Sermon
Come, follow me // #21 - Jesus feeds the 4,000 (Mark 8:1-21)
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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During those days, another large crowd gathered since said
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nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples to
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him and said, I have compassion for these people.
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They have already been with me three days and have nothing to
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eat. If I send them away home hungry
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they will collapse on the way because some of them have come a
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long distance. His disciples answered, where in
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this remote place. Can anyone get enough bread to
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feed them? How many loaves do you have?
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Jesus asked seven. They replied.
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He told the crowd to sit down on the ground when he had taken the
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seven Loaves and given. Thanks, he broke them and gave
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them to his disciples to distribute to the people and
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they did. So they had a few small fish as
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well. He gave thanks for them.
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Also and told the disciples to distribute them the people at
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and were satisfied. afterwards, the disciples picked up seven,
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basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over about 4,000 were
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present After he had sent them away, he got into the boat with
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his disciples and went into the region of dalmanutha.
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The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus the test and they
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asked him for a sign from Heaven.
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Decide deeply and said, why does this generation asks for a sign?
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Truly I tell you. No sign will be given to it.
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Then he left them got back into the boat and cross to the other
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side. The disciples have forgotten to
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bring bread except for one loaf that they had with him in the
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boat. Be careful, Jesus warned them.
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Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees, and that of Herod.
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They discussed this with one another and said it is because
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we have no bread aware of their discussion.
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Jesus asked them, why are you talking about having no bread?
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Do you still not see or understand?
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Our, your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, but failed,
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All to see and ears, but fail to hear.
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And don't you remember when I broke the Five Loaves for the
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5000? How many basketballs did you
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pick up 12? They replied and when I brought
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the seven loaves for the 7000, how many basketballs of pieces?
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Did you pick up? They answered seven said to
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them, you still not understand. I need to start this morning
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with an apology and it's an apology to us.
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At least the specific few viewer here this morning.
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And I need to apologize to our gluten and wheat intolerant
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friends. Because today, we're going to
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talk a lot about bread. Bread is going to come up quite
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a lot. And I'm really sorry because I
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know the bread that you're able to eat, is not as good as the
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bread. I'm about to Rave about because
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breads amazing, isn't it? Bread is just one of the
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greatest things. It is phenomenal, whenever it's
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bread week on Bake-Off, I always want to go and eat the whole of
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the nearest bakery, or just go to France, because I always
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thought I liked nice bread. I always thought I had nice
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bread growing up and then I married Jamie.
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And she told me to France and oh my Edward French, bread is like
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next-level. Good fresh French bread.
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First thing in the morning, you can't beat it and then we had a
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home group dinner and Elena made her for Katya.
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Have you ever had a lane can sells for catch you again?
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That is next level good. Like it's incredible bread and
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I'm again I have to apologize but bread is fantastic, isn't
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it? I've been so hungry.
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Preparing, this sermon And bread is one of our oldest human food
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stuff. They found a records back as far
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as their Found Records of humans exist in and there is no country
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in the world where bread isn't a part of their food.
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Tradition bread is just a universal, incredible, brilliant
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thing. If you don't like bread, I am
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sorry for you. But it is no wonder with bread
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being that kind of everywhere that Jesus uses bread.
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In this passage particularly as a way of teaching his disciples
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because that's what he's doing in this passage.
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Well actually going to focus loads on the Miracle itself.
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We're going to focus on what Jesus is teaching.
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He uses bread to teach his disciples.
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And as we read through this, did you get a bit of a sense of deja
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vu? This all feel a bit familiar.
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Because it is really familiar, isn't it?
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A lot of this stuff feels like it's happened already.
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It's incredibly similar to what happened back in chapter 6, as,
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and if you flick back, you can see there, Jesus fed.
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The 5000 here is the 4000 and there are loads of similarities
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between these two events that are recorded for us by Mark.
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So the place that they happen, my desolate Wilderness type
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Place. Jesus is emotions is compassion
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even his words. How many loaves do you have
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everybody's full? And there are loads of Purrs.
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And at the end, Jesus sends both of the crowds away and the
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disciples getting a boat. There are loads of similarities
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between these two events. So the question is is this just
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the same story that Mark is repeating?
