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Ash, thank you so much. Well, please keep your Bibles open in John, chapter six.

I think probably in the early 2000s or so, mid 2000s maybe, there was a TV show called you are what you eat, and it had a lady called Gillian McKeith in it. And then I actually had to look this up. She was replaced by someone called Tricia Goddard, if you're interested in that. But Gillian was the one that I remember. And the way that the show was all about what people eat, you might have guessed.

And the way it would start. The way the show would start is with what's called the Table of Truth. I don't even remember the Table of Truth. But what Gillian would do is she would get the entire contents of the cupboards that the family would eat that week and lay it out on a table in front of them, the whole week's food. Now, when the reveal happened, I'd normally be like, wow, what a feast.

That's amazing. Incredible. What a party. I think point was, you were supposed to be kind of filled with a bit of shame.

That's a lot of food. So probably didn't work on me so well, but that was the idea. Gosh, look at all that food. That's what you consume in a week, and it's supposed to shock you. Now, I thought I'd bring out my own table of truth this evening.

So under this is what I'd describe as an unrepresentative example of the things I've eaten this week. But they have all gone through my house. Okay, there we go.

Now, I should say we are post Easter, So we've got quite a lot of.

So we've got. We've got Pepsi small, medium and large. Of course, we've got one of our five a day here in the innocent smoothie. That's good. You'll see that there's quite a lot of Easter eggs because, you know, we've got to get through the chocolate in the house.

We've got Kit Kat. I get the ones that no one else wants. So that's why I've got Whisper. I don't know what you think about Whisper. We've got Oreos, both in biscuit form and ice cream form.

Of course, we've got Mr. Kipling. Can't do without Mr. Kipling. And because it was on offer, we got the Pizza Express Pizzas this week. That's good. And some crisp.

Light. A few crisps. Oh, and this one's good. A little promo here, cursive. Andrew Nunn, some Kickstarter.

Coffee all the way from Uganda. There we go. Fuel for the morning. Now, I don't know what your table of truth would look like. This is a sample of some of the things that have gone through my house and my body in the last week.

That is my table of truth for you. Perhaps if you're meeting Connect groups this week. You want to go through people's cupboards where you meet them. Tell us your table of truth. But what does this food do to your body?

What does this food do to your body? Well, I'm not really here to talk about diet per se, although that is the theme of this evening. In recent weeks, we've been thinking about a day with Jesus. What does a day with Jesus look like? What does it mean to go to sleep and to wake up with Jesus?

What does it mean to eat with Jesus? And that might sound like a silly thing, but eating is quite a big thing of the day. We all have to do it. We do it every day. How does it affect me?

What does Jesus say about it? Now, I'm not really going to talk much about food tonight. In fact, Jesus has got an expression in the Bible. He says, physician, heal thyself. Which means, don't talk about things that you're not qualified to talk about.

And. And I'm not qualified to talk about diets, as you can see. Just do my bottom button up. There you go. But of course, food is a discipleship issue, isn't it?

It's not following Jesus over here and then food over here. Something completely separate, like, Jesus is interested in every aspect of our life, isn't he? Following Jesus, coming under his lordship means actually everything comes under his command. And there's all sorts of things that the Bible might say to us about food. We might read the scripture and think, actually, the Bible says, don't be greedy, don't be wasteful.

Because we're called to be good stewards of the things that God's given us. We might look at some of the food we eat and think, well, am I coming to food for comfort? Am I coming to drink for escape? Or we might say the other way. Well, am I so keen to control my body that I don't eat enough or enough of the right things?

You see, actually, the things we eat, the things that come through our body, actually say what we think about our body. This is what our theology, what Jesus thinks of our body. And actually we look at the Bible and think, well, Jesus cares about our body, doesn't he? He says, your body's a temple of the Holy Spirit. God's chosen by his Holy Spirit to dwell in your body.

He says, take care of your body. It's a gift that you might serve others. I find that increasingly, as I get a bit older, I think actually I need to look after my body, don't I? Because God's given me responsibilities in my body of, well, other people to look after. And actually, he says that one day your body is going to be renewed and made perfect.

