We are here to worship, so let us sing; Hear I am To Worship
Scripture Reading: john Ch 6:1-21
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
6 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near. 5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, "It would take more than half a year's wages[a] to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" 8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9 "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" 10 Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. 12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. 14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
Jesus Walks on the Water
16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18 A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles,[b] they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." 21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
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Our God is Amazing. Our God is Awesome. Our God is Great
So Lets Sing: How Great Thou Art.
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As we enter into a time of prayer let us sing;
Spirit Of The Living God Fall Afresh On Me
Let us pray:
Dear God, thank you that you love me and want to keep me from depending on other things instead of you. Forgive me for when I’ve depended on other things instead of you. Thank you that you haven’t forgotten me. Lord, the days ahead may be a little scary at times, but I understand now that the path to a miracle is through uncomfortable territory. I understand now that the source of a miracle will be unexpected, so I shouldn’t try to figure it out. I should just trust you. When you tell me what to do, and it doesn’t always make sense, I will still do what you want me to do. Help me to remember that you’re all I need and that where you guide, you’ll provide. I want to learn to trust you one day at a time. I want to go your way, not my way. I want to follow you, and I ask you to save me and come into my life. I claim your promise that if I trust you, you’ll meet my needs. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Please share with me in the Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
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Let us Worship together and sing with hearts wide open: King Of Kings, Majesty
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Two Miracles Of Jesus
Ever been in that place where the money has run out or the foods run out or your energy has run out? Whatever it is it’s just run out and you think to yourself ‘could Jesus ever show up in this place? Would He ever do a miracle for me?’
This morning I want to take a short look at a couple of miracles that Jesus performed which is recorded in the Apostle John’s account in his Gospel, the feeding of the five thousand and the calming of the storm. Let’s take a look at John ch 6 beginning at verse 1:
After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee which is the Sea of Tiberias and a large crowd was following him because they had seen the signs and the wonders that he was doing with the sick. Jesus went up on a mountain and here he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the Feast of the Jews was at hand. Lifting up his eyes then and seeing the large crowd that was coming towards him Jesus said to Philip, ‘where are we going to buy bread so that these people might eat?’ He said this to test him for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered, ‘two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each one of them to get a little.’ One of his disciples Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother said to him, ‘there’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish but what are they for so many? Jesus said, ‘have the people sit down’. Now there was much grass in the place so the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated, so also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they’d eaten their fill he told his disciples, ‘go and gather the left over fragments so that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done they said, ‘this is indeed the prophet who is come into the world’.
What awesome miracle or sign as John calls them. Signs point at something and this one points directly at the power, the truth, the authenticity of Jesus, the one who came to usher in not a worldly kingdom but the kingdom of Heaven. Here was a great ministry need. The Gospel was being proclaimed, thousands were following Jesus and now all of a sudden they were in the middle of nowhere and they had no food.
The disciples, looked at what they had in their hands, which was precious little, but Jesus however, had different plans because He had a totally different perspective on the situation. You see, we labour away and labour away doing God’s work, we think in His name without the appropriate expectation of God’s blessing on our work. In other words we do it in our own strength wondering all the time why is this such hard work? Why isn’t it just a little bit easier? Not imagining at any point that Gods supernatural power is a complete game changer. Jesus didn’t have to go through some long-winded prayer, He was close to His Father in heaven, so immersed in His power that He just stepped out and did it in the power of God. And it changed everything .
The power of this story, in fact the whole point of this story doesn’t lie in how much food Jesus’ miracle produced, it lies in the twelve baskets that was left over. The message is more than enough, much more than enough and that message flies fully in the face of the little that they had at their disposal in the beginning. What the disciples hadn’t reckoned on was the powerful blessing of God through Jesus Christ. But let me ask you this question, what was it that unlocked the power of this miracle?
Jesus was ready, He had the power, He had the will but what was the key. It was the little boy who offered up all he had to be blessed by the Lord. That was the key. He could have kept it to himself, he could have hoarded it and hidden it but he gave it to the Lord ungrudgingly, willingly, sacrificially and the Lord blessed it and multiplied it and brought glory to Jesus.
You and I are that little boy. When we find ourselves between a rock and a hard place, when everything’s run out, our money, our food, our resources, our friends, our energy, everything. That place right there, where you have so little, offer it up to God with a willing heart just like that little boy did and He will take it and multiply it, that’s what we mean by the blessing of God.
We must remember this when life hits a brick wall. We must remember the blessings of God when the storm hits. Think on it this way. The sun is shining, all your needs have been met, then the wind starts to blow. The rain is pelting down and you’re wondering ‘how am I going to get through this one, with the little that you have?
Read with me John Ch 6;
‘When evening came his disciples went down to the sea, got in the boat and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was dark now and Jesus hadn’t come to them yet. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat and they were frightened but he said to them, ‘it is I don’t be afraid’. Then they were glad to take him into the boat and immediately the boat was at the land which they were going to.’
One minute theses disciple are witnessing, even taking part in the feeding of the 5000. Everything’s going so well. Life is good. Then, without any notice a storm hits them. Sound familiar? We all know what that feels like, it’s confusing. Why does God let this happen? The disciples must have been thinking the same in the tiny boat pitching on the angry sea. Why did Jesus let us go out in this stupid boat, surely, He must have known? Yes He knew but He wanted them to experience the reality of His power amidst the overwhelming circumstances of their fragile lives.
They’re a few miles out at sea, but they might as well be three hundred miles out because once you’re in a storm you think nothing is going to save you. I’m sure you’ve been there, right? Perhaps not in a boat on an angry sea, but you’ve been there haven’t you.
In our lives we’ve all been there when the storm has blown in and we wonder how are we going to survive? This miracle, this sign speaks the reality of the supernatural power of God into our lives. This power of God, it’s not a theory, it’s real and it’s something that you and I are meant to experience for ourselves.
Out there on the stormy waters walks Jesus, completely impossible right? And that lies at the heart of what God’s saying to you and me in this short, simple miracle account. The sea’s rough, they see Jesus walking out across the water and they were seriously frightened, that’s putting it mildly and then Jesus tells them, ‘don’t worry, stop being afraid, it’s me, I’m here, I can do the impossible.
They knew that already. They’d seen Him do the impossible with the feeding of the 5000, but here is the point, they had seen him do the impossible in other people’s lives but never in their own, never when they were in peril. And I think that’s where we fail a lot. We see God working in others, but find it hard to accept, believe, that he will work in us.
The whole point of this miracle for them is that they should believe that the power of God is real in their lives too. And the whole point of this miracle for us is that we should believe that the power of God is real in our lives as well. The next time you have a storm raging in your life remember that. Remember that the Holy Spirit had John the Apostle record this miracle, remember he was one of the guys in that boat afraid that he was going to drown, even more afraid when he saw Jesus walking on the water. God had him record this story so that you and I would know that Jesus’ power is real and through that we can have the life in all its fulness. It’s that simple, Jesus is for real, and His power is readily available to get you through any storm. Amen.
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As we close our time of Worship let us give God the glory and sing.
Love Divine All Loves Excelling
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
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