The Outpour - We Need a Miracle

Amen.

It is so good to see you and to be with you and to worship with you.

Today, I am just pumped for the opportunity to share a word with you that I think is timely, timeless, and necessary.

But before I do that, I just want to tell you kind of a little bit about who I am.

I'm from Somerset, Kentucky.

I've been there for about three years, and I get to lead recreation and outreach and young families ministry and pulpit supply.

And I love getting to do what I get to do, although weekly I still feel like I have no clue what I'm doing.

Like how could God use someone like me in ministry?

I seriously have no clue that in itself is a testament that God can use anyone.

But I have a beautiful family, which we have a picture of my family to.

That's Lake, the blonde boy holding the cards, that we had to literally let him hold anything and bribe him with all the gummies in the world just so he would smile for that picture.

And that's the best we got.

And then there's Lily, who is now seven months old.

That was taken a few months ago.

But I have a special place in my heart.

Let me go ahead and say this for Frankfurt, Kentucky, because I got the chance to serve as student pastor for about five or six years.

And uh love this community, love this area, love many people who are here even today.

Love the people, and it is just truly, I think sometimes when you get in the midst of it and when you're in the middle of it, sometimes you forget.

But it is truly special what God is doing at Multiply Church.

I mean, a church that is a few years old, that is fully paid off, already talking about expanding and deeply vested and engaged with the community.

I mean, can you just go ahead and praise the Lord for a church that God is blessed and God is continuing to bless?

And we certainly say praise the Lord for Pastor Forrest Coleman and for his vision to be a leader that would be outreach-minded.

Uh, and then also for the volunteers, the production staff, the parking lot crew, all of the volunteers that were here.

I was getting here at eight and they were already hyped up and amped up.

I didn't even have my coffee yet, so I was like, just give me some space.

But they were ready to go.

And so we praise the Lord for the volunteers that don't have to be here but show up because they want to be here.

Yeah, thank you.

It is a truly special thing what God's doing, and I can't emphasize that enough.

But as I as I took the time to pray about what it would be, the Lord wanted me to share.

I knew weeks out uh I was going to preach, I just took some time to sit with the Lord and say, God, what is it for these people, for this moment that's on your heart for these people?

And I'll just tell you, uh, maybe because I'm not spiritual enough, but I've never heard the audible, like Morgan Freeman voice of God.

Like, here's what it is, you know, do this.

But I have multiple times sensed a strong conviction while praying on what to share about.

And while seeking the Lord and praying and writing out and sensing what would be in the heart of the Lord, this thought, this topic, this story just kept coming to mind that I couldn't overlook it.

And so the title of this message is simply this We need a miracle.

Am I talking to anyone who'd be okay with a miracle from God today?

Anyone?

Good.

Thank you so much.

I just got to see who the Pentecostals were and who the Baptists were in the room.

Yep.

Pentecostals, y'all were ready for it.

Hey, let's go.

You going all in.

Baptists, like the way you know you're preaching good.

I'm at a Baptist church, so I know this, is you get an occasional blink.

And then if it's really, really, really good, you even get a little nod.

But the only thing is you've got to distinguish between like the nod of affirmation or the nod of them falling asleep.

And then you got the non-denon that they don't know what they are, so they just raise their hands.

They didn't scream or not.

But it is good to be with you and to bring this word.

I think the Lord's gonna bless you.

Uh I truly believe that this is a timely word for you as the church in this season that the Lord does want you to hear.

And so as I get into this, I'll be reading from John chapter 6.

John 6 · chapter mention

John chapter 6, it's a well-known story about fishes and loaves.

John 6 · chapter mention

And you've heard this story before, but I want to ask you to do something that maybe you've not been asked to do.

I want to ask you not to jump to the conclusion of how you know this story will end.

I mean, we've read this story, maybe we've heard it before, and if you haven't heard this story before, that's cool too.

It'll be your first time hearing it.

But at times we just know how the story ends, we rush to the miracle, but there is some tension in the middle.

And I want us to feel the weight of the tension in the middle of what is happening in this story.

As Jesus and his disciples are in a little bit of some tension.

And let me just go ahead and tell you when the world feels chaotic, the big sea church feels powerless, life's demands seem endless, what's going to work is just not a bunch of polished religious theological rhetoric.

We got enough of that.

What we need is the fresh breath of the Lord on our lives.

And a move we've got a miracle from the Lord.

And that is exactly what happens in this story when they are at an insufficient place.