If God's going to go to the effort of renewing all of creation, including your body, it must have some significance. But I wonder if we might broaden out this table a little bit. If you are what you eat, what about the rest of the stuff that you consume? How does that shape your mind and soul? You see, we used to talk about watching tv.

You talk about listening to music. We might talk about browsing the Internet. Now we talk about consuming content. I fill up on the stuff that's out there. So what else might we add to this table?

Well, we might add. We might add our work. Okay, that's our work or our study. It's actually broken, so don't worry about it.

We might think about what. Listen to what podcast is shaping my thinking this week. I was listening to one about Margaret Thatcher. I don't know how that's shaping my thinking.

I was at the football this week. How does sport. How does entertainment shape your thinking?

What about lifestyle magazines? Linfield Lifestyle magazine? What about, how is the stuff that you're reading in the magazine, those pictures, those images, what you're trying to be sold? How is that shaping your mind, your body, how you think about the world? And finally, my smartphone, that's also broken.

How is that the content that's coming through to me on my phone, straight into my eyes, into my brain at all times of day, how is that content that I'm consuming shaping me? You see, when we ask the question, what's your diet?

We're thinking more than food, aren't we? We're thinking all sorts of things that come into us and shape us and change us. So when we ask that question, what does it mean to spend a day with Jesus and to watch our diet? Let's expand the table, if you like. Sure, we want to think about food and drink, but what other things are we consuming?

Well, let's turn to what Jesus says about what we consume and how that shapes our hearts. Come with me to John, chapter six. Now, we started here at verse 25. If you look up in your Bibles, you'll have seen that there's a really famous miracle that's happened at the start of this chapter. John, chapter six.

It's the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus has taken some bread and some fish and he's performed a miracle and fed 5,000 men, plus women and children there as well. He's done this most amazing miracle with food. And a little bit later in the storey. So verse 25, 26.

The crowds have followed Jesus. They've gone to the other side of the lake, the other side of the Sea of Galilee, and they're looking for him.

Let's say verse 25. When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, rabbi, when did you get here? Jesus answered, very truly. I tell you, you're looking for me not because you saw the signs I performed, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Jesus is asking the question, well, who are you really following here?

Are you following me? Are you following Jesus because you saw this most amazing miracle and you want to know more about the miracle? Or are you following your stomach? That's what Jesus says to him. You're following your stomachs.

You saw this most amazing miracle, but you were more concerned with the food. It was great food. It was amazing. It was a feast. And you want more of that, don't you?

Now, they say their way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Probably true. But Jesus isn't convinced that the crowds here are even concerned about their hearts. They're really just thinking about their stomachs. And it's a question for all of us, isn't it?

What are we following? Do our lives revolve around following the things that we crave? Not necessarily food, but the things that we long for, the things that we desire, the things that fill us up, the things that we think make us happy, those things that we long for deep down? Well, here's the truth that Jesus brings us here. He says that not all the things that you crave will satisfy.

He says, actually, there's lots of things out there that will leave your stomach empty and leave your life feeling empty. You know this is true because if you've ever had a Big Mac or a Quarter Pounder of cheese if you prefer, or a McTasty, whichever one you like. Big Maxi or this one. You have that bite. I almost actually went out and got one so I could do the taste test for you.

But you know this. You've been there. You have that bite of the warm Big Mac. It's delicious. Smell, taste, succulent Absolutely delicious.

I think it's the salt in it, that's what I'm told, because really tasty. And then you finish the Big Mac and about five minutes later you think, ah, could have another one of these because it tasted so good, it was so good on the tongue, but actually just didn't fill you up, did it? Maybe that's just me, but so too with so much that the world offers, it promises much. It looks delicious, that first taste, divine. We crave it and yet it leaves us feeling empty.

But here's what Jesus says as an alternative approach to life. Look at that with me at verse 27.

Jesus says, do not work for the food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man, that's Jesus name for himself, will give you. For on Him, God the Father has placed his seal of approval. Don't work for food that spoils. Jesus says, there's loads of food out there that is just like that Big Mac. It looks amazing.

