How many of you knew that song?
That was good, wasn't it?
Little is much when God is in it.
And how many of you know that we make a conscious and deliberate effort
subplot on that is that we're always safe singing about Jesus, right?
We got that one too, don't we?
It's like, you know, we're always safe singing about Jesus.
But I remember earlier in the week as I was studying and praying,
and that little chorus came back to me as I was working on the passage in John 6.
And I remember reaching out to John Kroll.
That's not John the Apostle, but John Kroll.
And saying, hey, John, what about this?
And I don't think we have sung that here for a long time.
And yeah, we got it.
We're good.
And then one of the things that I love doing is just listening to you all sing.
And I was listening to you, and I thought, wow, we got on top of that,
and we put our hearts into it.
And I trust that you remember that song at the end of the sermon, right?
Little is much when God is in it.
Let's turn in our Bibles to John chapter 6.
Let's pray.
Holy Father, this morning our hearts rejoice in the Lord Jesus.
And our desire this morning as we have sung, and our desire this morning as we open the
scriptures that you have given to us, is that the thing that resonates the most with our soul
is the person of our Savior.
That as we study the Word, and there are details here that you want us to know and apply and understand,
but as we study the Word, our greatest desire is this,
is that our hearts would grow in our love for the Lord Jesus Christ
and our longing for the day that we will see Him face to face.
I confess that the responsibility of preaching is not one that I can accomplish in my own flesh.
And I'm thankful for the truth of your word that never changes.
I'm thankful for the indwelling Spirit, both in my heart and in the hearts of your people,
that cares deeply about lifting up the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I'm thankful for the prayers of your people,
humble, dependent, expectant on you doing a work that glorifies your name.
And so we thank you in advance for what you will do this morning,
and we ask that the remembrance of our study and our time together
would make a difference in the week that lies ahead,
should you tarry and give us life.
And I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
As we take up this passage this morning,
I want you to understand that we are looking at the only one of the miracles of Jesus
that is recorded in all four Gospels.
That's pretty interesting.
Because if you have done any studies in the Gospels,
you understand that three of the four carry the commonality of dealing with a broad look at the life,
and particularly the public ministry of Christ.
John is different in that John's Gospel is focused almost exclusively on arguing the point
or making the point clear to us that Jesus is the Son of God,
that believing in Him we might have everlasting life.
It's not that the other Gospels don't have an interest in us seeing Christ as our Savior,
but John is focused in a very narrow sense of bringing us face to face with the person of Christ
as our Lord and Savior.
And so as we take up this passage this morning,
there is something that should immediately stand out in our thinking,
and you immediately say,
all right, this has bearing on me.
This passage is important for me in terms of my appreciating the Lord Jesus Christ
and my being affected by that truth.
Let me share something with you that I read earlier this week that was convicting to me.
J.C. Ryle, a pastor of a previous generation, wrote this.
He said,
I'm afraid that many Christians in our day have lost sight of Christ.
Oh, they talk about His salvation, but not about the Savior.
They talk about redemption as a theological truth,
but they don't talk about the Redeemer.
They talk about Christ's work and His power,
but they really don't focus on Christ Himself.
This is a great fault,
and one that accounts for much of the dry and shriveled spirit
that infuses the religious lives of so many people who profess faith.
If ever you would grow in grace and have joy and peace and abundance,
beware that you do not fall into this error of focusing on the details rather than the person.
Cease to regard the gospel merely as a collection of dry doctrine or historical facts.
Look at it rather as the revelation of the living and mighty Savior that you may know personally.
Cease to regard the gospels as a mere set of philosophical propositions
or hints at how to live a more productive and profitable life,
how to get along with other people, etc.,
and find in it instead a glorious and personal friend.
The leading subject of all that we study
is to be the loving heart of our actual Savior.
And I read that to you this morning.
The leading subject and focus of the sermon this morning, I trust,
is not the details of the feeding of the 5,000,
actually probably 20,000,
not the bread, not the loaves, and all those little things,
but it is the loving heart of our Lord Jesus
who is your Savior this morning
and the person that is most prized and most significant in your life.
