INTRODUCTION
• Have you ever come home from a long day at work, just wanting to relax? Maybe you have put in many hours at the office or in the factory.
• On your way home, you envision a scene where you come home and put up your feet turn on the television and read the newspaper. Then you see yourself sitting at the table ready for a wonderful dinner that your spouse has prepared for you.
• Now you get home and as soon as you get settled in that favorite recliner the unthinkable happens. The phone rings. You reluctantly get up to answer the phone.
• Then you find out that you are going to have a bunch of unexpected company for dinner. Your evening seems to be ruined.
• Have you ever had that happen to you? How did you feel?
• As we look at our text today we see that Jesus and the disciples were looking to get away to a secluded place to rest. John the Baptist had just been killed and the disciples had just received the news. They were all tired from all the teaching and healing that they were doing.
• Mark adds a side note to his commentary on this time by saying in verse 31, “For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.”
• Let us look at what Mark 6:30-32 says.
• The twelve had just returned from the mission that Jesus had sent them on. They were tired and Jesus was tired. They were looking for a place to rest and then it happens. Look at verse 33.
• The people saw them and ran after them. So much for that relaxing night in front of the television for the apostles and Jesus. The people got to the spot of rest before Jesus and the apostles did.
• Most all of us have busy lives. We sometimes get to a point where we guard our “free” time so much that we miss opportunities to reach out to lost people.
• Today from what is called the “Feeding of the 5,000” we will learn some lessons from the Master as to what we can do when we have unwanted dinner guests. From Jesus we will learn five lessons concerning fulfilling our mission to reach lost people.
SERMON
I. LESSON 1- OPEN THE DOOR (30-36)
Jesus had compassion for the people
• Read verses 33-36
• How many of us would be irritated that someone came by and interrupted our time of relaxation?
• Jesus was not irritated over these “unwanted guests”.
• Jesus did not see these people as a “pain” or an “inconvenience”, He saw this as an opportunity to teach these people about the kingdom. Jesus felt compassion towards these people because He saw them for what they were, sheep without a shepherd.
• Jesus had compassion for the people. He opened His heart to them. Jesus opened the door to let them in. Sometimes that is a scary thing to do. We will have little impact on people if we do not open the door of our hearts to them.
• Jesus could have told the people to leave, He could have directed the disciples to go to another location, but Jesus was willing to open the door and let the people in.
• How many opportunities do we miss because we do not open the door to people?
• I have to wonder how the disciples felt when Jesus did not send the people away. Were they happy about it? Our text tells us in verse 35 that it was already late and the disciples came to Jesus and suggested that He send the people home so that they could all get something to eat.
• It is hard to tell if the disciples were concerned about the people or if they just wanted to get rid of them. Their own hunger must have been on their minds for Mark to mention it. Mark is writing much of His gospel from the perspective of Peter who was a part of this.
• How many times do we let our own agenda get in the way of opening the door for people?
• Jesus Himself has knocked on the door of many people, only to be left out in the cold by them. REV 3:20 ’Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
• Jesus opened the door for all people; even the one who He knew would betray Him, Judas!
• Jesus knew that the way He would impact people the most is to invite them in. It takes a lot of love for people to let them inconvenience you. Jesus had that love and that is the kind of love that we are to have for other people.
• Jesus had a bunch of uninvited guests come to Him. What did He do, He invited them in and taught them.
• Once we open the door for the unwanted dinner guest, we must next: Point 2.
II. LESSON 2- YOU HAVE TO SET THE TABLE (35-40)
Jesus desires us to be actively involved in His work
• Read verses 37-40
• One of the interesting parts of this miracle and one of the things that gives the account more credibility is the fact that the disciples did not come to Jesus expecting a miracle to take place.
• Notice what they ask Jesus. “Send them away so that they can go buy themselves food.” This does not sound like a statement coming from people who had faith that Jesus was going to do anything.
• In John’s gospel when Jesus asked Phillip at the beginning of the scene as to how they would feed the people, Phillip had no expectation of a miracle.
• When the disciples came to Jesus as it was getting late, they wanted to the crowd to go home and eat.
• When the disciples came to Jesus His response was eye opening to the disciples, “YOU GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT!”
• Once again, the disciples looked to what they had and determined that it was not enough.
• They told Jesus that they did not have enough to do the job.
