Triple "B" Religion

Triple “B” Religion

ITS BEEN A WHILE SINCE I WAS IN SCHOOL, but I remember those dreaded words from the teacher, “Take out a pencil and a sheet of paper. Its pop quiz time.”

What really amazed me was that the teacher seemed to know the nights I had not studied!

Well, I’m not going to ask you to take a pop quiz, but I do want to give you a test. What one miracle of Jesus is recorded in all four gospels?

Out of over 30 miracles that we have recorded in the gospels, only one is included in all four.

❏ The raising of Lazarus?

❏ Jesus walking on the water?

❏ Healing of the man at the pool?

Answer: The feeding of the multitudes with the loaves and fish. This is a miracle about Jesus as the answer to those deep hungers of our spirit. But it is also a miracle about what Jesus can do when we dare to put what we are into His hands.

Let’s look together at Mark’s account of this event, found in Mark 6:34-44.

34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it’s already very late.

36 Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."

37 But he answered, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?"

38 "How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see." When they found out, they said, "Five-- and two fish."

39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.

40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.

41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.

42 They all ate and were satisfied,

43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.

44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

One thing is for sure–those followers of Christ that were there that day would forever remember this principle: LITTLE BECOMES MUCH WHEN ITS PLACED IN THE MASTER’S HAND.

The whole key to what Jesus can do with our lives lies in Mark 6:41. Three elements are necessary for our lives to be transformed and they all begin with the letter B–hence, the title of the sermon: Triple “B” Religion.

1. BRINGING

Jesus took what was brought to Him and in His hands the miracle happened. What we become depends on thaat initial step of faith of bringing all of who we are to all that we know of Christ.

When John told the story, he said that a little boy was the only one who brought his lunch that day. I raised two sons so I can imagine the conversation between that boy and his mother before he left home:

“Mom, I’m gonna hear Jesus preach today.”

“That’s good, son, but be sure to take your

lunch.” “But mom, nobody else will have a

lunch. I’ll be a dork!” “You heard me, son,”

his mother replied. “You’re not leaving this

house unless you take something to eat, and

that’s that!”

Having been a little boy myself, I know that most little boys are afraid of one thang more than any other–being different. We may owe this miracle to the insistence of a caring mother.

But regardless of how the bread and fish got to Jesus, the point is that they were placed into His hands. It was the bringing of all that was available–not some of the fish or one of the loaves, but ALL that he had.

When we come to the house of the Lord, we come to see Christ. And we all bring a multitude of things with us–things like, temptations, disappointments, failures, trials, and unsurrendered talents.

This is not easy. It never has been. It wasn’t easy for those first disciples either.

❏ They focused on the problem (5,000 men plus women and children).

❏ They looked at the possibilities (5 loaves and 2 fish).

❏ They concluded that the people needed to be sent home before they had a riot on their hands.

What they failed to factor in was the power of Jesus!