So as we dive into this passage this morning,
I want you to have an understanding that it is recorded here
so that we, as believers, can be affected the same way the disciples were.
And I encourage you to know that it may be that the impact,
that the lesson that we have may take place over time.
I say that because if you will remember from your study in the Synoptic Gospels,
after Jesus fed the 5,000, later they're on a little trip,
and Jesus said,
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.
And what did they immediately think?
Oh, we didn't pack lunch, and Jesus is upset with us.
And it says,
And they didn't figure out that if He could handle feeding the 5,000,
lunch was no problem for Him.
And so this morning as we look at our passage,
I want you to understand that John's focus is helping us see
the significance of our Savior
and the blessing we have in our relationship with Him.
So let's kind of step into the text.
Let me read a portion of it,
and then we'll begin learning to see things like Jesus.
After this, Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee,
which is the Sea of Tiberias.
And a large crowd was following Him
because they saw the signs that He was doing on the sick.
Jesus went up onto the mountain,
and there He sat down with His disciples.
Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.
And lifting up His eyes then,
and seeing the large crowd was coming toward Him,
Jesus said to Philip,
Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?
He said this to test Him,
for He Himself knew what He would do.
Well, as we step into the passage and begin,
I want you to recognize that that little phrase
or little statement that's made after this
really has a lot of detail underneath it
that is appropriate for us to take some time
and get a handle on.
We learn from Matthew, Mark, and Luke
that Jesus actually,
following what we found recorded in John chapter 5
and His interaction with the Pharisees,
had continued to run into growing adversity
and objection from the religious leaders.
And as a result,
instead of working in the direct proximity of Jerusalem,
His ministry had kind of stepped away
to some of the outlying cities, villages.
And during this time,
as He was ministering in these areas,
He was engaged not only in the interaction
that He had with people,
but He also, during this time,
sent out His disciples two by two,
and they went out into all the outlying communities,
and they preached the kingdom.
They preached the coming of the Messiah.
Repent, for Messiah is at hand.
Repent, because the issues of your heart
are going to be dealt with.
And as a result of this ministry,
you'll remember that the pressure
that was growing on Jesus
also grew on the disciples.
And so they became tired and fatigued
in the process of ministry,
and understandably,
we know that as a result of the pressure
that they were under,
they began to need some rest and some break.
They needed a break from what was going on.
As a result of this,
Jesus proposed,
let's step away
and let's get a little bit of time to ourselves
so we can kind of take a breather
and get reoriented in ministry.
It's an appropriate thing to do.
All of us need rest
and a break on occasion.
And here is Jesus planning this,
and He says,
all right, let's step into a boat.
And they took off on their journey in this boat.
It was only about 10 miles across the lake,
Sea of Galilee,
and it wasn't that long of a distance.
The people, however,
did not want to lose sight
or the presence of Christ.
And so there was a throng of people
that as they were making their slow journey
in that boat,
they were kind of running along the side
and kind of tracking the boat.
They kind of had an idea where it was going,
and they were running along the side of the lake
to stop wherever Jesus eventually ended up stopping.
We read there that the crowd followed Him,
not because they were interested in spiritual issues,
but they'd seen the miracles.
Look at verse 2.
The large crowd was following Him
because they saw the signs
that He was doing on the sick.
They were impressed with the power
that Jesus was displaying.
Now look in verse 3.
It says,
Jesus went up the mountain,
and there He sat down with His disciples.
Eventually, they landed at a place
where Jesus said,
all right, this will do it.
And off they went,
just kind of up away from the lake,
a little distance from it,
and they stopped,
and they just kind of rested there.
And you can imagine the disciples
having spent this time
in evangelistic work throughout the area
and having seen the crowds
and the incessant pressure
that the crowd brought,
they were thinking,
this is a time for us to get away,
and we can be quiet.
I don't know exactly
what the kids were.
I do too.
