink ourselves.

I know that's what happened to my formerly agnostic self as I studied the Gospels and learned more about Jesus Christ many years ago now.

Throughout Jesus' ministry, He was instructing people in how to re-understand what was so familiar to them. Many of the people were familiar with promises made to Israel for a coming Messiah. They were familiar with this aspect and that, with this prophecy and that one. Hopes were widespread and heartfelt. But when Jesus came, few, if any, seemed to recognize Him.

They could even listen to Him teach for days and weeks and see His power to heal sickness and exorcise evil spirits and still not recognize Him. The Nazarenes could think He was just Joseph and Mary's boy. Herod could think He was some resurrected John the Baptist. And yet slowly but surely, as Jesus gathered around Him twelve disciples and healed person after person, suffered rejection, cast out demons, even stilled a storm. As He did all this, He taught, and the outlines of His ministry were becoming clearer.

His very teaching was forcing people to move on from trying to understand what He was saying and what He was doing to the very question of who Jesus was. Who was it that could teach like this? Who knew such things? Who was it who could heal like this? Who could make claims like His claims?

Who could pray to God like He prayed?

All of Jesus' earthly ministry was to draw people to re-understand who he was and what he had come to do and to get them to believe in him. And our passage today is no exception. Jesus was told by John's disciples of their teacher's beheading by Herod. Naturally, Jesus was grieved by his cousin's death. He was grieved by the rejection of the truth which His execution represented.

No doubt Jesus was put in mind of His own coming sacrifice. So He naturally wanted a little space, a little privacy. That's where we pick up the story in Matthew, chapter 14. We're in verses 13 to 21 of our journey through Matthew's gospel, studying Jesus. If you're using the Bibles provided, you'll find that on page 820.

Let me encourage you to open there, 820 in the Bible is provided. If you brought your own, chapter 14 in Matthew, verses 13 to 21. If you're not used to using a Bible, the large numbers are the chapter numbers, the small numbers that look kind of like footnotes are in fact the verse numbers, and they will just tell you where we are. So we're looking at chapter 14 today, verses 13 to 21. Listen as I read now.

Now when Jesus heard this, He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed Him on foot from the towns. When He went ashore, He saw a great crowd, and He had compassion on them. And healed their sick.

Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, 'This is a desolate place and the day is now over. Send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.' But Jesus said, 'They need not go away. You give them something to eat.' They said to Him, 'We have only five loaves here and two fish. And He said, Bring them here to Me. Then He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, said a blessing, then He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate.

Were satisfied.

And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

And those who ate were about 5,000 men, besides women and children.

Here we see compassion, extraordinary compassion. But as extraordinary as it is, the longer we stare at it, we begin to notice all the more who it is that is being compassionate. In fact, Jesus' identity becomes more important to us than even the most extraordinary acts of compassion. So let's look through this brief account now and see if this is your experience too. As we study this passage together.

We'll consider first briefly the compassion of Christ seen in verses 13 and 14, and then the identity of this compassionate Christ in the account of one of Jesus' most well-known miracles, the feeding of the 5,000. And as we consider these, I hope and pray that you too will come to know Christ better than you did before this study. First, let's notice the compassion of Christ here. In verses 13 and 14. Let's look at those verses again.

Now when Jesus heard this, He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed Him on foot from the towns. When He went ashore, He saw a great crowd, and He had compassion on them and healed their sick. Well, if you look there, this at the beginning of verse 13, That's pointing back to the last phrase of verse 12, where the disciples of John came and told Jesus of John's death. So when that happened, we read here, Jesus withdrew to a remote location for some privacy.

And we understand that, don't we? I mean, when Jesus' friend Lazarus died, you remember He He went and he wept.

Now when he receives this news of the execution of his cousin, well it's natural to seek privacy for expressing grief, for hearing such news, reflecting upon it. This seems to be a part of the humiliation of the incarnation of the eternal Son of God.

But then in verse 14, when Jesus lands, He is greeted by these huge crowds that had, it seems, followed Him around the lake as fast as sick people could rush to see if He would land near enough that He could help them.

And sometimes, well, sometimes compassion overcomes grief, doesn't it? This is where Mark 6:34 inserts that the crowd appeared to Jesus as sheep without a shepherd.

