[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. This is the next message in our series on the book of John entitled, Jesus is God.
[0:14] All right, take your Bible if you would and turn with me to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. Have you ever wanted to be a part of something that was just so much bigger than you?
[0:26] Have you ever wanted to be involved? And I'll tell you that I believe you have. I watch on Twitter and I watch on other social media and I find that people are so excited if their football team is going to win.
[0:39] And you'll hear something like this. We're going to the SEC. I saw that yesterday on somebody's Twitter. We're going. And I'm like, I don't think you're going. I'm not sure you're going to be on the bus.
[0:51] I'm not sure you're going to be on the plane. I'm not sure you're really involved. But you want to be a part of something bigger than you. All of us have a desire. And here's the story today where Jesus, God in human flesh, is doing something no human could do.
[1:09] And he allows people to be involved in something far bigger than themselves. And I'm allowed to be involved in something far bigger than myself. And so are you today because we're Christians, because we're born again.
[1:22] We're part of seeing people get saved. We can't do that. It's far bigger than us. But we get to see God do big things. And we get to be there. And we get to watch. It's an exciting thing to just watch God do big stuff.
[1:36] In the story today, Jesus is being followed. And there are 5,000 men, not counting the women and children, that have come out to follow him. And he looks out one day out over the crowd.
[1:47] And he says, man, we need to give them something to eat. And all the guys are there. And he talks to Philip. And he said, hey, Philip. Now, he knew exactly what he was going to do. He said, Philip, we need to see about getting these guys something to eat.
[2:00] And Philip says, I've been doing the calculating. I run the calculator in this here outfit. And I'm just going to tell you, 200 penny worth of bread wouldn't be enough to give everybody this. A little bitty bite of bread.
[2:11] That's enough money to feed a guy. That's about eight months of minimum wage. And there's just no way we're going to be able to pull that off. And Jesus already knew what he was going to do. He was going to let them see something super big.
[2:23] He was going to let them be involved in something only God could do. He was going to let them be involved in it. And then here comes Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. And he walks up. This guy, I mean, Philip, he's like a calculating machine.
[2:36] He's already figuring it out. Can't be done. Can't be done. Won't be able to happen. We need that guy just so he can remind us how big our God is. Amen. I mean, that guy's there. He's just calculating it out.
[2:47] Won't work. Here comes old Andy. Andy, he just believes God. He walks up and he says, hey, I don't know what we're going to do about feeding these people. But I found this boy. He's got five small barley loaves, a couple of fish.
[2:58] I know it ain't much with all this, but I just thought we might start with that. And he brings it to Jesus. And the next thing you know, Jesus takes that little bit and feeds all those people all that meal.
[3:09] And when it's all done, there's food left over. I just came back from a marriage retreat and the chef was a large guy. You always know that food is going to be good if the guy that's cooking is a good sized fellow.
[3:23] Amen. I mean, if you've got a skinny chef, that's a good indication he doesn't like his own cooking. Can you say amen? And this guy, I mean, he loved it. He'd walk around the table and say, how y'all liking that?
[3:34] And everybody would be telling him how much he liked it. He said, let me tell you how I cooked that. I mean, this guy would just ate it up. And he came by last night. He didn't know I'd be preaching this. I guess it was Friday night. He came by and he gave me a great theological statement.
[3:47] He said, do you know how to know when people have had plenty to eat? And I said, when they're satisfied. He said, when there's leftovers.
[3:58] When Jesus fed them, there was 12 baskets full. Now he was feeding 5,000 men and I don't want there to be that many leftovers here. But I like it when I see leftovers. I like to see them eating it. I like to see enough leftovers.
[4:09] I know they all got all they wanted. Hey, that's pretty good. There was 12 baskets left over. So I want to go through with you and I want you to know today. Did you know God's doing big stuff all around the world?
[4:20] He is saving people. He is sending missionaries. He's building his church. And no matter how much people might want us to think that things are backing up. Our God's not backing up. He's going forward and he always will.