I have an idea.
I remember when the kids
came back from the vacation,
not from vacation,
but from the missions trip,
most all of them slept the next day.
Am I right?
Is that correct?
Wave at me.
They were exhausted.
Many of them came home
and just crashed,
and instead of scampering off
for the next activity,
they were bushed.
And so here are these disciples
in the same frame,
tired, exhausted,
and decided,
hey, we need to rest.
Jesus looks at this crowd,
and he stops
and immediately turns
to his disciples in particular.
It says there in verse 5,
lifting up his eyes,
then in seeing the large crowd
was coming toward him,
Jesus said to Philip,
where are we to buy bread
so that these people may eat?
And you can kind of just imagine
how Philip felt at that point.
He had kind of anticipated.
How many of you began counting on vacation
before it actually gets there?
I mean, we're all there, aren't we?
Jack, are you going on vacation here soon?
I see Carrie and her husband here.
Are you going with them too?
You're planning on this?
Okay.
I mean, we began planning for the,
oh man, I'm going to be able to relax,
and I won't have to answer the phone.
And the disciples were kind of,
you can imagine them settling in,
and they look,
and they see the crowd coming up the hill
towards them,
and they go,
oh, you've got to be kidding me.
I do want you to understand something.
Ministering to the needs of others
can grow to be exhausting.
It does.
It does get to us.
And Jesus recognized that,
and yet,
and so I should say,
he planned on having this time
where his disciples would get to unwind
and decompress a little bit
and relax.
So here we have the crowd
following Jesus,
and Jesus,
when he sees them coming towards him,
instead of dismissing the crowd
and saying,
hey, why don't you guys get out of here?
What we find here is that
he recognizes their concern
and their need,
and he steps in to meet it.
Look at this.
There in verse 5 again,
he turns to Philip,
he says,
where are we to buy bread
so that these people may eat?
How many of you recognize in America
we are seldomly very far
from an outlet
where we can purchase food?
I mean,
no matter where it is,
unless you're deciding
you're going to go on
a wilderness journey
for a week or something like that,
most of us can find something,
and for us to be hungry is what?
To go past 1230, right?
It's like,
oh, I'm starved.
I'm 30.
You know,
we kind of obsess about the thing,
and here these people
had walked all that distance
around the lake.
They'd been following Jesus,
and Jesus looks at them,
and he knows what's on their heart.
He knows how they felt.
And recognizing that,
he was willing to address
the physical need that they had.
So I want you to understand something.
Ministering to other people
ends up sometimes
meeting their basic needs
in advance of spiritual needs.
In advance of spiritual needs.
I know that next Saturday,
because the announcement went out
to small groups,
Greg, Bernard, and Connie,
I'm going to be involved
in that as well.
Well, we're going to take
a little morning stroll
and provide oatmeal
to people that are living
in some less ideal circumstances
than we are.
And you think to yourself,
well, why start there?
Well, that's where Jesus started.
He met the needs of people
that in some senses
had no interest at all
in who he was.
They were just attracted
to the externals.
Nevertheless, we find here
is Jesus ready to meet those needs
and not to do that
with a critical
and a kind of sarcastic spirit
towards them.
I want you to mark something else
that you find there in the passage.
I love the question
that Jesus asked Philip.
Philip looked at the crowd
and I have no doubt
that probably,
I don't know for sure,
but I would imagine
Philip, like the rest of us,
we're tired,
we're exhausted,
we're thinking we get a break
and here's the crowd
coming up the hill towards us
and Jesus turns to us
and say,
hey, what are you going
to do about this?
Now, when Jesus asked
the question to Philip,
Philip immediately looked
at this crowd
and while we hear
the word 5,000,
understand that the 5,000
identifies male, adult,
not the rest of the crowd.
Bible scholars estimate
that this crowd
was somewhere
in the proximity
of about 20,000 people.
20,000 people.
I know when we have
Thanksgiving dinner,
there's a lot of food
that gets piled up
and Thanksgiving dinner
here at the church,
probably 3,350,
that's small potatoes
compared to 20,000.
