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[0:00] Hey guys, thanks for listening to our Calvary Chapel Charlotte podcast. I will walk by faith and not by sight.

[0:48] Well, good morning, everyone. Welcome to Calvary Chapel Charlotte. You can turn in your Bibles to John chapter 6, if you would. Man, I love narrative.

[0:58] I love stories. I love reading. I love good stories. And I love the words of Jesus. Don't get me wrong. I love going through those. But sometimes it's like, whoa, Lord, what are you?

[1:14] I want to know what you're saying here. I mean, you just said it on the page, but what are you getting at? And it's great. But boy, to hit a section of just a narrative, a good just story is exciting.

[1:25] And that's where we're at today. John chapter 6. This is an account that is across all four Gospels. And, you know, John has a lot in his Gospel that is not in the other Gospels.

[1:36] Or he leaves out things that are from the other three Gospels. So we call those the synoptic Gospels because they're very synonymous. Similar. But the John includes this as well.

[1:47] This is one that's across all four. The feeding of the 5,000. John is going to look at it differently. He's going to leave parts out. He's going to emphasize parts that the other Gospel writers did not. You know, I was thinking about that.

[1:58] And I think sometimes we can come to the Scripture and we can kind of think like, well, I wonder why he left that out. I wonder what information he had that he chose to do that. Or even like Mark's Gospel.

[2:08] We say, well, that's kind of like Peter's Gospel. Because Mark would have got his information from Peter. And that's true. Those are all valid things. But I think we need to remember that behind that, behind the writers, is the God of the Bible.

[2:21] It's the Holy Spirit. Why did he want to emphasize that? So as we go through John, I mean, it's fun to go through a harmony of the Gospels. And to look at the chronological events. And look how each Gospel gives you a lens towards each event.

[2:34] But don't lose sight of the fact that God decided to make a book from a writer, well, a letter, of the Apostle John wrote this for a reason and for a purpose.

[2:45] And so why is he leaving things out? Why is he going to add some things in? That God has a reason for that. And I think that's comforting to me. Because as I study the Scripture and prepare, it's like, well, Lord, there's so much here.

[2:56] What do I include? And I've had, you know, people afterwards will say, well, you know what? In this section of Scripture, there's also this you could have included in this. Yeah, I could have. Well, why didn't you? Well, one, I didn't think of that, but I'm not going to admit that to you.

[3:10] But because, well, the Lord just didn't put that in there for me. But legitimately, it's, you know, just studying and saying, God, what do you want to speak to us today? So there's like three different, we could do three messages easily off of this section of Scripture.

[3:24] We'll do verses 1 through 15. We're going to do one message, and we're going to combine all three into one. So let's just dive right in. Last week, we saw how Jesus finished his conversation there on the back of, on the heels of healing the man at the pool of Bethesda.

[3:42] Now he healed on the Sabbath. Now he was questioned about that. And so he told them that he does the works of his Father. And then he backed that up with witnesses. The witness of God's people in John the Baptist. The witness of works, the God of the Spirit.

[3:56] The witness of the Father through the love of God. And the witness of the Son, the Word of God. And all of those witnesses point to Jesus. The witness of God's Word will always point to Jesus. We saw there's no relationship with God apart from his Word.

[4:10] There is none. Apart from God's Word, we cannot have a relationship with God. So our primary witness is the Word. And yet all of those things work in conjunction with the Word, don't they?

[4:21] God's people, God's Spirit, the Father, the Son. All to witness through his Word to the validity and the reality of who Jesus is. So as we examine the Scriptures, we find that there's a witness of God that abides in us.

[4:36] 1 John tells us that. We'll get that eventually in men's discipleship. That the witness abides in us. As I examine the Scriptures, we saw that word examine. It's not just to search the Scriptures, to examine the Scriptures, to dig into them.

[4:49] It's not just a cursory reading. It's as I examine them, as I'm studying them and recognizing them for what they are, I find the witness of God's life is abiding in me. Wow, I do know God.

[4:59] I do have the witness of his life. What else do we have, guys? What do you have? Do you have a spiritual experience? Okay, but it's over. Right? What do I have that's ongoing? What do I have in my life?

[5:10] Well, you know, when I was 17 years old, God worked mightily in my life. And he did, and I'm so thankful for that. But I hope he's still working today. Do I have the witness of God's Spirit abiding in me?

[5:22] Man, as I study the Word, I find out I can understand the Word. The Word speaks to me. The Word changes me. I have the witness of God's Spirit. I have the witness of God's love abiding in my life. That God accepts me.

[5:34] He receives me. And then he gives me his love, and I accept and receive you. It's great. People, you never thought you could accept and receive and love. You have the love of God abiding in you.

[5:46] And that's through his witness. The witness of God has been tested and proven true time and time again. The witness of his Spirit. The witness of his Word. But God desires that our witness would also stand up.

[5:57] He wants our witness to stand up under times of testing. And today, as he puts in front of us, John does chapter 6 here. That's what we're going to see. We're going to see that Jesus realizes there's a needed test for his apostles that he's going to put them through here.

[6:12] You know, if you've noticed this flow in John, and it's sometimes hard to see the big picture. You know, you can't see the forest through the trees. Sometimes you can't see the page through the text. And to see the big picture.

[6:24] But if you notice, John gives us, like, these deep truths. John chapter 3 with Nicodemus. Wow. And what's the next thing? He's talking to the woman at the well. He's showing us the most basic, simple way to implement this truth.

[6:38] These huge truths in John 3. And then he's like, oh, I'm just going to talk to this woman at the water cooler who's got trouble in her life. We see here at the end of John 5, all of these truths regarding his work, his heart, his ministry.

[6:51] He's the same as the Father. And you think, well, what's next, Jesus? You're going to confront the Pharisees. You're going to go and you're going to, you're just going to go and have a little hillside barbecue. Just the most simple things.

[7:03] He's giving us these big truths, and he's implementing them in such simple ways for us. All right. So the key to this chapter, we're going to see a bunch of things in this chapter.

[7:13] The first chunk is the feeding of the 5,000. Then he's going to send the disciples into that famous account of where he sends them across the Sea of Galilee in the storm. And he comes walking on the sea.

[7:26] After that, the people are going to come and say, hey, we want to make you our bread king. Because he's going to give them, you know, food in the wilderness as we're going to see today. And so Jesus will then use the reality of the work that he did here that we're going to look at today to show them that, yes, he is here to give them bread.

