Week Four

Bread of Heaven

In our final week of 80 Generations we seek to remind ourselves that we are sustained in our Christian life by developing a personal relationship with Jesus. Just as the Israelites were sustained physically by the manna that fell from the heavens. Jesus used this story to explain that he was the the bread of life. In our study this week we look at the key passage that contains the story of manna (Exodus 16:2-15), then we look at the the narrative contained in the gospel of John in which Jesus explains his identity as the Messiah.

SEEDS TO SOW: WHAT DO YOU PICTURE WHEN YOU HEAR THE PHRASE ‘BREAD OF HEAVEN’? *

Read Exodus 16: 1-31

What do you think manna looked like and what lessons can we learn about need vs. greed?

Read John 6: 1-15

Manna in a lunchbox…

How do you understand the feeding of the five thousand? Is it that God’s grace extends to all, with more that we can ever use?

Read John 6: 48-59

Do we talk enough about the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit symbolised in the act of Communion?

* SEEDS TO SOW: These are open-ended and optional prompts and are designed for people wanting to develop their own resources in response to the themes. Perhaps if you are using this material as a group you could use these prompts to inspire a time of prayer, or drawing, or creative writing? They are a short and sweet, simply a starting off place for you and your imagination. Tailor and develop as suits your group.