At about this same time he again found himself with a hungry crowd on his hands. He called his disciples together and said, "This crowd is breaking my heart. They have stuck with me for three days, and now they have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they'll faint along the way—some of them have come a long distance." His disciples responded, "What do you expect us to do about it? Buy food out here in the desert?" He asked, "How much bread do you have?" "Seven loaves," they said. So Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. After giving thanks, he took the seven bread loaves, broke them into pieces, and gave them to his disciples so they could hand them out to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He pronounced a blessing over the fish and told his disciples to hand them out as well. The crowd ate its fill. Seven sacks of leftovers were collected. There were well over four thousand at the meal. Then he sent them home. He himself went straight to the boat with his disciples and set out for Dalmanoutha.

Ease 90%, Level 3.5

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and Peace be with you Christ's Soldier!

Have you ever been really hungry? Did you ever have to go for a whole day and not eat? Can you imagine three days without food? Then what if you had to walk for a day to get home? I think that I would just drop from being hungry.

That is what today's story is about. The people had followed Jesus out to a deserted place. There was nothing to eat there. They loved to hear Jesus teach so much, that they would not go home to eat.

Jesus got worried about the people. He called all his disciples together and told them that it was breaking his heart to see them hungry. He was through teaching, but he was worried they would faint trying to get home. Jesus asked, "How much bread do we have here?" They had seven loaves of bread and a few fish. Now there were 4,000 people. That is lot of people. That is four times as many people than live in Granddaddy's whole town. They had not eaten for three days. Do you think seven loaves of bread and a few fish would feed them?

Jesus blessed the bread and the fish. He told his helpers to start passing it out to the people. They did, and it just kept going out and around until everybody had eaten all they wanted. They were completely full and ready to go home. Jesus had them collect up the left-over bread. There were seven baskets full. This was one of Jesus' big miracles.

Today Jesus feeds two billion people with his Holy Word every day. He feeds their hearts and souls. Everyone who comes to church for the Lord's Supper eats a special bread blessed by Jesus in his word. This is also called communion. It means sharing together. The Holy Communion makes us stronger inside, so that we won't faint from hard things in the world. It makes us closer to Jesus and our Christian friends. One day soon you will join in the Lord's Supper, and eat the "Bread from Heaven" that we call the Body of Christ. It is a miracle for those who love Jesus. Like our prayer says, "Feed us with all goodness."

That's all for this Sunday. Be good and love God. He will bless you and your friends and family!

Granddaddy

Ease 89%, Level 3.2

LESSON EXERCISES

* Can you name the people in this story, and tell about them?

* In you own words, what do you think this story is about?

* Draw a picture that tells the Gospel story. (You may copy or trace the one on the lesson if you wish.)

* Make up a story (parable) or share a true story that is like our lesson today.

* Sing a song about today's story God is so Good

Songs for Children

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Notice: This is an open letter to my Grandson Nathan. It is under copyright protection: The Rev. Mark Carroll, MMVI

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