It kind of satisfies your craving, but actually it spoils, it leaves you feeling empty.

Rather, work for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.

Sounds great, doesn't it? A food that truly fills you up. A food that truly satisfies. A food that doesn't leave you feeling like, ah, I still feel empty. A food that really satisfies.

And so the obvious question is the question that the crowds ask. Well, how can I get this food? This food sounds too good to be true. Every other food I know just doesn't satisfy, maybe for a short time. So they ask the right question.

Verse 28, they say. Then they asked, what must we do to do the works God requires? How can we work for this food? This food that gives eternal life, this food that satisfies completely. Well, look at what Jesus answers.

Verse 29, Jesus answered the work of God is this to believe in the One he has sent. They say, how can we work for this bread? How can we earn this crust? Literally, Jesus says, believe the one God has sent. He's talking about himself again.

The one God has sent. That's Jesus. It's him. Believe in him. You see, here's the incredible thing.

The bread that gives life to the full can't even be bought. Do you see what that question is? How can we work for this food? We want to work because we want this amazing food that you've talked about. Jesus says, here's the work.

Believe in me, Believe in the Lord Jesus. The bread of life. It's an invitation to come and eat food which will truly satisfy you at the very depths of your being and it won't cost you a penny.

Jesus here is echoing the most wonderful invitation that you'll find in in the Old Testament book of Isaiah, chapter 55. Hear these words from Isaiah 55 says, Come, come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come buy, eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread?

And you will labour on what does not satisfy. Listen, listen to me and eat what is good. And you will delight in the richest affair. Jesus here to the crowds is offering a free feast, a bargain banquet, a gratis gastronomy. It's free.

He says, come buy, eat this food, this most amazing food that's going to satisfy you. It's absolutely free. You don't have to work for it. What's the only work? Believe in the one that he has sent.

It's the most incredible offer. All the things that you pursue in life, all those things you crave, all those things that you long for and desire, whether it's food or something else. Jesus offers something better. And it's free. It's free.

Now, I don't know much about healthy diets and there's so many out there. There's so many ideas of what a healthy diet is. There's eat lean, eat clean, Atkins Paleo keto, there's bulletproof, there's four hour body, there's a five, two diet, there's high carb, low carb, high protein, low fat. It's so confusing. Which one do you pick?

Obviously don't pick any. That's not true. But I do know that there are three things. I haven't asked the doctors about this, but three things that I know. Disclaimer, don't know.

But three things I think are universally true. First one is if you want to lose weight, eat less and move more. Eat less, move more. That's the first thing. Drink more water.

That's the second thing. That's true. I know that is true. Drink more water, it really is good for you. And third thing, go to bed at a regular time and try and get at least eight hours sleep.

I think those things are universally. If you do those three things, it is good for you. But they're so simple, aren't they? They're so obvious, like in some sense, hardly worth saying. And you're not going to sell any books, no one's going to buy this diet, like if I put out a book and said, how to lose weight, eat less, move more.

No one's going to buy that, are they? Well, that's obvious, isn't it? Drink more water, you'll feel hydrated again. No one's going to buy that. And yet, aren't we so often in danger of skipping over the obvious, those basic things that keep us going?

And it's the simple things, often overlooked, that sustain us, that literally, in these cases, keep you alive. Now, the crowds have just been told about a bread that truly satisfies, that gives life. And here's what they say. Verse 33.

Verse 33. Jesus says, for the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Sir, they said, always give us this bread. Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Jesus is saying that he is the most basic element of your diet because he is the one who gives life. He's the one who truly sustains. He's the one you need for life. Just like water, just like sleep. You might be tempted to overlook it, but Jesus is vital.

You can't have true life without him.

And the crowds, much like any crowd today, they absolutely want what Jesus is offering. Give us this bread. We want this bread. This sounds amazing. Everyone wants that, don't they?

Everyone wants life and fulfilment and satisfaction, life to the full. Wow. Even eternal life. I didn't know that was a thing. But, yeah, I'll have it if you're offering it.

