SEVEN Series: Week 8 - Insignificant to Significant

It's a good day to be in the house of the Lord, amen.

We thank our worship team for leading us this morning so powerful.

You guys can take a seat.

Listen, if I haven't had the chance to meet you before, my name is Caden Anderson, and I get the privilege of serving on staff here at Crossroads Church, leading a move of God over our next generation.

And I'm excited to get to share.

You'll see a little bit about that actually during the course of my message.

But this seventh through twelfth grade demographic that the Lord's task me with pastoring has been just incredible.

We looked back a year ago to see where we were and seeing how far God's brought us to today.

It's been immeasurably more than I would have ever asked, thought, or imagined.

I believe this morning that God's got a word for you.

You ready for a word this morning?

Say, I'm ready.

I'm ready.

Let's go.

I'm fired up.

It's been a couple weeks since I've been out of the pulpit, but we're here.

We're back.

Let's go.

Listen, uh, I want to take just a moment to welcome and say thank you to all of our first-time guests and those of you that have joined us this morning.

I want to welcome our online audience as well.

Those of you that are at home.

We hope to see you next week back in person, but it's not lost on us here at Crossroads.

On behalf of a lot of things you could be doing on this Sunday morning.

So the fact that you've taken time out of your weekend to worship with us, to gather with us is not lost on us.

And I want you to know as well that we've been praying for you.

Every Wednesday as a staff, we gather and we we pray over every specific request that we either get through the week or that we know specifically has come through.

Like we're a church that doesn't just talk about it, but we walk it and live in it.

We've prayed for you.

And here's my prayer this morning for the first time, guest.

I pray that this would be a space where you feel like you can belong in the greater body of this family, maybe before you ever even believe in Jesus.

And our hope is that as you get to partner with us and joining together week in and week out through worship and receiving from God's word that the Lord's gonna encounter your heart in a way that begins to change everything about your life.

And we're believing for that.

And so we're just thankful that you're here this morning.

If you've got your Bible, I want to encourage you to join with us as we continue in our series through seven.

Thanks, my friend.

This will come in handy in a second.

Look at that.

John chapter six, starting in verse one.

If you've got your Bible, I want to see you open up.

If you don't listen, throw your hand up.

We want to give you a Bible.

We've got ushers all around this room that have Bibles in their hands.

Listen, we care so deeply here at Crossroads Church about the Word of God.

It matters so much to us, and we want you to be equipped with it so that you can study it week in and week out, day in and day out.

This is a gift, it's a free gift from us to you.

Have it, keep it, write in it, highlight it, write questions in it, and bring it back next week when you come to worship with us again.

John chapter six is where we pick up in our series this morning.

We're even in a series that we've even cut entitled Seven.

Looking at seven distinct conversations or discourses that Jesus has and seven miracles that are performed over the course of the book of John.

You might find this one familiar as you open up into John chapter six.

In the heading of my Bible, it says, Jesus feeds the five thousand.

In verse one, here's what it says After this, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.

And a large crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.

And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.

Verse 4.

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

Lifting up his eyes then and seeing that a lot, a large crowd was coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?

It's funny because Jesus says this to test him, for he himself already knew what he was going to do.

And Philip answered, 200 denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to even get a little.

So now comes one of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

And he said to him, There's a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?

And Jesus said, How the people sit down.

Now there was much grass in the place, and so the men sat down, about five thousand in number.

Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated.

So also the fish, as much as they wanted.

And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, Gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost.

So they did what he said.

They gathered them up from the field and filled the twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

Verse 14.

When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.

Would you pray with me this morning?

Gracious Heavenly Father.

And reminded again of just a beautiful moment that we all got to experience.

And I humble myself this morning to realize that at the name of Jesus is where the power comes from.

No word or action that any of us could do or not do has greater power or authority over your son Jesus, over who you are, Lord.

And I'm believing in that power this morning, the power that has the ability to save and heal and restore and make new.

Lord, that you have a purpose and a plan for every one of us that's in this room this morning.

On Christ Jesus' return.

Lord, I believe that if we're here this morning, it's because you're not done with our story.

The fact that we've got breath in our lungs means you have something more for us.

And so, Lord, would you begin right now to tear the walls down in our hearts?

To tear the anxieties down that we're battling as we sit in church.

Lord, to silence the distractions for the next little bit of time that we have together.

So that your word doesn't get distorted or drowned out by the things that we've brought in with us today.

But Lord, that we would have open ears to hear and a heart to receive the word that you have in store.

All too often, Lord, when I gather with our church and get to worship, I'm reminded of just how lucky we are to get to serve you.

And as I prayed this morning in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, it's in our weakness that we get to boast this morning because your name, King Jesus, is made strong.

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

So God, I ask that that would be true of my life today.

As I prepared this word that I believe you have for our church, I just spent time studying and praying over this weekend that in my weakness, God, you would show up all the more.

If there's anything that I've prepared this morning that isn't of you or for our church, Lord, would you strip my head and my heart of it right now and fill it with exactly what we need to know and what we need to hear, Lord?

Would the words of my mouth and meditations of our heart be received to you, oh Lord, as a gift, a sacrifice?

God, do in this place what you want to do.

We love you, Lord.

We pray these things in your name, and all God's people and my friends said, Amen, Amen.

Thank you, Jesus.

Let's go and jump in to the word this morning.