A miracle meets them.

And if you feel like you're in an insufficient place, a place of inadequacy, confusion, frustration, I believe that you'll be blessed by this word today.

In John chapter 6, you can open your Bibles and flip there.

John 6 · chapter mention

You can open your iPads, or if you just want to read along on the screen, that is fine too.

But let me set the stage for where we're jumping in so you kind of understand where we're at.

Jesus and his disciples are going throughout the land performing miracles, and they're seeing people restored, and they're preaching the kingdom of God is coming near.

And as they're seeing these miracles, all these people start following Jesus because he's doing these great things.

And as Jesus is doing these great things, he does what is not abnormal for him to do.

He pulls apart on a mountainside.

And as he is on the mountainside, he's pulling apart to get some rest.

I mean, he constantly did it.

We we say early in the morning he rose and he went to the mountainside to pray and to get some rest.

Because you know as well as I know, listen to me, the only thing more draining than dealing with people is dealing with religious church people.

And Jesus is exhausted.

He wants a nap.

That's it.

We don't even have to over spiritualize that.

He's just exhausted.

He wants a nap.

So he pulls apart, goes on the mountainside, he's praying, he's trying to seek some rest.

And as he's on this mountainside, he sees thousands of people coming near him.

And this is the story that we hop into, and it's going to be a lot of fun.

So Jesus sees these people coming near him, and he starts to talk with his disciples.

Watch this.

In John chapter 6, verse 1, it says this sometime after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee.

John 6:1

That is, the Sea of Tiberias.

And a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs that he had performed by healing the sick.

Then Jesus went up on a mountain and sat down with his disciples.

The Jewish Passover festival was near, so that meant a lot of people were actually in town for that Passover festival.

It was a big festival.

But when Jesus looked up and he saw a great crowd coming toward him, watch what he said to Philip.

He said, Philip, where are we going to buy enough bread for these people to eat?

And he asked this only to what?

Test him.

He already had in mind what he was going to do.

But Philip answered, it would take more than a half of a year's wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite.

But then there was another disciple, Andrew, some of Peter's brother, who spoke up and said, I mean, here's a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go amongst so many?

And in this moment, there's a little bit of tension here.

I think at times we we gloss over this and we just read right to the miracle.

But the fact of the matter is they're in this place of being in this remote place, trying to get some rest, and all these people are coming to them.

And Jesus doesn't only say we need to go minister him, Jesus says we need to feed them too.

How are we going to feed them, Philip?

Philip, in this moment, answers like a lot of us would.

I don't know if we can foot that bill, Jesus.

That's a lot of work, that's a lot of pay.

I don't know that we can do it.

But one of the interesting phrases that I think we miss when we read this story so many times is is this said, Jesus asked to test Philip.

He already had an answer in mind.

But there was a test to see, hey Philip, what are you leaning on right now?

Are you leaning on what you can do for these people?

Are you leaning on what I can do through you for these people?

Philip answers, hey, I can't do it.

We don't have enough wages.

I just want to remind someone if the Lord feels distant from you in this season, maybe the Lord feels silent, maybe you feel like there's just this abnormal amount of like, how am I supposed to move forward in life when my life looks like this?

If the Lord has you in a test, don't discount the credit of a test.

The Lord used the test to show Philip what was inside of Philip.

We wouldn't know really what Philip was thinking until Philip said, we can't afford it.

Tests are used sometimes by the Lord just to show what's inside of you.

Because we as people of comfort, we don't want to deal with the hatred that we have going on, the bitterness that's still lingering, some of the chaos in our minds that doesn't make sense.

But tests have a way of bringing things to the surface that we have tried to suppress for far too long.

And isn't it amazing that Jesus loves you enough to get the yuck out of you so that he can make room for his spirit to get inside of you?

And so the test, don't discount and discredit God's goodness.

God's actually got you in a test, maybe because he loves you more than you can understand and realize.

The test has a way of growing you as well into the person that God has called you to be.

So if you find yourself in a troublesome workspace, if you find yourself in a troublesome place, it's not because God's forgotten about you.

Could it be that it's because God loves you and He's growing you and strengthening your faith, strengthening your patience, strengthening your love for people?

Jesus asked, but he already knew the answer.

If you're in a test, let me just go ahead and tell you.

Don't wish your way out of it.

Because how you respond in this test will determine your readiness for the next season and the next test.

And it's very important how you walk through this test in this season.

