SPEAKER_00: But we'll be in Mark chapter 6 as we continue our journey through the Gospel of Mark.
SPEAKER_00: Living with Gospel Urgency is the theme that I gave to it several uh well, it's been a few months ago now.
SPEAKER_00: My title this morning is Our All-Sufficient Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Our All-Sufficient Christ in verses 30 to 44 will serve as our primary text this morning.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm assuming that most all of us, if not everyone who has been in school for at least some length of time, you've been through this experience.
SPEAKER_00: Depending upon which class it is that you're sitting down into, you've got some other things maybe on your mind.
SPEAKER_00: What are we going to have for lunch?
SPEAKER_00: I wonder what we're going to do in PE today.
SPEAKER_00: I wonder if Susie is going to pay any attention to me, or we're wondering about any number of things.
SPEAKER_00: And then all of a sudden you are shocked out of your distraction when the teacher says, I'd like for everybody to clear everything off of your desk except one sheet of paper and a pencil.
SPEAKER_00: And you're thinking, oh no.
SPEAKER_00: I know I should have read the assignment better than I did because a pop test is coming.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't like pop tests.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, if you stop and think about it, life is full of pop quizzes.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord gives them to us all the time.
SPEAKER_00: Pop quizzes that the Lord gives are opportunities for us to demonstrate and answer one question.
SPEAKER_00: And so it's almost as though every day the Lord says, take out a sheet of paper and I want you to answer this one question.
SPEAKER_00: Will you trust me?
SPEAKER_00: Because on any given day, our faith will be challenged.
SPEAKER_00: And on certain days, it will be extremely challenged.
SPEAKER_00: However, that's not a bad thing.
SPEAKER_00: James tells us that we should actually count it joyful, a good experience when we encounter all sorts of difficulties and trials and tribulations because when those things, when we respond to them appropriately, they produce steadfastness.
SPEAKER_00: And when you let steadfastness have its way, it will eventually work its way into having a mature faith.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to see the original 12 disciples, the original 12 apostles given an opportunity to pass a pop quiz.
SPEAKER_00: The context of our story today is quite familiar.
SPEAKER_00: I'd be mildly surprised if someone in here has never actually heard of this particular miracle.
SPEAKER_00: So this miracle is one of only two that are in all four Gospels.
SPEAKER_00: It is the two miracles that are in all four gospels, Christ's resurrection and the feeding of the 5,000.
SPEAKER_00: So if indeed the Spirit of God led Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all four, to write about this particular event, it lets me know that we need to pay special attention to it.
SPEAKER_00: Now, in terms of scale, this is the most incredible miracle that Jesus did.
SPEAKER_00: We commonly refer to it as feeding of the 5,000, but I think many of you already know there were probably a whole lot more than that.
SPEAKER_00: One of the other gospel writers tells us there were 5,000 men plus women and children.
SPEAKER_00: So let's just assume that there's at least as many women as there are men.
SPEAKER_00: And let's assume that maybe there's a couple of kids for every man-woman combination, whether they're husband and wife or not.
SPEAKER_00: If you do the math on that, you got 5,000 men, you got 5,000 women, you've got maybe upwards of 10,000 kids.
SPEAKER_00: It is possible that this miracle is being taking place in front of upwards of 20,000 people.
SPEAKER_00: What an opportunity for God to demonstrate through Jesus, his son, his creative power.
SPEAKER_00: And so it's going to be an opportunity for us to be reminded that Jesus is indeed Jehovah Jarah, the Lord who will provide as we just sing.
SPEAKER_00: And so I want to share three things that you can anticipate the Lord doing for you as you go through life, as you experience these particular tests.
SPEAKER_00: And these three things will prove that He is our all-sufficient Christ.
SPEAKER_00: First, our all-sufficient Christ offers restoration when you're weary.
SPEAKER_00: He offers restoration when you're weary.
SPEAKER_00: So verse 30.
SPEAKER_00: The apostles returned.
SPEAKER_00: Now, many of you were here last week and or the week before.
SPEAKER_00: We saw the apostles, they were sent out, and for the first time they were doing ministry on their own.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not by their side.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not taking the lead.
SPEAKER_00: They're taking turns taking the lead as they go out two by two.