[7:45] But a bread of life. That he is that bread of life. He's going to show that to the people, the Pharisees, and then the disciples. And that's the last half of this chapter. This chapter is 74, verses long.

[7:58] 71. So this is going to take a little bit. But going into it specifically, I thought, Lord, I just want to go through at a pace that allows you to speak all that's here for us.

[8:10] So I think the key verse to the chapter is John 6, 29. Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God that you believe on him who he has sent. That's the key to this whole chapter.

[8:21] It's the central message that you believe on him who he has sent. This is the work of God. It's the work that Jesus came to do. And it's the work that we do.

[8:32] What work can I do for you, God? What can I do for you? You can believe on him who he has sent. Let's jump in here to verse one. After these things, it says, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.

[8:46] So after these things. They what things? Well, he was in Jerusalem for a feast. We don't know what one. And he healed the man at the pool of Bethesda. So this must be after that. It is after that.

[8:59] But it's also after a whole lot of other things. I'm not going to read through all of those. But all of these things, this truly is after these things. You know, I love God's word.

[9:09] When you get into the Old Testament, you start reading prophecy. You start reading how God speaks something in one sentence that will cover hundreds of years. He'll fulfill one part in the first half.

[9:21] And he'll fulfill one half of that sentence in one time frame. And then he'll fulfill the next part of that sentence hundreds of thousands of years later. Right? Especially in Daniel, you get there.

[9:31] And so God's word is always correct. Sometimes my understanding may not be. And here it says after these things. Well, a whole lot of things happened. But all of these things are in Galilee. John focuses primarily on Jesus' ministry in Jerusalem and in Judea.

[9:46] He will show us a few pictures in Galilee. And today is one of them. So all of these things. Why does John skip all these things? Well, John is setting Jesus up for us in this scripture.

[9:58] He's setting him up as the bread of life. As the one who fulfills all of our spiritual needs. However, before he's presented as that picture, he's first presented as the supplier of our physical need.

[10:12] Before we get to the spiritual need, he shows him to us as the supplier of spiritual need. Why does he skip all these things? Well, he tells us why at the end of the book. John chapter 20, verses 30 and 31.

[10:25] And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples. And they're not written in this book. He told us, well, John, why aren't they in there? Because I didn't write them. But these are written.

[10:35] The things that are written. That you might believe that Jesus is the Christ. The son of God. And that believing you might have life through his name. Yes, John is setting us up to see Jesus is the bread of life.

[10:47] But first, he's going to show us that Jesus meets our material need. Now, if I was writing this, I would probably have done it in reverse. Well, Jesus, you know, we need to have our spiritual needs met.

[10:58] Physical needs, they're nothing. That's not important. It is not spiritual to ignore or deny our legitimate physical needs.

[11:09] It's not spiritual. It's a form of Gnosticism. Oh, oh, it's only that which is spiritual. The flesh, no, that's how you end up in monastic orders. And you're out in the wilderness. And just like, I'm just going to focus on the things of the spirit.

[11:23] It's not spiritual to ignore or deny our legitimate physical needs. We all have them. And they are acknowledged by God. In Acts chapter 6, the church has grown quickly.

[11:35] On the day of Pentecost, over 2,000 people were added to the church. And then Peter and John go up to pray in the temple. And they meet a lame man. And he says, silver and gold have eyes none. But such as I have, give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ.

[11:45] I rise and walk. And he jumps up leaping and praising God. They didn't like that either. They said, whose name were you healed in? And even more people are added to the church. And there's so many people being added to the church in Jerusalem.

[11:57] And they're all Jews. And to be part of the church, to be a Christian, to follow Jesus, to follow the way, was to mean you're going to be ostracized from the rest of society. And so there was this great need to take care of the people.

[12:12] The church was very much about taking care of people's physical needs. And it says, in those days, in Acts 6, when the number of disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring. Man, you don't have any murmuring in church.

[12:26] That kind of murmuring is okay. Mm-hmm, murmuring, complaining, backbiting of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.

[12:37] They weren't Gentiles. They weren't Greek. They were Hellenistic Jews. They were the Jews that had decided to integrate and assimilate into the Greek culture. But they were believers. And the Orthodox Jews, they didn't like them because they said, oh, you've given up your heritage.

[12:51] And it seems like whoever was in charge of distributing the food to the widows, they were, some of them, being neglected. And the apostles, it says, it came to their attention and they said, guys, that's not important.

[13:03] Man, let's just, don't worry about that. We can't worry about our physical needs. Jesus is coming. Run up your credit cards and live for Jesus. Boy, don't take that out of context.

[13:16] No, what does it say? The twelve called the multitude unto them and said, it's not reasonable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables, but it's also not reasonable that the tables don't get served. Wherefore, brethren, look you out among you, seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, to just distribute food in the soup kitchen, in the food pantry.

[13:42] So, you know, we really need someone who's good with business, someone who's able to, you know, good with numbers. They said, no, we need someone who's filled with the Holy Spirit. And wisdom to serve God's people.

[13:53] And what is the result? Well, it tells us verse seven, that the word of God increased. The number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. God's word was multiplied.

[14:04] God made us with physical need. God made us with material need. We have needs. And he never puts them down. And he never looks down on us because of them. It's not spiritual to ignore those.

[14:17] God never ignores our needs. What does he do with them? He simply puts them in their proper place. And where is that? Under his care. In Matthew chapter six, that our famous passage in verse 33, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added.

[14:34] But before he gets to that, he tells us what all the things are. He says, take no thought. You know, are you worried about what you're going to wear? Where Solomon and all his glory wasn't arrayed like the lilies of the field. And if God so clothed them, which are here today and cast into the oven tomorrow, will he not care for you?

[14:50] Are you of little faith? He's not putting them down and saying, you need big faith. No, he's stating a fact. We have little faith, but we have a big God. After that, after he says all of these things, then he says, hey, seek first the kingdom of God.

[15:03] And all those things I said I'll take care of, they're going to be taken care of. He never ignores our needs. He just puts them in the proper place. And so that's what we're going to be looking at today.

[15:15] This idea of need. Why is John skipping these? Why is he focused? What is he focusing on today? He's focusing on that Jesus is the one who meets our need. We will eventually get to him being the bread of life.

