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the SUPERSIZED Happy Meal
John 6:1-13
Our God is a God of
miracles, and nothing is impossible with Him!
He can meet every need that arises.
Feeding tens of thousands with a couple of fish and chips was a small
thing for Jesus. How did He do
it? It was a McMiracle!
Jesus supersized what little they had, mouths were filled, and
everyone had themselves a happy
meal! And He can meet your needs
today, and is working miracles today in those who trust in Him!
1.
The Multitude
v. 2 Multitudes today are hungry.
a.
Physical hunger
1/3rd of the
world is underfed, 1/3rd is starving, and the other 1/3rd
are here today. But many even in America, and
certainly many in our town, go to bed hungry, and when they awake, they are
no better. We are bombarded w/
images of starving people on TV…we should be careful not to allow ourselves
to be desensitized to the very real epidemic of hungry people.
Do you help with our food pantry needs?
We have great opportunities every week to help the hungry in our
area, and sometimes in our church.
Jesus met physical needs before spiritual needs.
And famine could easily come to America.
What a ‘happy meal’ this
was to that enormous crowd on that hillside.
They couldn’t focus on their eternal needs until their temporal needs
were met. Their bellies cried
out so loudly that their spirits could not focus on their need.
But Jesus met their physical need and included a prize inside far
better. It was the bread of
heaven, and a living water thru which they would never thirst again…and He
supersized it for all who would accept it that day!
b.
Emotional hunger
They are hungry for
acceptance, understanding, and unconditional love.
They are looking for meaning in life and a purpose for their life.
Self help books are best sellers by the thousands as people search
for something real. They are
‘without natural affection’ and we need to share the love of Jesus with
them…He’s the one who can help them.
An entire generation exists today who has not been truly loved.
They grew up something less than acceptance and unconditional love,
and no wonder they don’t know how to love or be loved.
Dysfunctional parents raise dysfunctional kids, and today we are
several generations along that road.
Emotional hunger pangs loudly.
c.
Spiritual hunger
Deep in the heart of man is
a void which can only be filled with God his Creator.
This is the need in our lives for forgiveness…to be cleansed of sin.
Remember the time in your life before you were saved?
Remember the spiritual hunger?
Remember the emptiness and the void in your soul?
God filled it when you were born again!
Ill.—a
man had a passion for precious stones which led him to a barren desert known
for being rich in gems. But he
got lost and soon ran out of water.
He was dying of thirst, and got to the place where he could barely
crawl…he was on death’s doorstep.
Just then he saw a canteen that must have been dropped by someone
else. He mustered up enough
strength to crawl to the canteen, picked it up, and it was heavy, oh what a
relief this will be he said as he opened it up, only to find it had been
filled not with water, but with rubies.
He dumped them out, threw the canteen aside and died.
The very thing in life he thought he needed the most meant absolutely
nothing to him in the face of death.
Rich people commit suicide
at the same rate as the poor, because THINGS don’t satisfy, and nothing can
fill the void properly except Jesus.
They may have plenty of food, but they are starving spiritually, and
their hunger can only be satisfied thru Christ!
ill.--my no carb diet
[unsatisfying!]
ill.--Tom Brady after first
Super Bowl win, looked at his ring and asked:
"Is this all there is to it?"
ill.--Actor Shia Lebouf
said people in his profession are miserable, and have a "God sized hole in
their hearts."
People live for power and
pleasure, promiscuity and prestige but they find them empty, and we need to
be waiting in the wings to bring them real sustenance for their souls in the
desert of their days.
Now this multitude was not
present for the right reasons.
They were there simply to see a miracle.
“Show us your tricks we have heard about,” they said.
Time went by and they got hungry, and Jesus saw His opportunity to
give them what they wanted, and it led to an opportunity to give them what
they needed.
The point:
this crowd didn’t deserve to be fed, but Jesus fed them anyway.
And you and I don’t deserve to be saved, but Jesus saved us anyway.
Our church doesn’t deserve God’s blessings, but He gives them to us
anyway!
Well, v. 7 says Philip
calculated that it would take 6 month’s wages to feed this crowd one meal.