I was probably 10 years old when I was taking a trip from Minneapolis, just outside the Twin Cities where we were living, to the greater Chicago area where I was gonna be playing in a regional soccer tournament for the weekend.

It was one of those weekends, very few of these that happened over the course of my career, but my family was unable to go with me.

And so I had rode up with my coach Colin, who really was like the beginning of what became an incredible relationship.

He was the type of coach that went above and beyond who I was just as an athlete, cared about me as a person, and was willing to do what he could to help me be successful because he believed in me.

And this was no different.

He took chose to drive me from where we had lived to the again Greater Chicago area, and I got to stay with him over the weekend.

And it was a tournament that became really, really important to me, one that you work towards for much of the year, and you get to show off your abilities as a team and not just that, but as a player as well.

There was something a little bit unique and distinct about this trip, is I had just bought new cleats and equipment in preparation for this week.

And you see, I'm the type of athlete that is a firm believer in the idea that you look good, you feel good, and therefore you play good.

Can I get an amen this morning?

Somebody believe in that with me?

And so I made sure before every single game that my shoes were tied just right, that I looked good, because I believe that if I look good, I sure as heck felt good.

And when I felt good, I played good.

And so before we had gone on this trip, my family and I, we were on a trip to Florida where I, for the first time in my life, had matching cleats with this soccer ball that I bought together.

We went to the Nike factory store, and some of y'all know what I'm talking about, where like they started to match the shoes with the gloves or shoes with the ball.

And my parents, they went all in for me this trip.

And so I got the brand new cleats, the Mercurials, and I got the brand new soccer ball to go with it.

And I was feeling good because I knew headed into this weekend, I'm gonna sure look good, means I'm gonna feel good and I'm gonna play good.

So I brought my soccer ball with me, and I brought my cleats with me.

And I remember in between games one weekend, I had set all my gear just off to the side.

Big crowds, lots of fields.

Set it with some of my teammates' stuff, and this ball that I had taken with me was like a really big deal to me because it was one of those things that we my parents were specific: like, this is an investment into your career, your abilities, what we hope to see God do in and through you.

Take care of it, keep it, make sure it stays with you everywhere you go.

And so I set it off with my gear and I went and practiced and was just playing with my teammates in between games.

Something like an hour later, we come back after the camaraderie of being a part of a sports team, and I go back to get my gear.

My coach calling says, Caitlin, get your stuff, let's go.

And so I run over to my stuff and I grab it and I look, and my soccer ball isn't there.

And so, wait, let me just clarify this.

I'm the type of kid that, like as an athlete, I would sleep with my cleats on.

Like, I'm a little weird in that way.

I love this sport, okay?

Like, this ball was my second pillow.

So I cuddled this thing, I took care of it, I made sure it was good.

This was incredibly significant to me.

Not just that in the importance that it had in my life, but how many of our parents know that when you buy your kids something nice and you tell them to make sure they don't lose it and they lose it, how you're gonna respond?

And so I go and I'm looking for this ball, and now not only does my heart sink to my stomach because I lost this thing that mattered so much to me, but then I gotta call my dad.

How among God's green everyone?

I'm not gonna explain to him after the conversation that we had.

We said, take care of this.

I bought this once.

If you lose it, I'm not buying it again.

Make sure you keep this.

And I'm like, hey, pop.

Uh remember that ball you bought me like, it's gone, it's not there.

Like, there's no way I'm gonna be able to have this conversation with him anymore.

And so I go looking, and God bless my coach.

He was uh a guy who loved me deeply, did not follow Jesus, though, and could not have cared any less about my soccer ball.

Kennedy, get your crap, let's go.

So I went, and it literally ruined my entire childhood.

I feel like for the rest of my life, I don't know what I was gonna do.

Like, I lost the thing that mattered most to me.

It was so significant in my life, and now it was gone.

And so I went into like a midlife crisis at 10 years old, all my world fell into shambles, and here I am today, just preaching about it as a story that applies to I think where we're headed in the scriptures.

It was a couple years ago that we had a staff inverted church in Nebraska.

Her and her husband had bought a new house.

And so I don't know if you know this, but like as pastors, we're also a part of a moving crew.

And so anytime anybody's moving, we're the first ones to get the call that say, Hey, can you help us?

And it's always yes.

And so I've moved a lot of people, a lot of places, and I'm always on the lookout for that thing that I could take when I'm helping people move.

Because I don't know if you know this as well.

They don't pay you for being a part of the Crossroads Church moving crew, you just do it because you're a pastor.

This is not free advice.

Don't call me, I'm not helping you move.

And so I was helping my friends Luke and Alyssa move into their new house and an incredible morning of fellowship and time together and getting to pray over them and their marriage and this new adventure that they were stepping into as homeowners.

And we were about two hours in before I went into the garage with her husband Luke, and Luke and I were looking through things, and of course, I'm on the lookout.

I mean, you always, if you're moving people's stuff, you look through people's stuff to see what cool stuff the people have that you're moving.

And so I'm looking through her stuff, and I'm like, I open a box.

I'm telling you, like a scene from a movie, this glowing halo comes out right behind it.

Would you believe that this very soccer ball that I had lost almost a decade previously was sitting at the bottom of an empty box?

So you know what I did?

I went into the house and accused her of ruining my life, stealing my soccer ball, and jeopardizing my child.

No, I didn't do that.

It was a unique moment.

It's a soccer ball.