[4:31] He's going to win. He's the God of the universe. Now go with me just quickly. Let's get some Bible facts that you need to see and know. And then let's look at the story and see how you get involved.
[4:41] The first one I remind you is verse 14. His purpose is that you know that Jesus is that prophet. He is that Messiah. He is that sent one.
[4:53] He is God in human flesh. I want you to circle that and draw an arrow to it. Don't you ever doubt that the Bible is clear. Jesus is God. Look at verse 14.
[5:04] This is of a truth. We are sure of it. Now we've seen this. We're sure of it. That prophet that should come into the world. And so they see that. And that's our purpose. Every story here is trying to say something.
[5:16] This is no regular guy. He's that prophet. He's not a prophet. He's that prophet. He's not one of the boys. He is the boy. He is God in human flesh.
[5:27] He takes five small loaves and five barley loaves and two fish. Turns it in enough to feed 5,000 men. Not counting women and children. But I want you to go now with me to verse 6.
[5:38] Look if you would at verse 6. I want you to know that God already is going to do his thing. God's already going to accomplish great things. And nothing or no one is going to stop all the great move that God has.
[5:50] He's God. And little people like us aren't going to stop God from getting his job done. Can you say amen right there? But he wants to see whether or not you'll get involved. He wants to give you a chance to get in on the team.
[6:01] He wants you to say we're going to the SEC. Hey, we fed 5,000. I can just hear Peter after they get home that night. I can hear Peter talking to his wife. You say I didn't know Peter had a wife.
[6:12] He had a mother-in-law. And nobody would get one of them if they didn't have a wife. Amen. Who would choose a mother-in-law if they didn't have a wife? And so he had a wife. And I can just hear him when he got home. And he said, baby, you're not going to believe what we did today.
[6:23] We fed 5,000 men. Not counting the women and the kids. Well, the truth is they didn't feed them. Jesus fed them. But Peter felt like he was a part. Because Jesus let him have a small part.
[6:35] And look at what it says in verse 6. He talked to Philip. But he says, and this he said to prove him. Circle that. To prove him. For he himself knew what he would do.
[6:46] I wonder if God's at work in your life. I wonder if God's got his finger on something he wants to accomplish in you. I wonder if God's putting you to the test and proving you. He already knows what he's going to do.
[6:56] But he wants to see if you'll step out and let him do big stuff through you. I wonder if God is challenging your way of thinking so he can get it. Now I want you to notice it was Jesus that blessed the bread.
[7:07] It was Jesus that distributed it to them. It was his power, not theirs, that got this done. He did the work. They just had the privilege of taking part. He did the work.
[7:17] They just had the privilege of taking part. I'll give you one last thing. And before I get into the how we apply this to us. Look at verse 15. In John 6, 15. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king.
[7:32] Underline make him a king. He departed again into a desert place. You know they want to make him a king. They want to make him a king not because he was God. Not because he came as God in human flesh to die on a cross.
[7:45] They want to make him a king because he would put bread in their belly. They want to make him a king because they were prosperity gospel followers. They want to make him a king because there was something God would do for them.
[8:00] It was a purely selfish motive. They didn't love Jesus. And I ask you today. Is he your God? Are you serving him for what you can get out of it?
[8:10] Do you come to him with I'm here. You bless me God. Take care of me. Meet my needs. Or do you come to him to say thank you for saving me. I was a wicked dirty lost sinner.
[8:20] Deserved to go to hell. And if I never get anything else from your hand. I have already received more than I ever deserved. I am saved. Go with me now if you would to John chapter 6 and verse 2.
[8:32] First thing if you want to write something down. There was a great need. There was a great need. Look at verse 2. And a great multitude followed him because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.
[8:43] You know he had. And Jesus has been doing all these miracles. He's been out doing all this great stuff. And the people are coming to follow him. He's been working miracle after miracle. And he sees them. And he wants to feed them.
