 Okay, here we are we're in chapter 6 of the gospel of John I'll begin reading at verse 1 read to verse 3 and Then we'll get into our study John chapter 6 beginning at verse 1 reading to verse 3 We go okay after these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias then a great multitude followed him because They saw his signs which he performed on those who were diseased And Jesus went up on the mountain There he sat with his disciples And so at this point John Just to give you some clarity and context John has bypassed several months of Jesus's ministry It would seem that he did so in order to concentrate his attention on this particular event that we're about to see Now he's he's going to be sharing some things about Jesus's miracle of multiplication And so he's going to center his attention on this and as we've gone through John's gospel by now He's recorded several miracles. He recorded Jesus turning water into wine He recorded the healing of the nobleman's son And he's also recorded the healing of a crippled man at the pool of Bethesda, but now John presents to us a fourth miracle and that is the feeding of the 5000 and This is the only miracle other than the resurrection that is recorded in all four gospels And so he begins in verse one by saying after these things So the question has to be asked after what things And the details of the things he's referring to are supplied by other gospels There are basically two things that have led to this event that he's recorded for us One of the things is the commissioning of the 12 as apostles And the second is the death of John the Baptist And uh In the other gospels, you'll see that John had given up his life For his uncompromising walk with God and and in this John was demonstrating to us That he was a genuine follower of the Lord Jesus Christ So the kind of sacrifice and I want to emphasize this for a moment The kind of sacrifice that John had had made the sacrifice of his life Exposes the concept That we today are dealing with a concept that was actually coined By a man by the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer And the concept that that i'm referring to is the concept of what has been called cheap grace And we live in a day and i'm not going to make a big Message out of this other than an introductory thought We do live in a day here in the united states in 21st century Where grace has been cheapened Where it has been misunderstood to the point of it Is actually used the term grace is often used today at least i hear this To actually give permission for people to continue in sin And one of the more common things that you're going to hear somebody say I hear it Perhaps you do too is don't judge me I'm a christian don't judge me You know and that's really An excuse often for people to continue in a sinful way of life And they'll say don't judge me Because they don't want to be convicted and and Dietrich Bonhoeffer Would have called that cheap grace and this is what Bonhoeffer wrote. He said Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance Baptism without church discipline Communion without confession Cheap grace is grace without discipleship Grace without the cross Grace without jesus christ living and incarnate Well in contrast to this Bonhoeffer spoke of what he called costly grace And Bonhoeffer wrote costly grace is costly Because it costs a man his life And it is grace because it gives a man the only true life It is costly because it condemns sin and grace Because it justifies the sinner Above all it is costly Because it cost god the life of his son You were bought at a price And what has cost god much? Cannot be cheap for us Above all it is grace Because god did not reckon his son too dear a price to pay for our life But delivered him up for us Costly grace is the incarnation of god You see jesus in luke 1426 said it like this He said if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother His wife and children his brothers and sisters. Yes, even his own life He cannot be my disciple And so john Had given up his life He was beheaded And after john had been beheaded his disciples went and told jesus what had happened And so jesus went over the sea of galilee Now in verse one here It says the sea of galilee, but he also gives a second name for the sea of galilee Which is the sea Of tiberias So actually the sea of galilee Has various names the sea of galilee sea of tiberias as well as the lake of gnessaret You'll see that various times in the new testament It's called the sea of tiberias because the city of tiberias was there and the city of tiberias was named for a Caesar By the name of tiberias And so luke is telling us about this when he says in chapter nine verse 10 That he took them into a deserted place Belonging to the city called betseida And so that's where jesus is going and he's going there close to the sea of galilee and verse two It says then a great multitude followed him Because they saw his signs which he performed on those who were diseased And so a great multitude is following him these would have been pilgrims who were coming to celebrate the Passover And by now they were well aware of the various miracles that jesus had performed And and again, I need to remind you very briefly that that miracles had a specific purpose They were intended to draw people to believe in christ as savior. They were not intended To draw people to follow jesus as a miracle worker And so people were drawn they were drawn to jesus because they saw his signs I've mentioned this but it had become very common early in his ministry All the