30 bucks, maybe?

40 bucks for this.

But there was just something about this.

I don't know why I began to have such a unique connection with this specific ball.

It just meant something to my career at that time.

So when I'm having this moment, all of a sudden, like a really humorous, funny moment, I'm almost reduced to tears, like this joyful lament of looking back at God's faithfulness through a simple ball of what he had brought me through.

Now, if you don't know my story, just briefly, I played soccer my entire life, had a bout of playing professionally for three and a half years.

The Lord gave me an opportunity to step into ministry, and out of my obedience and fear, candidly, I stepped into where I'm at today.

God has been faithful time and time and time again.

And this was recently after my decision to go full-time into ministry.

And so it was one of those moments where the Lord was like, Caden, I see you, I'm with you.

And let's joyfully look back on all the moments we got to celebrate together.

As I was singing about it this weekend, can I just tell you one of the ways that the Lord speaks to me is in the shower?

It's weird.

I don't know why.

But I'm praying about the message this weekend, and for some reason, this was the illustration that the Lord had laid upon my heart.

See, because for my friend Luke and Alyssa, this was really as insignificant as it could have gotten in their lives.

A ball that was left forgotten at the bottom of a box, and the the realization for me was the reality of how insignificant it was in her life until put in somebody else's hands, how immediately significant it became.

See, for so many of us, we're familiar with this miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000.

And I can't escape this idea, the reality of what was once insignificant in this story very quickly becomes significant in our lives.

How many of you are a byproduct this morning of recognizing that your life, as insignificant as it once was, when put in the hands of Jesus, became significant in ways you would have never imagined?

So this morning we get to go through a fun journey today watching Jesus have this interaction where he does one of the most miraculous things you and I could ever fathom, and people believe in him, people start to pursue him, people start to chase after him in ways that I can only pray for in our community.

Y'all ready to jump into the text this morning?

Let's do this thing.

I'm ready.

Here we go.

John chapter 6.

John 6 · chapter mention

Let's start here in verse 1.

It says, after this, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.

And a large crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.

There's a couple things that I don't want to skip over that actually become really important.

Jacob Vance, one of our pastors on staff, last week gave an incredible message about a really tension-filled conversation that Jesus has with some individuals, some leaders.

If you didn't catch that, I want to encourage you to go back to our YouTube channel and re-watch it because it's a continuation now as we're into John chapter 6, verse 1.

John 6:1

After this are the first two words that we see in John chapter 6.

John 6 · chapter mention

And so one would assume that the timeline of events was one after the next.

But when we dive deeper and uncover a little bit more what's happening, some scholars actually believe that it could have been as long as six months to one year in between the very end of John chapter 5 and the beginning of John chapter 6.

John 5 · chapter mention John 6 · chapter mention

Now, why is that important for you and I today?

Because this miracle that we're unpacking today, it's actually the only miracle that's recorded in all four Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

And so there's a level of significance and importance that we need to take from this word this morning that all four of the gospel writers deemed this is significant enough to make the cut of their writing.

But also in John, this is the fourth miracle that we've seen so far.

Now, in the other gospel writers and the other writers of the gospels in their accounts, by the time we have hit John chapter 6, some writers have written upwards of 13 miracles that Jesus has performed during his life in public ministry.

John 6 · chapter mention

That's important because if we're not careful, what we can do is we can so quickly breeze past the reality that there's a lot of ministry happening in between the spaces that we see in scripture.

So what's happening now is we see this large crowd of people is following Jesus.

The miracles are being performed, and people come up to the mountain where Jesus is at with his disciples, and they're maybe hoping for just a glimpse or taste for themselves.

This guy who has the power to heal the sick and do things that no man up until this point was able to do.

They're beginning to experience and people are starting to follow him and get curious about him.

They became curious about Jesus.

Look, because of here's what he's doing.

He said he became curious because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.

I love this so much because God, all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful, chose to come down here on earth, submit himself in the most humble position as a slave, like put on human flesh and went to serve us.

The way that his gospel message is conveyed is through ordinary people like you and I.

What do I mean by that?

Caden, the scripture says that Jesus came and healed the sick.

Well, I want to just tell you this morning that if you're here and you have not put your trust and faith in Jesus, or maybe there was that one moment, one time a couple years ago, where you felt convicted enough to just raise your hand and say, Lord, I'm all in, but your life hasn't looked like a life that follows Jesus.

I want to remind you that without Jesus, you're little more than the person in this story.

You're just sick.

And I think if we read that, it it could lead us to believe that sick in the sense of like physical ailment or illnesses that we're struggling with.

And while some of you may be experiencing that this morning, what I believe sickness looks like as it pertains to the scriptures here in 2026 is a mindset and a lifestyle that has put trust and faith in anything other than Jesus as your source of fulfillment and satisfaction.

Like if that's you this morning, I just we've got to be really honest and lead with right where we're at.

Like we can't get better if we're not gonna be honest about where we're at in our situation.

Apart from God, we are little more than sick.

Christian, let me remind you of the moment that was you.

See, because I think one of the biggest distractions that keeps us from pursuing Jesus is comfort and forgetting what he actually saved us from.

For some of you this morning, being sick might look like putting your trust and faith in your 401k.

For some of you this morning, the sickness that you might be carrying with might be the weight and burden of depression and anxiety that it makes it difficult to even do the most mundane of life.