And Jesus says he is the bread of life, the one who sustains all life. But interestingly, they don't actually want Jesus. If we actually just look on a little bit beyond where we read.

So Jesus finishes teaching there in verse 40. This is verse 41. At this, the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, I'm the bread of life that comes down from heaven. They said, is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, I came down from heaven?

From heaven, they say, I want what Jesus gives. That all sounds amazing, but surely not from him. Surely he's not the one who can truly satisfy. It's ridiculous, isn't it? They want life and bread, but they don't want the bread of life.

It's like saying, I want to feel energised, but I don't want to go to bed before midnight. Or I want to feel hydrated. But I just don't like the taste of water or I want to lose weight, but those doughnuts are too Moorish.

Doesn't that sum up our society? I want life to the full, but not from the one who is life. And sometimes even that's our kind of harsh response, isn't it? I want abundant life, but I'm far too slow to feed on Jesus, far too quick to fill up on drinks that don't quench my thirst, and food which leaves me feeling empty, literally, otherwise. And yet look again, what Jesus offers, what he promises.

Verse 35.

Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. What a promise. What a promise that we can come to Jesus and find true life, complete satisfaction. And you might think, well, why has God made it this way?

Why has God made it so that we're dependent on him for life? Why do we have to keep coming back to him? Isn't it something where he can just give us, you know, have this here's life, now go and get on and live it. Why is it that Jesus seems to be saying, well, you've got to come to me for daily bread, for. For daily drink.

Why has God made us dependent on him? Well, if you want to, you can turn then. Now we're gonna just read from Deuteronomy chapter 8. Really sorry, I didn't write down a page number. If anyone gets there, quickly shout out a page number to help us out.

Deuteronomy, chapter 8, 1, 8, 7. Thank you, Katie.

Okay, now in this passage in John 6, Jesus in his teaching is alluding to this storey in Deuteronomy chapter 8. I'm just going to read verses 2 and 3 says this. Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these 40 years to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger, and then feeding you with manna, which neither you or your ancestors had known to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. In this storey In Deuteronomy chapter 8, God's people had been in the desert, they'd been in the wilderness, and they had no food to eat.

They were going to starve. And then each morning God would send what's called manna, bread from heaven. That bread would appear in the middle of the desert and the people would go out and eat it. And God said, I don't want you to store it up. I don't want you to go out there and gather loads and think, well, you know, this is for a rainy day.

I've got enough food for the week now. He said, no, I want you to go out each day, just eat what you need and then come back tomorrow and they'll need more bread for you. Why do that? Why do it that way?

Because he wants to humble you. He wants you to daily be dependent on him, not think, ah, yeah, I'll get what God offers now, and then I'll live the rest of my life fine. Each day to depend on him, each day to come to him. And it's interesting, isn't it, that in here, in Deuteronomy, it links bread to the word at the end of verse three, there to teach you that man does not live by bread alone. Actually, it's not even the manna, it's not even the bread on the ground that really feeds you, that really sustains you.

What is it? It's God's words. It's God's word that gives life. And so, friends, what does God want for your diet?

What does God want you to consume? Well, here's where I think it lands for us.

The first thing is, I think he wants us to daily, daily depend on his grace, depend on his goodness, his kindness. That's what he wanted for his people in the wilderness each day to depend on him. To know that he was kind and generous, to know that he'd show up tomorrow, that he could be trusted to provide not just for today, but for the future, each day coming to him and finding he was faithful. I was listening this week to someone I know sharing their testimony about all the ways in which God had been faithful to him, How God has kept his family through all sorts of trials. And he said something which I think was really helpful.

He said, do you know, I've been so blessed by God's goodness, His faithfulness. I've had to start writing it down because I'm starting to forget it. Is it like there's so many literatures now? There's so many occasions throughout my life where God's turned up and he's been faithful and he's shown himself to be good. I've had to start writing it down so that I might remember that God's good, that he's faithful.

We're so easy to forget, aren't we? So easy to forget that he does provide, he does care, he is good. If that helps write it down. I'm not into journaling. I know some of you are, but maybe there's some way that you can record stuff.