And we simply need to note Matthew's words here in verse 14, He had compassion on them and healed They're sick.

Jesus shows His compassion throughout. Jesus is clearly moved by human suffering. He cares. And that leads to action.

These crowds, they were wise to pursue Christ, weren't they? It worked out for them.

You're still wise to do that today.

You have a need worse than a physical sickness, and there is no one who can heal you from it but Jesus.

Find out what that means. Find out more about what it means that He is the Son of God and that He came for people like you and me who have sinned against God. We've done what's wrong. That's all of us. All of us have done what's wrong.

All of us have done those things what we know we should not have done. And we've not done those things that we ought to have done. And as we say at the Lord's Supper, there is no health in us.

So we come to Jesus for forgiveness. He died on the cross as a sacrifice in the place of all of us who would turn and trust in Him. God raised Him from the dead for our justification. Friends, He calls us now to turn from our sins and to trust in Him. Pursue Christ.

If you want to know more of what that means for you in your situation, talk to any of the pastors who will be standing at the doors on the way out afterwards. Talk to a friend you came with. Understand more of what it would mean for you to follow Jesus Christ, for you to know what it means to be forgiven of your sins and be in a right relationship with your Creator and Judge.

The main story in our passage is not merely this broad statement on healing. It's this brief account of Jesus' magnificent compassion exercising specific and significant power in such a way that the identity of Christ becomes even more clear. So if you're a note taker, point one is the compassion of Christ. That's verses 13 and 14. Now we point to the compassion of Christ, or sorry, the identity of Christ.

So one was the compassion of Christ, 13 and 14. Now the identity of Christ becomes even more clear here in verses 15 to 21. Let's look at those verses again. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, 'This is a desolate place and the day is now over. Send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.

But Jesus said, They need not go away; you give them something to eat. They said to Him, We have only five loaves here and two fish. And He said, Bring them here to Me. Then He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven and said a blessing; then He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men besides women and children.

Friends, except for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, this is the only miracle so significant as to be recorded by Matthew and by Mark.

And by Luke, and by John. This is it, the resurrection and before the resurrection, this feeding of the 5,000. Now though it may be broadly familiar to many of us in order to help us understand it and consider it rightly, I'd like to start by considering this account, what it presents in the most general sense, as it were, and then kind of moving in to more of the specifics and what the point is. So first, in the biggest picture, Matthew here presents a problem and a solution. So again, note takers, this is basically four sub points, all right?

So this is the first one, the biggest picture. Matthew presents here a problem and a solution. Look at verses 15 and 21. So look at verse 15. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, 'This is a desolate place.

The day is now over. Send the crowds away, to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.' and then skip down to verse 21, and those who ate were about five thousand men besides women and children. So what just happened? In a desolate place, thousands are provided for. Friends, the scale is amazing.

It's kind of like a A living illustration of two of those parables Jesus taught back in chapter 13, the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the leaven, where something tiny grows into something of great significance. It's like a living illustration. The time was late, the place was desolate. That is, there weren't a lot of people living there, so there weren't ways to get food, and the people were numerous.

Some people read this as the disciples rather callously pointing this out to Jesus, like this: Jesus, it's a desolate place here. The day is now over. Send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves. And that could be. More than one of you told me that's how you've read it.

I'll just say that's not how I read it. When I was reading this, I think it can more naturally be read as the disciples intervening with Jesus about the needs of the ordinary people who had been attracted to Him and were so caught up in the healings that were going on, and I'm sure the teaching that accompanied it, that they were just losing track of time. And what we find out is the disciples are coming, drawing attention like, We need to We need to draw this to a close so people have time to go get food, Jesus. And even though, as difficult as this problem was, thousands of people, desolate place, nearing the end of the day, this was a difficult problem that could be solved. I wonder if you've thought about your own hard circumstances in various parts of your life and thought of them as limiting God's ability.

Maybe you have a hard circumstance coming up this week at your job.

Do you assume that limits God's ability?

Brothers and sisters, nothing is too hard for God. You and I don't have to know how God will solve our problems in order to be confident that He will solve them. He has shown Himself to be amazingly creative in the way He cares for His children. Even in the burdens He allows us to carry for specific times, for good purposes. He knows how to care for His children.