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He's got a bit mixed up. Well, no, because there are
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enough differences between these two events that they know that
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they're not the same thing. You can probably spot them at
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another time of different numbers of people, different
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numbers of fish, and bread, and leftovers, and plenty of other
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things. Even the length of time, that
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the crowd that Jesus feeds have been, Gather is different.
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So back in Mark 6, I've just been with Jesus for one day
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hearing is teaching here the bin with Jesus for three days seems
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like they all got some pack up went out and hung out with Jesus
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for three days at the end of this three days.
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Their food is starting to run out so Jesus called his
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disciples to him and says I have compassion for these people.
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They've already been with me three days and have nothing to
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eat. If I send them home hungry,
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they'll collapse on the way because some of them are come
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along. Distance.
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And just as we start, these see, Jesus's heart here.
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I have compassion for these people.
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Jesus cares, deeply about the people in front of him.
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Yes. He cares about their spiritual
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need, that's why he's been teaching them.
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That's why Jesus came was to teach but he also cares about
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their physical needs. He's also bothered by people's
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bodies. Yes, the physical hunger is not
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as big as their spiritual hunger, but he cares about it.
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And the same is still true today is worth reminding ourselves of
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that fact. He cares for all of us.
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Yes, his priority for all of us is our spiritual hunger and our
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spiritual needs. But he also cares about our
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physical hunger and physical needs to.
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So that is hunger or finances or our health, or our exams or our
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stress levels, or our mental health.
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There is nothing too small in our lives, to Jesus to care
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about, Jesus care, deeply about, every little bit of your lives.
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It's so easy for us to think that there are things too small
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for Jesus to be bothered about are interested in, so we don't
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take them to him. But don't listen to that lie
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instead. See the care and the compassion
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that Jesus has for all aspects of all the people that he meets
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and then bring everything to him.
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Pete reminded us last week, didn't he?
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That Jesus has because Jesus cares for everyone. and Mark
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reminds us again of that here But what happens next, in verse
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4 should come as a bit of a surprise.
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When we read verse 4, here's what we should read something
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like this, his disciples answered him, are we have seven
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Loaves and a willing to serve you again like before.
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Here you go, Jesus, we know what you can do with seven loaves.
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Instead we get this ridiculous response from the Disciples of
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its stroppy in it, but we're in this remote place to anyone get
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enough bread to feed them. Like what are you talking about?
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Disciples are your memories really that?
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Sure, just a few weeks ago at most you saw Jesus feed 5,000,
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plus people with just Five Loaves and two fish.
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But they don't remember that. All the they don't even enter
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into their brains. This new problem has pushed out
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any memory of what Jesus has done before.
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And so, Jesus very patiently, ask them again.
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Exactly the same question as he asked them last time.
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How many loaves do you have? How many loaves do you have?
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I can imagine that becoming a bit of an in-joke for the
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disciples in the years to come Peter sat around, I'm quite
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hungry. How many loaves do you have?
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So the disciples club together and they give seven loaves to
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Jesus, and he gives thanks, and he hands out the disciples to
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give out to the hungry crowd, and then does the same with the
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fish. but interestingly, as Jesus provides for the crowd who
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is it, that he's teaching As Jesus gives the food and
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provides this miraculous food for the crowd who is it that
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he's teaching because if you're in the crowd and you're right at
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the back somewhere and someone hands you some bread and fish
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you just going to take enough to eat and pass it on, right?
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You're not going to know did this only come from Seven Loaves
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and some fish? You're not going to know that.
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Who is it? That knows that.
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It's the disciples. Jesus is teaching the disciples
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and is Jesus provides for the crowd.
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The disciples learned this lesson about him and they are
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the ones that get to see this miracle firsthand.
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And they get to see this miracle for the first hand for a second
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time. And that is interesting to Jesus
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feeds to massive multitudes of people in wildernesses in
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desolate places. Now if you know your Old
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Testament, that is a direct mirror of the way God provides
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for his people in Exodus 16 and numbers. 11 God provides
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unexpected food for his people in the middle of nowhere in a
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Wilderness and Mark wants us to spot that link.