[8:55] He knows they're hungry. He knows they're in need. There are 5,000 guys. Not counting the women and the children. He sees this great need going on in their lives. And he is going to meet their need.
[9:06] And if I could today. I'll be honest with you. I want to talk to you about getting involved in something bigger than you. And that being world evangelism. That being starting a church in Roswell. That being winning our friends to Christ.
[9:18] That means sharing the gospel with other people. I want you to know that we ought to just like Jesus. Lift up our eyes and look around and say there are people in need of the gospel. There are people that are going to die and go to hell.
[9:30] They need somebody to tell them about Jesus. We need churches. We need missionaries. We need soul winners. We need preachers. It ought to overwhelm us.
[9:40] Now in the story. Just like us. They didn't seem to notice. It's not like they had in mind what was going on in this story. As John tells the story. Not a one of them said they're all out there.
[9:51] Not a one of them said they're all hungry. Not a one of them said they all have a need. It was Jesus that met the need. And by the way. It was him that saw the need. Him that met the need. And I'll just tell you. It kind of goes against our grain to think about other people.
[10:02] It kind of goes against our grain. We got our church. Let's think about us. Let's build us a church. Let's take care of ourselves. Let's meet our needs. And yet the Lord would stand up and say. Hey look at all those people.
[10:13] And how much need there is. He would say. Look at all those people. And how much they need somebody. To do something. To get them something to eat. Look at the second thing. If you would. Go with me to verse 7.
[10:24] Go with me to verse 7. What Jesus wanted them to do. Was impossible. What Jesus wanted them to do. Was impossible. Look at verse 7. Philip answered him. 200 penny worth of bread.
[10:35] Is not sufficient for them. That every one of them. May take a little. Now. Philip was a smart man. And Philip knew what was going on. And he said. If you had 200 penny worth of bread.
[10:47] Now what in the world does that mean in our economy. A penny worth. Was the pay for a common laborer. For one day. It's the equivalent of 8 months of salary.
[10:58] If they. And they worked about 12 hours a day. 6 days a week. That means about $13,000 in our money. Philip looked out through that. And he said. My goodness.
[11:08] If I had $13,000. If we had that. If Judas had that in the bag right now. Jesus. We. And there was a store close enough. We could go get bread. $13,000. Wasn't getting enough bread. To feed everybody.
[11:19] Just a little bitty piece. It's just not possible. It's not going to happen. I. I can't see it. It's beyond our ability. It's beyond my ability. It's beyond my friends. It's beyond my disciples.
[11:30] There's not enough money. To meet the need. There's no way we can get enough money. There's not enough workers. There's not enough. There's only five. In fact. When we do a search.
[11:41] We find five small loaves. And two fishes. How in the world are we going to get it done? Now all these years. I've been in ministry. And all these years. I've been preaching. Teaching churches.
[11:52] And churches our size. And a little bit bigger. All these years. I've been teaching it. You realize that if we think about world evangelism. If we think about getting the gospel to the world. It is so much bigger than what we can do.
[12:04] There is never enough money. There's not enough money in this room. If we got all the money. That all of you had together. If we calculated everything. If we all sold out. And we all brought all of our money. And put it here.
[12:14] It's just not enough money. But that's exactly what the Lord Jesus wanted them to see. He wanted Philip to realize. There's no way you can afford to pay for this buddy. He wanted him to realize there was a bigger need.
[12:26] That he could handle. He wanted him to realize. That we have got to be a part of something. That's only God can do. We got to be a part of something. That God has to step in. And work a miracle.
[12:37] Or it won't work. We got to be a part of something like that. Look if you would at the third thing. Go down to verse 5. John chapter 6 and verse 5. The disciples basically cannot believe.
[12:49] That Jesus had asked them to do something like this. How in the world. Could you ask us to feed. 5,000 people. Look if you would at verse 5. Jesus then lifted up his eyes.