Maybe it's a social media post. I don't know what it is, but something that marks it. And yeah, God was good. He was kind. He helped me that day.

Not just grace for a Sunday, but grace for every day. Every high, every low. Trusting that he's what we need. Believing that all these things on the table, and some of them are good things, some of them we need.

Well, food generally we need. Not specifically, we need food, don't we? But knowing that these things won't ultimately satisfy, but that he will daily, depending on his grace. Second thing is a daily feeding on His Word. A daily feeding on his word.

That's what Deuteronomy says, isn't it? It wasn't really bread that sustained them, it was God's word. I don't know if you've heard. There's a song, I think it's quite famous. Maybe I've just heard.

I'm sure you must. Somebody must have read it. It's called Dusty Bibles. You had dusty Bibles. I called Josiah Queen and the lyrics at the start say this.

We've got dust on our Bibles and brand new iPhones and we wonder why we feel this way. And it's not the dusty Bible bit that gets me. You know what he's saying, You've got your Bible hidden away. You're not coming daily to God's Word to feed on him. But it's that line, no wonder we feel this way.

That's telling, isn't it? Because we know that actually our diet affects us. It affects how we feel. If we're just feeding on what's coming off our iPhone, we feel down and depressed and fed up and anxious. No wonder we feel this way.

Hidden at the bottom, all those things. It's God's word. Little Bible there. Friends, if you're new to church, if you're new to the Bible, please do take one of these. It's a New Testament psalm of Proverbs, half the Bible and you'll find some copies at the back.

If you've not got a Bible at home, please take one. And it's got some wonderful bits in the front that just give you some little themes, some little page references.

I want to think about being far from God, feeling a failure, feeling unwanted. There's all sorts of things, little references. If you're not in a habit of reading a Bible, perhaps your first Time at church. You're so welcome. Please take one of these.

Because what Jesus is saying here is that if you want life, if you really know what it's all about, and you want to live and feel satisfied, come to him each day and be dependent on His Word. It's His Word. Jesus, who gives us eternal life. And it's His Word in the Bible that sustains you. And I love.

It's a daily feeding on God's Word. What he's not saying is right. Once a week I want you to do an hour long Bible study. I want you to get so deep that you want to get all the textbooks out to find out what this one verse means. He's not saying that.

He's saying daily come for your daily bread. It might just be one verse, might just be one little chapter. But coming to him, saying, God, what do you say? I want to depend on you. I want to feed on you again, I know this is true.

The doctors say it's true. Start the day with a big glass of water. Really helps makes you feel interest. This is true with this as well. Starting the day with a word, little verse.

It helps helps us depend on him. It helps us look to Him. And that's where Jesus finishes, isn't it? I love verse 40. Come with me to verse 40.

Jesus gives the most wonderful promise. He says, for my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son again, that's Jesus. Everyone who looks to him and believes in him shall have eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day. This is if you want to know life, you want to know what life's truly all about.

If you want to be sustained in your life, look to Jesus.

I love this old quote here. It says, learn much of the Lord Jesus. For every look at yourself, take 10 looks at Christ. He's altogether lovely. Such infinite majesty and yet such meekness and grace and all for sinners, even the chief.

Live much in the smiles of God. Bask in his beams, Feel his all seeing eye settled on you in love and repose in his mighty arms. There's a wonderful hymn, isn't there? Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face.

And the things of the earth will go strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. Friends, we've all got a diet, haven't we? And not just food, just all the things that we consume. And just the Word for tonight is to come afresh to Jesus, to come to His Word, to look on him in his beauty and find that he truly is the place where we find life sustaining grace for each day. Our prayers that bancom journey.

Father, thank you so much. That everyone who looks to the Son will find life in him. Everyone who comes to you for their daily bread will not be turned away. Everyone who comes to you for daily bread will find their lives full satisfied. Father, we echo the words of the crowds.

Give us this bread we pray. Give us this bread. We want more of the Lord Jesus. Help us this week to come to him to find life in him and depend on him for his sake we pray. Amen.