SPEAKER_00: The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.
SPEAKER_00: Now, we don't know how long the apostles were away.
SPEAKER_00: Jordan and I were talking about this this week.
SPEAKER_00: And um, I think it's safe to assume that they were sent out for at least a few weeks, maybe even a few months.
SPEAKER_00: And so now they've come back and they're doing debriefing as we as a staff sometimes do, and they're talking about all that they did and what they taught.
SPEAKER_00: Now, we know from verses 12 and 13 that we looked at a few weeks ago, they preached repentance, they cast out many demons, and they healed many sick people.
SPEAKER_00: But now keep in mind, ministry, even when it's going well, can be very exhausting.
SPEAKER_00: We're not even talking about how many times they were rejected, how many times they had a door slammed in their face, how many times somebody said, Get out of my face, how many times somebody said, Well don't you just go to the next town or go to hell?
SPEAKER_00: I can see whatever the equivalency of that in their day, I can I can imagine them hearing that.
SPEAKER_00: Who knows how many times they had to take their sandals off and shake the dust off?
SPEAKER_00: And if you're gonna reject, you're not just rejecting us, you are rejecting him.
SPEAKER_00: And so these next two verses imply how utterly exhausted they must have been.
SPEAKER_00: Verses 31 and 32.
SPEAKER_00: And he, Jesus, said to them, Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.
SPEAKER_00: For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat, and they went away in a boat to a desolate place by themselves.
SPEAKER_00: Some people rust out of ministry because they're lazy, and others burn out from ministry because they don't take good care of themselves.
SPEAKER_00: Vance Havner used to say, if you don't come apart and rest, you will come apart.
SPEAKER_00: Now, as many of you already know, ministry, Christian church, pastoral ministry, it is both rewarding and exhausting.
SPEAKER_00: It is both incredible and incredibly draining.
SPEAKER_00: When you consider the spiritual warfare that we're engaged in right now, there's no doubt in my mind, one of the reasons that I, I mean, as soon as I get home on Sundays and my dear wife so faithfully prepares another delicious meal, about the time it gets in and just kind of settles, man, I go into a semi-comatose state.
SPEAKER_00: And Zeke and I of pops, can you play?
SPEAKER_00: Can you play today, right now?
SPEAKER_00: Don't you know?
SPEAKER_00: I've been fighting demons.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's it's it's exhausting.
SPEAKER_00: Spiritual warfare that we're engaged in.
SPEAKER_00: Um, bearing one another's burdens, helping solve problems, praying for people, praying with people.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus knew full well that these men needed some downtime, they needed some rest, they needed some good quality R and R.
SPEAKER_00: And he responds with tenderness.
SPEAKER_00: It's Jesus the one, it's not, it's not Peter saying, Hey Lord, can we can we get it?
SPEAKER_00: Can we take a couple of days off?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the one who says, guys, let's get away.
SPEAKER_00: Let's get away from the crowds.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just come apart from everybody else and get some rest.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, the Lord, he is fully aware of how weary and worn some of you are.
SPEAKER_00: He's fully aware how weary some of you single moms are.
SPEAKER_00: Or in some cases, you might be married, but you're you might as well be doing it all by yourself.
SPEAKER_00: He knows.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you dads, maybe you're working two or three jobs just to make the ends meet.
SPEAKER_00: Trying to save and prepare to send your kids off to the best school you can possibly send them to, and you're tired and you're weary.
SPEAKER_00: He knows.
SPEAKER_00: I was talking with somebody before the nine before this service.
SPEAKER_00: And for those who have maybe a spouse or a parent and they don't know you anymore because of dementia or Alzheimer's, that can be so wearying.
SPEAKER_00: But the Lord knows.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you, you are you're you're you're in school and you're working a job and you're tired.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord knows.
SPEAKER_00: For any number of reasons, any number of you could be so weary and worn.
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to know that the Lord is aware.
SPEAKER_00: And if you will, now part of it you got to do for yourself, you got to discipline yourself to stop.
SPEAKER_00: And I know from moms in particular, that is so hard, but if you can, at least when you have an opportunity to stop, rest in him.
SPEAKER_00: Don't just stop working.
