A Little Lad, A Light Lunch and A Limitless God

 

John 6:1-14 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. 2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. 3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. 4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. 5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, 9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? 10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. 14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

I.                                                                                            Everyone has something to offer God.

A.          Everyone has talents and skills God can use for the furtherance of His kingdom.

B.          If we give to God what we do have, He is able to bless it and multiply it.

C.          It does not matter what our perceptions are of our abilities…it is God’s perceptions that count.

D.          Nothing we give to God is insignificant.

E.           We may think we are the weakest in faith, poorest in finances, most lacking in skills.

F.           There is a scripture to encourage us to give it all to God anyway.

1 Corinthians 1:26-28 26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

II.                                                                                          Jesus and the disciples were facing a monumental need.

A.          There were at least 5,000 men.

B.          This number does not take into consideration the women and children.

C.          John 6 verse 2 tells us the multitude followed Jesus because of the miracles He did.

D.          Mark 6:34 tells us Jesus was moved with compassion toward the multitude and began to teach them many things.

E.           Luke 9:11 says Jesus spake unto them about the Kingdom.

F.           This was the time of the Passover feast.

G.        The disciples were concerned about the multitude.

H.          They noticed the people did not have anything to eat.

I.            The Bible also notes this area was desert and it was late.

J.         There were two solutions.

K.        The disciples said:

Mark 6:36 36 Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.

L.         Jesus said:

Mark 6:37 37 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat….

M.       It is our nature to send those with needs away.

I.          Too many churches don’t want to work with people who have problems.

N.        It is the nature of Jesus to help, heal and deliver.

O.        The disciples complained there was not enough money to feed everyone.

John 6:7 7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

Faith Looks At Potential…Unbelief Only Sees Obstacles

                        P.        Jesus did not ask what the disciples didn’t have….He asked what they DID have.

Mark 6:38 38  He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.

I.          God never changes His ways.

II.        He asked the disciples what they had to offer.

III.       He asked Moses what he had to offer:

Exodus 4:2

2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.

                        Q.        In our reading, there was a little lad with a light lunch.

R.        Simon was not impressed with either.

John 6:9 9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

S.         Where you may not be impressed with your seemingly small and meager gift….Jesus is!

 

T.         Jesus made everyone sit down.

U.        He took the meager gift.

I.          Broke it.

II.        Blessed it.

III.       Dispersed it to His disciples.

IV.       It was their job to take the meager portion made mega and feed everyone.

V.        It may have started out with a little lad with a little lunch, but put it in the hands of a limitless God and every need is supplied.

III.       We may feel like our little prayers before service don’t get much accomplished.

A.        Put it in the hands of a limitless God.

B.        We may feel like our meager praise doesn’t move heaven very far.

C.        Put it in the hands of a limitless God.

D.        We may feel like our voices raised in singing are not sufficient to entertain the master of music.

E.         Put it in the hands of a limitless God.

F.         We may feel like our pennies are powerless compared to the financial needs of running a church.

G.        Put it in the hands of a limitless God.

H.        We may feel like our witness is shallow and lacking the charisma to change our world.

I.          Put it in the hands of a limitless God.

J.         Put it all in the hands of a limitless God and when He is done with it, He makes it the most powerful revival ever seen!