[15:27] But sometimes, guys, we need to trust Jesus to provide our bread so we can live lives. The world's not going to get any easier. In the last days, perilous times will come.

[15:39] Men shall be lovers of themselves. Lovers of pleasure. Traitors, backbiters, high-minded. Gas prices are going to keep going up. But none of these things, as Paul would say, move me.

[15:51] And none of these things keep Jesus from meeting need. So they go across the Sea of Galilee. Here's a map of the Sea of Galilee. In other accounts, like in Luke, we'll see where Jesus was before this.

[16:06] And it appears he was probably in Nazareth, which is way down to the bottom left-hand side of the screen. Or he could have been in the region maybe on the west side of Galilee. So if he's going across, it seems like he'd possibly leave from Magdala.

[16:16] And he goes across. And Luke will tell us that the disciples had just been sent out to heal the sick and to preach the gospel of the kingdom. And they are so excited. They're coming back.

[16:27] And they're like, woo-hoo-hoo. But in the meantime, John the Baptist was put to death. They're coming back excited. Jesus is mourning. Never once did they recognize this. And Jesus says, hey, guys, let's go out into the wilderness.

[16:39] Let's have a little disciples' retreat. Let's go for a little pastor's conference out here. We're just going to come out and just be together. So he gets in a boat. And he goes across the Sea of Galilee. And it tells us that all the people, that they saw him, and they're going to follow around.

[16:54] Verse 2 tells us, in John, a great multitude followed him because they saw his miracles, which he did on them that were diseased. Galilee is 8 miles wide and 13 miles long.

[17:07] You think, well, how are they going to follow him? Well, here is a picture pretty much from Magdala. That would be down below. This is Arbel. This is looking up from Arbel, looking across the north end of the Sea of Galilee. And you could see that if a ship was going across, they could follow him.

[17:21] They did. They walked around. These people walked around the north end of the Sea of Galilee to get to Jesus. It seems, though, they were more interested in the show than the substance right now.

[17:32] It was like, oh, he did miracles. Luke will also tell us that when Jesus saw them, he healed them and he taught them. So here they're moving around the north end. We know they're not going to take lunch with him or dinner because Jesus is going to have to provide that.

[17:47] And yet, despite their superficial understanding, they showed themselves more admirable than many today who claim to have a much deeper understanding of Jesus. With their limited superficial understanding, they followed him.

[18:01] How many people today who claim to know, to love, and understand Jesus will not put forth the effort to follow Jesus into a comfortable setting, let alone into a desert place, somewhere without food, you know?

[18:14] We're going to Bible study? Great. They're providing food? Hmm. Well, what kind of church is that? We want to look today, as we're going to see throughout the text, a couple themes here.

[18:25] One of them is the barriers that we allow between us and Jesus, us in following Jesus, us in serving Jesus. The other is, how does Jesus see need? How does Jesus perceive need and respond to it?

[18:38] What barriers am I allowing to get between me and my pursuit of Jesus? I should not make comfort a barrier between me and following Jesus. I should never be a barrier.

[18:49] I mean, it's pretty comfortable here. We got rid of the pews, guys. I mean, you had that much leg room with those. Man, but comfort shouldn't be a barrier. In verse 3, Jesus went up into the mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

[19:04] This is further down the Sea of Galilee on the east side, not as far north, but you're looking up into the Golan Heights, and so you can see it's a higher area. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

[19:20] You know, these people, they followed Jesus. But a disciple stays with Jesus. A disciple's always with Jesus. Whether they fully understand or not, they continue to stay with Jesus.

[19:31] How often, as we've talked about, do we make our understanding or our desire to have a full understanding of Jesus a barrier between us and Jesus? I make my lack of understanding a barrier to following Jesus.

[19:44] Do the disciples understand everything that was going to happen here? No. Hosea 6.3 says, Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord. Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord.

[19:56] You think of Hosea writing and all of these prophets that have followed on to know the Lord and how much they didn't get to know. How much they won't know. That they wrote about future events.

[20:09] Then shall we know if we follow on. Proverbs 4.5 says, Get wisdom. Get understanding. Should we have understanding? We should. Forget it not. How do we get it?

[20:20] Neither decline from the words of my mouth. And it's from God's word that we get that understanding. We shouldn't let our understanding or lack of understanding be a barrier between us and following Jesus.

[20:31] But we also shouldn't stay in that place of a lack of understanding. How do I get more? I got to be close enough to hear the words of his mouth. That means I'm a disciple. You see that even Jesus set aside times of refreshing and renewal.

[20:45] Didn't he? Come on, boys. Let's go apart into a desert place. Let's go apart where we can just be together. Where no one's at. Do you have a desert place? Do you have a mountaintop?

[20:58] Do you have a comfortable place or a favorite room that you're able to get away and sit with Jesus? If he's willing to sit with me, shouldn't I be willing to take time to sit with him? And the Passover, a feast of the Jews was near.

[21:11] This is the only account of this, or the only gospel that gives this fact regarding this account, that the Passover was near. And John just kind of throws it in here. Or the Holy Spirit throws it in here. Why?

[21:22] Well, think what the Passover represented. It represented a time of God's deliverance out of Egypt, out of bondage. And who is the one coming? Jesus is here. The lamb who will be slain.

[21:33] Representing a time of God's deliverance. It was celebrated where? In the wilderness. They left Egypt. They were to celebrate it in the wilderness. And here they're in. He's in the wilderness. It also was commemorated by a time of bread, or through bread and eating bread.

[21:49] A bread of life, if you will. In Exodus 12, verse 14, the Lord tells Moses, And this day shall be unto you for a memorial. Happy Memorial Day. And you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations.

[22:03] You shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread. Even the first day shall you put away leaven out of your house. No leaven, no yeast.

[22:13] Flat bread, leaven representing sin. For whosoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. Interesting, again, we see in the law that, just like we saw last week, with two or three witnesses, at the mouth of two or three witnesses, will one be put to death.

[22:33] Jesus gave us two or three witnesses for life. And here we see under the law, the bread, oh, if you don't partake of it, you know, you'll be cut off from Israel. Jesus comes to give life.

[22:44] So I think he's putting that in here as this picture to say, hey, this is a time of God's deliverance. It's being celebrated in the wilderness. And the bread of life is here. And when Jesus then lifted up his eyes, this is one of my favorite phrases throughout Scripture in the Gospels.