SPEAKER_00: Rest in him.
SPEAKER_00: He knew they needed to come away and rest and be with him.
SPEAKER_00: So make sure that in your exhaustion, in your weariness, you don't forget to spend time with him.
SPEAKER_00: Know that if you cast all your cares on him, you do so because he cares for you.
SPEAKER_00: He offers restoration for your weary and worn mind, body, and soul.
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, our all-sufficient Christ offers compassion when you're wayward.
SPEAKER_00: He offers restoration when you're weary and compassion when you're wayward.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 33.
SPEAKER_00: Now, many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.
SPEAKER_00: So it seems as though Jesus and the apostles are sailing along the Sea of Galilee, and they're just kind of looking for a place where maybe people aren't, and they just keep going and they keep going, and all the while they're going, they end up, one of the other gospel writers tells us in Bethsaida or off the coast of Bethsaida, and people are seeing them, and some of them, man, they're training for the Olympics, and they're just going along there.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I they're not getting away from me.
SPEAKER_00: Others who might have been lame would have arrived probably all throughout the day.
SPEAKER_00: But people, word is spreading like wildfire.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is here.
SPEAKER_00: All of them, they're here.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go, let's go.
SPEAKER_00: And so they're chasing after them.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know whether they sailed or rode against the wind, the wind was resistant and or whatever other reasons, but some of those who were running got there before Jesus and the others did.
SPEAKER_00: Thousands of them are there.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I wish that everybody who has gathered were there with pure motives.
SPEAKER_00: I wish every one of them were thinking, man, this is the Messiah, and he can solve all the problems of my soul.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, John tells us that a whole lot of them are there just for a miracle or to see one.
SPEAKER_00: So they're not all there for the right reason.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, and the crowd probably swelled to such high numbers because this is about the time for the annual feast of Passover.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jews from all over were making their way to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: And so, what's going on over here?
SPEAKER_00: So we see this large gathering of people.
SPEAKER_00: But even though their motives were widely varying, and probably some of them were hoping that Jesus would perform a miracle of being a um a warrior messiah and perform a miracle and set us free.
SPEAKER_00: Despite all of that, even though only a small percentage of them came for spiritual reasons, Jesus responds to them with excellence.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 34.
SPEAKER_00: When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.
SPEAKER_00: So colon cancer runs on my dad's side of the family.
SPEAKER_00: And because of the family history with dad and with some of his siblings, with some major, major surgeries, I had my first colonoscopy when I was 40.
SPEAKER_00: And then I had one at 45, and I had one at 50, and then I had one at 55, and the one at 55 I will never forget.
SPEAKER_00: Um, the procedure itself went well, no polyps.
SPEAKER_00: Um, that there would be no need for me to start coming any more frequently, and so I'm back in the room and I'm waiting for relief.
SPEAKER_00: And um it's gonna be okay for y'all to kind of chuckle uh at parts along the way, but I'm waiting for the gas to escape.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, and some of the teenagers are probably thinking, is he saying what I think he's saying?
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I am.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I am, and um and relief was not coming.
SPEAKER_00: I am not at all comparing what I was going to go through for the next two hours to kidney stones or giving birth.
SPEAKER_00: But for me, the next hour and 45 minutes was some of the most discomfort I have ever experienced.
SPEAKER_00: I could not get relief whatever.
SPEAKER_00: I am bent over.
SPEAKER_00: Most of the time I'm on the floor.
SPEAKER_00: I was I was on the floor in various different rooms, and about an hour and 45 minutes in, the doctor thought maybe he had perforated my colon.
SPEAKER_00: And so he was talking to his assistant, about to call the hospital to take me over to have emergency surgery, and I'm thinking, oh my goodness, and I'm just doubling over.
SPEAKER_00: And then just a matter of moments later, praise God, I had a breakthrough.
SPEAKER_00: Pun intended.
SPEAKER_00: Now, you're probably thinking, why are you telling Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: The word for compassion, it literally means to be moved in your bowels.
SPEAKER_00: In the ancient Near East, that's how they viewed compassion.
SPEAKER_00: To be bent over with care, to have pains for somebody else.