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Jesus is doing what only God has done for his people in the past.
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Mark wants to make it even more remarkable.
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Back in chapter 6, The Crowd that Jesus said were from the
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Jewish area, there were Jewish people but here Jesus is still
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in the decapolis, the Gentile area.
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Jesus is feeding a gentile crowd.
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Jesus is showing the disciples at the kingdom of God is for the
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Gentiles too. From like conversation, he had
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with that woman back in chapter 7, who came to him and has all
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the stuff that crumbs and table, while here the crumbs from
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chapter 7, turn into full-blown bread.
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And the thing that Jesus teaches his disciples here is that the
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Gentiles are going to get more than crumbs after all.
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The Gentiles get more than crumbs after all.
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Now that would have been an incredible Comfort to Mark's
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original readers. A lot of whom would have been
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gentiles. Even though the Gentiles might
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have been rejected by the Jews, they haven't been rejected by
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God, and they are part of the New Kingdom.
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That Jesus came to establish. And that's what Jesus teaches
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his disciples here. The Gentiles get more than
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crumbs after all So after this event again about and I imagine
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the boat ride in verse 10 is probably a fairly quiet one as
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the slightly. Embarrassed disciples realized
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just how Daft they'd been how forgetful they've been when
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they've seen all this already. But the truth is I'm far more
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often like them than I like to admit.
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Are you I forget all the time about Jesus power and his care
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day in day out. Like last week, Pete reminded
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us. Those wonderful truth that Jesus
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cares about everyone and has power over everything and he's
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making all things new But I've shown I forgot on that again.
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And again, this week, I have reacted to the things that have
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happened for how we respond in slow traffic, but how we respond
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when he, for doesn't do what I wanted to immediately.
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When I get hurt when things, don't go my way big or little
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things. We can all be like that.
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Can't we all forget these truths, we learn so often,
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despite having seen Jesus care for us and others in the past
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despite having seen Jesus has power over all things through
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our lives, new problems like the disciples push those memories
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out of our heads. Unlike the disciples, we can be
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so quick to either doubt or to forget that Jesus really cares
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for everyone and that has power over everything.
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But that's one of the reasons that Jesus repeats this miracle,
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he wants to remind the Disciples of what they've already learned
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before. And I've said this before here,
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is that we need that because the Christian Life is a constant
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cycle of Amnesia, and deja vu. The Christian Life is a constant
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cycle of Amnesia. And Deja Vu are forgot that I'd
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learned that already. And so Jesus repeats this
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miracle because he knows that's true and that's why God has
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given us each other. We are so prone to forget this.
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We're so like the disciples. The forget, these truths that
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God has given us each other to help each other in services like
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this but also throughout the week to remind each other of the
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truth about Jesus that we forget far too quickly, that's part of
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what being disciple. Making disciples looks like
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regularly reminding each other of these truths.
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So the question is, what can we be doing on our own in our
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families and our home groups and our times together?
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So remind each other of these truths about Jesus that we
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forget far too quickly. But thankfully though the
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disciples are forgetful. Jesus is so patient, isn't he?
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And he's so willing to teach us again.
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And again, he doesn't snap at the disciples here.
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He just shows them again. What they've already forgotten.
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Jesus cares, so much and is so patient and is so ready to teach
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us and show us what he's like again and again and that is good
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news, isn't it? But is good news if you know you
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need that patience for yourself. And here the disciples get to
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learn that the Gentiles, get more than crumbs after all.
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But so do they They get another loaf of Jesus, his patience and
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his teaching for them. And that is very unlike the next
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group of people that we meet in this passage the Pharisees and
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in these three verses the disciples learned by the absence
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of bread and Jesus teaches the disciples at the Pharisees, get
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nothing at all the Pharisees, get nothing at all.
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Now Mark, doesn't spend too long in this interaction so we won't
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either but the Pharisees grab Jesus out of the boat and they
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demand him to give them a sign from Heaven, a sign that he
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really is sent by God. And that might sound like a good
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thing. I could very easily sound like
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the disciples are just the the Pharisees it just this close to
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believing just one more sign. But in the gospels demanding a
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sign from Jesus is never a good thing.
