113 - The House of Bread: Love

In the final week of our Advent series called "The House of Bread" we were reminded that Jesus is the starter of our faith and his initiating love has changed us forever.

Learn about our Renewed Vision end of year Fund: https://www.portrait.church/rvf

What is Portrait Church Podcast?

Portrait Church is a church in the Inland Empire, CA. We exist to give people a renewed picture of Jesus and His church. We believe Jesus is the head of the church and our hope is to represent Him in such a way that people are compelled to see Him more clearly. Every human portrait was made in God’s image; therefore, the way we treat the portraits of people directly reflects our love for God.

Jay: 00:02

Hey. Welcome to the Portrait Church podcast. My name is Jay. I serve as the pastor here at Portrait, and I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas this holiday season and also invite you to listen to our series called the house of bread as we celebrate this advent of the first coming of our savior and his birth, but also prepare our hearts for his second coming, the second advent. So I hope that this sermon series can encourage you and not only satisfy your soul, but your spirit as you engage this holiday season.

Jay: 00:49

It is so nice to spend our third Christmas as a church with y'all. Isn't that crazy? Hey. I just wanna be brief and give us some encouragement as we head into this holiday week. Something happened a lot of things happened in 2020, but one of the things that happened that still reminds me during that time is all of a sudden I don't know I don't know if it happened for y'all, but, like, people started doing this crazy thing called making sourdough.

Jay: 01:26

Did anybody pick up that hobby into just be honest. Don't be ashamed. Okay. A few oh, okay. We got a few.

Jay: 01:32

Okay. Man, listen. So that there there was like a I was gonna say epidemic, but we don't like to say that's just too triggering for me. It was crazy during that time, and I remember it was like every other person had these interesting designs. And to be honest with you, I'd never had, like, really tried sourdough.

Jay: 01:50

I was used to that, like, Cheesecake Factory Squaw. You know what I'm talking about? Like, that dark bread that it's just like, can y'all just keep bringing that out? Like, and and let's do that. But I remember my wife, she she joined the cult I mean, the club, and she joined the club, and she started making sourdough.

Jay: 02:10

And I was like, yo, where has this been all my life? Like, this is amazing. Like, when it comes out of the oven, you just begin to smell it, and and and we would enjoy it. And it was like, yeah, we were like sourdough French toast, sourdough pancakes, like, it was like like, anything you imagine, we had sourdough. And I remember asking my wife, I was watching her do the process and I'm like, yo, how how did you how did you do this?

Jay: 02:39

This is amazing. And she's like, oh, I had to go get some starter from the person's I'm forgetting at the time. And I was like, hold on. What do you mean starter? Like, I thought you just floured and salt and, you know, magic happens.

Jay: 02:53

And she goes, oh, no no no. Like, I need to get starter first because starter is the thing that allows me to cultivate this sourdough dough. And then I just began to be very curious about what on earth do you need starter? Like, what is why is that a thing? And as I began to research, I found a man by the name of Carl Griffith.

Jay: 03:18

Most people don't know his name, but his legacy has fed thousands. His legacy has fed thousands because Carl Griffith is known for stewarding one of the oldest recorded sourdough starters in the world. We have a picture here. It had been passed down from 1847 on. It didn't survive because it was impressive, it survived because it was faithfully fed, carefully shared, and intentionally preserved.

Jay: 03:51

Somebody already knows where I'm about to go with this whole message. Amen? That starter has outlived wars, generations, economies, and empires because life was handed down. This was not manufactured. And that raises, I think, a deeper question that this advent season has us asking.

Jay: 04:13

As we are waiting in this tension for Jesus to return, how do you and I live the kind of life that lasts? Sourdough starter, what I had come to find out, is this like creature. It's alive. You it's something starter, at least as I watch my wife, it's something that she received. It didn't begin with this formula of bread.

Jay: 04:44

It began with something that was given to her. It was began with something that was cultivated before she even touched it. And I think this is a mistake that you and I often make about faith, is we think that faith begins with effort. But Jesus says otherwise. In John six, when people were essentially trying to ask this question to him, what can we do to perform the works of God?

Jay: 05:09

They asked. He says, this is the work of God. That you believe in the one he has sent. They were trying to have some sort of effort, some some sort of applying. And and what Jesus is like, hey, faith doesn't start with work.

Jay: 05:24

Faith starts with receiving. The longing of this advent season is for you and I longing to receive the creator of the universe, to receive his hope, to receive his peace, to receive his joy, and to receive his love. Advent is a decoration that God didn't wait for humanity to figure it out. He sent the starter himself. If faith begins with receiving, not achieving, then Jesus isn't just part of the process, he is the process.