SPEAKER_00: And so imagine Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He sees these people, a whole mass of humanity, thousands of them just running, and and he just sees and he's bent over with compassion.
SPEAKER_00: He cares for them so much, and he doesn't get relief from his, he continues to care for them.
SPEAKER_00: Such compassion our Lord has.
SPEAKER_00: Um He says there that they were like sheep without a shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: This shepherdless state of these people was a strong indictment on the spiritual leadership of that day.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, can you imagine if Jesus were to just kind of step in for a moment and looked at you and the people in the 1030 service and said, Oh, you're like sheep without a shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: That would be an indictment on me and Kevin and Jeremy and Jordan and Ty.
SPEAKER_00: I hope and pray that that would not be true, but it was true on this occasion.
SPEAKER_00: Spiritual leaders, priests, leaders in the synagogue.
SPEAKER_00: And yet people were like having no uh spiritual leadership, and it seemed like nobody cared, but the Lord sure did.
SPEAKER_00: He wanted to give them guidance and direction, he wanted to protect them from the onslaughts of Satan, his diabolical attacks, he wanted to protect them from deception.
SPEAKER_00: And so, folks, can I just pause again and give you assurance that Jesus still has compassion today?
SPEAKER_00: He not only knows about all the causes of your weariness, but man, he feels the pain for you, he has compassion for you.
SPEAKER_00: And for whatever reason that maybe you would like for somebody to care about you, the Lord does.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 4 15 says that our our high priest has passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, and we can hold on to our profession, and He He can be touched with all the feelings of our infirmities because he was tempted with sin like we are, and yet He He had no sin, and therefore He we we can go knowing that He experiences all of that, and He will have compassion and give grace and mercy to help in your time of need.
SPEAKER_00: If it makes your heart hurt, it makes his gut hurt if you follow.
SPEAKER_00: Please don't think for a moment that he doesn't see you.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you, you may have cried yourself to sleep last night.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord saw every tear.
SPEAKER_00: Fears about your future, fears about your health, fears what it's going to be like when you are by yourself, as some of you are about to be.
SPEAKER_00: He knows and cares about all of your headaches and your heartbreak.
SPEAKER_00: He knows all about your struggles, he knows all about your insecurities.
SPEAKER_00: Folks, Jesus has as much compassion for you for whatever reasons you need him to as he did for these people.
SPEAKER_00: He is bent over in compassionate pain for you.
SPEAKER_00: Now, sheep, he says that he looked at them and said, they're like sheep without a shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: Sheep were notorious for being dull, directionless, defenseless, and dirty.
SPEAKER_00: And without a loving shepherd to lead them, protect them, love them, and care for them, they would be destitute.
SPEAKER_00: They would experience misery and pain and eventual death.
SPEAKER_00: He knows, Jesus knows that spiritually speaking, these people need somebody to love God, protect and clean them, cleanse them.
SPEAKER_00: He knows they need him.
SPEAKER_00: They need him.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're told here that he began to teach them many things.
SPEAKER_00: Oh man, instead of being frustrated that their plans got interrupted, instead of being frustrated like I can be sometimes because of an interruption.
SPEAKER_00: Instead of being frustrated, Jesus begins to teach.
SPEAKER_00: He shows compassion.
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't annoyed.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't tell people, look, look, look, look.
SPEAKER_00: Do you have any idea how tired we are?
SPEAKER_00: Go away and make an appointment next time.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't tell them anything like that.
SPEAKER_00: He'll never ever tell you to make an appointment.
SPEAKER_00: Come back some other time.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't get angry with them.
SPEAKER_00: He felt sorry for them.
SPEAKER_00: Not the kind of like, man, I just feel sorry for those folks.
SPEAKER_00: The kind of sorry, the kind of compassion that moves you to action.
SPEAKER_00: And so he teaches them what had to have been life-changing truth.
SPEAKER_00: I wonder if maybe he taught them about the good shepherd and how he indeed would be the good shepherd who would give his life for the sheep.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he taught them about how, you know what, if you will trust me as the savior shepherd of your soul, I'll lead you to green pastures and I'll take you to fresh waters.
