25-Aug-24 (John 6:56-69)

Have you ever heard something that's really hard to understand? [Wait for answers.]
Jesus was talking to his disciples, and he said some things that not only confused them, but some of them found them so hard to understand that they stopped following him.
Jesus asked the 12 apostles if they wanted to leave too. Peter said for all of them that they knew Jesus had "the words of life." (Meaning that Jesus' teachings made life better for everyone.)
The disciples decided that, even when it's hard to understand and maybe even hard to do, they'd stick with following Jesus.
You can ask anyone in this congregation and they'll tell you that there's been at least one time when they had trouble understanding what God wanted them to know. There are times when following Jesus is difficult. But it's worth it, because Jesus' teaching make life better for everyone.
Let's pray about that.

Prayer:

God, we know sometimes it's hard to understand what you're saying to us and sometimes it's hard to follow Jesus even when we do understand.
Help us to stay with it, so that we, by following Jesus, can make life better for everyone.
We pray in the name of Jesus. AMEN.