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It is always evidence that the person asking is really an
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opponent of Jesus. And these guys demand that
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Jesus, give them some proof, some sign that will convince
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their big brains of who he is and who he's come from.
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And Jesus responds. Is to psi the deep Long sigh his
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second son, died in just a few verses.
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Which is worth knowing Jesus teaches us through his size.
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But I think we can work out what this lesson is, right?
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If you if you go to your mom and dad and you ask for something
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some food or I don't know what kids ask for these days.
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Bitcoin. Is that a thing you're into?
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I don't know but if you go to your spouse or your boss or your
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teacher or your mommy, your dad and you ask them for something
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and they go That's not a good thing.
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Is it? You know that coming?
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Next is not something good. You know, that that is not a
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positive response and Jesus size.
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And he says, why does this generation asks for a sign?
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Truly, I tell you. No sign will be given to it.
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Jesus isn't going to perform for them.
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He isn't going to bow down to their whims, they don't get to
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set the standard of what is enough for them to be convinced.
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He doesn't need to prove himself to them anymore than he has
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because he already has how many more signs do these Pharisees
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need? They've had plenty of signs.
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They just refuse to believe them.
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Jesus is the sign. They refused to believe what is
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right in front of them and demand more. but there is no
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greater sign than Jesus, and if he's not enough for them and
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nothing will be What more sign do you need from me?
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Jesus says The reality is the Pharisees choose to be blind.
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They choose to read blind to be blind and they refuse to see
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what is clearly right in front of them.
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And so unlike the crowd in the first versus the Pharisees, get
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nothing at all from Jesus. I mean, he could very easily
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have created some bread out of bread in front of them, right?
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You could have performed a sign that's not hard for Jesus to do
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it gives them nothing. No bread at all.
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And the Pharisees turn and walk away, and the disciples followed
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Jesus into the boat and sail off. if you're here this morning
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or you're watching online and you're waiting for Jesus or God
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to prove to you, who he claims to be for a sign to make you
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feel like the Bible is true and worth obeying what this is worth
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noticing If the life and the Miracles of Jesus weren't enough
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for the Pharisees when it was right in front of them.
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Won't be enough for you, either. And today, we all have far more
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evidence of Greater signs and the Pharisees had at this point,
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we have proof of Jesus, death and Resurrection.
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You have the evidence of Jesus working all throughout history
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through his power in his people through the church.
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You have 100 or so evidences of is working power in this room
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with you today. You have the evidence of his
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word where he shows you himself, if you read it and look for him,
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you have signs. Even if you don't understand
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them completely. You can follow Jesus before you
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understand everything, that's what the disciples do isn't it?
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They don't understand. We're going to see a bit more of
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that in a minute but they follow Jesus into the boat.
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Faith comes by stepping into the boat with Jesus, rather than
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standing on the shore in your safety.
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It's easy to look down on the disciples.
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They make it very easy for us. But there with Jesus there there
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I would encourage you to do that today in the boat to stop
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demanding evidence, that's going to satisfy you and to follow
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Jesus and like the crowd at the start of the passage be
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satisfied. But speaking of the disciples,
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the third thing, that Jesus teaches them is that the
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disciples don't get it at all. The disciples do not get it at
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all. For this boat ride is a lot more
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chatty, isn't the disciple seem a lot more chatter than the last
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one? Mainly, it seems because they
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realize they're only brought one loaf of bread with them and
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Jesus, hears, and chatting about this and he uses bread as a
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parable as a picture to try and teach his disciples a truth.
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And he warns them saying be careful, watch out for the yeast
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of the Pharisees and that of Herod.
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And again, Mark doesn't spend a long time on this so we won't
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either but Jesus here is talking about something that the
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disciples would have all understood baking bread.
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Breaking bread is nothing more people did in that culture than
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they do these days. And they would have tried to
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break bread, baked bread without yeast in it.
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Particularly, and when bacon it, if any yeast did get into any of
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the do, it will ruin the whole batch, it would affect the whole
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thing. The tiny little bit of yeast can
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ruin all the lows come from one batch of bread of do.