SPEAKER_00: I wonder if maybe he taught them, if you put your faith and trust in me as your savior shepherd, when you die, you and me and us, we shall forever live in the house of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We're not told what he taught, but we are told how he taught.
SPEAKER_00: He taught with compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Luke's account tells us that he also compassionately healed some people.
SPEAKER_00: Though weary, though worn, he didn't get frustrated.
SPEAKER_00: He he was compassionate.
SPEAKER_00: And oh folks, I want to be like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I want the guys on staff alongside me and our wives.
SPEAKER_00: I want us to be like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I want our deacons to be like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I want our people to be like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, how we need to be people of compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to Colossians 3 verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: Put on then, put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts.
SPEAKER_00: Compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness.
SPEAKER_00: And patience.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians 4:32, be kind to one another.
SPEAKER_00: Tender-hearted.
SPEAKER_00: Tender-hearted is almost synonymous with being compassionate, forgiving one another as God and Christ forgave you.
SPEAKER_00: So, folks, here's the bottom line.
SPEAKER_00: All of us, for everybody here, either you see people with problems and have compassion, or you see people as problems and have contempt.
SPEAKER_00: There's really not any middle ground.
SPEAKER_00: So the people that are sitting around you, the people that you might have mingled with in the fellowship, and all the people that you look around, you're thinking, I don't have any idea who they are.
SPEAKER_00: I guarantee you, they've got problems.
SPEAKER_00: I've got problems.
SPEAKER_00: And either we see people with problems and have compassion toward them, or if you're not real careful, you'll see people as problems and have contempt.
SPEAKER_00: Should have known better.
SPEAKER_00: Should have got themselves in that kind of a mess.
SPEAKER_00: They'd have done this, they'd have done that.
SPEAKER_00: We know that.
SPEAKER_00: They know that.
SPEAKER_00: They don't need our condemnation, they need our compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Lessons are hard to learn sometimes, but let's, man, let's let's be compassionate like our Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Um, I saw this um this video this week.
SPEAKER_00: I thought about playing it for you.
SPEAKER_00: I really did.
SPEAKER_00: Um, this guy, he's sitting in his car, and he feels like the Lord has just led him to do something a little unusual.
SPEAKER_00: He felt like the Lord was leading him to go to this certain gas station.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know whether he regularly frequented it or not, but he goes and he sees this this black lady and she's putting some gas in his car.
SPEAKER_00: No, no.
SPEAKER_00: He first saw her inside the store and he sees and he's like, it's almost like the Lord says, That's that's the person I want you to help.
SPEAKER_00: And so she goes back to her vehicle and she's starting to put gas in.
SPEAKER_00: And this guy goes up to him and says, Ma'am, um, you, you, you don't know me, but the Lord, he impressed upon me that I I I needed to help you.
SPEAKER_00: And I I've got and she looked at him as most anybody would, like, what are you talking about?
SPEAKER_00: She he said, Ma'am, I the Lord just impressed upon me to hear.
SPEAKER_00: And he begins to just take out some, I want, I want to pay for your gas.
SPEAKER_00: She bent over, just weeping, weeping.
SPEAKER_00: You have no idea how hard it's been.
SPEAKER_00: You have no idea how hard this week and even this morning has been.
SPEAKER_00: You have no, man, she went and she hugged him and hugged on him, reminding me of our kids doing their Christmas giving.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes, man, just it don't have to be anything big, just genuine compassion in obedience that has the Lord leads you, can make a powerful impact on people.
SPEAKER_00: And there's no doubt in my mind, these people they would remember this day when Jesus showed such compassion on them.
SPEAKER_00: But then I need to hurry thirdly.
SPEAKER_00: Our all-sufficient Christ, He offers provisions when you're without, restoration when you're weary, compassion when you're wayward, and then provisions when you're without.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 35.
SPEAKER_00: And it grew late.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples came to him and said, This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late.
SPEAKER_00: Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy for themselves something to eat.
SPEAKER_00: It's probably uh springtime because we know grass is growing.
SPEAKER_00: It's probably mid-April.
SPEAKER_00: Sunset is around 6 p.m.
SPEAKER_00: So let's just use our sanctified imaginations and think that maybe it's around four.