[23:01] When you see that Jesus, when you see, when the Scripture tells us where his gaze is, what he's looking at, it's remarkable what he looks at. Remember when the woman comes, he's having, he's eating in Simon the Pharisee's house.

[23:12] And this woman comes in of ill repute. And she's washing his feet and crying. And Simon's thinking, man, if Jesus knew what that woman had been, where she'd been, what she'd done, he wouldn't let her.

[23:25] And it says, he says to Simon, but looks at the woman. He says, Simon, do you see this woman? Do you see her? Simon won't even look at her. Jesus is looking at her, but speaking to Simon.

[23:38] He says, do you see this woman? Because I see her. I see her and I see what she's doing. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, Jesus' gaze is drawn towards the needs of those who follow him.

[23:49] He lifts up his eyes and he sees the needs. Is it just anyone? Well, Jesus, he will meet the need of anyone, but they have to come and partake. Partake, you have to come and follow.

[24:00] These are those who are following Jesus. Jesus was not overwhelmed by the current need, neither concerned with how he would meet it.

[24:11] He's like, oh no, look at all these people. He saw a great company come unto him. Do not make need a barrier to coming to Jesus.

[24:22] This is a great company with a great need, but they still came to Jesus. Jesus, do not make your need a barrier to coming to Jesus. I can't go to Jesus. I don't got a lunch to bring with me. You know, please come next week to bring your lunch to church Sunday.

[24:35] We'll have food. I can't go to Jesus. I don't got enough. I can't measure up. You know, the people that are there, oh man, don't make need a barrier to coming to Jesus.

[24:48] He sees our need. He sees our lack of resources and he sees it as an opportunity for grace. It's like, fantastic. You don't have enough. You can't fulfill it. And you've got need.

[24:58] Well, that's an opportunity for my grace. And now Jesus turns to Philip. Now we know in Luke, Luke chapter nine tells us that as the day began to wear away, then the 12 come to him and say, send the multitude away.

[25:13] That they can go and buy bread. You know, we're just thinking of the people, Lord. Not that we're tired and it's supposed to be our time with you, but you know, we got these people here. But they may go and buy food. And Jesus will say, you give them to eat.

[25:25] Well, John gives us a little insight that that you give them to eat appears to be to Philip. He says to Philip, when should we buy bread that these may eat? Where are we going to get food, Philip?

[25:39] Philip is an interesting man. If you remember, we met him in John chapter one. He was one of the first disciples called by Jesus when Jesus was being baptized by John down in the Jordan near Jericho.

[25:51] He goes and he calls Philip. It appears that Philip was also a Hellenistic Jew. And Philip comes, follows Jesus, and he runs and he tells Nathaniel.

[26:03] And he says unto him, we found him of whom Moses and the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Philip knew his Bible. He knew, hey, this is the one. If you fast forward to John chapter 12, in verse 20, it says, there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast.

[26:20] Again, those would be the Hellenistic Jews. And the same, therefore, came to Philip. It seems like he was one of them. He was of Bethsaida, of Galilee, and they desired him, saying, sir, we would see Jesus.

[26:34] Philip then came and told Andrew, who was Peter's brother, and then Andrew and Philip go and tell Jesus together. If we fast forward a little further into John 14 in the upper room, in John 13, Jesus has just said, hey, I'm going to go away.

[26:48] And where I go, you cannot come. And they all flipped out. Where are you going? That's where we get that wonderful promise where Jesus promises in John 14, if I go, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

[27:02] And Philip said, well, show us the way. And Philip then says in verse eight, Lord, show us the Father. And it suffices us. You know what? You just show us the Father and we'll believe you.

[27:14] We'll be good. If you're going to go away, let us know that you're really going to the Father. And he says, have I been so long a time with you, Philip? And you've not known me? He that has seen me has seen the Father. So Philip seems to be a very practical man here.

[27:28] He seems to be compassionate, but practical. He's going to very practically in verse seven, point out that they're not going to be able to have the funds for this. Philip recognized the problem, but not the solution.

[27:43] He said, Lord, we have a problem. There's nothing wrong with being practical. As long as we remember that the most practical thing to do is to bring our needs to Jesus. Be practical.

[27:54] It's wonderful, but bring your need to Jesus. Don't let practicality keep you from seeing that the solution is Jesus. Philip was so practical. Compassionate? Yes.

[28:05] Knew his word? Yes. But he didn't see the solution because he said, well, I can't figure this out. It doesn't fit with my idea of how I process life. Now, Jesus said this to Philip, it tells us here, to prove him, to test him, to try him, literally to see his quality.

[28:22] For he himself knew what he would do. Jesus knew what he would do. There was no question that the need would be met. Do you understand that? Do you understand when Jesus sees your need and Jesus knows your need?

[28:35] There's no question the need's going to be met. He knows what he's going to do. Jesus not only knows the needs of his followers, but he has a definite plan to meet those needs.

[28:46] He knows it, and he has a plan to meet it. He already knows how it's going to happen. So why does Jesus ask this question? Is it because he doesn't know? What are the questions of Jesus for?

[28:58] Jesus asks questions, not because he needs an answer, but because he knows we need to realize the answer. He asks me a question and says, Jared, how are you going to do this? How are we going to do this?

[29:10] I don't know. That's a good answer too. I got some ideas, Lord. What do you think? I think I need you to realize that you're not the answer.

[29:21] I need you to realize I am the answer. Do not let Jesus' questions lead you to think he does not have an answer. Man, is Jesus asking you questions? Is Jesus putting something to you?

[29:33] And you're like, well, Lord, if you're asking me and you don't know, we're lost. Hey, Jared, what direction do you think this church is going?

[29:44] Well, Lord, if you don't know, I don't know. I don't know how many people have asked me, what are your plans? Well, just continue steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and breaking of bread and fellowship and a prayer and let the Lord add to the church daily such as he would.

[30:02] Philip then answers him, 200 penny worth of bread, six months wages, would not be sufficient that everyone may take a little.

[30:12] For Philip, the problem was too big. Even if we had a solution, six months wages, only, everybody only gets a little bit. Man, that's the most man can do, isn't it?

[30:24] Philip's probably thinking, I thought we had more money than this, but every time I go to Judas, who keeps the bag, it seems like there's just not a lot of money there. But I mean, Judas has some new Nike sandals. I don't know where he's got it. He said they were donated.

