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[0:00] As Brother William mentioned earlier, a number of people are not with us and clearly you can! recognize the church is practically empty this morning. Pastor and Sister Lexine are away. Pastor! Pastor has a speaking engagement. I think he speaks this morning and he spoke on Friday past.

[0:27] And then Brother Shombie, he also has a speaking engagement away outside of the Bahamas. And then Brother Shombie, he has a speaking engagement at a church here. And then of course, you would have noticed that Brother Clarence is not here. I think he and his family are on vacation as well. And then of course, there are others who are vacationing at this time. All right. The Caring Shepherd.

[1:01] The Caring Shepherd. Let's open with a word of prayer and ask the Lord to direct our thoughts this morning. Oh Lord, how we need you. Lord, we need you in this moment. We need you to illuminate your word. We need you, Lord, to make clear your word so that it might indeed be a lamp to our feet and a light to our pathway so that it might indeed bear fruit in our lives, so that it might indeed wash our souls, so that it might indeed be a mirror that we look into to bring about adjustments to our lives, so that it might indeed be a mirror that we look into our lives.

[2:08] And so that it might indeed reveal unrighteousness and so that it might indeed, oh Lord, cause us to grow in holiness. Lord, help us in this moment, we pray. We acknowledge our inadequacies and we know that without you that all of this is for naught. So help us as we speak and help us as we listen this morning. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

[2:50] Amen. Please turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 6. Mark chapter 6 and we're going to consider verses 30 through 56.

[3:10] Mark chapter 6. Mark chapter 6, verses 30 through 56. And all of you will recall that all year we have been considering the Gospel of Mark. Mark's account of Jesus' earthly ministry.

[3:33] It's interesting to view someone's life through the lens of another. What is that person's take on someone that you might be aware of. And we have the benefit, as you know, of viewing the life of Jesus through the lens of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And each one takes a slightly different perspective.

[4:11] In the case of Mark, Mark wants us to see Jesus as powerful and unique. Mark wants us to see that Jesus is unique, that there is no one like him. And he does this by showing us that Jesus is Lord over nature. He is Lord over demons. He is Lord over sickness. And he is indeed Lord over death.

[4:43] Matthew shows us that there is no one like him. And he also shows us that Jesus is a man of wisdom, engaging in debate and discussion with the religious leaders of the day and putting them to shame.

[5:05] And he helps us to see how Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament Scripture.

[5:19] Mark wants to do even more than that. Mark wants us to see that Jesus is compassionate. That Jesus is caring.

[5:40] That is particularly true as we come to the passage that will inform our message today. Our title today is the caring shepherd. Here in these verses that we will read, Mark helps us to see that Jesus is the caring shepherd.

[6:06] Let's now read Mark chapter 6 beginning at verse 30. 1. 2. The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.

[6:23] 2. And he said to them, 3. Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. 5. For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.

[6:38] 6. And they ran away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. 7. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.

[6:55] 8. 9. 10. 11. 11. 12. And he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

[7:07] 12. And he began to teach them many things. 12. And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, 13. This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late.

[7:22] Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat. 15. But he answered them, 16.

[7:33] 19. 20. 20. 20. And they said to him, 20. Shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?

[7:45] 21. And he said to them, 21. 22. How many loaves do you have? 22. 24. 24. 25. 26. 27. 27.

[7:55] 27. 27. 28. 27. 27. 27. 27. 27. 27. 27. 27.

[8:06] 28. And he divided the two fish among them all, and they all ate and were satisfied.

[8:29] And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish, and those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

[8:42] Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

[8:54] And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. And when the evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.

[9:10] And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea.

[9:22] He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost, and cried out.

[9:33] For they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid.

[9:46] And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded. For they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hard.

[10:04] When they had crossed over, they came to land at Genesaret, and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him, and ran about the whole region, and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was.

[10:28] And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and implored him, that they might touch even the fringe of his garment.

[10:44] And as many as touched it were made well. In the verses that we have just read, I believe that Mark wants us to see this point.

[11:07] A very simple point. I believe that Mark wants us to see that Jesus is mindful of our needs. Jesus is mindful of our needs.