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And Jesus is saying that something about both the
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Pharisees and Herod is just as dangerous as a little bit of
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yeast in a load of dough. Just a little bit of it.
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Can have a big impact so be careful and watch out other
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words. Jesus uses.
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And putting together from Mark's gospel, what we know about both
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the Pharisees and Herod, there's not loads they have in common
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but the one thing they do have in common is that they both on
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the outside look like they're interested in God's kingdom.
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But on the inside they refused to want have anything to do with
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him in their hearts. They want to look impressive to
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the people around them but they don't want to obey what God
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tells him to do. And so Jesus is warning his
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disciples to watch out for any outward.
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Good behavior. There's nothing to do with real
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love for God. To watch out for people who are
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more bothered about appearing to behave, good enough, then they
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are about repentance. Beware the face doesn't become
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something that's lived out in front of others, when Everyone's
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Watching has got nothing to do with real heart.
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Love for God. If your face looks impressive on
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a Sunday but doesn't change the way you treat your mom or your
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dad, or your spouse, or how you browse the internet, how you
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behave when your Christian friends aren't around, or are
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you behave when you're alone? That should be a warning. that's
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what Jesus is warning his disciples and us to watch out
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for the Pharisees in herod's outward goodness in front of
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everybody showing off how great they are, but empty unchanged
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hearts, that is an example to run away from But that isn't why
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Mark tells us this. Instead, he tells us what Jesus
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teaches his disciples to show, how little they understand what
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on Earth is going on. Have a look at verse 16.
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After Jesus says that powerful stuff.
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They discuss this with one another and said, it's because
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we've got no bread. instead of getting the parable instead of
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seeing what Jesus is saying, they argue about lunch, They're
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panicking because I've only got one loaf between 13 of them on a
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boat. And again, how stupid can you be
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disciples like was just happened like a two days ago and most
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they miss the point though, only with twelve loaves in total
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Jesus is very recently fed over 9,000 people.
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So what if there's only one loaf of bread in your boat, don't you
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remember? Who's in the boat with you
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disciples? But instead, they're so
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distracted by their own mistakes, that they forget about
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the power and the care of Jesus. The disciples are so distracted.
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By this own mistake, whether it's mistake, they've made that
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they forget about the power and the care of Jesus.
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And so they start to bicker among themselves.
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It seems like while they think Jesus isn't listening.
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But he is listening. And so he really gently far more
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gently than I think I would have been questions.
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I'm to try and wake them up. Why are you talking about having
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no bread? You still not see or understand
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but your hearts hardened by Jesus is trying to teach them,
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actually, they're worried about the not going to have enough
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food. They don't think that Jesus is
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going to care for their physical needs.
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They don't think Jesus really cares about them.
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And so Jesus reminds them of everything.
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They've seen him do in just the last few weeks.
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Just think for a second. He says about your lunch Panic.
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Do you think it's really the problem?
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You feel like it is Am I going to let you starve?
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And that question, are your hearts hardened?
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Well, the truth is Mark has already told us that they are
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back in chapter 6. There is something stopping
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these disciples seeing and understanding who Jesus is for
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them. and they're unclean sin filled heart that Jesus talked
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about in chapter 7, if blinded them Spiritually.
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These guys are blind. They can't see the truth.
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That is right in front of their eyes.
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They don't get it. Everything they've seen Jesus do
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so far. Should have meant that their
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hearts were full of faith. That even with one loaf
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everything we've got enough bread because we've got Jesus.
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But instead, their hearts are hardened, they can't see the
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Messiah for the Miracles. It's ready to rebuke of them.
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Jesus quotes. Jeremiah chapter 5 verse 21,
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then Verse 18, that's where Jesus quotes Jeremiah 5:21 and
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he reminds them that they shouldn't be worried about the
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bread. All by that shouldn't be a
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thing. They're worried about instead,
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they should now have seen and heard enough to know they're in
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a boat in a relationship with the God who created the entire
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universe. Jesus is saying, haven't I shown
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you in so many ways. My love, and my care and my
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power for you disciples, you can trust me.
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And to do that a bit more. He reminds them of the, to
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feeding Miracles. Yes.