[30:35] I don't know. It almost seems like I can't trust Judas. Hmm. 200 penny worth, six months. The problem was too big. Jesus is proving to Philip that limited faith will have limited results.

[30:50] Limited faith will limit results. Do not let the size of the problem limit your faith in Jesus's ability to supply a solution. Not the size of your faith.

[31:04] The size of the problem. You see, we compare the problem to the size of our God and we go, oh no, I can't do this. I need a bigger faith. No, you don't.

[31:15] You just need a big God. One of his disciples, then Andrew, Andrew and Philip, they don't seem to be too far apart. They seem to do things in tandem just as we saw in John 12. So Andrew now comes and Simon Peter's brother says, hey, I was chosen before Philip and I'm related to Peter so I bet I got a better idea here.

[31:36] There's a lad here which has five barley loaves and two small fishes but what are they among so many? Andrew and Philip seem to compliment each other in a very interesting way.

[31:54] For Philip, the problem was too big. For Andrew, the solution is too small. They fit together really well. But I think there is a lesson in that. There's a lesson here with this small boy coming as well.

[32:06] Just this kid, what's he going to do? I think we need to recognize the value of the people that God puts in our lives. The value of the people God places around us. He always sees the problem as too big.

[32:18] Well, he sees it as too small. Well, that kid is too small. We need to recognize the value of the people that God puts in our lives. God put them there for a reason. He knew there were Phillips that need Andrews and Andrews that need Phillips.

[32:30] And when you put them together and they go to Jesus, big things happen. Guys, when we go to Jesus together, big things happen. The Lord uses other people in our lives very often to prove that we don't have all the answers.

[32:45] Phillips like, well, I don't know. This is only solution. If Andrew comes and says, well, I got a solution too. Neither of them are going to work like they think they should. But very often, the Lord will use others to prove that we don't have all the answers.

[32:57] Don't look down on that person. Say, thank you, Lord. I need you to be reminded of that. I don't have the answers. I'm not Andrew. No, I'm not Phillip. I'm just a disciple. The word lad is for a very small boy.

[33:11] So we're not talking about like a teenager. We're talking like eight, nine, or ten. You know, he seems to be alone. And I just can't imagine a mom being like, to a five-year-old, you know, go have fun with Jesus.

[33:23] Well, yeah, okay. I could see that. Go have fun with Jesus. But go hike around the north end of the Sea of Galilee. So either way, you picture this little kid. Nobody's got food. You know, and he's over there like opening up his lunch pail.

[33:36] He's like, he's just kind of like eating. And Andrew's like, hey, our kid's got food. Get him. In Jesus' name. In this situation, in this verse, Jesus has said to Philip, hey, Philip, what are we going to do?

[33:56] Philip's like, I can't, even if we had all this money, what are we going to do? Andrew comes and says, well, here, there's, I found some food, but it's not enough. In this moment, who's the one with faith?

[34:08] Is it Philip? Is it Andrew? It's this very small boy. Andrew said, hey, bring your lunch to Jesus.

[34:21] We need food. Come and bring this. There's a lad which has five barley loaves and two small fishes. Who's the person with faith? Jesus would take the resources and the faith of a small boy and do more with it than these two grown men could ever do.

[34:38] Truly, truly, I say unto you, except you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Childish faith? No. Unfortunately, there's too much childish faith in the church today.

[34:51] Childlike faith. How does a child see everything around them? Everything in their life is bigger. Everything's too big for them. Childlike faith says, I have to trust someone else.

[35:04] I have to trust someone else for my needs, for my care, for my daily life. Except you, be converted. Converted to change your mind. Philip, Andrew, change your mind. Understand that you're never going to have enough.

[35:17] Do not let a lack of resources or faith keep you from placing the problem in Jesus' hands. Put it in his hands. In Luke 17, the apostles will come to the Lord and they will say, Lord, increase our faith.

[35:35] We need a bigger faith. And the Lord essentially says no. He denies them this. And the Lord said, if you had faith as big as a mountain, you could say to the grain of mustard seed.

[35:47] Oh no, wait. If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to the mountain. It's not about the size of the faith. It's about how big the object is that our faith is in.

[35:59] Right? If your faith is ginormous and you're placing it in Allah, Buddha, Mormonism, good works, it doesn't matter how big your faith is.

[36:12] There are some people out there with big faith in the wrong thing. But you and I, we get to have little faith in a very, very, very big God. We get to be the little boy who comes to his dad and say, well, that's all I got.

[36:25] He says, don't worry, I'll make up the difference. No problem. What appeared to be not enough became more than enough when placed in Jesus' hands. For Philip and Andrew, the problem was too big, too much, and too many.

[36:40] The solution was too small, not enough, and too few. But when placed in Jesus' hands, the problem disappeared and all of a sudden there was more than was needed to meet the need.

[36:53] Verse 10, and Jesus said, make the men sit down. You know, the solution to every need is when we listen to what Jesus has to say. Jesus said, and yet, very often, Jesus' words don't seem to match the need.

[37:08] The next word is, feed them. Make them sit down. Well, you know what? Thank you for that, the loaves and the fishes. You're right, Andrew. That wouldn't be enough for everyone. Go make them sit down.

[37:18] And we know from the other Gospels, it's make them sit in groups of 50. You know, we're going to do a little organizational structure here. Guys, go make everyone sit in 50s. Like, you want us to count the people?

[37:31] I didn't know there was math in ministry. I was like, oh man. God's word is what speaks to the needs of his followers. It's God's word that speaks to those needs. And very often, Jesus' words don't appear to meet the need, to match the need.

[37:48] And yet, would the disciples have ever experienced the fulfillment of the need if they didn't do step one? I don't understand this. I don't get why Jesus wants us to do this. This doesn't make sense.

[38:00] Come on, let's go out and see if we can scavenge some berries. Jesus chooses to involve his disciples in meeting the needs of his followers. He didn't say, step aside, boys.

[38:11] Watch the bread flow. No, he chose to involve them. But when did he choose to involve them? Only after they had proved to themselves that they were incapable.

[38:23] Only after they had come to a point where they realized, we can't do this. Then Jesus said, all right, now I'm going to involve you. Fantastic. We can always be 100% assured that there is a path forward when God asks us to obey his word.

