How Big Is Your God? Series

Powerpoint Slide: (theme - How Big is Your God) Pray…. Many of you know we were gone on a vacation to Yellowstone Park for nine days and we drove. Personally I like driving… even with 3 kids in the car. It’s about 900 miles and I’m the type of person that is very destination oriented. So, after church a couple of weeks ago – I told Ann, my wife, we gotta get outta here, because I wanted to make it to

Slide: Wallace, Idaho that night. Well, we not only made it to Wallace, we made it all the way to

Slide: Missoula, Montana. So, I figured I would have about 2 hours less of driving the next day – and Yellowstone would be a breeze. So, the next day, we got up started driving… and decided that we would enter Yellowstone though the West entrance – so we took Hwy 287 south and we were really doing great – making great time – getting closer and closer to Yellowstone. But then we came to the town of

Slide: Ennis, Montana. Ennis is a old style western looking town

– with all sorts of shops – behind an old western façade. As we started to drive through Ennis – Ann says to me…Wow… look at this town… Honey, we’re stopping here. I say, “come on Ann – we’re getting close to Yellowstone” … she says, “Brad – we’re on vacation now! – we’re stopping.” Now, we’ve been married for 14 years this month and we’re had this conversation before.. So, I said – “ok, but don’t be too long.” So Ann initially takes Sarah our 10 year-old and Nathan our 2 year-old into an art shop… and Willie and I go to the Fly shop – and after a while – I’m getting a little bored – Ann comes out of a shop and picks up Willie and drops Nathan off with me.. about a half-hour later – Ann comes back by the car –and Willie has as set of guns – & a holster… cap Slide: guns like I had when I was a kid – I mean it fires real caps… So Willie is in heaven… Now I’ve got Willie and Nathan, and Ann and Sarah are off to another few shops. Anyway,

Slide: Willie is having a ball… he’s shooting up the town. He’s hiding behind walls – pretending he’s a cowboy. I’m thinking – “These guns are great in Ennis, Montana, but what was Ann thinking – guns are not going to fly in Sherwood, OR. This isn’t the 1960’s anymore – People are going to think we’re teaching our child that Guns are ok – and someday – he’s going to shoot someone. But, then I looked at him – he was having a ball. Kind or reminded me of Spanky on the little rascals. And I thought – Ok – these guns are cool. But then we got to Yellowstone. Willie started firing his caps outside our cabin at Yellowstone. And if you’ve never been to Yellowstone. Yellowstone is the one of the most beautiful places in world…

Slide: Moose, Slide: Elk & Slide: Buffalo Slide: Old Faithful Slide: And Roaring Waterfalls and the Yellowstone river in the canyons - Yellowstone is pristine virgin land and you just have a hypersensitivity to keep it that way. Well, Willie shooting his cap gun and these caps come in red rolls – 1 intact roll. But as you shoot them off, well suddenly they start to explode – makes a big mess and hundreds of little red pieces of caps are all over the place outside. What was amazing – is – in a matter of minutes – these caps had multiplied into a big mess -- I thought – how can this happen. Well, we eventually cleaned in all up and I implemented rules for Willies cap Gun… but as I was in Yellowstone and looked at all the incredible beauty and I saw first hand how Willies caps miraculously multiplied into bits and piece in a matter of minutes - I couldn’t help but stop and think of God and how all His Creation is a miracle. And I also thought of God’s son – Jesus Christ, who performed many miracles while he was on earth. And one of those miracles was when He took a few loaves of bread and a few fish and miraculously multiplied them and fed thousands of people with them. And we’re going to look at that miracle today. It traditionally has been called – the Feeding of the 5000. And it’s recorded as a real historical event in all four Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In fact, it’s the only miracle Jesus performed that is recorded in all four Gospels. So, that makes in even more significant. But before we get into this Story. I want us to understand,