Maybe the sickness that you carry with you this morning is a sickness that brings in baggage and trauma from your upbringing, your childhood, family issues.

I don't know what it is this morning, but can I tell you that apart from Jesus, that's simply little more than what we are.

But can I tell you the good news is the God that I serve, the man that saved me, says that I came not for those that think they're healthy, but for those that know they're sick.

Jesus died for the very person that says that they are sick and recognizes that.

And it's so important for us as followers of Jesus to be reminded of that simple yet so profound truth is apart from God, the best that we can ever experience is all that this world has to offer.

So if that's you and your commitment is to living a life separate from Jesus, I want you to make the most of the moments that you have here and now because this is the best that it's ever going to get.

For us as followers of Jesus, we know that here and now pales in comparison to the glory that is to come because we realize we were once sick, we were once among the broken, we were once the lost, the hurting, the unable to be saved by the standards of this world.

Yet Christ stepped into the middle of our situation and deemed us as worthy through the blood of his son, Jesus, on a cross.

Amen?

Church, are you with me this morning?

So Jesus chooses to use people to convey the message and hope of the world.

And now people begin to follow Jesus because the way that he's demonstrating this healing over the sick, those that were once dead, that are made new, those that were once lifeless, that now have been given a new life.

Why were the people interested in Jesus?

I think there's a couple of perspectives.

One, they may have seen Jesus perform these miracles firsthand.

But when you look at like the early church and the way that the mission of the gospel goes out, more likely the scenarios that they had started to hear based on word of mouth or genuine lifestyle changes.

Sick person who's been healed by the blood of Jesus.

Do people want to know Jesus more because of your story from death to life?

Do people look at you in your life and think, I don't know what you have, I don't know what your life looks like, I don't know what your morning routine is.

I don't know what your vitamin regimen is or your workout routine, but whatever it is, I need it.

And you get to say, yes, I'm jacked and beautiful.

Thank you, Jesus.

But it is by the blood of Jesus Christ that I stand before you with joy in my heart this morning.

Are you an attractional follower of Jesus?

Are you the type of person that people want to be known by you because there's something about you that's just different?

They want to know the source of your joy, of your happiness.

Or are you Eeyore?

I'm Caden.

Church is good.

Pastor preach is long, but man.

If that's you, I I want to give you a hug.

And I mean it because I have so much compassion for a person that says they're following Jesus, but doesn't know a life full of joy.

You're just missing it.

And the difference between you and me is little more than the fact that I'm living in what he's already promised me.

Do people want to taste to Jesus because of the way that you live your life?

Verse three.

Jesus went up to the mountain in there, he sat down with his disciples.

You could so quickly read past this.

A lot to unpack here.

But there's this simple reality that Jesus is now in the full-time life and ministry that's gone public.

Somewhere in this text is estimated that he's between like 31 to 32 years old.

He's in the latter half of his ministry.

He's got like a year, year and a half left before we know what's about to come with his life, his death, his resurrection, and then ascension into heaven.

You'd think a guy like this would want to be as productive as possible.

Like there's this world that we live in now where the power of the things that we have access to have made us more powerful workhorses than ever.

The use and ability of AI, like all these things.

And I'm not knocking that, but I'm just saying you'd think for a guy like Jesus that knows his time is coming short, he'd want to do more for the gospel.

What does he do?

He takes time to sit with his disciples.

Why?

Because Jesus makes time for the people that are important to him.

Jesus makes time for the people that are important to him.

And I'm sorry if you're here this morning and the lie that you've been living is Jesus doesn't have time for you because the Bible that I read could not say that's any further from the truth.

And my heart's broken for the people that go through life and you're unnamed, you're overlooked, you're talked down upon.

People don't even have the ability to make time for you and your life.

I am burdened for you.

But that's not Jesus.

Jesus, in the middle of all that he could have been doing, took time to meet with the people that matter most to him.

Do you know that you matter to Jesus most?

Do you know that he wants to just sit with you?

He wants to be with you, he wants to know your voice, he wants to be known by you.

And I think this is the mist of following Jesus so often, is we do it like an exchange.

Okay, God, I'm broken.

I give you the parts of my life that are broken enough to surrender to you, but I'm gonna keep the rest for me.

And we miss out on the beauty that the Lord just wants to be invited into every moment of your life.

I had this moment when I was in elementary school.

Like I was kind of the kid that could float around with every group, but I didn't have my one group.

You know what I'm talking about?

Like I would just bounce around, liked by most, bullied by a few.

And so there was like this moment where I would look to people that I wanted to be closer friends with, and the most dreaded day of my entire school year is when I knew my friend's birthdays were coming up.

Why?

Because I never got the invite in my mailbox.

But then I would always be like, oh, that's sick.

You're having a birthday party?

Like trying to weasel my way into this thing, and then the conversation that looks like, oh yeah, you can come if you want.

Ouch, is right.

Do you know how demoralizing that is?

As a nine-year-old fourth grader or fifth grader, whatever I was.

Like, I can come if I want.

Huh?

Well, I'm throwing my own birthday party.

This is January.

I'm born in September.

You know the difference of excitement when I would show up to school, check my mailbox, and there was an invitation waiting for me.

Caitlin, I want you to be here.

Like some of you can feel that tension relieved in your heart right now, where it's like, oh, I'm invited now.

Then why do we treat Jesus like he can come if he wants?