way in mark chapter one verses 32 and 33 It says that evening when the sun had set They brought to him all who were sick and those who were demon possessed and the whole city was gathered together at the door So it was common for great numbers now to be coming to see him and to listen to him And jesus would see these great crowds and they need to respond Matthew chapter 14 verse 14 tells us how he responded it says when jesus Landed he saw a large crowd and he had compassion on them and healed their sick So jesus is there. He's doing work and ministry still It's this great multitude is following him because I've seen his miracles verse 3. So jesus went up on the mountain and there he sat with his disciples So a crowd is forming and jesus takes his men aside for privacy as well as to spend some time with them to minister to them And and they needed time to rest From all that they had been doing You see during the time This time jesus goes out to minister to the multitude that is formed in And and he knew they came because of his signs So he's going to take an opportunity to not only minister to his men But to minister to those who are gathering luke 9 11 says he received them and spoke to them About the kingdom of god and he healed those who had need of healing And so in all of this jesus is tired his men are tired He still continues to minister and he's revealing the heart of god to them He's revealing the heart of a shepherd The bible tells us in psalm 145 verse 8 that the lord is gracious and compassionate He's slow to anger and he is rich In love and so jesus is ministering to his disciples, but he's also ministering to a multitude verse 4 is a Is a a verse that simply says the Passover a feast of the jews was near John is giving an explanation to non jews who are reading this account And he just lets them know that the Passover is a feast of the jews And now we pick up at verse 5 jesus lifted up his eyes And seeing a great multitude coming toward him. He said to philip Get rid of them. No, he said to philip Where shall we buy bread that these may eat? But this he said to test him for he himself knew what he would do philip answered him 200 dinari worth of bread is not sufficient for them that every one of them may have a little One of his disciples andrew simon peters brother said to him There's a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but What are they among so many? And jesus said Make the people sit down Now there was much grass in the place so the men sat down in number about 5000 Jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples and the disciples to those sitting down and Likewise of the fish as much as they wanted So when they were filled he said to his disciples gather up the fragments that remain so that nothing is lost Therefore they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets of the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten Then those men when they had seen the sign that jesus did said truly this is truly the prophet Who's to come into the world? We're looking at the feeding of the 5000s 5000 now jesus has taken his disciples through Ministry school the school of ministry and that's what we'll do today. We're going to look at this As if we're in the school of ministry We're going to look at this as if each one of us in this room Are going through this kind of teaching that jesus has given to his apostles He's going to teach them what i have chosen to call the basics or fundamentals of ministry And so we'll begin first with its foundation. What is the foundation of ministry for those of you Who feel called into ministry into a deeper kind of ministry Though this is something all of us can learn from this may be something important for you to hear So let me begin by saying that ministry begins with compassion Ministry begins the the foundation of ministry is compassion for other people Mark tells us in chapter 6 verse 34 that jesus when he came out saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them Because they were like sheep not having a shepherd So he began to teach them many things Now at this time His men didn't look at these others with compassion What they saw these people as is intrusions Because we know that his men jesus's men were drained they were tired They wanted a break Mark records that jesus had said something to them in mark 6 31 and 32 He had said to them come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest for a while For there were many coming and going and they did not even have time to eat ministry sometimes Is an experience that is prolonged it isn't something That that is on the clock You you sometimes in ministry will be going Day day day day by day hours at a time just this last week I had the opportunity to be involved in in the international pastors conference of calvary chapels And and our day started early and went late You know we started at uh at um 9 o'clock and we got home at 11 in that night And and we had several days of long hours and and and it isn't something that You kind of just are there taking naps in a room You're you're busy and amongst people all the time and when you're not teaching you're talking And so there'll be people who approach you they approach me and the other leaders of calvary And and they come up and they'll ask questions and they'll want to talk and they'll ask for advice and And then you have another teaching then you have another teaching then you have a break But in that break you're with other people. That's how it is and it's constant. It doesn't stop And so that was monday. That