But he was making a critical mistake…he was looking at the multitude,
when He should have been looking at the Master!
2.
The Master
a.
A Personal Master
v. 8-9 It was Andrew who found a little
lad w/ a little lunch. But
little is much when God is in it.
Matthew Jesus said, “bring them to me.”
And just a little bit that
you have, when placed in Jesus’ hands, becomes a whole lot!
Ill.—a
great violinist stood before royalty to play, but as he tuned a string
broke, then another, and another, and he was left w/ only 1 string.
The crowd gasped, but he proceeded to play music that seemed divine.
When he finished the crowd followed the king in a standing ovation.
It was a broken violin, but in the hands of the master!
You are just one…one life
broken by sin, scarred by sin, marred by sin, but put that one life in the
hands of the Master and watch what He can do!
b.
A Practical Master
v. 10 The book of Mark clarifies
that Jesus told the disciples to organize the crowd by 50s and 100s.
Our God is a God of order.
You can see it in the universe, and in His masterful plan for
redemption. Your body has
organs...called that because they are organized.
So why do many churches feel it is unspiritual to be organized?
Why do many Christians not want to live on a budget, or by a
schedule? Why would a preacher
get up to speak without studying and preparing to give God’s Word to the
hungry people?
I’m all for the Holy
Spirit’s leading, but I’ve been in some services where they stand up and
say, “We don’t know who is going to sing or speak or how this service will
go, we’ll just follow the Spirit’s hand.”
I want you know that what I experienced in those services I wouldn’t
want to blame on the Holy Spirit.
I believe we can have His leading in our studies, preparations, and
in our planning, and then ‘in the moment’ as well!
And yes, we should be open to change as He leads start to finish!
Even the leftovers were
organized...v. 12
We're just a small
organization, but "Little is Much When God is in It."
Jesus is a personal and a
practical Master.
3.
The Miracle
v. 11 I like the fact that He
used the disciples to distribute the bread.
He didn’t have to do that, but He chooses to use us.
We don’t manufacture the bread, but we are called to be delivery
persons. I’m a bread man, and
proud to be so!
What can we learn from this
miracle? I see what to do in an
impossible situation.
Matthew's Gospel:
Jesus told the disciples, ‘you feed them.’
It was an impossibility.
And many here today are facing impossible situations…maybe it’s at work, or
in the home, or in your finances.
“What in the world are we gonna do?!”
Do this:
Do what the disciples did!
START WITH WHAT
YOU HAVE! Don’t
wait for everything to be perfect, have some faith and start with what you
have. Give what you have…you
can’t give what you don’t yet have, and you’ll never have it if you do
nothing!
The wonderful thing about
our God is that He takes us where we are and uses what we have.
He sees down the road to all He desires to make of us miraculously.
Ill.—God
asked Moses to deliver His people from slavery in
Egypt.
Moses made excuses and said, “I can’t.”
God said, “What is that in thine hand?”
It was just a rod. Then
God showed what he could do thru a stick, when it is placed in His hand!
But then, even after seeing
the rod turn into a serpent and back into a rod, Moses said, “I don’t have
the inclination”, or “I don’t want to!”
You see, we need to obey what God has told us to do.
Some here today are in a bit of a pickle when God challenges them to
rise to the next level, not because they don’t know what to do, but because
they don’t want to do what they know God has told them to do.
ill.--Some need to pray,
"Lord, I pray that you'll make we want to want to do what is right."
[quit smoking / break that habit / start tithing]
You may look in the mirror
at your gifts, talents, and abilities, and it may not appear to be a full
meal deal. I like the double
quarter pounder. I recently
discovered they will give you a double fish sandwich if you ask, but it
doesn’t matter if I’m a Happy Meal with the tiny little ‘where’s the beef’,
pickle-sized patty…all that matters is that what little I
do have is placed in the hand of
the Master!
For some, the problem is
not knowing what do, but doing what you know.
What do you have to give?
What’s in your wallet?
What’s in your hand?
The disciples didn’t have to obey God’s commands, but they believed
and did what they could with what they had.
Let’s be God’s bread
deliverymen. Meals on wheels!
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