[38:39] It may not fit the surroundings. It may not seem to match the need. But if God calls us to work and follow him according to his word, we can be 100% assured that there is a path forward that God will open that door.

[38:52] They would never have experienced Jesus meeting need if they didn't do the next step. And I wonder in my own life what the next step is that doesn't seem to match the need that God's just kind of waiting on me to do.

[39:04] The loaves and the fish are there. The need is very real. Jesus said, okay guys, go and do this. Picture the 12 of them all huddled up. What do you think he means by this? Should we go and do this?

[39:15] I don't know about this. And Jesus just waits, waits for his disciples to take that next step. Never make your inability a barrier to obedience because you'll never obey.

[39:28] Never make your inability a barrier to obedience. You're always not going to be able. That's the point. He is. With him, all things are possible. But without him, we can do nothing.

[39:40] And so what does he tell them to do here? Have them sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down in number about 5,000. So about 5,000 men in groups of 50 with women and children.

[39:53] There was much grass. What do we see here? The shepherd is preparing to feed his sheep. He's making them to lie down in green pastures so he might restore their souls. You know, in Psalm 23, it's Jesus.

[40:06] It's me, the sheep. Then we find out there's other sheep. It's like, oh, other sheep. Here we see that Jesus is making the people lie down to sit down in the green pastures.

[40:17] But who's he using? He's using his disciples. He's using others. And Jesus took the loaves in verse 11. And when he had given thanks, he distributes them to his disciples.

[40:29] Matthew 14 tells us in verse 19, he commanded the multitude to sit on the grass and he took the five loaves and the two fishes and looked up to heaven and he blessed. Here we have another direction of Jesus, another gaze of Jesus, another description of where he's looking.

[40:44] He looked to heaven and he blessed and he break and he gave the loaves to his disciples and then the disciples to the multitude. Verse 11, in John, he took the loaves and when he had given thanks and broke them, he distributed to the disciples and the disciples to them that were set down and likewise the fishes as much as they would.

[41:05] our resources have no value to God until they are first given to Jesus, blessed by Jesus, broken by Jesus, and distributed by Jesus.

[41:19] They have no value. They have no value until I put them in Jesus' hands and Jesus is blessed as it. But you know what's going to happen? Resurrection doesn't come until after crucifixion.

[41:31] It's going to be broken. Man, do you want to be used by the Lord? Expect to be broken. But he won't leave you broken. You need to realize, I'm not enough. I can't do it. I'm not sufficient.

[41:43] Oh, and then Jesus is able to say, oh, how wonderful. I'm going to use all those broken pieces to bless so many. How many broken pieces do you have in your life? I've got a lot of broken pieces. And I've watched God use every single one of them to bless someone.

[41:55] Like, Lord, you're going to use that? Oh, I don't even want to talk about that. I can't believe I did that in my life and yet here's someone coming and they're broken and they're like, I don't think God could still love me, use me or, well, let me tell you.

[42:06] I've been there. Our resources have great value to God when we place them in the hands of Jesus. He will use them in his time, in his way. And this wording here, they continue to eat as much as they would.

[42:22] There was no place left to put anymore is what it means. They were full. Jesus supplied his disciples with more resources than they could have ever come up with on their own.

[42:35] More than they would. More than six months of labor. They would just get a little bit. All right, you know what? We're going to go and we're going to, we're going to, we're going to put the thermometer on the wall and maybe if everybody gave a little bit more each week, then we'd have enough to, Jesus said, just put it in my hands.

[42:51] Is it my work? It's your work, Lord. But we're trying to figure this out. Are they my people? They're your people, Lord, but they've got a need and I'm not sure what we're going to do. Just put it in my hands. Just put it in my hands.

[43:03] Are you my disciple? Are you my follower? I got this. And Jesus then gives the disciples more resources than they could have ever come up with. Our limit has no limit when placed in Jesus' hands.

[43:16] How limited are you in an area of your life? You know, I have so many limits and hangups and shortcomings. Man, for years. So I believe kept me from stepping into the calling of pastoring a church until God got me to a point where I was willing to confess and admit, man, Lord, I don't got enough.

[43:34] Six months, I've tried for years to have enough resources in myself. But if you want to just use me with all my shortcomings, he's like, great. I'm not looking to you to make up the difference.

[43:45] Here, open your hands. Boom. Well, that's more than I can do with. That's more than I could have ever come up with. Go and give it to the people. In Matthew chapter 4, Jesus is being led, was led into the wilderness by the Spirit.

[44:00] For 40 days and 40 nights, he was spending time with his Father. He's there with the Father, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. After that, fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, the devil comes and says he tempts him.

[44:10] He says, oh, if, if, you be the Son of God, we'll turn these stones into bread. Because Jesus was hungry. Jesus had material, physical needs. And what does Jesus say?

[44:21] It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. In Psalm 78, 19, we have an account of Israel when they're in the wilderness.

[44:34] And they say, yay, can God furnish a table in the wilderness? He can. He can. The devil said, hey, do a miracle and make some bread.

[44:46] Jesus said, not yet. The people said, can God make a table in the wilderness? And Jesus said, he's in my time. Jesus will meet the needs of his followers in his time and in his way.

[44:57] And we're not going to strong arm him. We're not going to rush him. We're not going to pressure him. Satan thought he could use physical need to keep Jesus from following the word of God.

[45:10] Don't let your need be a barrier between you and following Jesus. God's provision is God's means plus God's timing. God's means plus God's timing is God's provision.

[45:22] Remove one of those and it's not God's provision. Well, it's God's means but it's my timing. Well, it's God's timing but my provision. God's means plus God's timing is God's provision.

[45:36] And when were the people fed? What does it say? What were the disciples told to do to the people first? Remember, they were to sit.

[45:49] Only when God's people are still are they fed. Psalm 4610, be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen in my time. I will be exalted in the earth in my way.

[46:02] God's people are fed when God's people are still. We live in a world that will keep us hopping from morning to evening and it will convince us that we can be fed in the midst of that chaos just by trying to listen to something as we go or watch something and look, I value that.

[46:17] I listen to things and watch teachings and podcasts all week long. I love that. But man, that's not my primary source of feeding. It can't be.

[46:28] It can't be because I'm not still enough to take in what God's trying to speak to me. God's people are fed when they're still. Have times of stillness. Have a desert place. Have a mountaintop.