was tuesday. That was wednesday. That was into thursday And then on friday marie who was with me all of those days other than monday Marie is now gone to the woman's retreat And i went with her to the retreat And i taught the opening teaching because i always do at the woman's retreat Have this nice little dress i wear in some heels I like it i look forward to it every year Just go and get a new dress and all and But so we go there and then i do the evening teaching i've already been Off all of the days teaching and ministry and then it's friday Then marie stays the next day and she's there ministering all of saturday into sunday Then after sunday we meet with some other pastors and and it was an all day thing And that's our life and then on monday i come in and i begin my work week That's ministry Sometimes people think that ministry is oh, yeah, you've got it easy You you go out and speak on a wednesday for an hour and then you speak a couple times on a sunday It you know it isn't as easy as it appears It's long it's prolonged and sometimes you're tired sometimes you need a rest and these men are that way They have been serving and ministering and jesus said come aside for a while You're going to have a rest and he took them aside you began to minister to them But the needs don't stop just because you're tired And if you don't have compassion in your heart, i promise you you will not be a good minister of the gospel of jesus christ And jesus is teaching his men To have compassion because jesus saw the multitude the way that these men did But jesus saw him with different eyes jesus had compassion on them And we're told in scripture that that he taught them and we're told in scripture that he healed them He continued ministering and so the first thing i would say in ministry that you need to have if you want to be Used by the lord is you need to have compassion a second thing because ministry is ongoing And often requires long hours We know that it's not just talking but it's also labor And as mentioned a moment ago and it can be very fatiguing It requires long hours of labor And sometimes you have little rest You see again, there are those who spiritualize ministry away But those who do have not yet served to the point of exhaustion In colossians we saw this in chapter 1 verse 29 in our study of colossians Paul had said to this end I also labor striving according to his working which works in me mightily In first sessilonians 2 verse 9 he said For you remember brethren our labor and toil For labor night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you We preach to you the gospel of god He said in first sessilonians 5 12 we urge you brethren to recognize those who labor among you And are over you and the lord and admonish you In philippians paul wrote a commendation for a brother named epaphroditus Epaphroditus had been ill and the philippians had heard that he wasn't doing well And when you read philippians 2 27 through 30 Paul speaking of him said indeed he was sick almost into death But god had mercy on him and not only on him but on me also lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow Therefore I sent him the more eagerly That when you see him again you may rejoice And I may be less sorrowful Receive him therefore in the lord with all gladness Hold such men in esteem because for the work of christ He came close to death Not regarding his life to supply what was lacking in your service toward me And so compassion Labor that's all part of serving the lord Now I want you to notice something here in verse 5 Notice how he said to philippe Where shall we buy bread that these may eat? But this he said verse 6 to test him For he himself knew what he would do So a third thing about ministry another principle if you will Ministry requires continuing Until the need is met if possible You see this crowd became a multitude And jesus knew that the disciples were getting overwhelmed Fatigue and being overwhelmed has a way of causing us to lose sight of ministry It marks 6 35 and 36 it says when the day was now far spent His disciples came to him and said This is a deserted place and already the hour is late And here's their answer to ministry problems send them away That they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread They have nothing to eat Well, there were so many there that the men didn't know what to do The needs were greater than the resources and the men knew this Their logic kicked in Jesus there are simply too many people to care for this is a deserted place. It's getting late The answer get rid of them send them away So jesus is about to use this to teach his disciples to minister with the right heart You see these men are going to be deputized They're going to be sent out to spread the message of the gospel and they needed to see what god could do And they needed to have the heart of god as they minister to people In jeremiah 3 15 i will give you shepherds after my own heart Who will lead you with knowledge and understanding These men needed to be Transformed from people who saw others as Inconveniences They needed to be transformed from seeing them as inconveniences To begin to see them as opportunities And there's a world of difference between the way that you look at people when you look at them in that way If you see somebody as an inconvenience Somebody that gets in your way or bothers you Then you have lessons that you need to learn. I've been learning this lesson for a long time I don't stand up here as one who has 100% learned it so forgive me if it comes off that way I still am learning