Have you ever noticed how God puts us in positions where we can care for others? Perhaps even when we need to care for others? I mean, one thing we learn here is that we don't need to fear that we will ever face a trouble that's beyond Christ's ability to handle. Because such troubles do not exist. There is no trouble that's beyond His ability to handle.

Now, how long we will face these troubles, how He will finally deliver us from them, only He knows. But the additional pain that comes along with any trial of fearing that it will exhaust us and outlast us, need not be ours. If we are in Christ, We will outlast any trial we ever come into. But a little more specifically, subpoint B. Matthew tells us here of hunger giving way to satisfaction. Looking at verses 16 and 20.

Look again at verse 16. But Jesus said, They need not go away. You give them something to eat. Now look down at verse 20. And they all ate and were satisfied.

And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. Here we see that the people moved from hunger to satisfaction. The result of Jesus' action is satisfaction. And with leftovers, even how many basketfuls are left over was to show that the people would be provided with more than enough for all the tribes of Israel. That physical satisfaction those people knew that day well depicts the satisfaction God's people find in Christ's salvation.

And it depicts how he would insist on using the apostles as the foundation of his work. He could have just made the food miraculously appear to all the people, but he chose to use the human instruments of the disciples to carry out that bread to them. So the heralds of Christ's gospel would make all the members of Christ's church enriched by bringing us the food of the gospel. In a Christian church we are those who are all equally wealthy in Christ. There is no grounds for envy or dissatisfaction among ones who have been so well loved by Christ through his gospel as we have been.

And we see a preview of that in these satisfied ones. Here. But we can get more specific still as we see how it is that God worked in this instance. So see, most surprisingly, as we see here Matthew leading the people from poverty to provision in verses 17 and the end of 19. Look again at verse 17.

They said to Him, 'We have only five loaves here and two fish.' I mean, that was surely inadequate, right? You look around at the crowds of people, thousands of people, but then you look at the end of verse 19.

Then He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

A tiny amount is more than enough for God to use, isn't it? We think we know what God needs in order to accomplish this task. Ask. But that's not the case. And of course, that's the significant thing about this story here, this account.

It's the surprise. That surprise is significant. That surprise is to alert us that the way we have naturally thought of Jesus is insufficient to correctly understand Him. And so that surprise draws our attention. It's the surprise of it all that arrests our attention as it does.

What comfort this story holds for us. Brothers and sisters, our poverty is never enough to impede God's riches. Our poverty is never enough to stop God. So if you are someone beyond normal human help right now in sickness or in brokenness, here is hope that God is sufficient, even for you, in your situation. I wonder if you're here today and you're not a Christian.

I wonder if you have Christian friends that seem to be provided for in ways that you simply don't understand. If they have circumstances in their life which would ruin you, gut you, and yet they seem somehow strangely able to go on. Maybe they suffer this trial and that, and yet they seem to have something that they value more than they regret the trial. Could that satisfaction be yours if you found Christ as your provision? Oh, friend, what would that know?

What would that mean for you?

That God would take five loaves and two fish to feed such a great host should surprise none of us who've been following the ministry of Jesus through Matthew's gospel. The significance of the loaves and fish was that this was simply the common stable diet around the Sea of Galilee. This is what everybody ate, bread and fish. And the numbers five and two are significant, not because they stand for, like, the five books of Moses and the two sacraments of the church, or that they add up to that greatest of all numbers, seven.

I think they're significant simply because they're so small, compared with the 5,000-plus people that needed to be fed. So the contrast between the apparent need and the apparent provision is the platform built here to display God's fully sufficient providence. And brothers and sisters, that's what it is again and again in our own experience. The apparent need and the apparent provision, in contrast, form the platform for God's fully sufficient providence. It encourages us to understand that the little we have can be used of God, that the 80-year-old stutterer can be used by God to deliver Israel from Egypt, and the washerwoman at the Bureau of Engraving can start a prayer meeting which started a Sunday School society which started a church, which even this very day has the privilege of seeing a number of people baptized, scores of pastors from various countries visiting us for the weekend in order to be encouraged, and hundreds of us here each Sunday to feed on God's Word.