As he asks this question, they'll fill up answers like many of us would.

Then Andrew, Andrew is like the dude that probably did his devotions every day and didn't miss and was like the solid dude.

Andrew comes and he's like, hey, Jesus, look what I've got.

I've got some fishes and I've got some loaves.

Now, it may not be enough, but this is all I've got.

Listen, if we want to see a miracle from God, here's what it starts with bring what you have.

If they would have discredited a boy's lunch because of how small it was, they would have missed out on the miracle that God wanted to do.

Let me go ahead and say it like this to you and me.

If you're waiting for the big and the great to be faithful and the small and mundane, you'll miss the big and the great.

Ah, God, I'm waiting and waiting and waiting for you to send the right person, and they're gonna talk to me, and they're gonna stand before me, and they're gonna hug me, and they're gonna kiss me right on the cheek.

Then I'll know that you're God.

And it's like, bro, sometimes all you got to do is get out of your car, step out, and talk to someone.

Be faithful in the small.

There are some of us in there waiting, waiting, God, I'm waiting for a gracious financial provision of generosity before I give generously.

And so I'm just gonna keep waiting and waiting and waiting.

And the truth of the matter is this even if you got the big generous offering, if you're not giving generously now, you're just gonna find something else to spend it on when you get a big generous offering.

So if you're waiting for the big and the great to be faithful and the small and mundane, you'll miss the big and the great.

But we've got to bring what we have.

Bring what we can.

God, it's not much.

It's from a broken family, but this is all I have.

God, it's not much, but this is all I have.

And I trust you with it.

I am bringing what I have to you.

I want to take off the preaching hat for just a little bit and go into a little bit of a teaching mode because at many times I think there's this Christianese language that we can speak, and it sounds really good, but we have no concept for what it really means.

There's this word called tithing that at times we just kind of assume with, oh yeah, tithing and is generosity and tithing is giving, and tithing is good.

And that's great, but do we know what it means?

I want to give you a few quick things of what tithing looks like.

And before you say, who are you, guest preacher, to talk about my tithing and my money?

I'm just telling you, I'm I'm teaching something called faithfulness because it has a lot more to do with money than it does your heart's position, teaching you how to be faithful to Jesus.

And financial faithfulness is important to the kingdom as well.

So as we talk about this concept of tithing, the first is this tithing isn't much as much a money thing as it is a heart thing.

Matthew 6.21 says this for where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.

Let me take this a step further, if I could.

And say this.

You need to hear me say this.

This is this is really, really good to hear.

Every paycheck, an increase, an income that you receive is a test of your priorities.

All of it is a test of your priorities.

So let me go ahead and take this a step further by saying this.

What is the first thing that you think about when you receive a financial increase?

For some of us, yeah, Bills, for some of us, we think about the mortgage because security is important to us.

For some of us, we think about the cars or the clothes because status is important to us.

For some of us, we think about Amazon Prime.

Hello.

Because consumerism is important to us.

Stuff is important to us.

For some of us, we think about Starbucks coffee because caffeine is important to us.

But what tithing does is this the first 10%, God, of everything I make is yours because, Lord, you're important to me.

You are signifying the significance, you are you are proclaiming the significance of the Lord as priority, importance in your life by giving 10%.

The first 10%.

And don't you know this?

Please hear me say this.

Don't you know the Lord can do far more with 90% in your life than you could do with 100% anyway?

So tithing is not as much a funny thing as it is a hard thing.

We're giving the first God to show our priority.

Number number two is this tithing is not just an old testament thing.

Well, that's old testament.

Now we're living in a new era, so we don't have to follow that anymore.

I've heard many say.

The fact of the matter is, even before the covenant was established with the temple, Abraham was giving his first fruits to the Lord.

He was sacrificing and surrendering.

Then the covenant was established, they were given 10%.

Then the New Testament comes and it says in Acts, all believers sold all that they had so that the needs of others would be met.

So this is not just an Old Testament thing.

This is a calling and an invitation for all believers to participate and to follow Jesus.

So when you're called to tithe, you are invited to be a part, a participant in the work of God, not just a spectator.

You are giving so that gospel seed can be sown and thrown into the lives of others.

And the third truth about tithing is this, before I get off of this tithing step, is this tithing is not as much generosity as it is obedience.

Let me say it this way.

If I were to give you my card and I said, can you go to Walmart and get some lights?

And once you get the lights, bring my card back.