[11:25] And so today we are going to consider five such needs that Mark identifies. And as we consider these needs, we will ask questions about what the needs tell us about ourselves.

[11:49] And what meeting these needs tell us about Jesus. And how should we respond to those realities. The five needs that I see in these verses that we have just read are need number one, the need for rest.

[12:13] The second need is the need for leadership. The third need is the need for nourishment.

[12:24] Need number four, the need to feel safe. And the fifth is the need for a healthy body.

[12:38] Five needs that Mark helps us to confront in these verses. The need for rest, the need for leadership, the need for nourishment, the need to feel safe, and the need for a healthy body.

[12:54] But before we look at each of these needs in turn, I want to offer a couple general thoughts.

[13:10] It is comforting to know that Jesus knows our needs. That's the fundamental point that Mark wants us to see.

[13:22] That Jesus knows our needs. And Mark believes that we can get comfort in knowing that reality.

[13:33] That Jesus, the Son of God, knows your needs and my needs. He knows our needs. He knows our needs.

[13:44] But how many of you know that it's one thing to know someone's needs. It's quite another to be able to address those needs.

[13:57] But Mark wants us to see clearly in these verses that Jesus is the need for a healthy body. That Jesus not only knows our needs. That Jesus knows our needs. But he cares about our needs.

[14:08] He's compassionate towards us. And beyond that, he has the ability to address our needs. He can do something about it.

[14:20] He not only sees the problems. But he's compassionate. Mark wants us to see in these verses that we have a caring Savior.

[14:33] A caring Shepherd. One who knows our needs. One who has compassion. He cares about us. And one who is able to meet our needs.

[14:50] Mark opens this section by saying that the apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.

[15:07] Perhaps you recall that Jesus had sent the apostles out. He had charged them, given them charge to cast out demons and unclean spirits and to preach.

[15:25] So the apostles had gone out all day and they were preaching the message that Jesus had been teaching them. And Mark says that the apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.

[15:44] And Jesus said to them, Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.

[15:56] Jesus was mindful that the apostles, having walked so hard, needed rest. Jesus is mindful that they were not machines, that they needed rest.

[16:14] So point number one, the need for rest. Very often, people in the service of the Lord believe that there is no need for rest.

[16:30] Believe that they can keep going and going and going and going. But the Bible, the Gospels, show us time and time again when Jesus Himself rested.

[16:41] And here we see Him saying to His apostles who were excited to tell Him about their victories, He says to them, Come to a desolate place and rest.

[16:57] Jesus recognizes that all of us need time to rest, time away from the hustle and bustle of the day, time to get away from circumstances that will wear us down.

[17:14] And Jesus says to them, as a caring shepherd, come away by yourselves to a desolate place for a while and rest.

[17:31] I wonder how many of us, how many of us take time for ourselves and apart from the mundane things of life, from the busyness of work, from the busyness of family, from the busyness of serving church.

[17:47] How many of you know that it is not unusual even for Christians, for people to become so zealous in their faith that they find themselves in church or doing work for the Lord every single day, neglecting family, neglecting their own health.

[18:13] And I believe that this Scripture helps us to see that that's not what it's all about. But we ought to find time to rest. Mark says to us that the disciples and the apostles did not even have time to eat.

[18:39] They were working so hard they didn't have time to eat. And Jesus said, that's not good. Let's find ourselves a desolate place so that we might rest a while.

[18:57] But then Mark tells us in verse 33 that many people saw them going to this place that Jesus had identified.

[19:09] and they ran there on sweat from all the towns and got there ahead of the apostles. So there was Jesus who's taking the apostles to a desolate place to rest.

[19:26] But people discovered they found out where they were going and they ran ahead of them. And these were thousands of people, thousands of people running ahead of them. And Jesus saw, Mark says, the great crowd and he had compassion on them.

[19:50] And this is what Mark says very specifically about this crowd that Jesus saw. Mark says that he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

[20:04] That leads us to point number two. The need for leadership. Mark says about these people who had run ahead that they were like sheep without a shepherd.

[20:21] And Jesus responded to what he saw. Mark says that he began to teach them many things. Now here's the picture that I want you to see. these people who knew something about the works of Jesus.