[13:00] And saw a great company come at him. And he said unto Philip. Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? Philip. Where are we going to get bread? Where are we going to buy some bread?
[13:10] So we can feed all these guys. And here's what was really happening. Look at verse 6. In verse 6 he said. And this he said to prove him. For he himself knew what he would do.
[13:22] You see what he was trying to show them was. The job's too big for us to do. There are 7 billion people on the planet.
[13:33] And our church is like a crazy wild missionary sending church. For the number of people that we got. The amount of money we give. And the amount of people we give. Boy we're really doing something. And somehow we might think we're getting it done.
[13:45] But we're not getting it done. There's 5,000 people out there. If we add up all the money. We just don't have enough. And here's what God wants us to get a hold of. You can't get your mind around this.
[13:56] You can't understand this. This is bigger than you. It's bigger than a church. It's bigger than a bunch of churches. You say well if our church was just bigger. We could get it done. No if our church was just bigger.
[14:06] The job would still be big. If you had 7 billion dollars in the account today. You'd have 1 dollar per person on the planet. Not much if you want to be honest.
[14:19] Not much towards getting this job done. We're going to need to see what God can do. How can we feed so many people with such a small amount of resources? How do you go about organizing them so you can get the job done?
[14:31] How do you step outside of yourself and into God to see what God can do? Now here's the truth. For you to get saved. You know what you did? You stepped out of yourself. And you stepped into Jesus.
[14:44] Do you realize that? What happened when you got saved? Look at this. Listen to me just a second. When you got saved you looked at yourself and you said I am a sinner. And I have failed God. And there's nothing I can do to get me to heaven.
[14:55] And I realize that Austin Gardner is a failure. An abject failure. And someone who could never do enough to get to heaven. And Jesus said but if you'll trust me I'll take care of it all.
[15:06] And I said okay. Don't trust Austin. And I do trust Jesus. And he saved me. I was born again. Given new life. Names written in the landsby of heaven. Going to heaven when I die.
[15:18] He's done a work in me. How many of you are saved that way? Say amen. You got saved by trusting him. You got saved by realizing you couldn't do it. You got saved by knowing that there's a greater God in heaven than we are.
[15:31] How are we going to get anything done for God? How in the world? And buddy do I wish our church would read these verses and get a hold of the fact that God wants us to do something big. Man I want to see us reach our community.
[15:42] I want to see us seeing people saved and lives changed and people getting baptized on a regular basis. I want to see us starting other churches in different places. I want to see us sending missionaries out there. And everything that we come up with and everything we want to do is just too big.
[15:56] Just too hard. But here it is. Will you trust God? Would you look up a couple of verses with me? Look at Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 6. Somehow, somewhere along the way, you got to trust God.
[16:11] Philip, how are we going to feed all these guys? Philip says, I'll just be honest with you sir. If we had $13,000 right now that we could spend on this event, I wouldn't have enough money to get the job done.
[16:22] $13,000, that would be too low of a budget. $13,000 American dollars wouldn't get the job done. And Andrew comes up and Andrew says, hey, I found a little bit of bread and a little bit of fish.
[16:33] I just don't know what we could do with it. But here it is. It's all I got. It's all I can find. You know what God's looking for? He's looking for a church and a people that will believe him and step out on him.
[16:44] Look at what Hebrews 11, 6 says. The Bible says in Hebrews 11, 6, But without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
[16:59] If you got your Bible open, I want you to look at that. There is something big that ought to be happening in our hearts. We have got to believe that our God is so humongously big that he can do anything.
[17:12] We have got to believe. If you got your Bible open, circle the two words. He is. Did you see that? You must believe that he is. Do you really believe there's a God outside of time and space?
[17:23] There's a God outside of any limitations. There's a God above and beyond anything we could ever dream or believe. Is there a God so big that he could really hear prayer and really answer prayer and really do great things?
[17:35] Do you believe that? If you do say amen. Look what he said. It's without faith it's impossible to please him. For he that comes to God must believe that he is. Our problem is we think maybe Abraham had a God like that.