Why don't we look to him and say, Lord, if you're gonna make time for the people who matter to you, I know that I'm one of those people, Lord, I invite you into my life.

I invite you into my day.

I invite you here and now.

This is a practice I've had our students doing.

If you've got a smartphone, meaning an iPhone, you can go into your alarm clock and there's a note that you can set.

And in your notes, you can set every morning when I wake up.

And I've encouraged our students to literally write down, invite God into your day.

Something changes when he's with you.

You're not you're not too far gone for Jesus.

He wants to make time with you.

How do I know?

Because in the middle of a miracle that he's about to perform, he knows what's about to come.

He's willing to make time for the people that matter most to him, and you matter to Jesus today.

Verse 4.

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews was at hand.

We gotta stop here again, and there's so much to unpack here because this is really like the core of why this miracle becomes so important.

One of the biggest struggles I see in the faith is like missing out on, and when we're spending time with the Lord, we just read it at first blush.

We care so deeply about biblical literacy, dive beneath the surface, the surface.

Like, like see and uncover what the words actually mean.

Verse 4.

Now the Passover.

What is the Passover?

It's a great question, Parker.

Thanks for asking, bro.

Exodus 12 is where Jesus, or not Jesus, excuse me, God, helps Moses in the nation of Israel be delivered from captivity under Pharaoh and the Egyptian reign that they had over them.

And so Pharaoh is reluctant.

Moses says, Let my people go.

God give me the power to do so.

Pharaoh's reluctant.

Moses says, Let my people go.

And God's like, Pharaoh, if you're not gonna let his people go, I'm gonna send down ten plagues.

And Pharaoh's like, try me.

All right, don't try God.

Not a cool thing to do.

So, Exodus 12, the tenth of ten plagues.

This plague wiped over a community, a region, and the plague was that it was going to kill the firstborn child from each of these families.

But as much as God cares about you, he cares about us as his people, his chosen people, and so he provides a way out of this plague for those that he loves, the nation of Israel, and what they're experiencing called Passover.

And so what they would do is they would go and find a one-year-old, unblemished lamb.

It would be chosen on the tenth day and preserved until the 14th day to observe if it was really pure or not.

And then on that day they would sacrifice it and they would take the blood of this lamb and it would cover the doorposts that when the presence of God swept over this community and killed the firstborn child as promised, it would literally pass over the homes of those families that had sacrificed this lamb.

Y'all with me?

Hence why Passover becomes so important.

In Deuteronomy chapter 16, God gives this command, this decree that they are to remember this as a celebration.

Deuteronomy 16 · chapter mention

Year over year over year, remember God's faithfulness.

And so that's what's happening.

If you look down to John chapter 6, verse 10, you can see that about 5,000 men are named.

John 6:10

Well, we know that they're traveling from a far-off region, most of them.

Some of them would have been local to the area that Jesus was at right now, but it was the time of the year for the Passover.

It becomes so important because what we're about to see as well is there's this really distinct connection.

We know the miracle.

Jesus is about to feed somewhere between actually 10 and 20,000 people, because the way that it was counted was they would only count the men or the heads of the household for a couple reasons.

One, it was easier.

Two, it made it so much easier to track their military abilities.

And so if war were to come, or if they had to send men out into the military, they would know how to count and who was there based off of that count.

Does anybody remember after Israel is delivered from the captivity of Pharaoh and the Egyptians?

They're gonna go forward and they're gonna spend about 40 years in the wilderness.

And they cry out to God to take care of their very simple basic needs.

And do you know how the Lord provides daily with manna?

And you know what manna is, is it's bread from heaven.

Don't you love how in the details the God that we serve is that the way he's about to feed these 10 to 20,000 people is with the very thing that was provided for them years ago as they were going through this moment of Passover?

I just love that.

It's also a setup, and we're gonna see this in just a moment.

Let's look at verse 5.

Lifting up his eyes, then and seeing that a large crowd was coming towards him.

Jesus said to Philip, Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?

Verse 6.

He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.

And Philip answered him, 200 denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.

Two things that are happening here.

Jesus is setting himself up for the miracle, and he's testing Philip.

If you keep going and keep reading, you'll see that Jesus is soon to have a conversation where he claims to be the bread of life.

So he's gonna say, Hey, I'm gonna meet a very real physical need with bread to set you up for realizing that you have a spiritual need that I can fulfill.

Like the beauty and the way that he connects Passover and the feeding of the 5,000 with these five loaves of bread and two fish becomes so important in the scope of the story.

Jesus lifting his eyes then and seeing that a crowd was coming towards him.

Why would he have looked to then feed the people?

Well, again, it's a setup for the miracle, but it's safe to assume, and we know this context based off of why Jesus asks Philip.

It's scholars believe that Jesus asked Philip if they had enough to supply food for these people because Philip would have been the most culturally acquainted with the area.

He would have known where the local Chipotle was to go and feed the people.

Philip was Jesus' guy in this space.

But Jesus is setting up the miracle.

He knows that there's nothing there, he knows how Philip's gonna respond.

Yet he asks him, anyways, why was Jesus looking to supply food for these people?

It's to set up for the miracle, but also he realizes that these people would have been traveling, some of these people, upwards of a hundred miles over a days or weeks long journey to get to the temple in Jerusalem where Deuteronomy chapter 16 commands them to continue the Passover celebration.

Deuteronomy 16 · chapter mention

So Jesus sees a real physical need that he's able to step into and fulfill.

