There Was More Than Enough

Title: There Was More Than Enough 02/17/02

West Side

Text: Matthew 14:13-21 A.M. Service

Purpose: In the hands of the master, effectiveness is not measured by the size of our resources.

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Introduction: (Use a real life story to illustrate how God works in miraculous ways.)

Chuck and Michele story of feeding 5000 people at their last church and how God answered prayer.

Setting the Stage

1. Jesus hears the news about the death of John the Baptist

2. He and His disciples try to get away for some solitude

3. Jesus is confronted again with the overwhelming task of healing sick and is moved with compassion

4. Disciples try to disperse the crowd to find food

5. Jesus says, "You give them something to eat"

6. 5 Loaves and 2 Fish

7. Jesus blesses, breaks and passes

8. 12 Baskets left over

Question: What can we learn from this miracle. One that is listed in all four of the gospels, must have some significance for us.

I. The Need Continued To Present Itself

A. We as human beings tend to be for many, goal oriented. The task is before us, we see the problem, Ok what can we do about it.

B. We want closure, there has to be an ending.

C. We live life in segments. We go from one task to the next

D. We get a little disheartened when the task before us seems overwhelming.

1. When you first sit down to do your taxes

2. When you walk downstairs to the children’s play area, the area you cleaned up just last Saturday, and it again is a mess.

3. After spending late hours on Friday, clearing your desk of all the "To do lists", only to arrive again Monday, with an overabundance of work, that have deadlines and irritable people to work with.

We live for the weekend. It’s here, time to shed all that responsibility, and just relax.

We find Jesus in v. 13 doing just that. After hearing of the news of John the Baptist, and having spent a great deal of time in ministry, it was time for a cruise, well, ok, may not a cruise, but at least to cruise to the other side of the lake to find some quiet time.

V. 14 says, that upon arriving, He went ashore, and He saw a great multitude, and felt compassion for them, and healed their sick.

For Jesus, the need was ever present. There was always going to be the sick, the hurting, and the lonely.

Jesus identified that the need was great, and there was not going to be an end, so he chose to be compassionate.

Our Real Need: As long as we live in this world, there will be things that will vie for our attention. Children, taxes, work, recreation, health, church. God has entrusted those things to us, and to live in balance and harmony with them.

Jesus showed the proper perspective in taking time to get away, to refocus, before the demands of everyday living overwhelming us. When there is such a large task before us, it important that we begin to set things in priority. But you can’t do that to the exclusion of the other.

Because the Scripture says that Jesus was moved with compassion. He could have gotten all bent out of shape, saying this is my day off, I’m not budging, but rather he was moved with compassion.

Our Reaction is what? Don’t bother me, I’ve got other things to do. You see we choose our attitude. We choose how we will respond in life. The task may seem overwhelming, but we still have the choice and in our reactions.

There will always be something to do. But our realization of the need, and our reaction, sets the stage for our response.

II. What are your resources?

A. The disciples have watched how Jesus responded, and now it is their turn.

After a long day of ministry, it was past dinner time, and the disciples come to Jesus and present the problem. " MT 14:15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food."

B. What was Jesus’ reply? "They don’t need to go away, you give them something to eat"

C. Picture with me. 5000 people, and Jesus says, you feed them. (look at crowd, look at Jesus, look at crowd, look at Jesus.)

Our Responsibility: There will come times in your life, when the problem seems so overwhelming, that we might respond to Jesus and say, look God, I’ve got this problem, and Jesus turns it around to use it as a faith lesson. A lesson of trusting in him. Jesus waits for teachable moments.