[17:47] And we think maybe the apostles had a God like that. And we even think maybe the old heroes had a God like that. But we don't. But he said, but without faith it's impossible to please him. For he that comes to God must believe that he is.
[17:59] But not only is he. But he rewards them that really get a hold of him. Look at what the verse says. And he is a rewarder of them. He hears your prayer.
[18:11] He answers your prayer. If we diligently seek him. And so he says, Philip, what are we going to do to feed these people? Philip said, I'll just be honest with you, sir. $13,000 wouldn't get it done.
[18:22] I don't know how we're going to get it done. Andrew comes to him and says, hey, all I got is a little bit of bread and a little bit of fish. I don't know what we're going to do. And here's what he's saying. Well, if you'll believe who I am and trust me and look to me, I can.
[18:33] And our God still can. World evangelism still within the realm of his possibility. Sending ministries is in the realm of his possibility. Getting a piece of property for our churches in the realm of his possibilities. Winning your neighbors to Christ.
[18:45] The family member, you say that so hard would never get saved. Not too hard for him. He is God. Says, but without faith, it's impossible to please him. Which underline impossible.
[18:56] Circle impossible. You know, you can't get saved without faith. But we don't just have faith to get saved. We have faith to live. The same way you got saved, that's the same way you keep on living.
[19:06] Galatians told you that. Colossians told you that. We got saved by faith and we live by faith. God's looking for a faithful people. A people who believe him. A people who trust him.
[19:17] A people who expect him to do good and to do great things. He is a God that sees and hears. We have to act on faith. Even if our faith is weak.
[19:29] God is a God who operates and works through our trusting him. Our stepping out and accepting that he can do it. In Matthew chapter 9 and verse 19, the Bible says, Then he touched their eyes saying, according to your faith, be it unto you.
[19:45] Underline that. According to your faith. The way you're believing, I'm answering. The way you're believing, I'm answering. In Matthew chapter 9 and verse 19. Matthew chapter 13 and verse 58 has got to be one of the most horrific verses in the whole Bible.
[20:00] In Matthew 13, 58, the Bible says, And he didn't do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Jesus went into that town. I mean, here he is. He's going everywhere. He's winning people to himself.
[20:12] He's saving people. He's healing people. He's feeding people. He's doing miracle after miracle. He comes to this town and he says, That's it. I'm not going to do a lot of stuff here. You people don't believe me.
[20:24] You people don't believe me. Is that what it says? I don't know what it says. That's what it says. Say amen. I don't want that to be the story of vision. I don't want God sitting up in heaven and saying, I could do some great stuff at vision, but you don't believe me.
[20:37] One more passage on that. Look at Mark chapter 6, verses 5 and 6. I didn't choose these words, but he said, And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them.
[20:52] And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went around about the villages teaching. The God of heaven looked down and says, My goodness, they do not want me to work.
[21:03] I cannot understand it. They've seen who I am. They've seen what I can do. And they don't believe me. And he was marveling. He was shocked.
[21:14] So I'd like to just say to you real quickly, there's a bigger job than we could ever get done at Vision Baptist Church. It's a job that could scare us to death. We do not have the money. We do not have the finances.
[21:24] We do not have the ability. There's a job bigger than anything we could ever get done. We can't make our church grow. We can't send out enough ministries. We can't accomplish all the things that God wants us to. But God does look for us to believe in him.
[21:36] So how do you go about getting involved in something bigger than you? Let me give you some steps about how to get involved in something bigger than you. Look if you would at verse 8. John chapter 6 and verse 8.
[21:49] Number 1, Be bold enough to bring what little you have and let God use it. Be bold enough to bring what little you have and let God use it. Verse 8. And one of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said unto him, There's a lad here which has five barley loaves and two small fishes.
[22:07] But what are they among so many? You see, here's the first step. I don't have much and I can't bring much to the table. And I can't offer much. But the little bit I have, I'll bring it.