If you were to bring my card back to me and say, Leighton, look, I just want to be so generous to you to give you your card back.

Would that be generosity for you to give me my card back?

No.

That's the right answer.

It would be responsibility to give me my card back.

And the same is true with our tithes.

We're giving 10%.

It's not just this, oh yeah, I'm being lavishly generous, Lord, look at me, pat me on the back.

It is responsibility and obedience to the Lord to say, God, I trust you to take care of the rest of my finances.

So I'm giving you 10% and trusting you with the rest.

When I first started doing this, actually, it was in high school, the Lord just radically saved and changed my heart and life.

And I was working at uh Hardee's.

I was in the back.

I would say flipping burgers, but they're charbroiled, so you had to put them on like the little conveyor belt and get them sent through.

And uh I had a guy that really just cared a lot about Jesus and cared a lot about younger guys coming up and kind of mentored and taught me this concept of like tithing and generosity.

I didn't really know what it meant, but I just thought I'm not really making enough, is what my initial inclination.

I'm not making enough to do it.

Like I didn't get blessed with the Daddy's Money Club of like getting everything bought and handed, and so it was like, man, I just felt like I was just grinding to make the bills, you know, like to pay for the car insurance and to pay for the gas and then to take a girl out because I wanted to do that.

You know, and so when he brought this concept to me, I thought, well, I don't really have a lot, but if this is what it looks like to follow Jesus, I'll just do it.

So I started giving.

I only made like a hundred and something dollars a week too.

Like he was madest.

This was before inflation, too.

So I mean$100 went a lot further than it would have gone now, but still it didn't go very far.

And I remember I just started giving 10% to the Lord.

And I'm telling you something, I didn't understand, I was blind, but the Lord had a way of supplying and caring for the areas of my life and richly, generously returning back more than I could have ever done with the full 100%.

Really?

It's just how he works.

And if you are waiting for the big check to be faithful in the tithe, you'll miss out.

Because listen, it it's it's hard to give when you don't have much, but it's also hard to give when you do have much, because 10% is a lot more.

So it just increases.

So you just start being faithful where you're at.

I'm just bringing what I have, I'm just bringing what I can.

And then the story goes on.

In verse 10, it says this Jesus said, Have the people what?

There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down.

About 5,000 men were there.

Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.

And he did the same with the fish.

What?

Jesus, all these people are coming to you.

What are we gonna do?

Can we have them start singing?

Can we have them start praising?

Can we have them start doing something?

Have them sit down first.

There's something about a posture of surrender that provides availability for the Lord to do what he wants to do.

Can I just tell someone this that maybe you are wore out and flustered and frustrated because you feel like you have been grinding and grinding and grinding to try to earn God's love?

Can I tell you this, please?

This will relieve someone.

The Lord can do far more through your submission than he can do through your strengths.

Actually, I'll just go ahead and say it from this affirmative of a place.

The Lord will do far more through your submission than he will do through your strengths.

Paul says it like this in 2 Corinthians, when Paul is saying, Lord, take this thorn from me.

I'm in this difficult situation.

We don't know what the thorn is exactly, but Paul says, Take it from me, Lord, take it.

This is a difficult situation.

I need you to take it.

And the Lord responds, My grace is sufficient for you.

Because he said this, my power is made perfect in what?

In your weakness.

In your weakness.

Now we would at times read that and say, No, your power should be made perfect in my strengths.

Your power should be made perfect in what I have to bring to the table.

But weakness is the avenue through which Christ loves working through.

Because when we realize that we can't do it in our strength, that we need his strength, he loves showing up and showing his strength.

But the prerequisite is realizing that we are weak and we can't do it without him.

That we need his grace and we need his mercy, his power is sufficient in our weakness.

Let me illustrate it for you like this.

If I were to take a basketball and had it in my hands, the basketball may be worth$60 or$75, right?

But you put that basketball in the hands of LeBron James, who is, let me just go ahead and end the debate.

The goat, the true goat, you know.

You know it.

I mean, some of you guys can still be wrong, and that's okay.

Well, I'll still worship alongside you.

But you were to put this ball in LeBron James' hands, all of a sudden people pay to watch.

People pay for the ads and the sponsorships and the commercials.

That ball becomes worth$50,$60 million because it matters whose hands that it's in.

If I were to take a football, it would be worth$30, maybe$40, but you put it in the hands of Peyton Manning.

