Miracles-It's Not What It Looks Like- Pastor Andrew Maneval

Thank you for listening to this message from LifeHouse Church.

Well good morning LifeHouse.

As is obviously apparent, I am not Pastor Kipp.

Like Dixie said, Pastor Kipp's voice is a little bit not there this morning, so you're stuck

with me this morning.

But for those of you that might not know me, my name is Andrew Maneval.

I have the privilege of being the student ministries pastor here, which big term, but

all that means is I oversee the ministry to the youth, to the children, and at LifeHouse

here and it is a privilege.

My wife Aisha and our two daughters are Lucy and Nora are watching online today.

They're not here this morning.

There's some sickness at home, but they're joining us online.

And also just wanted to say a quick welcome to our East Shore family joining us over at

our East Shore campus.

So this morning we're going to talk about miracles, right?

Because everybody loves a miracle, right?

It's that moment of divine intervention when the impossible takes place.

When we realize that there is a power beyond us.

When our mind is blown and unexplainable things happen.

When something or someone greater than ourselves intervenes and does what nature says can't

be done.

In talks on university campuses, Christian physicist and MIT professor Ian Hutchinson

asks can a scientist believe in miracles?

Hutchinson sometimes begins his talks by jokingly saying, can a scientist believe in miracles?

We can answer that pretty easily.

He says, I'm a scientist and I believe in miracles.

So the answer is yes.

He notes that most of us don't understand that the Bible's view of miracles.

He says that we tend to view God as mostly hands off, standing on the sidelines, letting

nature look after itself.

But then on the rare occasion reaching in to tweak the things by the odd miracle here

or there.

But Hutchinson argues that according to the Bible, God continually holds the universe

in the palm of his hands.

It exists because of his continuous creative power and will.

If he were to stop exerting that upholding power and stop paying attention to every part

of the universe, it would instantly cease to exist.

Thus, he defines a miracle this way.

A miracle is an extraordinary act of God by which God upholds a part of the universe in

a manner that is different from the normal.

He adds, yes, we know more today than people did a long time ago, but what we know today

makes the universe seem, if anything, even more open.

Well, this morning we're going to take a look at a passage of scripture that takes place

in a remote and secluded area belonging to a little city called Bethsaida.

And Jesus and his 12 disciples, and in this particular circumstance, right along with

our message series this morning, it's not what it looks like.

I want you to lean over your neighbor, tell them it's not what it looks like.

If you're joining us online, drop that in the chat.

We are online hosts there.

If you're up at East Shore, lean over to Pastor Eric, poke him in the side and say, hey, it's

not what it looks like.

And all the disciples could see in this situation was the big problem, right?

But all Jesus saw was a moment for God intervention.

He saw a miracle, because miracles, it's not what it looks like.

This morning we're going to be in Luke chapter 9.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

If you have your Bibles while you're turning there or your apps on your phone or whatever,

if you don't have anything, the words will be on the screens as well.

But as you're turning there, I'm going to give you a little context.

I want to set the stage a little bit, if you will.

Jesus is preparing and instructing his 12 closest followers, the disciples, right?

He prepares them to go out and do ministry work into various cities and towns in the

area.

And he gives them very specific instructions.

How many of you like specific instructions?

Specific instructions for their travels.

Actually, Jesus' instructions are a little bit unusual, I'll say, because most people,

when they go to pack for a trip or go somewhere, they prepare and they pack.

They have a list of needed items.

They have a checklist.

You go, toothbrush, check.

Favorite shirt, check.

Shoes, check.

Or some of you, like me, you have a checklist before you leave your house in the morning.

You're like phone, wallet, keys.

Yep, I got everything.

We're good.

You go out the door like that, or maybe you take it one step further.

Like my wife, who loves checklists, she nerds out over checklists.

It's color coded.

It's labeled.

It's in digital and physical format.

It is ready to go.

We never forget anything when we go somewhere.

She has her checklist ready months in advance.

But regardless of how you do it, it's a process.

It takes preparation.

But not with Jesus.

Nope, it's not what Jesus did.