[22:17] And you've got to admit, that has to be one of the most foolish things. If we were having a meeting, if we were having a meeting back here and I had everybody, all the men of our church, we were talking about how we were going to buy a piece of property.
[22:30] And we realized it was probably going to cost us $750,000 to buy a piece of property. And some little boy walked in with $7.50 and said, I don't know what we can do, but here's my $7.50.
[22:41] I just want to give that $7.50. So we'd all look at him and say, son, that's really nice. That's cute, isn't it? Give us some money. Go on out. Sit down. I'll take your money and buy a hamburger. We couldn't even get started with that.
[22:52] That's what you expect Jesus to say. I don't know. Maybe some of the other apostles did. Maybe old Andrew just dumb enough to say, I'll take it to Jesus and see what he says about it. But the step to getting something done is to do the little you can.
[23:06] What can you do? Who are you? Don't wait on God to make you somebody you're not. Just step out with what you have and let God use it. Andrew's willing to look like a fool to offer what he has, what he's been able to find.
[23:18] A lad's willing to give up his lunch. We do not need to make excuses. Jesus, but instead we need to use who we are and what we are and what we have for his causes. Let's determine to find God's will and understand what he wants.
[23:33] Number one, use what you have. Number two, find God's will and do what he wants. I think it's a funny story. I don't know if you can get the humor in this story, but Jesus is going to feed the 5,000.
[23:45] He already knows that before the story ever starts. Did you notice that? Look with me in chapter 6 and verse 6. In verse 5, he told Philip, he said, we need to feed those guys.
[23:58] And in verse 6, he says, and this he said to prove him for he himself knew what he would do. Now look at me. I need you to listen to this in a second. Jesus wasn't here saying, oh man, it's a good night.
[24:08] 5,000 people. I don't know what I can do. I hope I can figure this out. Oh man, if they don't bring me those fish. And you know, I don't know what I'm going to do. That's not what's going on. He's up there saying, I already know what I'm going to do.
[24:22] I'm already God and I know I'm God. I have the ability to do great things. And in just a minute, everybody in this room is going to know I'm God. In just a minute, they're going to see me feed 20, 25,000 people and have 12 baskets left over.
[24:35] In just a minute, they're going to see me do great things. I know what I'm going to do. So you know what that tells me? God's already doing it. God's already doing it.
[24:45] And if you just step in, you could get involved in something far bigger. He wants to meet the needs of the people. He wants us to just look out and see what he's doing. He wants us to understand that it's him.
[24:56] It's him. It's him that's doing the work. We can't ignore our responsibility. God has a big plan for you and you can be involved. Look at verse 9. John chapter 6 and verse 9.
[25:09] Let's give what we have and not worry about what to do with it. I still think it's the funniest thing. You got to be bold enough to offer it. But you just got to give whatever it is you have and not what you don't have.
[25:25] I don't know how to say this to you. But this little boy comes with five barley loaves in verse 9 and two small fishes. And they even ask the question, what's that amongst so many? And here's what we tend to do.
[25:35] We tend to sit home on our little barley loaves and our little fish. We tend to sit home and say, well, if I had a lot, I'd take it. If I had a bunch, I'd do it.
[25:47] If I had a lot of influence, I'd use it. If I had a lot of power, I would do it. If I won the lottery, I'd give a lot of money. If God let me win the lottery, I'd give a lot of money.
[25:58] The truth of the matter is that's not the issue. The issue is you already have in your hands what God wants to use. Will you trust God to use it? That's what's going on with the story.
[26:09] You already have in your hands what God wants to use. Go down to verse 11. It wasn't the size of the gift, but it was the blessing of Jesus that made the gift get the job done. Look at verse 11.
[26:20] And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed it to the disciples, and the disciples to them that sat down, and likewise to the fishes, as much, as much as they would.
