Three times Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?”

Three times Peter answered, “Yes, Lord. You know that I love You.

And, each time, Jesus responded, “Feed My Sheep.”

According to the Gospel of John, Jesus was commanding Peter to care for and provide spiritual food for God’s people.

The Pike County Salvation Army has accepted, literally, Jesus’ command to “feed my sheep” through its Empty Bowls Luncheon from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Friday a Bush Memorial Baptist Church in Troy and, spiritually, through The Potter Sermon delivered by potter Greg Aman.

The Empty Bowls Luncheon buffet will feature 17 different soups and stews and a variety of breads and desserts.

At noon the Rev. Greg Aman will drop a lump of clay on a potter’s wheel and, as he forms that lump of clay into something beautiful and useful, he will tell how God as the Potter has a plan for each and every life, said Kim May, Pike County Salvation Army director. “It is amazing to watch Greg as he demonstrates, with the clay how God shows His love.”

Aman “threw” a pot on the wheel at the 2015 Empty Bowls Luncheon and his sermon was well received.

“Many people who heard The Potter’s Sermon asked us to make it part of this year’s Empty Bowls Luncheon,” May said. “We are honored to have Greg Aman back at the potter’s wheel and looking forward to hearing the potter’s sermon.”

The Potter’s Sermon will begin at noon and is about 20 minutes in length.

“Those who come in during The Potters Sermon are invited to go through the buffet line and enjoy their lunch and the sermon,” May said. “Greg now has more than 40 of experience as a potter. He said God laid The Potter’s Sermon on his heart many years ago and he has been preaching from the potter’s wheel ever since.”

Aman is the pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Ashford.

The annual Empty Bowls Luncheon on Friday is a fundraiser for the Pike County Salvation Army. The funds raised are used to help feed the hungry in Pike County through the food bank at the Salvation Army Service Center on South Brundidge Street in Troy.

Tickets for the 2016 Empty Bowls Luncheon are $20. They may be purchased at the Service Center at 509 South Brundidge Street in Troy and will be available at the door. A ticket entitles holder to dine from the soup and such buffet line and to choose a bowl from a selection of about 200 handcrafted clay bowls.