Jay: 06:01

Jesus doesn't just bring teaching, he brings life itself. He lived with complete integrity, lived a life that you and I could not muster up living. He never compromised. He never doubted. He never withheld loves.

Jay: 06:17

And in ways he lived in ways that you and I would honestly look and feel like it's impossible to do. He stepped into the gap between us and God, absorbing the damage that humanity had caused in that relationship. He took everything into himself that destroys you and I, our shame, our failures, our our sin, our wickedness. And he absorbed it all on the cross and he sends and he did that not to condemn us, he did that to rescue us. And Jesus makes one of the boldest claims in scripture in John six thirty five, which is the whole season of this advent season for us.

Jay: 06:58

He says, I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again. He doesn't just say he brings bread. He's not the type of kind friend who just shows up with the sourdough loaves and says, here you go. I have a gift for you.

Jay: 07:17

No. He's like, I am the gift. I am the bread. Which means that Jesus is not just simply the source of our faith, he is a living culture of new life placed inside of us being the ultimate starter and sustainer of our faith. Here's the thing I learned also about the sourdough making process, although that little culture thing I'm I'm gonna mess this up, y'all can correct me out there.

Jay: 07:40

Okay? I know it's alive, but what I learned is it's also very fragile. Because if you don't feed it, it weakens. If you neglect it, it spoils. If you starve it, it dies.

Jay: 07:56

Faith, in many ways, works the same way. Receiving Jesus is simply the beginning, but it's not the end. Your faith must be fed. Your faith must be nurtured, and your faith must be kept alive. Scripture is clear.

Jay: 08:14

Faith, if not if it does not have works, is dead. Now, don't get it twisted. As I said before, you and I are not saved because of our works, because a living faith always grows, and we are saved because of the finished work of Jesus. So we gotta feed our faith. You feed your faith by trusting and remaining close to God in his word, in prayer, in community.

Jay: 08:45

It means that you don't live like the average Christian or I would say more so a disciple of Jesus who lives in society right now and and attends a gathering and is connected with a church 1.5 times out of the month. That's not good math if you're following me. That's not something that's gonna sustain or live. We feed our faith through being in community, even people who when we see them on the the initial first look, it doesn't look like we would be in community with them, but could it be that those are the very people that God wants to feed your faith and stir you up to greater obedience? You see, when faith is fed, it begins to rise.

Jay: 09:34

But growth doesn't come without a little bit of heat. Every loaf, as I would carefully watch my wife in this process, every loaf would go through this process when it's dough to be stretched, to be shaped, to be pressed, to be cut, and eventually, to be baked. Now, none of that feels gentle, and as I tried myself, it's very sticky. But that's how bread rises. And can I tell you, following Jesus is gonna do the same thing to you?

Jay: 10:14

Following Jesus will stretch you. He says in Matthew 16, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a lot of stretching. That sounds like a lot of selflessness in a world that is centered on selfishness. Following Jesus will not only stretch you, it'll shape you.

Jay: 10:43

First Peter one sixteen one six and seven says, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials, but these things happen so that your faith would be proven to be genuine. That God has a way of shaping us and taking us through these things and cutting things because he wants to create the type of person who is formed by him who could feed the world. But in the shaping and in the cutting and in the stretching and in the pressure of the heat following Jesus, it won't destroy you. It says that neither death nor life or anything will be able to separate you and I from the love of God. So here's the thing.

Jay: 11:36

You will be thrown into the ovens of the world. And I don't know if you know this, but in order to cook sourdough, that temperature got to be pretty hot. And I remember seeing the sourdough rise with the heat. And I think that's the same thing for those who wanna put their faith in Jesus. That it's actually the heat, it's actually the pressure, it's actually the things that you will go through in this life, but when you trust the source, you begin to rise.

Jay: 12:11

You begin to be transformed. You begin to not be consumed by the fire. But here's the miracle of sourdough. The more you feed it, the more it multiplies. You eventually have more than you need, and so you begin to share.

Jay: 12:28

Jesus says the same thing about life in him. He says in John six, that truly I tell you, anyone who believes has eternal life. I am that bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness and they died, but this bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it will not die. He says, I'm the living bread that came down from heaven.

Jay: 12:48

If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever because the bread that I give for the life of the world is my flesh. You see, Jesus has given us his life so that when we go through life, we are able to pass on more life to other people who are being stretched and pushed and cut, and they don't think that they are useful for anything, but they haven't got in the oven yet. You see, a life rooted in Jesus becomes nourishment for others, it becomes hope for the hungry, and it becomes bread for generations. And when you are satisfied by him, you stop craving the empty calories of culture. You're no longer hungry for what the world is selling because you've already tasted what truly satisfies.