• Then Jesus once again asked them to go see how many laves they had.
• Jesus could have waved His hands or called food down from heaven, but He did not. He expected the disciples to participate in feeding the 5,000 plus people.
• Jesus was telling these guys to set the table because they were going to have a great number of guests over for supper.
• Jesus invited the disciples to join in and help Him serve the others, He also invites us to join in and help Him feed the lost people in Auburn.
• God does not expect the church to just sit back and wait for a few people to wander into our doors; He expects and invites us to join in the work of reaching and feeding the lost people of Auburn.
• In 2 Corinthians 8:4, Paul is commending the Macedonian churches for their willingness to support other churches even though they themselves were impoverished. 2CO 8:3-4 says, “For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints”
• Do you think that after the day was done that the disciples were glad they participated in this great event? They must have because the feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle that is recorded in all four gospels!
• The lost people in Auburn will stay lost until we do something about it.
• When we pray to Jesus about the lost people of our community, Jesus is in heaven telling us, YOU GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT!
• Jesus had the disciples take what He had made and feed the people. Jesus could have had the people all come to Him, but instead, He invited the disciples to feed the people. They were not spectators!
• One of the neat things about working for Jesus is that about the time you do not think you have enough to feed everyone:
III. LESSON 3- JESUS CAN DOUBLE YOUR RECIPE (41-43)
Jesus can take a little and make a lot out of it.
• READ Verses 41-43
• This was not the first time the food thing was mentioned. In John’s account in John 6:1-13, Jesus, when He saw the crowd coming asked Phillip how they could feed the group of people. Jesus was testing Phillip to see what he was thinking. Phillip doing what many people would do took stock of what they had on hand to take care of the people.
• Phillip saw the situation as hopeless. There was no way that the disciples with their own resources could possibly feed the people.
• In John’s account, when Phillip was taking stock of what they had, Andrew showed Jesus the food that he had found and even Andrew wondered out loud to Jesus just how five loaves and two fish were going to feed so many.
• Jesus shows us that He can take what little we have to offer to Him and multiply it.
• We are so inadequate, but with Jesus, we have all we need.
• Jesus can take us and can do great things for the kingdom with us.
• Too many times the church gets stuck in a rut because we focus so much on what we have, that we forget what God can do with it.
• Faith must learn to draw on divine resources!
• The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 shows us that with God small opportunities are in reality great possibilities!
• I am amazed that God can take what little I have to offer to Him and turn it into something useful for the kingdom.
• I believe in this church with God’s help we have all we need to reach this community; but it will take all of us offering what little we have to God.
• I am sure that at some point we have all felt that we did not have what we needed to feed the lost. We know the excuses. “I do not know enough.” What if I say the wrong thing?” “I will let the preacher do it.”
• Jesus will take what you have and He will multiply it so that you can do wha He has called you to do.
• The last lesson that we see is:
IV. LESSON 4- NO ONE GOES AWAY HUNGRY (42)
Jesus will completely satisfy our needs.
• Look at verse 42 and 43 again.
• I love verse 42. THEY ALL ATE AND WERE SATISFIED!
• This verse says that they all ate. This includes the disciples.
• The disciples were satisfied because they ate and because they helped Jesus feed the people.
• When we serve Jesus we will walk away satisfied and fulfilled! In Jesus we find our purpose. When we have a group of people who find their satisfaction in Jesus, we will take this community by storm!
• The people came to Jesus and they left satisfied! Jesus fed them.
• Verse 43 tells us that Jesus so amply supplied the need that there were leftovers. The leftovers were gathered up so that they would not be wasted.
• MAT 11:28-29 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
• Jesus will satisfy the emptiness you have inside that can only be filled with Him.
CONCLUSION
• The feeding of the 5,000 left such an impression on the disciples that it was included in all four gospel accounts.
• If we are going to reach lost people we need to open the door to them, set the table by working with Jesus.
• We need to realize that even though we do not have enough on our own, that Jesus will double the recipe so that we can feed those who come to us and that the people we feed with the gospel will leave satisfied.
• The next time an unwanted dinner guest shows up in your life what are you going to do? Are you going to feed them or send them away?
• People are hungry for Jesus and the only way they will be fed is if WE FEED THEM!
• Are you trying to feed anyone with Jesus right now?