All of a sudden, these radio shows and broadcasters and commercials and people are paying to watch and people are paying to sit and it becomes worth millions of dollars because it matters whose hands that it's in.

If you were to take a golf club and put it in my hands, it might be worth$10.

It loses value because of how bad I am at golf.

But if you put it in the hands of Tiger Woods and there's all these brand ambassadors and sponsorships and clothing deals, all of a sudden it's worth five or six million dollars because it matters whose hands that it's in.

If you take a few fish and a few pieces of bread and you put it in my hands, there might be room for leftovers.

Actually, no, because I just finish my plate every time, and then I typically finish Lauren's plate too.

But you put it in the hands of Jesus, and thousands and thousands of people are fed with abundance and increase.

Listen, you put a stick in my hand, and I might beat a dog with it.

I got attacked by a dog a few months ago, so I just walked the neighborhood with a stick now.

Lawrence and I am the crazy neighbor that walks.

I'm ready to beat every dog if they want to come out.

Because it tore my clothes and bloodied my side.

But you put a stick in my hand, and I might be able to beat a dog.

That's it.

Sorry for you animal lovers.

Don't bring your dog near me and you don't have to worry about it.

But you put a stick in my hand, that's all I can do with it.

But you put that, you put that same stick in the hand of Moses and it becomes a rod that can part a sea because it matters whose hands that it's in.

If you put a slingshot and you put it in my hand, it's just a little kid's toy.

I might not do much with it.

I might share with Lake.

But if you put that slingshot in the hands of King David, he defeats Goliath and sends armies fleeing so that his nation finds victory.

You put a few nails in my hand, and I might be able to nail down a plank of wood, but you put the nails in the hands of Jesus and He saves the world and provides everlasting eternal life because it matters whose hands that it's in.

So I would say this to you.

You can take your problems, you can take your money, you can take your situation, and you can cling tight, and that's all there'll ever be in your hands.

Or you can put them in the hands of the maker of heaven and earth who is limitless in power and love, who is ready to show the abundance of his grace and mercy.

Whose hands is your life and your finances in?

It's worth considering because it does matter whose hands that it's in.

Number one, bring what you have, bring what you can.

Number two, give it to Jesus and sit down.

He can do more through our submission.

I mean, and it's not mine to carry anymore, Lord, because I've given it, it's not mine to carry.

It's not my problem to carry, it's not my burden to bear.

I've given it over to Jesus, and I'm setting, letting him take care of these people in our sitting.

And the story continues in verse 12.

If you're still with me, say I'm in.

Alright, verse 12.

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, gather the pieces that are left over.

Let nothing be wasted.

So they gathered them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces of five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

This is interesting.

Jesus could have said, disciples, you come near me.

We're gonna eat.

These people can watch, these people can take care of themselves.

And he would have every right and reason to do so.

He could have eaten and just said, You guys go find something later.

But this is deeply descriptive of the heartbeat of the Father.

He is concerned with the needs and the hunger of others, so much so to a point that he distributes this small amount to feed the multitudes.

If we want to be a people that see a miracle of God, listen to me and please hear me say this.

We've got to live in a spirituality that's bigger than us.

We've got to be a people that care about the needs and the hurts and the brokenness and the darkness and the lostness of our community.

I would go as far as to say this.

Let us never become a church that says, Come and see how good I am.

Come and see how put together my life is.

Let us always be a church that is always about go and tell how good he is.

If the disciples would have said, God, I just want you to meet my needs, I just want you to do for me, forget about these other people, they would have missed out on the moment and the miracle.

Jesus illustrated.

His heart is for others.

His heart is for others.

Is your heart, is your spirituality for others?

Or is it just about what you want God to do in your own life?

I've heard it said if God were to answer every prayer that you have prayed this week, would anyone else's life other than yours would be different?

Take inventory of what am I praying and asking for?

Am I still asking for salvation?

Am I still asking for restoration of marriages of those that are broken and hurting?

Am I still asking for strength and renewal of those that are going through mental hardships and strength?

Am I still bringing to the Father the needs of others?

Am I still living in such a way that others are being blessed?

And that let me just go ahead and say this and throw this in there.

This is a free little nugget.

Your tithe is an opportunity to sell into others' lives.

That's what this church is doing by ministering to incarcerated families in the Juan to Joyce Robinson Foundation.

That families that are fatherless are now being met with the hope of Jesus while their father is in jail.

This is what this church is doing by ministering on K-State's campus with students coming from all around the nation to this place in Kentucky.