And here,
Philip looks out
at this crowd
and he sees 20,000 people
and you know,
he doesn't understand
really what is underlying
in Jesus' question.
He looks at the crowd
and he says,
hey,
200 denarii
would not buy enough bread
for each of them
to get a little.
What's 200 denarii?
A denarii was generally
a working man's wage
for one day.
And so it's saying,
I want you to understand
that 200 days of work
would not provide
for everyone
in this 20,000 crowd
to actually have
a bite or two.
We're not talking about
a full meal
that would satisfy.
We're talking about
just a little bit.
I think
by comparison
to what happens
when our people
have gone to
biblical counseling training
over in Lafayette
and I think they have
between 12,
1600,
something like that,
Pastor Saul.
And they feed people
there in shifts,
don't they?
There's so many people
there that they have
them come through
the gymnasium
in different time frames
and they have tables
stacked with the food.
That's only 1,200,
1,600.
It's nothing compared
to 20,000.
And so I want you
to recognize
as Philip looks
at this situation,
he is immediately
overwhelmed
by the reality
of what is being asked
of him
and he can't imagine
meeting the need.
I want you to know
that ministry
will take us
to a place
that is beyond
our ability
and our resources.
I want you to mark
that down
and have it clear
in your heart.
Ministry will take you
to a place
that is beyond
your ability
and your resources.
When you have
a heart for Christ
and you end up
interacting
with the needs
of people,
recognize
that your calling
and your ministry
will take you
to a place
that is beyond
what you can imagine
and what your
natural resources are.
Well, I want you
to understand
there's something else
in the story
and that is grasping
his sufficiency
because the story
is not really
about five loaves
and two fishes
and a little boy
that was willing
to sacrifice those
for the sake
of other people.
It's all about
Jesus and his
sufficiency.
So pick up
in verse 8 and 9.
One of his disciples,
Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother,
said to him,
there is a boy
here who has
five barley loaves
and two fish,
but what are they
for so many?
Philip was the
kind of the
glasses less
than half full
dude
because when
Jesus asked him
the question,
he says,
this is out of
our control.
It's bigger
than we can handle.
We can't solve
the problem.
Andrew,
a little bit more
of the mathematician,
he must have been
running through
the crowd figuring out,
hey, do you guys
have something
you could share?
One boy,
that's all we have
record of,
one boy had
five barley loaves
and two fish.
That's it.
We don't know
the story of
why he had that food,
we just know
that it was there
and as a result
of that,
as you read there,
Jesus immediately
in verse 10 says,
have the people
sit down.
Now,
can you imagine
the sinking feeling
that went through
the disciples
when Jesus said that?
I mean,
the question,
how are we going
to take care
of this problem?
one of the disciples
says,
this is bigger
than we can solve.
We don't have
adequate resources.
And in one
of the gospels
it says,
why don't you
send them back
to town
so they can get
what they need?
And Jesus then,
in the face of
all the information
that he has,
says this,
why don't you
have them sit,
when do we sit
down for dinner?
When it's ready?
When it's ready
to be served?
When there's,
if there's not
adequate resources,
do you invite people
to sit down?
And what's the answer?
No.
That's kind of like
setting the table
for absolute failure.
And so here's Jesus,
he says to the disciples,
have them sit down.
Talk about building
expectation
in the hearts of people.
It's one thing
to recognize
the crowd's hunger.
That's easy to identify.
It's another thing
to say,
I can meet the need.
And that's exactly
what Jesus did.
I love
that Jesus owned
the very practical
consideration
or concerns
of this great throng.
And so I want you
to recognize this morning
as you think about
the Lord Jesus
that if Jesus cared
about what people
would eat,
you can be absolutely
certain that he cares
about where we spend
eternity.
He cares
about us.
He cares about
our personal needs.
He's interested
in our well-being.
And he pays attention
to those details.