Jesus also recognizes, well, if these people are to be fed, there aren't any local places here that they can just go and get food for their journey.

Like this is a prime opportunity for Jesus to set up the miracle that he's about to perform.

I think it's also interesting that he tests Philip because Jesus knows in this passage of scripture what he's already gonna do.

So why ask Philip?

Because I think the same question is being asked of us today, and it's almost like Jesus knows what he's doing sometimes.

So Jesus asks this question because he knows that Philip is gonna respond in this way that's like, Jesus, look around.

And if you look at this, I don't think that there's anything even wrong in Philip's heart about what's happening right now.

I think he's just a very black and white dude.

He looks at the situation, he looks at the facts and said, We don't have enough.

Did you know that one denarii would have been equivalent to one day's worth of wages?

He says 200 of these things wouldn't even feed them a little bit, recognizing that him and his disciples would have had to go and work for months to even provide a little bit for the people that were coming to Jesus.

I love it.

I just picture this.

Jesus asks Philip the question and he knows the answer, and he sits back, he's like, I know.

Little smirk on his face.

But how often do we look at the insignificance of what we have and allow it to become the inability for why we're disobedient?

Philip does nothing more than just straight up look at what he has, decides it's not enough, and it becomes the inability for allowing God to do what he can do and will do.

This is all too true of our lives, all too often.

And I pray that there's a breakthrough moment for some of us today where we realize that anything that we have as insignificant as it might feel, is so much greater in the hands of Jesus.

But how often do we look at what little we have and decide it's not enough for us to even try giving to God because he couldn't do anything with it?

And so Philip is having this tension, but but I just wonder how much it applies to our lives today, where we're experiencing the spaces that God's asking us to give him what is insignificant in our lives.

And we look at this and we think like we're not rebelling against you, God, by not giving you these things.

We just think it matters so little that you couldn't do anything with it, anyways.

Therefore, we're gonna keep it to ourselves because we think that we're better at the things God has given us than God is with the things he's given us.

Does that not seem silly to you?

And then Jesus goes on to allow one of his other disciples, Andrew, verse 8.

Simon Peter's brother said to him, There's actually a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?

You see, Philip looks at the insignificance of what he has and it becomes his inability.

But what if we were to be people like Andrew who look at the insignificance of what we have?

I mean, he did the same math.

That's a lot of people, and we have not a lot of things.

This isn't gonna work.

But rather than looking at insignificance as an inability, Andrew starts to see his insignificance as an opportunity for God to show up and do what they never could on their own.

And so he starts to see, he looks and he says, Oh my goodness, of all these people coming, there's a young boy coming up.

The original Greek translates to he's a young boy, he's really young, and so he's coming and they see that he's got five barley loaves and two fish.

And if you know anything about barley and the way that it was used contextually, this type of bread isn't the French bread we get for our spaghetti dinner where we lather it up with butter and garlic, and thank you, Jesus, for carbs.

Amen.

Now, this was the type of bread that wasn't even fit barely for animals.

Like you ate barley loaves if you were if you were poor, poor.

This is like throwing hot dogs and macaroni and calling it a main course.

You know what I mean?

Anybody with me?

Like, we've been there before.

And the two fish that are referenced in this, this isn't the type of fish that your husband tells he he caught on his fishing trip with the boys.

These are little more than two pickled salted sardines.

But you know what I find interesting about Andrew is he looks at it as the opportunity.

He just chalks it up to saying, Yeah, we we really, I mean, we can't do anything right now.

This is so insignificant what we have.

We have nothing.

But I think there's just a little bit of faith in him that thinks, what what if?

Maybe, maybe, now we're using some conjecture.

Maybe Andrew, like Jesus tested Philip, Andrew says, I'm gonna test Jesus now.

What if I just take the few things that we do have and see what he could do with it?

One of the things that I love, and probably my favorite moments in ministry over the course of the year is we get to take every year, during the month of July, a trip with our leadership team, our adults and students.

And so we go away anywhere between three and four days during the course of the year.

During the course of the week.

It's a really intentional opportunity for us to recenter our hearts, to be prayerful about what we believe God's gonna do in the future.

It's very clearly designed to be a leadership retreat, and so we have very clear leadership takeaways, practical things that we hope to equip our team with so that we can be better ministers of the gospel when we get home.

And so we just got back from a treat.

We left Monday morning this week and got back Wednesday afternoon.

In fact, what we even do before we get there, I'll just cue you in on some of what God's doing in the ministry is we take, and I think it was like a group of 32 people that went on this trip, adults and students.

And we we started fasting on Saturday night.

We fasted all day Sunday and into Monday morning because we want to be in obedience with scripture and believe that as our sacrifice is made, God's gonna speak to us something that might experience over the retreat.

All of our students read the entire book of Philippians and it served as what was our daily conversation.

Every day, every morning, during this retreat of our leadership team, we spend the first hour, hour and a half just in God's Word.

So day one, Monday was Philippians one, day two was Philippians two, day three was Philippians three, and they finished day four when they got home.

Can I just I want to show you a video from the living room on the second night that we were there at this retreat?

I will show you the itinerary and tell you that that moment was not manufactured, that moment was not built on emotion, that moment was built on nothing more than a group of young people who are just smart enough to realize how insignificant they are and just desperate enough to believe that God could use them anyways.