[46:39] Have a comfortable place. Have somewhere where you're meeting with Jesus. And when they were filled in verse 12, he said unto his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be lost.

[46:51] Filled here is to satisfy, to satiate, to fill until there was no longer room for more. God does not meet need halfway, but neither does he waste what is his.

[47:02] He said gather up the fragments that remain. We're going to see in John chapter 6, Jesus will say that all that the Father has given me, we're in John 6, later in John 6, all that he's given me will come to me and him that comes to me I will no wise cast out for I'm come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me.

[47:22] And for those that come to him and that he doesn't cast out, he says this, this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which he's given me I should lose nothing.

[47:33] I should lose nothing. God does not meet need halfway, but God's not wasteful with what he has either. Notice though, when the concern for waste came, only after the need was met, it's only after the need was met that Jesus says, okay, now don't waste anything.

[47:51] You see, God never considers it a waste to meet need. Never. He never looks at it and says, well, I don't know. There's a great need, but let me check the bank account. Let me see what that's going to cost me.

[48:03] Stewardship does not equal stinginess. I think sometimes we think that. Why don't you be good stewards of what God has given us? You know, we do. We want to be really good stewards. We want to be good stewards. We recognize that, man, you as the body of Christ are giving into the body of Christ.

[48:18] It's your hard-earned, that represents your time, your effort, your life. We also want to recognize that God loves and cares for his people. And if there's a need that he's given us to meet, man, we want to meet at the max.

[48:32] We don't want to be stingy. God never considers it a waste to meet a need. It was only after the need was met that he said, okay, now take care. Don't lose any of that.

[48:43] And therefore, then they gathered them up. How many baskets? Twelve. And I don't think that the disciples each were like, sweet, I got a basket and took it with them because they're going to cross the Sea of Galilee next in a storm and they would have twelve very soggy baskets full of bread.

[48:58] But I think the point remains and the point is taken that there's no lack of life when following Jesus. There's no lack of life-giving bread for those who follow and serve Jesus.

[49:13] Over and above means to abound and overflow. Following Jesus will result in fullness. Serving Jesus results in surplus. Just always above what we could ever ask or think.

[49:27] Paul references this in 2 Corinthians chapter 9. I quote this verse a lot and you've probably heard it too. God is able to make all grace abound towards you that you having all sufficiency and all things may abound to every good work.

[49:40] Man, God can make all grace abound to us. But specifically what he's talking about is the grace of giving. God is able to make all grace abound towards you so you can continue to give.

[49:50] God, I can't keep giving. What if I don't have anything left? The principle here is no. God who ministers seed to the sower will also give you bread for your food and he'll multiply your seed and increase the fruits of your labor.

[50:06] You know, we say you can't out give God. Well, you can't. You can't be a follower of Jesus who continues to put things in Jesus' hands so that he can meet the needs of others and not expect him to also meet your need.

[50:17] Jesus says it this way in Luke 6, 38. Give and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, shall men give into your bosom.

[50:31] For with the same measure that you meet or meter it out, with all it shall be measured to you again. Man, I love that picture. Give and it shall be given to you. Praise God. Good measure. Wow, that's a lot.

[50:42] Press down, see if I can fit any more in. Shaken together so there's no room left in there. Every little space filled, running over and then it's just overflowing. God, now there's just more than I need.

[50:54] This is not a healthy, wealthy and wise message. It's simply saying that Jesus will always exceed the expectations of those who serve him. He'll always exceed your expectations.

[51:06] You know, the greatest thing he can give us in our needs is godliness with contentment. That is great gain. Godliness with contentment is great gain in the midst of my need to be able to turn to Jesus and say, hey, I know that you're going to do more than I could ever expect.

[51:26] 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. They're referencing again Moses talking about the prophet in Deuteronomy who would come and be like unto him.

[51:41] But Moses writes and says that there will be another who comes hearken you unto him. Hearken unto all things that he says. If they believed Moses, they should have then received Jesus' words as we saw in John 5.

[51:55] They wanted a bread giver like Moses. Moses gave him bread in the wilderness. They want a bread giver. If Moses gave manna, surely the Messiah could give more. Moses gave this little manna and we had to collect it and we had to cook it.

[52:08] Well, surely the Messiah could give bread, right? Well, actually, yes. They were 100% correct. Absolutely. It just wasn't what they expected. Jesus will say when we get over to this portion of Scripture and study through it, he'll say, truly, truly, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven.

[52:28] For my Father gives you that true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which comes down from heaven and gives life unto the world. They were right. Jesus, the Messiah had come to give them bread.

[52:39] If they had believed Moses, they would have understood that true bread is not consumed by eating but by believing. We consume that true bread of life not by eating. Listen, if Jesus had become the bread king and supplied all their needs for the rest of their life, what would that gain them?

[52:55] What would it gain them if they gained the whole world and lost their soul? What does it matter if you are completely satisfied to the max in this life materially and then dying go to hell or dying go to heaven with no fruit, with no relationship that you've lived out in this life with Jesus?

[53:14] And when Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, remember in John 2 when they wanted to come to Jesus and set him up as king and he had just done miracles, said Jesus did not commit himself unto them because he knew all men and needed not that any should testify of man for he knew what was in man.

[53:33] Jesus knows not taking, he's not having the wool pulled over his eyes. He knew who Judas was in the midst. Jesus perceived.

[53:44] These men, what did they want to do? They wanted a bread king who would meet all of their material needs. But Jesus wanted them to see past temporal need to eternal need, just like the woman at the well, just like the nobleman whose son was sick.

[53:58] Jesus wants them to see past this, just like the Jews, the religious Jews who he spends so much time talking to because he loved them so much and said, see past the works and see the one behind it.

[54:09] Jesus wanted them to see past temporal need to their eternal need. You see, God uses our need to prove us. He uses our need to see, are we seeking to have our needs met?

[54:20] Or am I seeking to meet the one who supplies the need? Am I seeking just to have needs met? Man, what do I want to meet with the one who's behind this?

[54:35] God never ignores our needs. He just puts them in their proper place. These men, they wanted to take Jesus by force. They wanted to set him up as a king who would promise to meet all their temporal needs.

[54:47] We're actually going to stop in the middle of this verse. that he departed again into a mountain himself alone. We'll go with next week with them going across the Sea of Galilee with the disciples. So our last look here today is these men.