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Jesus fed the crowds till they were satisfied with.
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Read that twice in the two accounts, but there was more
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than enough left over for the disciples to eat too.
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How many leftovers did you get? Jesus asks He does that to
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remind them, that his care. And his power weren't just for
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the crowds but for the disciples as well.
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Not just for the needy people around them for these needy
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disciples to, they thought that Jesus had come to minister to
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others, he come to minister to them.
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And they need his divine power and divine compassion just as
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much and they have it in basketfuls.
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He's trying to teach them an equation that I know I need to
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remember. I found some maths in Chris to
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try and think of all people in the room says gluten,
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intolerant, people and mathematicians all covered.
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But this is an equation I think we all need to remember because
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it's so easy to forget this. The try and keep it as simple as
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possible and it picks up again from what Pete reminded us of.
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Last week that Jesus cares for everybody.
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He has Divine God, like compassion but he also has
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divine power over everything. and when you add that together,
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divine power plus Divine compassion equals everything we
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need, Everything we need. That's what he's been.
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Minding, his disciples divine power plus.
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Divine compassion means we have everything we need.
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And I need to be reminded of this so often.
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Because we also easily forget these truths.
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Don't we? And we doubt God's power or we
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doubt his care for us. And we forget that Jesus cares
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about everyone and has power over everything and that that
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affects so much of our lives. So we have everything we need
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and whatever circumstance worrying.
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So one example of how forgetting that affects me, maybe it
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affects you as well. When I forget either one of
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these two things just don't pray.
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I don't pray about situations instead, I try and sort out my
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own bread level situations by myself rather than trusting in
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the bread of life. The one who has provided and
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will provide everything we need primarily through his death and
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Resurrection, but who loves to provide for everything we need
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physically too. We forget that divine power
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plus, Divine, compassion equals everything we need and we are
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far more like the disciples than we like to admit.
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And that is what Jesus is reminding his disciples of in
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this boat trip but they don't get it, they don't get it at
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all. And Jesus says, in verse 18 that
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they don't get it because spiritually they're blind.
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Like Jesus has already performed incredible Miracles and provided
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for them and cared for them so much again.
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And again, already saving them from deadly storms and deadly
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hunger, they can't see it. They're not able to put two and
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two together and get for Jesus is saying they're spiritually
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death, and they're spiritually blind.
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They can't make themselves here and they can't make themselves.
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See, and understand, they need help.
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Disciples. Just don't get it at all.
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Yet. That is good news.
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Because that is why, Mark tells us this story.
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The exactly this moment in his gospel. because in chapter 7
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last week who was Jesus able to heal, You're allowed to answer
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that. The guy was deaf and if you look
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ahead to just after this passage in Mark chapter 8 who is Jesus
Mark 8 chapter mention
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able to heal, spoiler alert for next week.
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Sorry Richard a blind guy. And if these are all spiritual
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signs, pointing to spiritual truths, and the disciples are
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deaf and blind. What is it?
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They need, they need someone to heal their blindness and their
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deafness. Thankfully, that persons in the
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boat with him. Jesus came to open their ears
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and their eyes to understand the truth of who he is, and what
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he's like, and how much he cares for them.
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Jesus is willing and able, he came to heal the Blind and the
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deaf and he's going to do that for the disciples.
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They don't get it at all yet, but as John's flagged up, they
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will soon. And Jesus still at work, he's
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not finished with them. That's good news, isn't it?
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Because Jesus still has Divine compassion and divine power,
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even now. And so we can all be confident.
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He will provide everything we need.
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And therefore, we can be confident that we can go to him
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in prayer about big things, and small things, and no matter what
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those things are, we can come to him, we can go to him in prayer
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for those people who that, we know and love, who are still so
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blind. And he refused to see or can't
-
see the truth of Who Jesus is because he is able to open the
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eyes of the blind to see the truth of who he is.
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And we know that because he did it for these disciples.
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We've done it for us so we can be confident that he can and
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will do it for others, too. I said earlier when we doubt and
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forget these things affects our prayer life.
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And I was asked this week, if Jesus was to give me everything,
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I prayed for in the last week, how many people would be saved?