May we have a heart like the next generation of Crossroads Church that recognizes I'm smart enough to know how insignificant I am, yet crazy enough, yet desperate enough, yet full of faith enough to believe that God could use me despite my insignificance.

And so this moment begins to unpack, and now prayer or students are praying for other students, and prayers are unfolding, repentance is happening, and joy is celebrated, and we didn't finish the night like in tears and sad, but oh my gosh, God save me.

We're jumping around, we're singing, we're dancing because the joy of the Lord is our strength.

When we realize, catch this, that when we're smart enough to know just how insignificant we are, yet believe enough that God could use us despite that.

We will never look the same as a people, as a church, or as a community.

Do you want the lost, the hurting, and the broken to know Jesus bad enough?

Do you want Jesus to perform miracles through what insignificances that you bring to the table?

Or have you settled into just being the Christian that says, I'm good, not going to hell?

And I think it's tough to connect this sometimes because you're like, yeah, that's a cool story that was written some 2,000 years ago, but like I don't think you understand.

This wasn't just a story to motivate me or feel good or get me sweating at 10 or 12 o'clock on a Sunday morning as I'm preaching.

This is the type of thing that changes lives, and not just lives, but eternities.

And if you're in Christ, you're a byproduct of these very miracles that are still happening today because of the person of Jesus.

When you start to believe that what you have is just insignificant enough that God could use it anyways, things start to change.

Miracles start to break through.

Jesus starts to do things you and I could never on our own.

Can I speak to this just for a moment?

I was about to preach again, but I just gotta get this off my chest.

I acknowledge that what we see and what I live in every single day is arguably the most broken generation our world has ever seen.

I'm not gonna be the youth pastor that stands up here and says anything different because I live in it.

Your guys' hearts would break when you hear the confessions of a seventh-grade kid and the things that they deal with.

But can I just encourage you this morning that rather than looking at this next generation and considering how insignificant they are because they're entitled and they are, because they're lazy and they are because of all the things, and most likely the truth is that they are, and you as a person, follower of Jesus, matriarchs, and patriarchs of the faith, would just start to believe that God could use you in your insignificance to turn back and strengthen the generation that is coming to be the future of the church.

I need you now more than ever.

I need us to knock down the narrative that says they're the most broken generation they are.

They are.

And that proves to be the most amazing, most beautiful opportunity for you to step in and share to the next what God did in your life.

I had a gentleman come to me after this first service.

He said, I'm new to following Jesus.

I couldn't tell you a place in scripture that resonates with my heart.

I can just tell you what Christ has done in my life and that other people are different because of what he's done in my life.

I'm doing everything I can to share my story.

You don't need to be a theologian, you don't need to have your doctorate, you don't need to know anything more than who you were before Christ, who you are in him, and the promise of who you are going to be to turn back and strengthen the future of the church.

I need you.

All right, let me keep preaching.

Verse 10, Jesus said, Have the people sit down, and now there was much grass in the place.

So the men sat down after this.

About 5,000 in number.

And Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given the thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated.

So also the fish, as much as they wanted.

And when they had eaten up their fill, he told his disciples, gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost.

So what did they do?

They gathered up the fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

Can I just remind you, church, this morning?

Can I remind you the very simple truth that what was once insignificant in five loaves of bread and two fish becomes significant when we put it into the hands of Jesus?

Like what you're living with in your life that you feel is insignificant, that you feel God is unable to use, what was once insignificant becomes significant when it's in the hands of Jesus.

So I just I beg, I plead with you.

Why do we live life so tight fisted to what God has given us?

This is one of the conversations that I wrestle with and struggle with most.

I have such deep compassion.

My heartbreaks for the person that thinks the most of this life looks like holding tight to everything God's given us.

Because I don't believe that you've experienced the level of a God that I serve.

That not only does he supply your every need on a daily basis, but there's a beauty in how much bread was left over.

He feeds this somewhere between 10 and 12,000 people, and he turns back to his disciples and says, Go get the leftovers.

In fact, the 12 baskets.

How many disciples were there?

12 disciples, 12 baskets.

Will God not take care of your every need?

And then someone you're willing to surrender what little you have.

That'll preach right there.

And again, my prayer for the person in the room that feels is like they have to type fist everything.

Like they have to have control over their life, like they have to manage everything everywhere all the time.

I pray that you have an encounter with the Lord where He just slowly begins to pry your fingers open.

Slowly says, I can be enough.

And I'll take care of your needs.

And when you don't think I will, I'll do it again.

And then we become to open up our hands and say, Lord, what insignificant things that I have.

I've realized they're so much better in your hands.

And then we're willing to give God the little things that we clung tightly to in our lives.

I think this is one of the greatest tensions in the faith in Waukus, followers of Jesus.

And maybe the single greatest problem you face in this room this morning isn't a money problem.

It's not a health problem.

It's not even a relationship problem.

Maybe it's just a surrender problem.

Would you be willing this morning to open up your hands and give back to God what was his in the first place?

Trusting he'll take care of you.

Verse 14, and this may be the thing that you and I struggle with most.

When the people had saw the sign that he had done, they said, This is indeed the prophet who has come into the world.

One of the things that I'm tempted to do when I'm willing to give God what is so insignificant in my life is do everything I can to make sure that I get the praise for it.

You ever have this moment?

I'll tell you a story.

This was just on the same core crew retreat.

Our students are fasting, and for many of them, this is their first time fasting.