[20:37] And perhaps some of them had even heard some of his messages. But Mark tells us, helps us to see that Jesus had a view of them.

[20:48] Jesus felt about these people that they were like sheep without a shepherd. Some of them no doubt were looking for someone who would rescue them from the grip of the Romans.

[21:01] But Jesus was not that kind of a leader. Some of them perhaps were looking for someone who would take care of all of their needs all the time.

[21:12] They were looking for someone to make them king. But Jesus wouldn't have it not that way. But what Jesus saw in them, Jesus saw that they were like sheep without a shepherd.

[21:30] Jesus here recognizes the need that we all have. The need that we all have in our lives to be led, to be helped.

[21:41] Every single one of us, whether it is the prime minister on down, every one of us needs help in this area.

[21:53] Every one of us needs to be led in one area or another in our lives. Because none of us is an island unto ourselves.

[22:04] So Mark helps us to see that we are in need of leadership. And he also, he also by extension helps us to see that we ought to be leaders ourselves.

[22:17] You see, this is not, Mark is not only telling us what Jesus has done for those to whom he spoke. But he tells us about what Jesus sees and knows about us and how we ought to respond as well.

[22:33] How many of you know that each one of us can be a leader in the spaces that we occupy? A simple example, a family gathering, you can be right there leading your family in prayer over a meal.

[22:46] You can be right there leading them in encouragement. If you're a student at school, you can be right there influencing your friends in a positive way.

[22:57] You can be right there leading them. We can all provide leadership in our spaces just like Jesus did because we know that without leadership, we are all like sheep wandering as if we are lost.

[23:17] Jesus helps us to see that He is the one ultimately who provides leadership for ourselves.

[23:32] Aren't you glad today that Jesus Christ is the one who is prepared, who is able to lead you and I along life's journey.

[23:47] I mean, this is an amazing reality to me and it ought to be to you as well, that Jesus Christ sees our need for leadership and He has compassion on us.

[24:01] yes, Jesus is concerned about our salvation. He's concerned about our sin.

[24:12] He's concerned about our unrighteousness. But He's also concerned about the fact that we need to be taught, that we need to be helped, that we need to be led.

[24:23] And thank God, in our example, all of us today, we can look to Pastor Morris, Cedric Morris, as an effective leader, someone who watches over our soul.

[24:36] But we see something else in these verses that follow.

[24:50] This compassionate shepherd, this caring shepherd, realized that the hour had grown late and the disciples, they came to Him.

[25:07] And they said to Him, after Jesus had taught all, had been teaching all of these people, they said to Jesus, this is a desolate place.

[25:17] They're saying to Him, listen, there are no shops around here. The hour is late, send them away so that they can get something to eat. He said, send them away so that they can get something to eat.

[25:33] eat. But Jesus answered and said to them, you give them something to eat. And they responded in a very practical way.

[25:47] Perhaps the way you and I would respond. The apostles said to Jesus, what do you expect? You want us to feed them?

[26:00] How are we going to do that? You know what that's going to cost? That's going to cost more money than we have and more money than we can perhaps make in a year. How are we going to feed all of these people?

[26:14] Because later we find out that it's more than 5,000 men. Scriptures tell us in other places that 5,000 men and that's beside the women and children.

[26:30] We don't know how many there were. So their response was very practical. But here we see that Jesus is concerned about, He is aware of the need for food, the need for nourishment, which leads us to our third point, the need for nourishment.

[26:56] Jesus helps us to see that He is concerned about these basic, fundamental human needs. You know, there was a man named Maslow.

[27:11] In the 1940s, he talked about Maslow's theory of need. And he talked about very, very basic human needs things that are necessary to be fulfilled before we become what He talked about being self-actualized or fully satisfied.

[27:30] And these ones are at the very bottom ladder, if you will. And here it is, the King of kings, the Savior of mankind, being concerned about food, about what these people will eat.

[27:55] And He says to His disciples, and you and I ought to be encouraged by this reality, by the reality that Jesus Christ, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, so condescended that He was concerned about what they were going to eat.

[28:17] And Jesus said to His disciples, Jesus said, you go and you feed these 5,000 up Thank you.

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