This is what the church is doing by buying gifts for those families that are in bases.

This is what this church is doing to be others-minded and others-focused.

And your tithe allows you the opportunity to send your dollar where you may not be able to step, but where a difference is being made.

I I heard a profound story of a guy who started Teen Challenge, which is a rehab and recovery group.

And as he started Teen Challenge, he really didn't have it in mind to start it at all.

But he went on this mission trip, and while he was on this mission trip, he saw this lady serving.

This lady was Mother Teresa.

And he was watching and watching the way the different things were being done.

And Mother Teresa stopped what she was doing one day to come to him and she said, I've just got a question for you.

I don't know you, and you don't know me, but this is my question.

What are you doing for the least and the last and the last of these?

And he said, I tried with all my might to just come up with like a really good answer, but I just couldn't find anything.

So he said, I looked back at her and I kind of shrugged a little bit.

To which she said, the lady, Mother Teresa, nodded and walked away.

That was it.

But he got on the plane, and that question kept running through his mind, kept running through his mind, what am I doing for the least last month?

Then he got to his hotel and he tried to lay down, and he said he could not sleep.

That question was tormenting him.

He said he realized that the question right now came from Mother Teresa.

He said, But one day that question is going to come from Jesus Christ when I stand before him, what are you doing for the least lasting lost of these?

And he said, I better have an answer.

He started team challenge who has seen thousands and thousands of people come from recovery, broken backgrounds, and find freedom and hope in recovery in the name of Jesus.

My question for you is this, what are you doing for the least lasting lost of these?

Are you giving?

So that they can be sought and covered with the encouragement and hope of Jesus.

Are you sowing?

Are you are you serving?

Like, what are you doing with what God has given you?

You can keep making excuses and say, Yeah, but I don't have the personality.

Yeah, but I didn't come from the right family, yeah, but I don't dress the part, yeah, but I don't have enough money.

Or you can just start with where you're at and saying, God, I'm just gonna be faithful with where I'm at, I'm gonna give it to you, I'm gonna sit down, and I'm gonna be focused on what you want to do in and through me in the lives of others.

And God will bless that.

He will bless that.

Here's what I'd ask you to do.

I I I know it's not right for me to ask a favor of you because I'm a guest preacher coming into this house, but I would ask you to do this for me if you could.

Write this down, take a picture, whatever you've got to do.

There's a prayer that I'm praying this year that I would ask for all who follow Christ to pray this same prayer.

Sean Johnson, who's pastor at Red Rock's Church, gave a message about how he is asking his church to pray this prayer and to lean in to this prayer.

And this is a great way to get our eyes off of ourselves and on the kingdom of God.

And it's this prayer.

This is this is, if you ask me, what are you most praying for right now?

This is the prayer that I'm most consistently praying right now.

This is it.

Based on everything that you have done for me, Lord, what can I give, or let me say this, what can I do this year to build your kingdom, not just my own?

Now, watch out because God loves answering those prayers.

God delights in answering those prayers.

And when we answer those prayers, God will grace you with wisdom and vision and opportunity to serve.

But in in today's time, in today's age, not just because it's Christmas time and Thanksgiving time, but because we live in a very hedonistic society, the question is always, what can you do for me, God?

What can you do for me, others?

But when you start having the heartbeat of heaven, your prayer will become, God, what can I give or do this year to build your kingdom, not just my own?

And watch the way that God answers that prayer.

Would you join with me in praying that?

Would I have anyone that would join with me in praying that?

Anyone that would join with me in praying that.

Good, I've got one spiritual person in this place.

Good.

Rest of you guys, you guys can come to the altar right now.

No, I'm joking.

But I will say this: when you bring what you have, you give it to Jesus and sit down.

Do you have a heartbeat that's for others?

God always has a way of blessing and honoring that.

As we get to the last part, and I close out verse 14, it says this in the story.

After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they begin to say, Surely this is the prophet who is to come into the world.

Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

People see this miracle and they just can't help but say, Man, he's a prophet, he's a king.

There's something special about this guy.

There's something different about this guy, unique.

You know what you don't find in this story?

Him applauding the little boy.

Man, that's a good boy, that's a good lunch.

They don't even applaud the disciples.

They start applauding Jesus as a believer and follower of Jesus.

Let us not forget to consistently.

This is the fourth point right here, and this is where I close out.

Please lean in.

If you're checked out right now, lean in.

You need to hear this.

