Transcript I Am the Bread of Life www.kevinhinckley.com Out of the mouth of… While singing the song, "I Belong to the Church of.

I Am the Bread of Life
www.kevinhinckley.com
Out of the mouth of…
While singing the song, "I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints" in primary one week, I overheard one of my fiveyear-old students singing the song this way (not knowing she had
the words wrong): "I know who I am, I know God's plan, I'll follow
him to VEGAS."
One Sunday morning when my daughter Kelly was about 3-4 years
old; I was curling her hair in the usual "bob"; she smiled at me and
looked straight in my eyes and told me she looked like "George
Washington". Surprised, I had no idea she even knew who he was
never mind the name, so I asked her, "do you know who he is?"
She turned again to look at me as though I were addle brained and
very seriously said, "Of course, he was our country's first Stake
President!“
We were teaching our junior primary the second Article of Faith. As an
introduction, I asked if anyone already knew it (we'd been singing it
every now and then). A little boy, about five years old, raised his
hand and jumped to his feet and proclaimed, "We believe that men
will be punished for their nonsense!"
Question
Does the Lord
want us
dependent on
Him?
As you get older
do you find
yourself
depending on
Him more or
less?
The Infinite
Atonement
The powers of the Atonement do
not lie dormant until one sins
and then suddenly spring forth to
satisfy the needs of the repentant
person. Rather, like the forces of
gravity, they are everywhere present,
exerting their unseen but powerful
influence.
Nephi alluded to the omnipresence of these motivational
powers: “He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit
of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth
down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. (2 Ne
26:24)
In this sense, the Savior exerts a form of spiritual gravity
that draws and entices all men unto him. (Tad Callister, p. 211-212)
The Savior as a Teacher
Parables
Object Lessons
1- First the example, the object
2- Then, the lesson
1) The Object (experience)
Jesus went over the sea of Galilee…And a great multitude followed him,
because they saw his miracles
And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.
And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him,
he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
And this he said to prove him; for he himself knew what he would do.
Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for
them, that every one of them may take a little.
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,
There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes; but
what are they among so many?
And Jesus said, Make the men sit down…So the men sat down, in number
about five thousand.
And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to
the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of
the fishes as much as they would.
When they had eaten and were satisfied, he said unto his disciples, Gather up
the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered
them together, and filled twelve baskets...
Question
Why would He
feed the 5000
and raise their
expectations?
After they cross the sea
2) The Lesson
When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there…they also took shipping, and
came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus.
And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi,
how camest thou hither?
Jesus answered them and said, Ye seek me, not because ye desire to keep my sayings,
neither because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were
filled.
[They answered] Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them
bread from heaven to eat.
Then Jesus said unto them … Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my
Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
Eldersaid
Holland:
And Jesus
unto them, I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never
hunger;
that believeth
on meministry,
shall neverHe
thirst.
Duringand
theheSavior’s
Galilean
chided those who had
The Jews
then
at him,
he said,
I am
thebarley
bread which
came
down
heard
of murmured
Him feeding
thebecause
5,000 with
only
five
loaves
and
from heaven.
two said,
fishes,
and
flocked
expecting
a free
And they
Is not
thisnow
Jesus,
the sonto
of Him
Joseph,
whose father
andlunch.
motherThat
we know?
food,
important
as
it
was,
was
incidental
to
the
real
nourishment
how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?
[He explains]…I
will raise
up in them…
the resurrection
of the
just…Every
man therefore that
He was trying
to give
(Ensign,
Nov.
1997, 65)
hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me….Verily, verily, I say
unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
I am that bread of life.
This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not
die. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. But I am the living
bread which came down from heaven…
Question
How do we become
as dependent on
Him as we are for
our daily bread?
The Contrast…
Greatest Love
I decided long ago, never to walk in
anyone’s shadows
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They cant take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all
I Need Thee Every Hour
I need thee every hour,
Most gracious Lord
No tender voice like thine
Can peace afford
I need thee every hour
Stay thou near by
Temptations lose their power
When thou are nigh
I need thee, oh, I need thee
Every hour I need thee
Oh, bless me now, my Savior
I come unto thee
Mahatma Gandhi
E. Stanley Jones, a Christian evangelist, once
asked Gandhi as he sat on a cot in an open
courtyard of a jail,
“Isn’t your fasting a [kind] of coercion?”
‘Yes,’ Gandhi said very slowly, ‘the same kind of
coercion which Jesus exercises upon you from
the cross.’
As Jones reflected upon that sobering rejoiner, he
said,
I was silent. It was so obviously true that I am
silent again everytime I think about it. He was
profoundly right.
Ghandi
Calcutta was a battleground of hate. Gandhi,
a Hindu, stayed at a Muslim hom in the heart
of the riot district. Some Hindus were
incensed at Gandhi’s conciliatory conduct
towards the enemy. An attempt on his life
failed.
Finally, Gandhi announced a fast to the death unless the
foes altered the course. It would be peace for them or
death for him. After three days of fasting, the suffering of
one revered by an entire nation proved too much for the
people to bear. The softening and persuasive powers of
his suffering melted “hearts of stone.”
Weapons, from knives to guns, were laid at his feet.
Almost overnight the healing occurred.
Lord Mountbatten, on of the military leaders present
observed, “What 50,000 well-equipped soldiers could
not do, the Mahatma has done, He has brought peace.