it too There are times that there have been those in in our fellowship that have over the years i've been ministering this church for a long time and There have been times that i've encountered people and in them in this who have attended or come to the church That that can be very difficult and very draining and that's just the truth. I'm sorry to say that but it's true You know and there have been times especially in the early days When i'd see someone who is very draining and sometimes there are people who are of such need that they just kind of Attach to you and just kind of drain you and and i'm not trying to be cruel and forgive me if it If it sounds that i am but there's truth to that and and you get tired Especially if you've been ministryed for a long time and then one more person and this one person is the one Who's going to stay there for a long time and you know it and you look at your feet and you say feats Stay still don't be moving. Don't be trying to get away. I still remember on one occasion In the early days of our church. It was a tuesday night. You still remember it's been 37 years 36 years And there was somebody who was of that nature who was always attaching themselves to me and always draining me of my last rank And i can still remember there was a prayer meeting that we had at one of our buildings and This person said i need to speak to you if i can and they were the one who would do that quite often And i said of course and again this is in the early days of our church And so he followed me to my house. I had him come to my house My wife was there and she had three small babies You know that we're wondering where dad was it was 10 o'clock at night And so she hadn't seen me all day my wife and my kids and i'd like to see them today if i can And so we pull into my driveway and the guy comes pulls his vehicle up Climbs out of his car and climbs into mine And for 45 minutes almost an hour. He was telling me how i don't give him any time I'll never forget that I'll never forget that i i remember when When my daughter ana was in infinite arms on us 36 years old now So when ana was a baby in arms and she had a very high temperature I still remember this very well And the light was hurting her eyes and it was night and i turned the lights off in the front room And marie went to the pharmacist to go and get some Some medicine to bring her temperature down because my baby had a very high temperature And she was crying and crying and and i was holding her and i was walking her and rocking her and she's crying And she's upset and and i can't cool her down I can't do anything other than hold her and pray and she was like three or four months old She was just a little baby and the door there's a knock on the door And i and i go to the door and i open it and it's the fella in the church He'd been been Pursuing me in asking questions of me and he's standing then the baby's crying in my arms and i'm holding her And he says i need to talk to you for a minute and i said i'm sorry i don't have time right now And he says you don't have you don't even have a an hour And i said no i i don't i said i don't even have a minute I said i'm not i can't talk to you right now my baby's sick I mean i can't tell you and i don't i i don't try to remember these stories But they come to mind as i'm illustrating So many times So many interesting conversation a woman approaching me at a bible study saying i hate you And i said well, thank you very much and i mean i'm so encouraged and edified by that i'm so blessed thank you I hate you she says and i don't know the reason i hate you She says it may be because i hate authority and you symbolize authority Or it may be because i'm physically attracted to you. I say you hate authority There's no doubt in my mind that authority is your problem I can't tell you When are you going to leave again pastor? You always have such good speakers Yeah, i can't tell you how many How many interesting and and you don't know these things i don't tell you these things but this has been going on For years not a week not a month Not a day not 10 years 20 years not 30 years years And so you get tired There are times when you're physically drained there are times when you say i just need to get away There are times when you just need to just breathe Everybody does and even the minister does but guess what? Jesus is teaching them that ministry doesn't stop Ministry always goes it is constant. There's always a new need and if you don't have compassion And if you don't sit at the feet of christ You will start saying send them away. And so jesus is speaking to them and teaching them He wants them to have the right heart a heart of a shepherd and he's teaching them lessons about ministry So first once again, they need to have his heart if they're going to minister in his name Ministry begins with people not programs special messages great bands Or a wonderful building Genuine ministry begins with a love for god and a love for people And you cannot be in love with ministry You must truly love those whom you serve You need to have that A sense of Of love for the people that you are that you're with You need to have that you need to pray and say god Help me to love them with a love that is pure and right and comes from you I don't want to use people for my own means. I don't want to stand up there and make make pleas for things that will help me in my life Help me to care for people So the first thing you need is the heart of the lord a second thing You need to know that god meets every need You see just before