Lean in.

Don't forget to celebrate the Lord.

Consistently and passionately.

Celebrate his goodness and mercy.

If for nothing else in your life you feel like you can celebrate, you have enough reason to celebrate because he sent his son Jesus to die in your place to take away your sin for all eternity.

If Jesus never answered another prayer you pray from now to the end of your life, though he's good and he loves and delights in answering prayers, but if he never answers another prayer you pray from now until the end of your life, he has already been better to you than you deserve.

When is the last time?

I'm not just talking about in this church.

It's easy to do in this church.

Come in and praise and to celebrate and God, you're so good and so faithful and so strong and somebody.

But when is the last time really?

I'm just getting practical with you.

When is the last time that you have just set still in silence and gratitude?

Just said, God, I want to thank you for loving me when I've given you every reason not to love me.

I want to thank you that you've been so patient in dealing with me.

I want to thank you that though what the enemy meant for evil in my life, you have turned for good.

I just want to thank you for blessing me with the family that I have.

I want to thank you for blessing me with the car that I have.

I want to thank you for blessing me with the house that I have right now.

I want to thank you for blessing me with the reminder that I am weak and I need your strength.

So I want to thank you that these areas of what feel like weakness and insecurity and insufficiency in my life are just reminders to lean on your strength.

When is the last time that you have celebrated his goodness towards you?

Don't forget, bring what you have, yeah.

Give it to Jesus and sit down, yeah.

Be about others, but don't forget to celebrate the work of Jesus.

Man, we can get so excited cheering for sports, we can get so excited cheering for our team.

Then it comes to Jesus in church, and we're like, I better be a good container, little boy and girl.

That's just not it.

You see, uh people who are so moved, say, this guy is special, there's a prophet, there's a king, there's something about this guy.

What would it look like for believers to say, Jesus, there's just something about you worth pursuing and worth loving and worth giving myself to?

It's actually been proven, not even by biblical studies, but by psychological studies, that gratitude and anxiety cannot coexist.

So one of the greatest ways to cope with anxiety is just to start being grateful.

You can be anxious about what you don't have, or anxious about where you should be or what you should be doing, or you can just start being grateful for what God has done, what he is doing, what he will continue to do.

This is a story that I'm reminded of that as I close out.

In 1989, there was an 8.7 uh earthquake that hit Armenia, and within four minutes, thousands were killed.

And in this story, there's a silver lining in this story of a dad who goes to his son's school after everything's dilapidated and devastated.

He sees a pile of rubble where he dropped his son off at school.

And it's just a pile of rubble.

Can you imagine as a parent the heaviness as he's standing there with great grief?

He remembers, I made a promise to my son that I would go after him and that I wouldn't give up.

So he starts going and he's pulling back rock and stone and wood, and he's pulling it back and he's pulling it back for five or six hours.

He's doing this.

And emergency personnel are coming around him and they're saying, Listen, you're in a manic state right now.

You can leave, you're putting yourself in danger.

And he said, But I made a promise to my son that I would find him, that I would care for him, that I would pursue him.

Ten hours go by, no eating, no sleeping.

Others are coming around there saying, Listen, man, you're not gonna find him, there's no hope.

He said, But I made a promise to my son.

24 hours go by and he's still digging and digging and digging, not finding or hearing anything.

The wife comes back and she said, and the mom of the kid and said, Listen, I guess we've just got to accept our loss now.

To which he said, But I made a promise to him and I can't stop now.

At 36 hours, as he's digging with no sleep, with no meal, he hears rustling underneath a rock.

And underneath that rock, he hears a voice that sounds familiar that says, Dad, is that you?

To which his heart explodes with passion.

And he pulls back the last rock, and his son comes out, and his son is holding the hand of his two friends that were lodged under the corner of a rock lodging.

And his son turns to his friends and he says, See, I told you, I told you that if my dad is alive, he promised me that he wouldn't give up on me.

Can I just tell you that you serve a father who has not given up on you?

You serve a father who has promised to love and to pursue and to restore and to graciously find and accept and welcome you.

You serve a father that though you've given him every reason not to love you, he has still loved you.

Though you've given him every reason to turn his back and walk the other way, he is still digging and longing for you because he loves you, not because you're lovable, but because he is full of love and his love outruns your unlovely.

That's good news.

And he is pursuing you, and there are some that I'm talking to.

You need to hear this, and you're far from the Lord, and you think God's more preoccupied and concerned with more religious put-together people than you.