Do you know how many text messages, phone calls, and statements were made about how hungry I am?

Oh, I'm fasting, oh, all these things.

And I think it was done out of innocence.

So it was a really great moment for me to be their pastor and say, hey, this really cool thing that we're doing right now to show Jesus that we're willing to die to ourselves and trust he's gonna provide for us is supposed to be between you and God, homie.

They're on Instagram, like fasting, like, no, none of that.

We can't be doing that.

But are you not tempted to do the same thing sometimes?

Isn't it tempting to give God what is his and then have the camera set up in the corner so it's recording that interaction and you look at the comments and feel good about yourself?

Isn't it tempting in the world that we live in with social media and people whose praise and applause seem louder than any other voice?

It can be so tempting to do things for God with this hidden agenda that it's really for me.

And so Jesus, he goes out, he uses what was once so insignificant, and because of the face of his disciples who are willing to take what was once insignificant, use it as the significant thing that God does through Jesus to perform this miracle, who gets the glory at the end of the day?

Not Andrew.

Not Philip, not that little boy.

It's Jesus.

Where in your life are you taking credit for the things that only Jesus could do?

That's the word for me this morning.

You know how easy it is to listen to praise and applause of other people or watch God do something incredible in my life and feel really good about who I am?

But do you know the invitation to follow Jesus isn't what you can gain?

It's the wildest thing ever.

To follow Jesus, the word of God says that you are to die to yourself, your flesh, your desires, every single moment of every single day.

That way you might find life.

So what I've realized that I have to do is I have this sinful inclination in my heart that even preaching up here from the pulpit, if I'm not careful, I'll go wait out in the lobby, not to minister to people, but to wait to hear how good I am.

So, do you know what I do before I ever go to the lobby?

I stop in the green room or I stop in the office and I surrender all.

I asked this question Did I rightly divide the word of God?

If yes, I win.

Then God, when I step out into this lobby, give me all the strength that I need to deflect praise to you and accept criticism where I need to be better.

May this never be the church of the pastor that is from the pulpit.

May this be the church of Jesus Christ, author and perfecter, savior of my life.

Oh my gosh, church.

Alrighty, now what?

Because I don't eat barley loaves of bread and two fish.

And let me be super honest: this message doesn't connect with me very well because I'm pretty significant.

And if that's you, I want to speak to that.

I recognize that there's a reality that somebody's struggling to connect with this message this morning because nothing in your life is insignificant.

Maybe it's the bank account that has commas in it, like not just one, but like a lot.

Maybe it's the house, the retirement plan, the family, maybe it's the marriage.

Everything in your world is going great.

Can I just say that from the pulpit today, I honor you?

I think all too often, if we're not careful, we can look down upon that.

But like God has you in that place for as much of a purpose as He has me right here and right now.

So maybe you are living a significant life.

But can I tell you, walk out of this building today?

Go look outside at a God who created everything, has control over everything, reign over everything, and try to think that what you have is anything significant compared to what he has control over.

The reality is whether you're here with financial security, marital security, health security, job security, all of that is insignificant to a God that has security and control over all.

This message is for all this morning.

What in your life have you been believing is so insignificant or maybe too significant that prompting on your heart, God is asking you to just get rid of and hand over to Him because it is going to be better in His hands than it ever was in yours.

That's a return on my investment that no market could pay off.

And maybe that's the sacrifice.

Some of the richest people I've met.

Bees following their net worth, billions.

You would never know, and are the most generous people.

Because they realize I can't take a lick of this with me when I'm gone, and I'm just gonna use it to help advance the kingdom.

Why did Jesus perform the miracle?

You guys are gonna take this, or I'm not ever getting off this stage.

Somebody said that apple did not fall far from that tree.

Church, I love you.

I just need to say that.

I'm so thankful for you guys.

Our family is better because of you.

Thank you for allowing us the platform to do ministry with you guys.

Thank you for giving us grace when we mess up.

Man, I'm gonna start crying.

That's not even my notes.

Let's pray.

I need us to wrestle with this.

What have you decided is insignificant that God is asking you to give to Him and watch it become significant?

Lord, that is the cry of my heart that we might be a Psalm 315 people that says, Into your hand I commit my life for you are redeeming me.

Lord, would we give you our eternity?

But more than that, would we give you every part, every facet, every key to every locked room in our house, Lord, that we would hold nothing back from you.

That we would look at how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things and find beauty in that because of how much more significant you are through us.

God, for the person in this room that's wrestling with even giving the insignificant to you.

May this word be true of them.

That in my life, Lord, when I've surrendered what I've deemed insignificant and I've watched you do more with it than I ever could have, my heart has become more willing to give you everything.

So I recognize that for some of us, the challenge to give you our lives feels so intimidating.

The challenge to surrender our bank accounts, the challenge to surrender our marriage, the challenge to surrender everything that we have and all that we are feels intimidating.

God prompts us to start with the insignificant, and I'm believing that the reward for that would lead us to want nothing more than to give you everything.

Holy Spirit, have your way in this place.

Church, would you stand to your feet?

I know no other way than to end a service like this with praise and worship to the one most high, the king that we celebrate before the service, the only name found worthy, because I believe that as we walk out these doors and we go to be a people on vision before God and advancing his kingdom, we're gonna take what's insignificant, walk and do significant things through it.

And next Sunday we're gonna worship the God who could, who was, is, and forever will be.

Y'all with me.