[55:01] They wanted to take him by force. They wanted to seize him, to carry him off, to claim eagerly to oneself is what they said. We'll keep you to ourselves. We'll carry you off. If only you'll meet our temporal needs.

[55:13] However, if only they would understand that the promise was not to meet temporal need, but to meet eternal need. For those willing to hearken to the bread king, to hear, to obey, to believe in him, they have the promise of eternal fulfillment.

[55:30] They have a promise that lasts long beyond this life. You see, the king of bread and the bread of life, he will come one day to seize, to carry off, and to claim eagerly to himself those who will partake of his eternal provision.

[55:48] We're running my words together, guys. That word, in John 6, 15, for to take by force is harpazo. They wanted to snatch him away.

[56:00] They wanted to harpazo him and make him their own. And Jesus said, if you would receive the bread of life, I'm going to come and harpazo you. I'm going to come and receive you to myself. 1 Thessalonians 4, 16-18, for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first and then we, which are alive and remain, shall be caught up, seized, carried off, brought eagerly to himself, harpazoed, together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

[56:33] And where do you think his gaze is going to be at that moment? Who do you think he's going to be looking at then? As we go to meet him in the air and he looks and there he is like a bride waiting for your groom.

[56:46] There'll be a day where our groom will come for us and we will get our eyes, we'll have an opportunity to fix our eyes on him and to see that Lord, all this time you were looking at me, you were caring for me, you were meeting my needs.

[57:01] And so shall we ever be with the Lord, wherefore comfort one another with these words. Take comfort. God sees your need. Do not allow that need to create a barrier between you and Jesus, between you and that hope.

[57:16] Do not allow that need to come between you and Jesus. Do not allow the barrier of comfort, of understanding, of practicality. Don't think of Jesus' questions to you as a barrier drawn near to him.

[57:33] Do not allow need to create a barrier between you and Jesus, of limited faith. God, I can't come to you. My faith is so limited. Or your own inability.

[57:46] Comfort one another with these words. None of these things can separate you. What will separate you from the love of God? Life, or death, angels, or principalities, or powers, or things present, or things to come, nor height, or depth, or any other creature shall be able to separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.

[58:03] And neither will your need. Jesus sees your need. He knows your needs. Because as followers of Jesus, we must remember that Jesus' gaze is drawn towards need.

[58:14] He doesn't see that as a problem. He sees it as an opportunity for grace. Jesus' words, or Jesus' gaze is drawn towards needs, and Jesus has a plan to meet your need.

[58:25] Remember that his word will speak to your need. If only you will sit down and be still and hear it. Very often, Jesus will involve us in meeting need, in meeting another's needs, sometimes our own.

[58:37] Lord, I don't want to go and do that. Take the next step. Take the next step that God has put in front of you. Jesus meets needs in his time and in his way, and they will always exceed our expectation.

[58:49] Comfort one another with these words. Jesus will exceed your expectations every time. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus.

[59:00] God shall supply your need. This is not in question. The resources are all there. Jesus is our source. Jesus is our supply, and Jesus is our satisfaction.

[59:14] He shall supply your needs. What's our part? What are we supposed to do? Put it in his hands. Take whatever you have and put it in Jesus' hands.

[59:27] He will do more with it than you could have ever imagined. You know, I think for myself going through this text and studying it, I mean, I think we could probably all say we know all this.

[59:45] I think what I found is more my opportunity to do it is not as frequent as I would like. My opportunity when the need arises to first just place it in his hands.

[59:59] I think I'm over there with Philip, like, I wonder if we did this, maybe we could. Or I'm over here with Andrew trying to scrounge something up, maybe we could get enough. Instead of going right to Jesus.

[60:11] Instead of just putting it in his hands and saying, Lord, Lord, you know I'm your disciple. You know I'm following you. You know I want to serve you. You know, Lord, we're about your business.

[60:21] This is your will. Lord, look at my family. We have a need. We love you and you love us. What are we going to do? I was waiting for you to ask. I'm going to do exceedingly abundantly above all you could ever ask or think.

[60:40] There's a word in there though. Ask. My God shall supply all your needs. Jesus is your source. He's your supply and he's your satisfaction. Man, whatever it is, put it in his hands.

[60:54] And I'm due with it something that will not only supply your need but so many others. Father, this morning we bring to you, Lord, our broken lives.

[61:06] Blessed lives. Blessed by you, Jesus. But broken. And Lord, if there's anyone here who has not experienced that, who has not put their faith in you, Lord, Lord, it's as simple as just following you.

[61:19] It's as simple, Lord, as setting aside all of those barriers, the barriers of my unbelief, the barriers of my comfort, the barriers of trying to figure all this out and how it has to work according to my understanding and just coming to you, Jesus.

[61:32] And how amazing to find, Lord, that as I approach you, I find that you're already looking at me. You're already gazing at me.

[61:42] You're already welcoming me. I think of all those people who came and they were interrupting you. They were interrupting the disciples. They interrupted your plans. And you wonder if they were thinking, I'm sure there's safety in numbers.

[61:56] I hope Jesus receives this well. And each person that he healed and ministered to, that was the only person in that moment.

[62:08] He didn't just raise his hand and say, everybody be healed so we can get on to some more important things. Everybody be filled so we can get on to spiritual things. Each person, I picture him looking in their eyes, already knowing their need, but asking them, hey, what do you need?

[62:26] How can I help you? How can I bless you? How can I serve you? Lord, we put what little we have, it's broken, and we put it in your hands and we ask you to bless it, Lord.

[62:39] We ask you to do with it far more than we could ever do. Lord, we trust you as a good, good father to meet our needs in your time.

[62:52] Lord, we believe you because that is the work of God and we want to be about it. We believe you, we love you, we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. You know, it is not spiritual to ignore or deny our legitimate physical needs.

[63:07] We all have them. We all got them. You know, if you have a need, man, I'd love to pray with you. I don't have a solution, but we can put it in Jesus' hands together.

[63:19] He has a solution. But as a body, many times God will use us to meet the needs of others. So don't, don't feel ashamed that you have need because we all have it.

[63:31] God uses our needs to test our faith, but we trust him to not only meet our needs, but also put them in the right perspective. And the right perspective is under his care and in his hands.

[63:43] Amen. Amen. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace.

[63:55]  God bless you. Have a blessed day. God bless you.