SPEAKER_00: And the four o'clock, and the disciples are thinking to themselves, that would give a couple of hours for people to disperse, go get something to eat before they go back home or wherever they're going in their travels.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 37.
SPEAKER_00: But he said to them, he answered them, you give them something to eat.
SPEAKER_00: Now it's hard, it's hard for me not to read that like, don't, don't, don't look at me, you give them something to eat.
SPEAKER_00: But he probably didn't say it quite like that.
SPEAKER_00: That's the Jeff Manning translation.
SPEAKER_00: But he probably just said, Well, why don't why don't you give them something to eat?
SPEAKER_00: Why don't you?
SPEAKER_00: And you know good and well those guys like, what?
SPEAKER_00: I think they were flabbergasted.
SPEAKER_00: You you want us to do what?
SPEAKER_00: Do you not see how many people are here like we do?
SPEAKER_00: Um verse 37.
SPEAKER_00: And they said to him, now what what they had done, like we often do, when there's some major task, we start trying to figure out a way why how can we do this humanly speaking, trying to calculate.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 37, they said to him, Shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?
SPEAKER_00: So whoever did the fast calculating, they fought, let's see, there's got to be, man, what how many do you think?
SPEAKER_00: 15,000 people?
SPEAKER_00: I think it's more than that.
SPEAKER_00: And so, let's see, 15,000, 20,000 times a couple pieces of bread.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we could get a little bit of olive oil and some spices to give it to dip.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, it's gonna take 200 denarii to do that.
SPEAKER_00: Now, a denarius was a day's wage for a common laborer.
SPEAKER_00: So 200 denarii would be like eight months' wages of a worker.
SPEAKER_00: And they're thinking to themselves, we don't have that kind of money.
SPEAKER_00: This is impossible.
SPEAKER_00: This is crazy.
SPEAKER_00: And I think before they got the word crazy, I mean, you might want to not tell Jesus that his ideas before they get the word crazy out, verse 38.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, How many loaves do you have?
SPEAKER_00: Go and see.
SPEAKER_00: And when they had found out, they said, Five and two fish.
SPEAKER_00: Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass.
SPEAKER_00: So they sat down in groups by hundreds and by fifties.
SPEAKER_00: Now John tells us it was Andrew, Peter's brother, who went out and found out that there was this one guy whose mom earlier that day had packed him a lunch, and it had five pieces of bread and two loaves.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, two fish.
SPEAKER_00: The bread were five barley loaves.
SPEAKER_00: Don't think of this long loaf of bread and slices like that.
SPEAKER_00: It was probably like flatbread, much smaller pieces.
SPEAKER_00: And uh the fish were probably pickled.
SPEAKER_00: And some mom, when she fixed that lunch, she was thinking that that would provide a very nice lunch for her one boy.
SPEAKER_00: Um, sometimes youth pastors, physical education directors will say, All right, I want everybody to count off one, two, one, two, or one, two, three, four, or whatever, whatever.
SPEAKER_00: Here, we need everybody to count off in groups of fifty.
SPEAKER_00: And so they set in groups of fifty, and then maybe two groups set together in groups of hundred.
SPEAKER_00: Why did he tell them to do that?
SPEAKER_00: I think it's a very practical thing.
SPEAKER_00: So that when the food is about to be distributed, they can do so in an organized fashion.
SPEAKER_00: Instead of having this mass of humanity, they can they can walk down rows and pass and pass the food out.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 41.
SPEAKER_00: And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and set a blessing and broke the loaves and gave to them to the disciples to set before the people, and he divided the two fish among them all.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I like magic.
SPEAKER_00: I do.
SPEAKER_00: I did a magic trick in the talent show at G.R.
SPEAKER_00: Whitfield way back in the day.
SPEAKER_00: I took a card and slammed it through a whole deck and a table.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm talking about.
SPEAKER_00: I like pen and tellers fooless.
SPEAKER_00: I like magic and I like finding out how it's done.
SPEAKER_00: Well, with magic, there's almost always some props involved, some psychological distraction, and some sleight of hand.
SPEAKER_00: I can assure you of this, there is no sleight of hand here.
SPEAKER_00: There might have been a few props, some baskets, bread, and fish, but there's no magic.