[26:32] You get that story, don't you? They bring in five loaves and two fishes. Watch this, would you please? I really want you to realize this. It's a lad. I don't believe he was running a market that day. I don't believe those five loaves are such big loaves they could have fed the whole place.
[26:46] I don't believe they came in on semis. A boy brought those five loaves. Probably means five small little pieces of bread. Five little hamburger buns and two fishes he could stick them in. And he brought those in there, and he's got him a little food so he could eat it.
[26:59] He's going to make it through the day, whatever mama sent him with. And he takes that, and he brings it to Jesus. It wasn't what he gave that did anything. The truth is, five loaves and two fishes was enough for the boy, maybe a friend, to come along with him.
[27:12] But what made the difference? Jesus gave thanks. Jesus took it and said, Lord, Father, God in heaven, thank you. This little boy has brought his lunch.
[27:23] And I bless this food right now. And he began to break it and hand it to the apostles. And those apostles started out giving it out. And no matter how far they got giving out the fish and how far they got giving out the bread, it just kept multiplying and kept meeting the need.
[27:37] God took a little bit and did a whole lot with it. So what do we got to do as a church? What do we got to do as a church? What are we going to do about South Sudan's, a new country without a gospel witness?
[27:49] What are we going to do about getting a church started in Fulton County? One billion, 200 million people in less than six or seven churches, less than a thousand people attending church in a fundamental church there, like what we would believe in and preach about.
[28:03] What are we going to do about that? I know what you're thinking. My soul, brother, we can hear the Spanish crowd now. My soul, we don't have a wall here. We got black walls. What are we going to do?
[28:13] Here's what we're going to do. We're going to take what little we have. We're going to step out by faith. We're going to trust our God to do something big. It took faith for Andrew to face Jesus and offer so little.
[28:25] It took faith for a lad to give his lunch. It took faith to step out and begin serving the multitude. Can you imagine what it must have felt like? I don't know what happened when Jesus blessed that food.
[28:35] The Bible doesn't say, and I can't, but I don't believe that when he took that five loaves and two fishes and broke it up and gave it to 12, I don't believe that he gave all 12 of those enough food to feed off 25,000 people at once.
[28:49] I doubt they were, I doubt he said, here, take your part. And all of a sudden they were sitting under the load. That's not what happened. He said, take it. I imagine he gave them a small amount of food. I imagine he gave them enough probably to get to the first guy.
[29:01] But when they got to the first guy, it just kept going to the next guy and the next guy and the next guy. And every step they took, they found out, boy, God's just meeting the need every step of the way. And they fed those people. They fed those people.
[29:11] We're going to have to step out and see what God can do. And God will do far more than any of us would ever be able to do by ourselves. We'll all get excited and blessed as we see the great work that God does.
[29:25] Just a minute, I'll give you the practical applications and I'll close. But just let me say this. In my life, in my life, and in my ministry, I have watched God do things way bigger than anything I could have ever expected or dreamed.
[29:39] I have simply said, I believe God will and God has. As a young guy, Betty and I were making about $240 a month from the church that we were serving in.
[29:52] We were making $240 a month. So we tithed one month and we had heard a message on Luke 638 and we were just so foolish. Luke 638 says, give and it shall be given. Good measure, press down to give it unto you.
[30:04] The same way you give, it'll be given back to you, made it back to you again. We read that verse. So we gave our tithe and then we took $100 and sent it to a missionary. And I told Betty, we'll not tell one soul. I just want to see how God works.
[30:16] And I promise you, God came through big time and met our needs and showed himself. Did you know God is in heaven wanting to show his power? And we see so little of it.
[30:27] We see so little of it in our soul winning. We see so little of it. I see so little of it in my life. And our God wants to do great and mighty things. We can be involved in something bigger than ourselves.
[30:38] There was rejoicing all over the place because some ball team made it into some conference and we're all going there. I wonder what kind of rejoicing there'll be when we see people getting saved in another country, in another language.
[30:52] I wonder what kind of rejoicing will be going on when we see another church started and Jesus' name being glorified in another place. I wonder what would happen if you took a small step and you saw God do big stuff with your life.