One woman undoubtedly thought little of it at the time, simply starting a prayer meeting here on the hill. Friends, don't mistake the eternal significance of those things we do in obedience to God. Don't judge your life or your actions by this world's standards because this world's standards are messed up.

Look at Scripture to see what God values, to see what God can use. Of course, at the very center of this account, this would be D, at the very center of this account, the point of it, Is Jesus the provider?

I'm sure you noticed how he was at the center of it. Look there at verse 18. And he said, 'Bring them here to me.' Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples. So the tiny amount is multiplied by Jesus.

Jesus was the deliverer and the Savior of the hungry people that day. The right perspective on this story has all the lines converging on Jesus, drawing our attention to Jesus. It was Jesus who solved the problem. It was Jesus who satisfied the hungry. It was Jesus who provides for those who have nothing.

So for the question, Who will solve our problem? Who will satisfy our hunger? Who will provide our need? The answer is the same: Jesus. Jesus is the one who will do that.

Now at first our attention may be drawn to the spectacle of the abundant leftovers as we think of each disciple having his own basket full of these leftover pieces. And then maybe turning our attention to the surprising satisfaction of the thousands of people. Who have been fed. But soon as our minds take it all in and calm, our attention is drawn back to the quiet and commanding figure at the center of it all. He is the one we are meant to find and to better understand.

Staring at the amazing spectacle is meant to result in our coming to an understanding of recognizing awe. Of Jesus for exactly who He is. As the psalmist said, and as we sang earlier, My help comes from the Lord. Or as we read in James 1:17, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of lights. Jesus is the only eternal Son of the Father, and He is still inviting sinners, sick of sin and hungry for real righteousness, to come and sit with Him.

In His compassion, Christ has come, and He has demonstrated His power. There is so much more rich biblical imagery in this miracle than we could explore in one time together. This miracle was really a summary of so much that Jesus had been teaching His disciples about Himself. It showed Jesus as the Creator of a new people. It showed Jesus as a new Moses, leading a new people through a new Exodus, which we'll think about even more when we get to the next account, which is Him walking on water.

Got it? Manna in the wilderness, going through, leading the people through the water. It showed Jesus as the Good Shepherd, seeing the crowds as sheep without a shepherd. And it showed Jesus as the kingly Messiah preparing to host the supper. That would preview that final messianic banquet.

But this new creation will be marred by no fall. And this new Israel will be given new hearts. And this Good Shepherd came not just to lead His sheep to good pasture, as we sang about in Psalm 23, but to protect them and to lay down His life for them. As Jesus taught later in John 10, I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

And friends, Jesus came not simply to be the host of the Messianic banquet at which heavenly bread would be eaten, but He came Himself as that bread.

Did you think about that when you were reading this account? Look again at verse 19. Look at verse 19.

Taking, He looked up to heaven and said, 'A blessing.' Then He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples.

Does that make you think of any other verse in Matthew's gospel?

In chapter 26, verse 26, we read, Jesus took bread and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to the disciples.

Friends, Jesus did not come only to provide a banquet or even to host one. He came to be a banquet for us. Soon after this incident, some in the crowd told Jesus, Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you bread from heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

Sir, they said, from now on give us this bread. Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life.

Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If a man eats of this bread, he will live forever.

Friends, as we've stared at this brief story, I hope you've had a recognition and increased understanding.

How does Jesus provide for us?

What food does Jesus give us? Our daily bread, manna, Himself.

How can we feed on Him?

By faith. The account of this miracle is to show us that God not only knows our deepest hungers, He made them. And He means to meet them through faith in this One.

Let's pray together.

Lord God, we give you thanks and praise for the amazing way you have loved us by sending your only Son to be our Savior. Thank you for sending him as the bread of heaven. Thank you, Lord, for allowing his body to be be broken and His blood poured out for us. Thank you for the preview of that provision that we see in this miraculous account. We pray, Lord, that you would give us growing trust and reliance on you through the Lord Jesus.

Do that even as we rejoice in the truths of this passage. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Prince, please turn to page 14 in your bulletin.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blessed assurance control, that Christ has regarded my helpless estate. It's like He's gotten out of the boat. He's come in and we're part of the crowd there waiting to see Him. And he sees our need and hath shed his own blood for my soul. Let's stand and sing it as well.