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Read Exodus 16:2-4,9-15; Mark 6:24-35.

Today is the 10th Sunday of Pentecost.  During Pentecost, we grow closer to God and closer to one another.

After Jesus had fed more than 5,000 people with 5 small loaves of bread and 2 fish that a child had brought for their lunch (and everyone had enough to eat and there were more than 12 baskets full of leftovers!), the crowds followed Jesus.  They wanted to know more about him.  They wanted to know who Jesus was.

Let’s watch this video together to hear what Jesus said:

The crowds followed Jesus and asked him who he was.  The people wanted Jesus to do more miracles. They wanted him to give them more free food.  They reminded Jesus about how their ancestors had been fed by God in the wilderness.  When their ancestors were in the wilderness, they complained that they didn’t have anything to eat.  God heard their complaints and so God sent them meat in the evening and in the morning God sent them manna.  Manna was like bread that rained down from heaven.  Every day God sent manna and meat for the people to eat.

Jesus told them that he was the bread of life.  God was giving them Jesus, God’s Son, who would give them not just food, but would give them life forever in heaven.

We know who Jesus is.  We know that God sent Jesus who was born as a baby in Bethlehem and Jesus died on the cross and rose to new life.  Because of Jesus’ death and his rising, we have new life with Jesus here and now and we will live with him forever in heaven.  Jesus is the bread of life, the bread that lasts forever!

Discuss

  • Why were the crowds looking for Jesus?
  • What does it mean that Jesus is the bread of life?
  • How does knowing that you will live forever with Jesus in heaven matter to you now?

Song

I Am the Bread of Life. Sing a New Song to the Lord.

Activity

Jesus says that he is the bread of life.  Why not make some bread?  Use this recipe to make bread in a bag.

Bread in a Bag

1 gallon sized resealable plastic bag
3 cups flour
1/4  cup sugar
1 packet yeast (rapid rise or regular)
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt (this can be to taste)

  • Combine 1 cup flour, sugar, and yeast packet in a bowl. Pour into a resealable (Ziplock style) bag.
  • Add warm water. Seal bag, pressing out air.
  • Begin shaking and mixing the bag by hand
  • Set bag to rest for 10 minutes (proofing)
  • In a bowl, combine 1 cup of flour with salt. Pour into bag along with melted butter.
  • Seal bag again, pressing out air. Shake and mix again.
  • Open bag and add in last cup of flour.
  • Seal bag, and mix for final time.
  • Pull out dough and place on a floured surface.
  • With floured hands, knead dough for 5-10 minutes
  • Place dough in a greased loaf pan.
  • Lay towel over the loaf pan and set it in a warm spot in your house. Allow the dough 30-45 minutes to rise
  • Bake at 375 for 25 minutes

Activity

In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray “Give us this day, our daily bread.”  Pray the Lord’s Prayer together as a family.  Watch this beautiful video and hear the Lord’s Prayer sung in Swahili.

Closing Prayer

Jesus, you are the bread of life.  We thank you that because of your death on the cross and your resurrection that we share new life with you here and now and we will live with you forever in heaven.  Amen.

 

Pastor Dan Fugate, Assistant to the Bishop for Discipleship in the Indiana-Kentucky Synod, ELCA, put this lesson together for Sunday School @ Home.  There will be a new one for each Sunday while we are unable to gather together physically in our congregational buildings.  Contact him at dfugate@iksynod.org.

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