SPEAKER_00: There's a miracle.
SPEAKER_00: And we don't know how Jesus did it.
SPEAKER_00: It almost, reading behind one other author, it's almost like this was continuous creation.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think he just all of a sudden, there's enough food all around for 20,000 people.
SPEAKER_00: It's almost as though he just kept creating.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe fill in this basket, fill in this basket here.
SPEAKER_00: Take it, take it, another basket.
SPEAKER_00: And next thing you know, they're all fed.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 42.
SPEAKER_00: And they all ate and were satisfied.
SPEAKER_00: Um, about 13 months ago, I was invited to go on a vision trip with Compassion International.
SPEAKER_00: We went to Guatemala and got to do some deep sea fishing.
SPEAKER_00: We got to fish for marlin for sailfish for mahimahi.
SPEAKER_00: And um, among the overall group, we caught quite a few sailfish.
SPEAKER_00: Uh we caught some mahimahi, I think maybe two marlin were caught.
SPEAKER_00: Well, on the second day we were there, we had a fish dinner.
SPEAKER_00: And the fish was the best fish I've ever eaten in my life.
SPEAKER_00: It had just come out of the ocean hours before.
SPEAKER_00: Fresh.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I don't know who the chef was, but he or she knew what they were doing.
SPEAKER_00: Chef Jesus, with this fish and this bread, I guarantee you it was the best they had ever eaten.
SPEAKER_00: And they were satisfied.
SPEAKER_00: Now, folks, I've got two things I want to send you home with.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, don't underestimate what you have to offer.
SPEAKER_00: God can use it and make it prosper.
SPEAKER_00: Don't underestimate what you have to offer.
SPEAKER_00: God can use it and make it prosper.
SPEAKER_00: Do you think that mother, when she packed that same little lunch and when that boy opened it and saw, well, same old, same old.
SPEAKER_00: This is pretty much what I get every day.
SPEAKER_00: Do you think that mom ever thought what God might could do with just some bread and fish?
SPEAKER_00: And I guarantee you, there are some of you, and you discount who you are.
SPEAKER_00: You discount what you have to offer.
SPEAKER_00: You discount your giftedness.
SPEAKER_00: You discount your abilities, you discount the contribution that you can make to the cause of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you, don't underestimate what you have to offer.
SPEAKER_00: God can use it and make it prosper.
SPEAKER_00: Because last time I checked, little is much when God's in it.
SPEAKER_00: It's a little baby's tears that captured Pharaoh's daughter's attention to rescue Moses.
SPEAKER_00: It was a sling and a stone that slew Goliath.
SPEAKER_00: It was a wooden stick, a staff that God would use to perform mighty miracles through Moses.
SPEAKER_00: Little is much when God is in it.
SPEAKER_00: Don't underestimate what you have to offer the cause of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You give it to him and let him cause it to prosper.
SPEAKER_00: Now, before we move on, keep one thing in mind.
SPEAKER_00: Regardless of how satisfied this multitude was from this miraculous provision of God, they did soon get hungry again.
SPEAKER_00: Matter of fact, John's gospel tells us in John chapter 6 that the very next day, big crowd of people.
SPEAKER_00: You know why they're there, right?
SPEAKER_00: They're looking for a buffet breakfast.
SPEAKER_00: And that's when Jesus began to confront them.
SPEAKER_00: He did it compassionately, but he confronted them and said, You know what?
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are here for the wrong reason.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're not willing to follow me with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, then you reject me.
SPEAKER_00: And scripture says many of them went away.
SPEAKER_00: But in that same context, that next day, he said, You know what?
SPEAKER_00: The bread that some of you ate yesterday, the fish that some of you ate yesterday, you're hungry again.
SPEAKER_00: That's why you're back.
SPEAKER_00: But I am the bread of life.
SPEAKER_00: And if you partake of me, you'll never be hungry spiritually again.
SPEAKER_00: One final thing I want to send you home with.
SPEAKER_00: When God's leading doesn't make sense, obey anyway and trust his providence.
SPEAKER_00: When the Lord told the fellas, hey, go go go go see how much food we got.
SPEAKER_00: Two loaves and I mean five loaves and two fish.
