Title: Having a Ministry Mindset
Text: John 6: 1-13 (The feeding of the 5000)
Introduction
“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?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.” (v5-6)
1.Jesus always had a ministry mindset.
“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him…He already had in mind what he was going to do.”
“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.” (Mt.20:28)
2.Jesus wants all of his followers to have a ministry mindset too.
“He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for all these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him.”
If Jesus already knew what he was going to do- why did Jesus test Philip?
Is Jesus doing it to grade Philip’s ministry mindset?
Here are 2 lessons to learn from the feeding of the 5000 that can help us all to grow in our ministry mindset
Lesson #1: Don’t let problems that are outside your control stop you from ministering to others.
Now in the case of problems that we bring on ourselves -it might be the wiser move to wait till later before ministering to others.
It’s the problems that come into our lives that we have no control of – those are the kinds of problems that should never stop us from ministering to others.
Think about it! If every problem outside of our control stopped us from ministering to others then the Devil will just keep sending those kinds of problems into our lives.
In feeding the 5000 Jesus refuses to let problems stop him from ministering to others.
A.The Timing of this miracle
1. John 6:1 –“Some time after this…”
Some time after what?
“So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too, am working.” For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” (John 5:16-18)
Summary of John 5:16-18
1.The Jews persecuted Jesus to try to stop him from ministering to others.
2. Jesus refuses to let the problem stop him from ministering to others.
3.But instead of the problem getting better- the problem just gets worse
Question: How is Jesus still able to continue to minister to others even after the problem got worse?
Answer. There was something that Jesus knew that allowed him to continue to minister to others no matter how bad the problem got! What was that something that Jesus knew? “My Father is always at his work to this very day.” God is always at work even in the problems that are outside our control.
One of the things that God is working into us whenever we face problems that are outside our control is perseverance!
Perseverance means we continue to minister to others even as God ministers to us.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2 Cor. 1:3-4)
Application: So let’s follow the example of Jesus and not let problems that are outside our control stop us from ministering to others.
Lesson #2: Don’t allow what you do not have from stopping you from starting a ministry to others.
“Philip answered him, ”Eight months wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite”! (V7))
We can’t even talk about not stopping ministering to others if we have not first started ministering to others.
The # 1 reason we don’t start ministering to others is because we don’t think we have what it takes.
Question: How do we not allow what we do not have from stopping us from starting to minister to others?
Answer: It can only be done by focusing all of our faith on what we do have.
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother spoke up. Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”(8-9)
“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” (1 Cor. 1:26-29)
Illustration: Singing sensation: Susan Boyle.
When Susan Boyle first stepped onto the stage everyone’s focus was on what she didn’t have.She didn’t have the right looks. She didn’t have the right clothes. She didn’t have the right age. She was so nervous she didn’t even have the right answer to describe the area where she was from in Scotland.
But there is one thing Susan Boyle has that has made her the famous person she is today- A beautiful singing voice.
A.When the disciples began helping Jesus to feed the 5000 each disciple did so with a nearly empty basket.
Here is how it started: The 5 loaves and 2 fishes were divided between 12 disciples.
1.Therefore in each disciples basket there was 1/6 of a fish and less than a half of a loaf of bread
2.It was only as they kept ministering did they see the loaves and fishes multiply
3.It was only at the end after everyone had enough to eat did the disciples find themselves left with a full basket
“So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.”(v13)
Application: We want to start out ministering to others spiritually full and to finish empty but that’s not the lesson from the feeding of the 5000. The lesson from the feeding of the 5000 is this. Instead of starting out full and finishing empty, God wants us to start out empty and finish full.
By finishing full we mean more than just receiving financial blessings. We mean deeper relationships, increased faith, a new perspective on life and a joy in seeing your life count for God.
Review the 2 lessons we learnt from the feeding of the 5000
1.Don’t let problems that are outside your control stop you from ministering to others.
2.Don’t allow what you do not have from stopping you from starting a ministry to others.
Conclusion
A challenge,
Before we leave today I want to give you something to help you see that God doesn’t need a lot in order to use you in ministering to others.
In each of these packets is 5 dimes and 2 quarters. Here is what I would like you to do. I would like you to take the 5 dimes and 2 quarters and ask God to show you how you can use them to minister to someone outside this church and outside your family.
