SERMON SPOTLIGHT * 9/14/25
Today, we begin a series on the I Am sayings of Jesus. Jesus famously asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" This series is not about who we say Jesus is. We will spend the next seven weeks hearing what Jesus says about himself. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.
SERIES: The I Am Sayings of Jesus
TEXT: John 6:35
TITLE: Praising Our Good God
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: More than providing our daily bread, Jesus came to be our eternal bread.
SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.
“In one sense, we can never be closer to Jesus (gospel union). In another sense, we can never be close enough to Jesus. My prayer is that as we get to know Jesus more through these sayings, we fall more in love with Jesus, live more passionately for Jesus, and more courageously share the good news about Jesus with others.”
“Jesus' stunning claim comes as he is conversing with the crowds. BTW, so stunning is Jesus' claim by the end of the scene, even some of his disciples desert him.”
“A day earlier, Jesus fed 5k people (15-20k including women and children) with just five loaves of bread and two fish. And get this—there were leftovers. It was a miracle that revealed Christ's unmatched power and authority.”
“The next morning, the people run Jesus down again. They don't have questions about the feeding miracle. They aren't curious about its significance or implications. They aren't in awe of Jesus. They want breakfast. They aren't looking for a Savior; they are looking for a meal ticket.”
“The crowd responds in 28 by asking, "What must we do?" It's a familiar question, isn't it? What do I need to do? We are doers. We are self-sufficient. Surely I need to do something to get something. It's a daily fight to rest in Christ's work for us and the Spirit's power in us.”
“In 29-33, Jesus essentially says, You don't do anything. You can't do anything. Like the manna your fathers ate in the wilderness, this life-giving bread comes not from man but from God. Of course, the crowd loves that idea, so in 34 they say, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’”
“The idea conveyed by the word "always" is continually or repeatedly. The crowd is still misunderstanding Jesus. Their mindset is stuck in a transactional mode. Ok, Sir, we'll meet you right back here with our baskets every morning. But Jesus says, I'm right here. Look at 35—I am the bread of life.”
“Revealing himself with the same name God revealed himself to Moses with at the Burning Bush, Jesus reveals not only his deity, but His sufficiency to not only meet their physical needs, but infinitely more, the spiritual life and nourishment that is essential but beyond their ability.”
“Remember what Jesus said earlier—look at 33 with me. Jesus says, I am the HE. I am the true bread my Father sends from heaven. Get your minds off bread loaves. Get your mind off earthly needs. Get your thoughts off the temporal. Get your eyes off the dot (here and now) and see the line (eternal). Think spiritually. I am the ultimate bread, the bread in the wilderness foreshadowed. It's me. I can give you all the bread loaves your heart desires, but that's not why I came. I didn't come just to provide you with bread, I came to BE your bread.”
“Now, Jesus follows up this stunning self-revelation with a generous invitation and an eternal promise. Jesus says, 'Come and believe in me.' How do we do that? By faith. BTW, faith is not a work. Scripture always juxtaposes faith and works. Romans 10:9—If you believe in your heart, you will be saved. Jesus has already said in 29 that the way to receive this bread of life is by believing the One who IS the bread of life. Coming to Jesus is not simply showing up on Sundays. Believing in Jesus is not merely agreeing with the facts of the gospel. Jesus invitation is to trust him, to lean all your weight on him, place all your hope in him, in who he is and what he has done at the cross for you, paying in full what you owed by taking all your sins, and the just and eternal punishment for those sins, upon himself so that your guilt is gone and you are justified before God. When you come to Jesus with a heart that believes that, that is FAITH.”
“This ultimately happens through the miracle of regeneration, an inward work of the Spirit that makes you acutely aware of your sin and guilt and even more of the love and mercy of God in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in such a way that you come to Jesus with a broken heart and open arms in repentance and faith. God alone does this regenerating work that liberates you to come to Jesus in faith. Jesus makes that clear in the preceding verses, if you wish to study them this week.”
“This invitation comes with a promise—Supreme Satisfaction.”