This last week,
previous week,
Pastor Andrew
and the missions team
were down in Louisville
and they spent the week
for the most part
around Muslims.
Am I correct?
And they were able
to go into a mosque
and watch the Muslims pray
and they had meals
in the homes of Muslims.
They had great opportunity
to interact with Islam.
The idea in Islam
that God cares
for you personally
is just way beyond
the pale.
That doesn't register
with them.
I'll never forget
talking with a Muslim
about my faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ
and my confidence
in Him.
And when I told him
that God loved me
personally,
he absolutely
burst out laughing.
He just,
ha!
He was beyond himself.
It was just,
it was a joke.
He said,
I cannot believe
the arrogance
of your thinking
that God cares
about you personally.
Well, hey,
here is Jesus
looking at a crowd.
By the way,
out of this crowd,
how many of the 20,000
were actually going
to end up being followers?
Does anybody remember
how John 6 concludes?
12.
After Jesus preached
His zinger sermon,
you know,
He was not a
Joel Osteen
kind of guy.
He kind of cut
to the chase
and let them know
they needed to be saved
from the brokenness
of their sin.
And as a result,
what happened?
That is a hard saying.
I'm not real comfortable
with what you're saying
about my own soul.
And so off they went.
You know,
Jesus wasn't saying
to the disciples,
I want you to feed
those who are going
to be believers.
I'm going to have you
take care of just
a certain select group.
No.
His love and His kindness
extends to all.
And here we find
that Jesus,
looking at the needs
of people,
He was willing to meet
their physical need.
And I want you
to understand
that beyond that
physical need,
He is interested
in the eternal destiny
and the spiritual needs
of every person.
After the crowd
had been seated,
it says there
in the passage,
Jesus in verse 11,
then took the loaves
and when He had given thanks,
He distributed them
to those who were seated.
Now how did He do that?
If we were relying
on Amazon to do it,
we'd drone it in, right?
Little zzzz,
there it be.
Meal, meal, meal, meal, meal.
And by the way,
they did sit in 50s and 100s.
Do you like the
organizational structure there?
Little groups,
little groups all over
the place,
all over the hill.
What happened was
the disciples
lined up
in front of Jesus
and Jesus gave them food
and they took it out
to the crowd.
Now,
I don't know
how much they took.
I don't know
how it was packaged.
I don't know
anything about portion control.
What I do know
is that when the story ends,
they'd had over
12 baskets full
of remnants
that they picked up.
I was doing a little bit
of limited computation
because that's risky for me,
but I was kind of imagining
what kind of logistics
would go into
feeding 20,000
adequate food.
Hey,
there's one thing,
I bet you none of them
were kind of on a diet
that day.
Do you follow?
Oh, no.
No.
Gluten-free?
No.
By the way,
they were into it.
When you're hungry,
how many of you know
that you'll eat
almost anything?
Can I say that again slowly?
Because some of you
have dietary restrictions
that are self-imposed.
It's like,
oh,
I don't want broccoli.
Not hungry.
I don't want peas.
Not hungry.
I can guarantee you
after having hoofed it
all the way around the lake
when it came time
for dinner or lunch
or whatever it was,
everybody,
I mean,
everything was just
God prepared.
It was just phenomenal.
And so here are the disciples
lined up in front of Jesus
and I'm in,
first one in line
sees five loaves
and two fishes,
right?
And he thinks,
well,
I don't know
what the rest of them
are doing,
but at least I get a start.
And then the second one
and the third one
and the fourth one
and out they go
to the crowd
and they're thinking
five loaves
and two fishes
and they're looking
and seeing the rest
of the disciples.
Guess what would have been
an anxious moment for me?
After I dropped
my first load
going back for seconds.
Do you follow that?
I remember
in previous years
when we have served
the women's tea
and whoever's done
the cooking on that
has always worked out
that there's been plenty
but being a boy
who grew up
in boarding school,
I want you to know
that I learned
the hard way
that if you wanted seconds
you had to be really quick.
You got that?