SPEAKER_00: Let's feed it to them.
unknown: What?
SPEAKER_00: That makes no sense.
SPEAKER_00: When God's leading doesn't make sense, obey anyway and trust his providence.
SPEAKER_00: I've had a couple of conversations with some uh family members lately.
SPEAKER_00: I had one with a gentleman, a dad, a husband, just recently.
SPEAKER_00: And um, he and his wife are thinking about becoming a one-income family.
SPEAKER_00: They've become convicted, convinced that maybe the Lord wants her to stay home, raise the kids.
SPEAKER_00: And yet when you put a pencil to it, it doesn't make sense.
SPEAKER_00: How are we gonna do this financially?
SPEAKER_00: Look, if God's leading you to do something and it seemingly doesn't make sense, obey anyway and trust his providence.
SPEAKER_00: Fellows, ladies, you feel like the Lord maybe is calling you into full-time ministry, the kind where your sole source of income is doing youth work, pastoring, being a missionary?
SPEAKER_00: And you're thinking, well, wow! I mean, I've already been accepted to XYZ university, I'm already planning to go to uh ABC school, college.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't make any sense to change now.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care if it doesn't make sense.
SPEAKER_00: If God's leading and it doesn't make sense, obey anyway and trust his providence.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe, maybe some of you in your retirement years, instead of continuing to do maybe what you've been doing, which in some cases might not be much, maybe you're still healthy, you can make contributions.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe the Lord's leading you to maybe do something overseas.
SPEAKER_00: Go visit missionaries to encourage them and support them.
SPEAKER_00: And you're thinking, man, that's that's the most absurd.
SPEAKER_00: When God, this is only if God's leading, when God's leading doesn't make sense.
SPEAKER_00: Obey anyway and trust his providence.
SPEAKER_00: Look, we just put our master plan team together.
SPEAKER_00: We're having our first meeting on Wednesday.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, I don't know what all will come out of that, but maybe the Lord's already been leading you to give a significant gift for whatever projects we're gonna vote on to do as a church family.
SPEAKER_00: And you're thinking, Lord, give give that much now, one time when God's leading doesn't make sense.
SPEAKER_00: Obey anyway and trust his providence.
SPEAKER_00: So now there could be a score of other things the Lord might leading you might be leading you to do.
SPEAKER_00: And humanly speaking, it doesn't make sense.
SPEAKER_00: You put a pencil to it, look, um, I I can't I can't go there.
SPEAKER_00: Jennifer and I have experienced it.
SPEAKER_00: I can't give a full lengthy illustration, but I could.
SPEAKER_00: It didn't make any sense for us to be able to send our kids to a Christian school and then to Christian universities, colleges.
SPEAKER_00: God provided.
SPEAKER_00: So as you leave, I want you to keep that in mind.
SPEAKER_00: When God's leading doesn't make sense, obey anyway and trust his providence.
SPEAKER_00: And say with the hymn writer, Savior, like a shepherd, lead us.
SPEAKER_00: Much we need thy tender care.
SPEAKER_00: And then trust and believe that he will be true to his name, Jehovah Jirah, the Lord who provides.
unknown: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I pray that the Spirit of God has taken the word of God and has used it to encourage the people of God.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, may we be encouraged that you see us and have compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Oh Lord, you so want to lead us like a wonderful Savior Shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: And Father, sometimes your leading in our lives just, oh, man, it's scary.
SPEAKER_00: It didn't make a lot of sense.
SPEAKER_00: Help, Lord, me.
SPEAKER_00: Help Jennifer.
SPEAKER_00: Help my kids, my grandkids, help my people, all of us, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: When you're leading, it doesn't make sense to obey anyway, and trust your providence.
SPEAKER_00: After all, you're an all-sufficient Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Just in the quietness of the moment for just a few seconds, would you commit to the Lord as you feel led?
SPEAKER_00: Your plans, your future, don't underestimate what he can do.
SPEAKER_00: Don't underestimate what you have to offer.
SPEAKER_00: You give it to the Lord and watch him make it prosper.
SPEAKER_00: Help us, Lord, to be people of compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Father, that's my prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And I pray it in Jesus' name and for his sake and glory.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.