[31:03] I wonder what God would do. Some great things. So let me give you some truths to remember. It's really all about showing how great our God is and not about our great giving or our sacrifice.
[31:13] The story here is not about the five loaves and the two fishes. The story is not about a boy giving an offering. The story is not about the 12 baskets being left over.
[31:24] The story is not even about the guys, all 5,000 people getting fed. The story is about Jesus is God and he is able. The story is about he's big, he's great, he's real and he does stuff.
[31:36] That's the real story. If you want the crux of the matter, when the story is over and the newspaper reporter writes it down, he's going to say, I saw something today I cannot believe. It is beyond anything I could have ever expected or hoped for.
[31:49] This guy is the prophet, that prophet, not one of them. He's the man. You would not believe what I saw him do. Don't you want everybody to know how great our God is?
[31:59] Do you or not? Amen. Let's show the people that. It's about Jesus showing everyone that he really was God that day. He was showing everyone he really was God that day.
[32:11] The lesson for us to remember, God can use me even though I do not have very much to offer. God can use me even though I do not have much to offer. We tell stories about the land.
[32:23] We tell stories about the five loaves and two fishes. We've been telling stories about that for 2,000 years. That day, that boy took a little lunch. I have a friend who preaches the lunch that can feed a big bunch.
[32:36] I mean, I've heard messages on this all my life. Just a boy taking a little bit of lunch. It wasn't really about him, but it does say something to me. You're nothing and you're no one and you have no ability.
[32:48] You have no power. You could never make a difference. But given to God, he can make a difference with five loaves and two fishes. It could be that right now is a test where he's proven me to see if I trust him and step out by faith.
[33:05] We're living in crisis time. We're living in difficult times. We're living in times where we need to see God move in our lives. We're living in times when our church needs to take the next step. We're living in times we need to go the next step and do other greater things.
[33:18] Could it be that God's looking at us and I know what I'm going to do. I'm just trying to see if you're really in on the game or not. Could that be what's going on? Will I allow my lack of faith to hinder God's work in my life and in our church?
[33:33] I so often wonder how much God could do in my life and would do in my life as simply would trust him and take more steps and walk through more doors and believe him more.
[33:45] I wonder how many times the God of heaven says, Austin, I had so much more for you, but you didn't trust me. I wonder if that could be a problem in your life. I wonder if in your life you could have something going on today and you'd have to say, I'm not sure if I'm really all, really where I ought to be trusting God and looking to him to do things.
[34:03] Do you really want to make Jesus king? Do you really want to brag on Jesus? Do you really want Jesus to look good? Or did you really come to church? So you could eat the food he gave the 5,000?
[34:16] Did you come for the blessings he gave you? Or did you come because you want Jesus to be glorified? Father in heaven, I pray you'd work today. I pray your name would be glorified.
[34:28] I pray God that some of the Christians in this church, some of your people would have their hearts surging with a deep trust for you and a love for you and excitement for you. And they would say, what I have, I'm willing to give.
[34:40] What I can do, I'm willing to do. I'm willing to witness to people, though I don't know how to get them saved. I'm willing to invite people, though I don't know how to make a difference in their lives. I'm willing to be a tither and a giver and a goer.
[34:52] I'm willing to use my time and my talents and my treasure. I just want you to be magnified, Jesus. Deal with our hearts and cause us to have that heart and I'll give you praise. Lord, there might be somebody here that's not saved and I pray you'd save them today.
[35:06] Give honor to yourself. You have been listening to Austin Gardner, pastor of Vision Baptist Church. For contact information, location, service times, or more audio and video recordings, log on to www.visionbaptist.com.
[35:25] Ta butter. You have been listening to Austin Gardner from using our家. happy husband, who discusses his wonderful khi扔 and salutations. کےisma desいただきます. He was șiul?".ies.
[35:46] I pah unserer miriyi.