And so I have a tendency,
I want to eat it fast
and I want to get back
to the window
and hope that there's
more left over
for somebody,
you know,
you follow that?
And so can you imagine
the disciples walking out there
and dumping their first load
and thinking,
whoa.
I took care
of the little pile here,
I wonder if there's
any more coming.
And time after time
after time
they went back
and there they were,
they were providing food
for all of this
throng of people.
How did it end up?
I think it's pretty interesting
when you stop
and think about it.
How many disciples
were there?
Twelve.
How many baskets
of leftovers
do you think
Jesus is good with math?
Huh?
I think he was.
And I just love that,
it struck me,
you know.
Let me kind of put
these things together
in practical terms
for you.
I want you to understand
that Christ will put you
in places where you need
to meet the needs
of others.
Will you mark that down?
If you are his child,
Christ will put you,
it's not on the screen,
you're going to try
to spell it out,
Christ will put you
in places where you need
to meet the needs
of others.
Why did he save me?
For his own pleasure.
And one of the things
that brings him pleasure
is seeing his child
end up meeting
the needs of other people.
That's going to happen.
If you are here today
and you know the Lord
Jesus Christ,
let me tell you,
this beyond a shadow
of a doubt,
his intention
and your pleasure
is going to be found
in meeting the needs
of other people.
And by the way,
everybody look up
so you don't miss this
because I'm talking to you.
If you become
a navel gazer
and a self-focused person,
the unintended consequences
of being that
is going to be this.
You grow unhappy
in direct proportion
to your unwillingness
to help and serve Christ
in caring for other people.
Do you get that?
What did I say?
When you say no
to being part
of what God is doing
and meeting the needs
of other people,
you become
an unhappier person.
Christ will put you
in places
to meet the needs
of other people.
Secondly,
I want you to recognize
that Christ will use
your inadequacy
for his glory
when you yield to him.
Christ will use
your inadequacy
for his glory
when you yield to him.
Stop and think about that.
Here were the disciples.
They had 20,000 people
in front of them.
Jesus turns to Philip
and says,
hey, what are we going
to do about this?
Philip, the mathematician,
says, oh, way beyond us.
200 days' wages
is just going to get
a taste
to each of these individuals.
And then on top of that,
Christ turns around
and says,
tell them to sit down.
Christ will use
your inadequacy
for his glory
when you yield to him.
I want you to understand
another fact
that you need
to recognize here.
Christ will supply
your needs
as you minister
in his stead.
Christ will supply
your needs
as you minister
in his stead.
And let me put this together
in two different ways.
For one,
I want you to recognize
that Christ supplied
what the disciples needed
to meet the needs
of other people.
Do you follow that?
Where does it come,
where does it come
that you end up
having the adequate resource
with which to minister
and encourage
other broken people?
Number one,
it comes from things
he has taught you
in your own journey
and in your own heartaches.
You keep your finger
there in John
and turn over
to 2 Corinthians 1.
2 Corinthians 1.
In verse 4,
it says,
who comforts us
in all our affliction
so that we may be able
to comfort those
who are in any affliction
with the comfort
with which we ourselves
are comforted by God.
How many of you understand
that one of the things
that is characteristic
of our Savior's economy
and ministry
is that He providentially
puts you
into situations
and into relationships
with people
who need what He
has helped you learn already?
You've gone through
a heartache in your life.
You've had difficulties
with your children.
You've had some difficulties
at work.
Whatever the challenge is,
in God's economy,
He's going to bring
people up against you
that you're going
to bump into
and you end up
having seen the grace
of God
help you through
that thing
and you can say,
hey, let me talk
to you about
how Jesus helps.
You can speak
from experience.
You can speak
from seeing the Word
of God
playing out in your life
as He has strengthened
and enriched you
and supported you.
You can speak
to that.
So Christ
will supply
your need
as you minister
in His stead.
But there's another piece
that I want you
to recognize.
Not only will He
supply what you need
to meet the needs
of others,
but He will also
supply your need,
your personal need.