“When Jesus says all who come and believe shall not hunger and shall never thirst, those promises are emphatic. In other words, the emphasis is on NEVER. When you come to Jesus, when you believe in him, you will not be disappointed. We were created for longing. God designed us to hunger and thirst after something. Physically, yes, but even more, spiritually. When we come to Jesus and feast on Him, our most fundamental needs are always satisfied.”
“We Hunger and Thirst for ACCEPTANCE without conditions. Human beings are gluttonous about love. We hunger after being loved. We thirst to be accepted without the fear of rejection. So we live promiscuously. We deceive others to stay in their good graces. But Jesus gives us a better meal to feast on. His blood and righteousness provide us with peace with God that can never be broken. Who can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus? No one and nothing! Romans 8:38-39.”
“We Hunger and Thirst for PURPOSE in and beyond this world. We were created with a longing for purpose. That ultimate purpose is, to quote the Westminster Confession—Glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Only in our union with Christ is this possible. As we feast on Jesus, believing, obeying, and resting in Jesus, our hungry and thirsty souls are satisfied.”
“We Hunger and Thirst for ASSURANCE before God. The eating of Christ's flesh and drinking of his blood is the coming and believing of verse 35. The point is, if you have believed in Jesus, you are saved and will be raised one day to heaven. Are you struggling with assurance of faith this morning? Have you believed in Jesus? If you have, you may be a struggling Christian, but you are a Christian no less. Once justified, always justified, FULLY. Christian, do you doubt God is working in you? Have you come to him in faith for your standing before God? If you have, you may be resisting His work, but He is at work no less because Romans 8:29-30 says all who are in Christ are being sanctified as they wait to be glorified.”
“We could keep going—security, reputation, longevity. These are some of the most fundamental things we hunger and thirst after. And there is no amount of money or possessions, no position of importance, no degree of power, no measure of success that can satisfy our desires.”
ILLUSTRATION: Millionaire YouTuber - “I've tried everything, but there is still something missing.”
“If Jesus isn't our supreme satisfaction, something will always be off because Jesus alone is the bread of life. On the other hand, the more we feast on Jesus, the more our desire to feast on the world dissipates. I'm not thinking about a McDonald's cheeseburger when my belly is full of a ribeye.”
QUOTES:
Charles Spurgeon - “Faith is a motion of the heart, not a motion of the feet…It is an act of reliance upon Christ's great sacrifice, and wherever the Holy Ghost works it in men, it makes Christ to be theirs, so that they shall never hunger and shall never thirst.”
Jean-Paul Sartre - “That God does not exist, I cannot deny, that my whole being cries out for God, I cannot forget.”
Charles Spurgeon - “The love of Jesus casts out all hankering for other loves and fills the soul. If the ocean of divine love cannot fill us, what can? What more can a man want or wish for?”
APPLICATION:
Here is the BIG question: What are you feasting on? Where are you seeking satisfaction? Where are you going to quench your hunger and thirst for things like purpose, assurance, and acceptance? Here are a few questions to help you answer the bigger question:
- What do you find yourself reveling in more, your worldly success or Christ's atoning sacrifice?
- In disappointment, is your heart ruled by your subjective feelings or the objective truths of the gospel?
- What creates a sigh of relief in your soul most, your social acceptance or your heavenly adoption?
The world and all its sparkle and promises leave us hungry, thirsty, and sick every time. We don't always feel our malnutrition. Sin is like cancer; it eats away at us even when we don't know it.
Oh, but there is great hope! Jesus says, "I am the bread of life. Come to me. Believe in me. Feast on me. And you will never hunger or thirst." This is the Savior's promise to you! More than providing our daily bread, Jesus came to be our eternal bread of life. So come, believe in him, for the first time or the thousandth time, and be supremely satisfied.
SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Bless The Lord O My Soul (Psalm 103)
Christ Our Hope In Life And Death
All Things
Praise His Name (Psalm 148)
We Hunger And Thirst
NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
I Am the Light of the World - John 8:12
THE BOOK OF THE QUARTER:
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