this happened Jesus had commissioned them jesus had sent them out He had said in matthew chapter 10 verses 9 and 10 to them He had said to them provide neither gold nor silver nor copper and your money belts Nor bag for your journey nor two tunics nor sandals nor staffs For a worker is worthy of his food So he's going to teach him a lesson. He's going to teach them that god's adequacy begins at the point of our inadequacy How does he do this? He asks the question In verse 5, where shall we buy bread that these may eat? Now he already knew according to verse 6. He said this to test them. He knew what he was going to do So one he exposes their inadequacy To meet needs in their own strength and resources He's going to reemphasize this later in john 15 verse 5. He says i'm the vine you are the branches He who abides in me and i and him bears much fruit for without me you can do nothing But he's also going to reveal that god is completely adequate to meet any and every need Like paul said in philippians 419 my god shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by christ jesus We have a saying in cowry chapel Is something that pastor chuck as one of his little we call him chuck isms one of his Little things that he would say to us. You all know this you've all heard this If not, let me introduce you to it Where god guides He provides For god guides he provides When god guides you somewhere he takes care of it That's why i don't have to beg That's why i don't that's why i don't stand up and say you go ahead if you don't without your we will There are too many men in pulpits That are occupying it In a way that doesn't allow god to be god You know this place you're seated in right now I don't have the time to tell you all the stories But you got to understand something You know when we began this ministry when i began my ministry I began my ministry in in norwalk I never had more than six maybe seven people if we had seven people in a bible study We were blowing out the doors. I was going whoa check it out seven people We we never had many people we never did And that went on for years it didn't go on for weeks or months it went on for years I continued teaching in norwalk for something something like six years So we stayed there for a long time, but never had more than a front room full of people when when when my brother got saved My brother lived in ontario and that's what brought me into the area and my brother in ontario It was just my brother frank and me and my sister madeline and he began to invite people to come to the bible study And that's how I met marie. She came to the bible study. She got saved in the bible study through my sister madeline And so that's how I met her, but we only had a handful of people We moved that bible study with a handful of people to montclair and in montclair I used to go to a house in montclair and john who does our um Bulletin and all and receives the offering John I know him as john john because john john was six years old When I was teaching the bible study at his parents house And he used to stand at the door and he would just look at us You know, so I've known john john since he he was a little tub But we used to teach at his house And when we taught at his house he would come and look at us And then his mom and dad would make him go to bed and his mom was close to us She was so close. She made our wedding cake So that goes all the way back there a handful of people And then I would teach a bible study later on in calvary chapel claremont And in that bible study we had 35 or 40 and I thought man, there's a ton of people 35 or 40 When this church began in 1981 it started with 25 adults and about 5 10 kids That was it. We met in a house That was it my my vision wasn't to have a lot of people over the years We've seen god bring a lot and sometimes it's less But he's always been faithful to bring people to church to come to bible studies It's never been about the numbers. It's always been about Jesus It's always been about bringing him to people so that people might know him. That's how it works And so that's how ministry is it and we we met in in In a house then we moved into a small church called church on a seventh day Seventh-day church of god something or other and and we stayed there for a few months and And they kicked us out because they said we were a cult because we celebrated christmas And it turns out they were a cult. We just didn't know it That's the truth. They denied christ as god in the flesh. They were a cult And we ended up going to central school and we stayed there and and it was eastern and and I can still remember because We had been kicked out of that school That church rather we'd been kicked out of the church and And it was a wednesday night and I had gone to my Room marie and the children for some reason weren't there at that time and it gave me some time to pray And I I still remember laying on my face in on the carpet in my my bedroom And I I remember praying and saying god we've been kicked out of the church that we've been inhabiting We don't have the money to be able to pay for central school because Rent on the church was a hundred and fifty dollars a month But the school was over a thousand dollars And and we weren't receiving the kind of offering that could pay a thousand dollars a month We had a small amount of people And I remember laying on my face and saying god and I wept and I wept so much that when I went to the Bible study one of the ladies in the Bible study walks up and says you look like death warmed over we need to pray for you That's a