Did the disciples
need to be fed
that evening
like the rest
of the crowd?
What's the answer?
Yes.
Were they as hungry
as the rest
of the crowd?
Yes.
Were they as exhausted
from ministry
as you can understand
they would be?
I think about the men
again serving
the women's tea.
It's fun.
But when the day
is all over,
guess what the rest
of the guys
are like in the back?
I mean,
running back and forth,
it's great.
I love the women's tea.
But, you know,
eventually the wheels
get a little tired.
You know,
it's like,
huh, okay.
How many more
water trips
does she really?
Okay.
And,
did I say something?
Yeah, I did.
Here's the truth.
Follow me.
Jesus will supply
your need
as you minister
in his stead.
He will not leave
you exhausted
and broken.
When you step up
to be his instrument
in the lives
of other people,
you can count on him
supplying what you
need personally.
Now,
I want you to
understand something.
The main lesson
of this passage
that we find there
in John chapter 6
is not about bread.
It's not about
boys' lunches.
It's not about
a mom that had
the forethought
to pack ahead.
It's not about
organizational structure
and how you put people
in 50s and 100s
to take care
of all the needs.
It's really about
the fact that
the Lord Jesus
is the one
who can meet
the need
of every person's
heart and he
pays attention
to the real things
that are going on
in your life.
And I'm excited
about that
because I know this.
Jesus who cares
about food
cares about eternity
and he's interested
enough that he
is willing
to deal with
the smaller things
in a person's life
in order
to lay also
the groundwork
for the larger things.
Isn't that the way
we should be?
We willing
to meet
the smaller things
so we can be
instruments
in Christ's stead
to meet
the larger things.
I love the fact
that as I read
this passage
I am reminded
that this is my
Savior and my Jesus.
I get excited.
When I stop
and think
that the story
here is
in a sense
just a little
picture of just
how wonderful
my Savior is.
That's my Savior.
That's my Jesus.
And when I stop
and think about
the fact
that he is able
to meet
such an incredible need
and to do it
in such a simple way
I'm just overwhelmed
when I think
man there's no problem
too big for him.
There's no problem
too big for him.
And so as I read
this passage
my heart is lifted up
and I say
you know what?
If Jesus
can do this
for others
and he is willing
to use me
to be his instrument
then my life
is wrapped up
in finding
my pleasure
and my satisfaction
in being part
of what he's doing.
Let me ask you
a question.
In two ways
I'm curious
this morning
whether or not
your walk
with Christ
is marked
by a confidence
in his provision
and the certainty
of his meeting
the needs of others
because of what
he's doing
in your life
that you do not
have to be pressed
and pushed
to share the sweetness
of the gospel
with other people.
Do you understand
what I just said?
He is capable.
And are you finding
his capability
playing out
in your life
so that you are ready?
I'll bet you
by the third
or fourth time
walking back
to get another load
of food
the disciples
were not kind of
walking forward
in hesitancy.
They were all over it
like I am going
at more food.
He'll do it.
I'm trusting him.
Are you confident
in his power
because of what
you've seen him do
in your life
that you are
passing that
enthusiasm
and affection
onto other people?
Secondly,
I don't know.
There may be
some of you
that are sitting
here this morning
that have grown up
hearing the Bible stories.
You've memorized
all the Juana verses.
You've been through
the routine
but the truth
of the matter is
you have never
come to grips
with the reality
that you desperately
need Christ
in your heart.
And this morning
there is a
Holy Spirit
driven
discontentment
and sourness
with life
that cannot
be remedied
apart from
coming to Jesus
as your personal
Savior.
How can I preach
about Jesus
and not tell you
that he came
into the world
to be the Savior
of sinners
and you are here
today and you
need Christ
and there is no
remedy in your
own efforts?
And the Spirit
of God calls you
this morning
to repent
and believe
in Jesus Christ
alone.
And I would
plead with you
if you are here
and don't know
Christ
now is
the time.
Let's close
in prayer.
as you
Thank you.