And that is a lie straight from the pit of hell.

He loves loving you, he loves loving you.

It's who he is, and there are some that you're lost.

Listen, I know, and even a room in a group this size, that there are some that don't have a relationship with Jesus.

And you can't get through this life on your own strength, and you certainly can't get through everlasting life on your strength.

If you die apart from Jesus, apart from a relationship with him, you will spend eternity in suffering.

But if you trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He's the only one who provides everlasting life.

Jesus didn't only talk about loving you, he didn't only think about loving you, he didn't think it was just a good idea, he did something about loving you.

He came and he died in your place.

After he died, he rose from the tomb and he's seated in heaven with God.

Listen to this, hear this.

He's seated at the right hand of the Father, Scripture says.

Right hand is always symbolic of authority.

Jesus is the only one with enough authority to save, to strengthen, and to supply you.

So are you leaning on him?

Are you leaning on yourself?

Maybe for you, you're coming, maybe you're just discouraged.

Maybe your heart's just kind of distracted by all the things in this world and what people have done to you or what people have said to you.

You just need to give it to Jesus and sit down.

You've been carrying a burden for far too long that has weighed on your mind and weighed on your heart and weighed on your health, and you need to give it to Jesus and sit down.

I know I'm talking to some people who Jesus is ready, available, and able for a miracle.

But will you say yes?

You know, with his promise comes the premise of us agreeing.

Yeah, we want his promise, we want his miracle, we want his power.

The premise is that we submit and surrender.

What is the yes that God's calling you to?

You can't hear a message like this and stay the same and sit on your hands.

There's always a step to take, a yes to say.

What is God calling you to do?

Maybe on this generosity day, he's just calling you to give the first 10%.

You've never tithed before, but you're you're supposed to give 10% on this generosity day.

You've never done it before, and you've heard this message, and I'm not, there's no condemnation.

This is just lovingly me suggesting you've been fully faithful with what God's given you.

Maybe for you, you've been far from Jesus and you've been distracted, and you need to return to a father with his arms open.

He is not mad at you, he is madly in love with you.

Maybe for some, you you are so far from Jesus, you're lost.

You've never accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.

You can't jump through enough hoops to save yourself.

I can't do enough to save you.

But if you would say, forgive me, Jesus, I give my life to you, he would save you.

What's your yes?

Let's pray.

Lord, we're so thankful and appreciative of the truth.

That you're not a God that stands afar, that we just shout at and try to hope that we can do enough to earn your attention.

No, but you're a God that comes close and draws near to us, your word says, as we draw near to you.

So we thank you that we can trust you.

You are a man of your word.

You're faithful to the end.

Though we are faithless at times, you are faithful.

Lord, thank you for loving us and pursuing us.

Thank you for what you're doing in this church, the way that you're utilizing this church to make a difference in the capital city of Frankfurt, Kentucky.

May your anointing continue to strengthen the leadership, the volunteers, and the attendees here to make much of you and to see what you would want to do in the lives of others in this community.

We just thank you in great faith for the many lives that you are going to change and for the lives that you have already changed.

And Lord, as we hear this word, let us not just be a hearer of this word, but let us also be a doer with this word.

Lord, maybe there are some who are just tired running on their own strength and they need to say yes to you.

May that today be the day they say yes to you.

Maybe there are some that just need to receive prayer that have been carrying something that they have yet to bring it to the light, and today is the day that you want to bring it to the light.

Maybe for some they're they're lost and they just need to say yes to you as Lord and Savior.

We know delay is Satan's favorite tactic.

Just keep putting it off, just keep putting it off, just keep putting it off.

But Lord, today, because of your love, you want them to have a relationship with you and accept you as Lord and Savior of their heart and lives.

May you give your people strength just to say yes to you.

Maybe to give beyond what feels comfortable.

May you just give them strength just to say yes to you.

Maybe to lay their lives down in gratitude.

Maybe just to sit still and just to begin to thank you for what you have done.

Just to give you praise.

We love you.

We honor you.

It's in Jesus' name we pray.

But he said, Amen.

Would you stand and would you worship?

And you respond as the Lord is leading.

I'll be down front.

It would be my honor to pray with you.

If you would need someone to pray with, or if you have a decision to make, or if you just want to pray, throw your hands up, lift your hands if you just want to sit still.

Just say yes to whatever the Lord is doing.

All he needs is your yes.

Let us worship.