fact. That's a truth And I said after the study and I gave the study then my friend dan who became my assistant dan He and I sat on chairs in the center of a front room at david and connie signs this house Well, they laid hands and said god in jesus name Do something and that night I went to bed and as I was laying in my bed as god is my witness I heard the voice of the lord speak to me in an audible voice and he said you will need a place that seats 200 people on east or sunday And I remember saying that's right. I remember saying that that's right I went to sleep the next day I was preparing a study john 12 24 unless a grain of wheat fall into the ground and diet abides alone But if it dies it brings forth much fruit And I had written a letter to pastor chuck smith and I had said chuck is this where we're at I'd like to be associated with calvary chapel That's who I am and I want to be associated as a calvary I want to call myself calvary because we were calling ourselves ontario christian chapel at that time And so chuck wrote On on the thursday. I was laying there. I was reading and I said god I am dead Unless a grain of wheat fall into the ground to die I am dead And the mailman came up and was delivering our mail the spirit of the lord spoke a second time and he said your letter is here and I went and I got the mail and I pulled out a letter the first letter I looked at it said calvary chapel Of costa mesa I put it down. I went through the bills. I prayed over that letter said god if you If we're a calvary grade if not i'll do whatever you want I opened it up and we have a copy of that letter in the hallway You can see it where chuck says we welcome you into the association of calvary chapels And within a couple months our church grew from 60 to about 120 And when it did that the income came in and then here we are It's easter sunday at central school and it was storming and those of you who live in the area know that that On d street right off of euclid there What used to be bob's big boy on the corner? Some of you know where i'm talking about central schools right there And it was pouring so badly that the curbs that are large curbs as you know those of you are familiar They're oversized curbs the water was running over the curb. It was that high. It was just pouring because it pours down there And so i'm thinking no who's going to come to church It's it's it's just pouring and we didn't have a nice place and it And i go out there and there are 200 people sitting in the pews and i still remember the chairs and i still remember saying You don't know this but the lord said to me there would be 200 people here today For church and that's what we're seeing right now We never never never had the finances They were always supplied at the time of need i hired people on the staff because we need them I i didn't take a full salary I hired staff my wife worked for the first two or three years Because i wasn't taking enough to live off of i was making sure that other people were being cared for so we could get Building so we could rent so i could have staff i hired a An assistant hired a secretary long before it was freed up for me to actually set my wife free to raise her children And administer to the women because we knew that were god guides god provides god'll take care of us if we keep him first We learned that we learned that we have learned that And so from there we end up going to ontario christian elementary school And church begins to grow and a building comes up. We can't afford this building It was three quarters of a million dollars at that time that's still a lot of money But at that time for a small fellowship that was beyond our means But guess what the lord provided we were able to buy that building not only did we buy it But we were able to build it out and add property to the add building to the property Then we had to move to the ontario high school and we were there and now we're doing double services And we're doing triple we were doing triple services now. We're doing double services in ontario And we came and looked at this property and they wanted several million dollars for it and we didn't really have it I didn't receive an offering. We didn't receive offerings here at this church until Um, we were already occupying here when the lord spoke to my heart and said you need to receive offerings Because I was boasting in my own self because I was thinking look at all that what's happening through my faith I don't ever ask for any money people just give and we're able to buy we're able to hire and and the lord said you're You're your flesh Is is is risen you're proud of these things and my friend ral reese whom I tease a lot about but ral and I were in india And ral was laying on the floor. It was so hot in the room. There's no recognition. It was so hot It's a concrete floor. He's laying on the floor and in the darkness. I hear his voice and he says david He doesn't call me david. It's always david It's true david you need to start receiving an offering He's not on my board. He doesn't know what's going on. He just says it And then one of my board members says it's time for us to receive an offering and I took that as a witness of two And that's why we started receiving offerings. We didn't receive offerings We had a copy boxes and people out of the goodness of their heart would give and through all of that God supplied He supplied off through the offering for us to be on the radio He supplied through the offering for us to purchase properties He supplied for us to be able to hire staff He has always He has