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It's Jesus was to say, down and answer every prayer with
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positive answer. You've asked for, in the last
-
week, how many people would be saved?
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Not really challenge me. Because the truth is, I don't
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pray about things, I don't think God either got power over it or
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that he cares about it. How is our prayer life?
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For those who don't know. Jesus, have we forgotten that
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he's both got power and Care over all things.
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Are you more like me and out too?
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Often his power and his care, and his desire to save because
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we all risk being like the disciples, panicking over, what
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we can do with the bread, we have, when we should just turn
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them, ask for help. I'm the one who can feed
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thousands, through God's power working in him.
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That's what we want. Quality Bible club, right?
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We want children to come along, who are spiritually blind and
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have their eyes open to see the truth of who Jesus is and then
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families and Karen and part to be changed as a result of that.
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We need to be praying for it. But even more brilliantly if we
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have messed up again. When we forget to pray or refuse
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to pray, we can still be confident of Jesus, divine
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compassion for us again. He's so patient with his
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disciples, right? I'd be tempted to check them
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out. The boat at this point.
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That's not what Jesus Does. His compassion.
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It's not just for the crowds around and about it's also for
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the disciples ice, also, for you and me.
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It's so easy to trust. Jesus is Love and his patience
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and his care and his compassion and his forgiveness for other
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people. But then forget that is equally
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true of you and me too. So imagine that his patients
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with us is actually wearing pretty thin by now actually he's
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very disappointed in us to forget him what he's like again
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and trying to sort out our own lives on our own again and
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failing to resist temptation again.
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Forgetting to pray about things again.
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We all prone to suspect sometimes that he's just getting
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irritated by us. and we imagine that instead of his loving
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compassionate, gentle questioning We got one of his
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disappointed size. But that isn't how Jesus works
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for people who are desperate to follow him, just look at the
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disciples. They don't get it at all, they
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don't understand but despite their constant not getting it
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nurse. Jesus is so patient and bears
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with them right. He continues to teach them and
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show them what they need to see about what he's like.
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And then we'll see again. Further, spoiler alert.
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We'll see after the cross. That he sends these slow
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disappointing man out and then changes the world through.
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The truth is Jesus is not looking for self-reliant Heroes.
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He's after helpless week bread eaters.
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We'll get in a boat with him. Jesus isn't looking for
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self-reliant Heroes, he just want helpless weak, bready, as
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who are willing to get in the boat with him, no matter what,
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people who know they're blind, but it cling to Jesus anyway,
-
because he is the bread of life and he will never ever turn away
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anyone who comes to him asking him to help them, no matter how
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Daft. They might seem.
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Jesus is the very image of God in human form and he's showing
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us what. God the father is like to God is
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gracious and compassionate. Passionate he is slow to anger
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and rich in loving kindness. God is not quick to anger and
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slow to love. Slow to anger, and quick to
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love, and Jesus shows that again and again.
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This morning. Whether we're a Daft disciple or
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a greedy, Gentile, or stubborn Pharisee, we all need the same
-
thing. We need a powerful savior, a
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savior with divine power, and divine compassion, who can open
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blind eyes, and unblock deaf ears, and it provides for all of
-
our needs, and who loves to open blind eyes.
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If they'll just come to him and admit their need, because not
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even sinful. Stubborn Hearts is a problem.
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Jesus can't defeat And that's good news in them.
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It's good news for us. It's good news for the people.
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We love, it's good news for the world around us, so let's be
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people who are praying for that. Our mission hasn't changed and
-
Jesus hasn't changed either. He still has divine power and
-
divine compassion and he will provide all that we need.
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So let's trust in him. A seek out ways to be reminding
-
each other of those truths and we forget them because as
-
disciple making disciples, we forget that so often and we need
-
help. Don't lie.
-
Our mission hasn't changed and Jesus hasn't changed either.
-
He still has divine power and divine compassion and he will
-
provide all that we need. So let's trust in him.
-
A seek out ways to be reminding each other of those truths and
-
we forget them because as disciple making disciples, we
-
forget that so often and we need help.
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Don't lie.