Resources For "He Is, I'm Not" Series From Each Harderwyk Preacher
1) Scotty Smith’s Heavenward Daily Prayers - CLICK HERE to see the daily prayer blog of Scotty Smith. You will see an option to have them delivered to your email inbox each day as well.
2) Simple Lectio Divina Overview - CLICK HERE for a simple introduction of the spiritual practice of a more personal way of experience the Word through contemplation and reflection.
3) An Article on the Mockingbird website that shares words from a commencement address by David Foster Wallace in 2005. While Wallace is not a Christian, his words offer us a point of reflection when thinking about the things we look to in order to fill or nourish us. - CLICK HERE
4) The Marshmallow Test - CLICK HERE for a simple introduction to the original test. AND HERE to the Amazon link to the book.
5) Pastor Wang Yi - Pastor Bill has been praying for imprisoned Chinese pastor Wang Yi for a while. CLICK HERE for his ongoing blog post with information. Want to blow your mind? CLICK HERE to read a fascinating post entitled "Why China might have had the largest unknown modern Calvinist revival movement in recent history." You heard it right here!
6) Jim Elliot - Missionary and Martyr - If you are not familiar with the story of Jim Elliot used as a closing illustration this morning, You can learn more by CLICKING HERE for a post from the Gospel Coalition or CLICK HERE to read a reflection by his wife, Elisabeth Elliot.
7) Finally, commentary notes on the passage for this week:
From Richard Phillips (John, Volumes 1&2)
"If we think Jesus was pleased by this pursuit, we are surprised to find that he was not. The reason is that the people had failed to grasp the point of Jesus’ miracle. It is true that Jesus fed them out of compassion for their physical needs. But the miracle was not intended merely to show Jesus as a provider of consumer goods and services. The point was to reveal him as the Son of God to whom they should look for their souls’ salvation. One commentator states, “Instead of seeing in the bread the sign, they had seen in the sign only the bread.”
There was a reason why the crowd failed to see Jesus for what he was, and it is a reason that is still prevalent today. Jesus explained, “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). In other words, they were materialists. Leon Morris writes, “They had not reflected on the spiritual significance of the sign they had seen.… They were moved not by full hearts, but by full bellies.”
It is only natural for people to seek to have their earthly needs met, and the Bible never condemns this in its proper place. God filled the world with good things, and the Bible teaches that God will take care of those who trust in him (see Matt. 6:25–34). So the problem was not a simple concern for physical well-being, but rather a materialistic attitude that pushed aside spiritual priorities."
From Craig Evans (The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary)
"If God is the one who gives true manna—and if Jesus has come from God, the momentous turn in 6:33 can hardly be unexpected. The bread of God is a person (“he who comes down from heaven”), a person who gives life to the world. With a stroke of genius, precisely as he has done throughout the gospel, Jesus again exploits some feature of Jewish belief and ritual and reinterprets it to refer to himself. He is the manna from God’s treasury for which Israel has been waiting. He has been sent by God as manna descended in the wilderness."
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