always supplied And we have to know that those are lessons that you learn in ministry It has never been my concern about the money It's always been my concern to be in the center of the will of god Because we're god guides god provides god will take care of your need And he does it abundantly above all you could ask or think He takes care of you and this is what jesus is teaching his men A simple lesson ministry 101 You need to have compassion You need to spend time with the lord and be taught by him And you need to see people not as problems but as opportunities for the grace of god And and you need to center your attention in these kinds of things now It's interesting how he's preparing them because again in verse 5 he asks Where shall we buy bread that these may eat? But he had coupled this question with the command in mark 6 38 He said You give them something to eat. Well that had prompted a response and so philip in verse 7 says 200 denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them that every one of them may have a little So jesus wants to emphasize their inadequacy to meet human needs and he does this by having them check their resources He asked where shall we buy bread? In mark 6 38. He said to them how many loaves do you have go and see? Well in verse 8 One of his disciples andrew simon peter's brother said to him. Well There's a lad here a boy here who has five barley loaves and Too small fish But what are they? Among so many We have checked There's no way we can meet this need There are five thousand men here and that doesn't include the wives and the children Well in matthew 14 18 Jesus says well bring the bring them here bring the bread and the fish to me So again in matters of faith it is obviously important to recognize our limitations Because that produces humility dependence And it results in experience In 2nd corinthians 12 9 and 10 Paul said it like this. He said to me my grace is sufficient for you My strength is made perfect in weakness And then paul's response most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities? That the power of christ may rest upon me Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions In distresses for christ's sake for when I am weak then Am I strong? And you'll learn that And so these are things that he's teaching his men. They looked they took inventory They saw they didn't have sufficient Supplies he wants them to see that so they can learn something about god So in verse 10 jesus said make the people sit down Now there was much grass in the place so the men sat down in number about five thousand And jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks he distributed them to the disciples And the disciples to those sitting down and likewise of the fish now notice as much as they wanted now This detail is often overlooked when this passage is taught Notice again jesus said make the people Sit down So here's another principle if you're going to minister effectively there needs to be organization There needs to be organization In mark chapter 6 39 and 40 jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties Organization there always needs to be an organizational structure Why well first grintians 1433 says god is not the author of confusion but of peace as in all the churches of the saints And so he's brought them to a place where they're able to receive what god would have for them And now he's going to give them the second principle One he exposes their inadequacy, but now he shows him god's adequacy You see god is able And we are not And it gives him great glory To do what only he can do We need to remember that god can work wonders through us If we only are open to him doing so i can do all things through christ who strengthens me In zechariah chapter 4 verse 6 not by might nor by power but by my spirit say at the lord of hosts That's another calvary chapel principle by the way That's a scripture pastor chuck Embedded in our hearts not by might nor by power but by my spirit If you can figure out How to get people to come into your church and all you're really manipulating people there has to be something greater Than machaka burritos on a tuesday morning That's the truth and so what happens verse 11 And jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks he distributed them to the disciples and the disciples to those sitting down And likewise of the fish so As much as they wanted So notice he takes the loaves and he gave thanks He gave thanks and why would jesus give thanks? Well that was denoting where the miracle originated There are thousands of people who are seated before him And they're tired and they're hungry But they're also expectant But before they're fed They need to have their attention drawn to the lord In mark 641 when he had taken the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven Blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before them And the two fish he divided among them all And when he prayed because i know he prayed He may very well have prayed the ancient prayer that the jews would pray as they ate Blessed art thou jehovah our god king of the world who causes to come forth bread from the earth He's the one who provides their food They need to be thankful to him Now notice verse 11 he gave the disciples And he did so so that they would partake with him in the work They distributed the food And here's the thing as they're distributing the food they're noticing that it isn't running out. Can you imagine that? You've got this basket and you're handing out the food in whatever way they're doing it