Jay: 13:45

But here's Jesus's honest for the doubter in the room, for the skeptic. He says, but as I told you in John six, you've seen me, yet you do not believe. Many of y'all are in here, and you have not believed. You've seen God. Maybe this is why you're at church today.

Jay: 14:04

And to you, he welcomes you with the questions, and he welcomes you with the wrestling because some struggle to trust him with this process to believe that change is possible. But let me remind you about the genealogy of our savior. Because in the beginning of Matthew, you can go back and read it, but Jesus' genealogy is filled with failures, outsiders, low key, some scandals, and the least likely. So if you are here and you feel like, man, I got some stuff. I got some doubts.

Jay: 14:39

I'm the least likely person that that that could, that could be a recipient of this bread. Let me remind you that God has always worked through imperfect people. So much so that he's okay with it being in his family line, which means that if God could bring the bread of life through them, he can bring it to you. Because just like our friend, Carl, God is calling some of you in this room to pass on something that is gonna outlast society today. And the thing that you're gonna pass on is not gonna be sourdough starter, but it's gonna be faith.

Jay: 15:22

Because there's kids downstairs who are gonna need this faith for the next generation. There's college students that are gonna need this faith to carry it for the next generation. I don't care how old you are here. If you are breathing right now, God is calling you to steward your life for the future of his church. Advent reminds us that faith didn't start with us.

Jay: 15:44

It started with God. And we respond to his love because he initiates it first. We don't initiate it to gain. We receive because Jesus is the starter of new life. Jesus is the bread that satisfies.

Jay: 16:04

So this morning, I want us to partake in communion. If you are a follower of Jesus, this is something that you and I share as a way to honor and reflect on our relationship with God. And so what I want us to reflect on right now is the fact that Jesus has given up his body for us. I believe we have the scripture that I'll read as we consider this moment together. And if you're not a follower of Jesus and if you haven't placed your faith in him, I just kindly ask you, you don't have to be embarrassed, you can leave it there, and I would love to have a conversation with you, over a tamale even if you would like.

Jay: 16:54

But on the night when he was betrayed, he took the bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. You may partake of the bread. In the same way, he also took the cup and after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

Jay: 17:23

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. You may partake of the cup. Friends, would you stand with me as we conclude with one final song? I wanna remind us this morning how Jesus goes through this communion process. He takes the bread.

Jay: 17:54

He blesses the bread. He breaks the bread, and then he gives the bread. And what I want us to reflect on this morning is that God does the same thing with our lives. That he takes us, that he blesses us, and this is the part we tend to skip over. But in order for you and I to be given, there has to be a breaking.

Jay: 18:22

And the breaking is of your self sufficiency. The breaking is of your own desires to do life your way. The breaking is of the doubt because he says, I want you to trust me. So remember, would God remind us as people that he is the starter of life, that if we feed and nurture and care for, we will have something that we can pass on for generations. Let's pray.

Jay: 18:51

Heavenly father, we love you. We thank you for starting what we could never start, for finishing what we can never finish. God, in the stretching and in the shaping and in the cutting, would we remember just like those boys in the scriptures, there's another one in the fire. There's another one in the fire who wants to help us rise to live life to the full so that we may multiply and be a blessing to others. Father, help us today receive your love and receive your joy and receive your peace and receive your hope because we live in a world that desperately needs it.

Jay: 19:36

Get glory in this place, God. We love you. We praise you. And we ask that you bless this holiday season in Jesus' name. Amen.

Jay: 19:46

Hey, I want to take a second to tell you about our renewed vision fund. At the end of every year, we ask God where he wants us to raise money towards something that he is calling us to do. So this year, we feel like God is calling us to raise up funds to live out our mission in its fullest capacity. And our mission as a church is to make disciples who practice and portray the way of Jesus together for the Inland Empire and the world. And for the Inland Empire means that we are trying to raise money to be prepared if God were to open up an opportunity for a permanent space for us to do ministry, for us to continue training and equipping people to live out the mission that God's called them to.

Jay: 20:36

And also, we want to extend that mission globally, which is why we are gonna partner with a church that is being revitalized right now in London. And God is doing some incredible work, we want to come alongside and add more fuel to the flame of what God is cultivating there. And also, we want to partner with some friends out in South Asia who are doing an incredible work through creative arts and different ministries there to bring the gospel. And so together, our goal is to raise 150,000 by the 2025 because we feel like we want to be able to steward the next move that God is preparing, not only for us here in the Inland Empire, but for the entire globe. And so if you are interested in partnering with us, we'll include the website in the show notes and we look forward to seeing how we together can steward this move of God.