they're all going through these the people in an organized fashion and and It's not it's not they're not running out And i i would be going oh, this is oh It's just blowing my mind and as they're doing that they're they're seeing that god is a god who abundantly blesses That's a lesson that they're going to take into the future And then the disciples are giving to others learning how to practically serve in the name of jesus Always remember this believers give to others what has first been given to them You cannot give what you do not have And as you're out there serving the lord you're only giving that what you have received You know you're giving out what god gave to you They're learning these things and they're just amazed as they go through this crowd and everybody's eating as much as they wanted So verse 12 when they were filled he said to his disciples gather up the fragments that remain so that nothing is lost Therefore they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves Which were left over by those who had eaten And the final lesson once again god is extremely gracious Again effusions 320 god is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us God is extremely gracious you have not because you ask not there are times that I believe that the lord has A blessing for us that we simply just don't Don't ask for We just don't ask I'll say this briefly um one of the things that has been difficult for me as a christian I tell you one of the things i've struggled with It's um Learning to ask the lord for something I pray for others Comfortably but for myself. It's always been difficult You know and I could take you all the way back to being a kid and my mom's saying david I know you need shoes and I'd say how she say because I was doing the wash and there are holes in your socks And she said and I went to the room and I found your shoes and your shoes have holes in them I would not tell my parents. I needed shoes I I know i'm telling other people the same you did the same thing I'm sure I would take cardboard and I would cut it out so that it would fit inside my shoe as a little boy And I would just pile it up there and that way I never had to tell my dad I had a need Because I felt bad because my mom was ill and my mom was using up all the finances In her hospitalizations And so my dad was working hard and I didn't want my dad happened to buy shoes for me so I wouldn't tell him And so I my mom would say I found holes in your socks and we're going to have to get your shoes See so for me. I've never been one who asks the lord. I can ask for others, but I don't ask for myself And so the lord has been trying to teach me all these years that I have not because I asked not That there are so many blessings in heaven that that that that he wants to pour on to people like us people like me Where I just no, I'm fine I'm okay. I'll do all right But son, I want to give you more than that No, I'm good with this and I am I'm content with this I am But I wonder how many other things and I'm not talking about material alone But how many other blessings the lord would have for us If we fell on our face and said god God would you supply? You're you're a blessing god And there are needs And I and I would ask you could you Could you please Well see this is something that reminds us that god's blessings are abundant And that there's always enough for everyone Because christ is sufficient for every need In john 635 jesus said i'm the bread of life And he who comes to me will never go hungry. He who believes in me Will never be thirsty And so as he does this verse 14 Those men when they had seen the sign that jesus did said This is truly the prophet who's to come into the world And then verse 15 therefore when jesus perceived that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king He departed again to the mountain by himself alone So they misunderstood his message They want to crown this man king because this man meets our physical needs So he met their physical needs He fed them until they were glutted one of the accounts they were so full that it's like Like when you give yourself permission on thanksgiving to eat a little more than you normally do You know that is or maybe that's every day for you. I don't know but thanksgiving Thanks, thanksgiving for sure You know do you want a little bit more? Well, I really shouldn't okay. You know that kind of thing That's how they were there were there the picture is glut that means the little tummies are are full And you can almost picture them holding their their stomachs like I can't eat another bite. That's the picture They had as much as they wanted They were fed and they're saying This guy is somebody I want around me all the time because he fed me And so they recognize that he met their physical needs, but they're still spiritually bankrupt They don't understand we'll be looking at this in detail as we go through this chapter They are still spiritually bankrupt and and so verse 15 tells us Jesus perceived They wanted to take him and force him to become a king They wanted to carry him off and they wanted to crown him And because of this he withdrew to the mountain by himself alone In mark 645 it says he made his disciples get into the boat go before him to the other side of bitsata While he's while he sent the multitude away And when he had sent them away he departed to the mountain to pray He departed to the mountain to pray And next time next week when we get together We're going to look at what he was praying about And it's beautiful when we see it, but we'll stop right here