Let's start in Luke chapter nine, verse one.

It says, then he called his twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority

over all demons and to cure diseases.

He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

He said to them, take nothing.

Everybody say nothing.

Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bags, nor bread nor money, and do not

have two tunics apiece.

Whenever you enter, whatever house you enter, stay there and from there depart.

And whoever will receive you when you go out of that city, I'm sorry, and whoever will

not receive you when you go out of that city, shake the very dust from your feet as a testimony

against them.

So they departed and went through the towns preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Jesus calls and commissions his disciples.

He gives them power and authority and he instructs them.

He says, preach, heal, cast out demons, do all of this and take no provisions with you.

Don't take anything with you.

Travel super light.

Don't even take a carry on with you.

I mean, you've ever seen a commuter go through a TSA check in in an airport, right?

I've seen a commuter take literally he just had his wallet and his keys.

I've never, never traveled that light myself, but it must be nice.

Just had his wallet and his keys.

But Jesus tells his disciples to travel with nothing but faith and the clothes on their

back.

They head out on this amazing faith journey.

They're heading into cities with no provision, no money, no food, or even planned shelter.

They don't even have an Airbnb ready to go, right?

They're just going out there.

Jesus starts to teach them about faith, about God's supernatural provision.

I've heard stories of modern missionaries that did this.

God called them to do this very thing, to go to a foreign country, a hostile country

even with no provisions, no plans.

And Jesus just showed up every step of the way and met them here and provided for them

here and just met them every step of the way.

It was wild.

It was incredible how God provided for them.

It was mind blowing.

It was all Jesus.

These disciples go on this ministry trip.

They go out and now they come back and they're returning and they're telling stories of God's

supernatural provisions, the wild things that they encountered and the miracles that they

performed in Jesus name.

See, Jesus was preparing his disciples for when he was gone, but they didn't quite get

it yet.

They didn't quite have it all together yet.

Luke 9, 10 says, and the apostles, when they had returned, told him all that they had done.

They were so excited to come back and tell Jesus.

Then he took them and went aside privately to a deserted place belonging to a city called

Bethsaida.

They were trying to get away, get out of the busy season, go someplace quiet, deserted,

go someplace quiet, maybe to celebrate what had just happened.

Maybe to celebrate the disciples coming back and doing all this ministry work.

Probably to get a little rest, but this wouldn't be rest.

This was not a vacation after a busy season.

The disciples thought they were headed to a little R and R, but with Jesus, it's not

what it looks like.

Verse 11 says, but when the multitude knew it, they followed him and he received them

and spoke to them about the kingdom of God and healed those who needed healing.

They tried to get away.

They tried to slip out and just get someplace to rest, but it didn't work.

One of the apostles must have left his location turned on whenever he was posted on Instagram,

and they found him.

They got out there.

This huge crowd of people followed Jesus to this deserted place, and Jesus has compassion

on them and he begins to do ministry.

He begins to teach and to heal, and he does this all day long, late into the afternoon.

This was not rest and relaxation.

This was deep spiritual work that Jesus and all the 12 were doing, and I'm sure that they

were exhausted at this point.

Whenever verse 12 hits, it says, when the day began to wear away and the 12 came to him

and said, send the multitude away.

I love this verse because I pictured the disciples coming up to Jesus saying, all right, Jesus,

you preached long enough.

We've done enough.

Pack it in.

We're hungry.

They're hungry.

Let's go eat Mexican.

Right.

Then they go to the surrounding towns.

They said, let the disciples say that they may go into the surrounding towns and country

to lodge and get provisions for we are in a deserted place here.

Verse 13, but he said to them, as Jesus said to them, you give them something to eat.

Disciples of God to be thinking, come on, Jesus, we're tired.

We can't feed this many people.

What are we a Chick-fil-A, right?

Jesus creates an impossible circumstance for the disciples.

He gives them an unreasonable and actually impossible command.

Feed them.

Feed all of them.

This is not just a small congregation.

This is 5,000 men plus their families.

Most scholars estimate to be about 10,000 people in total attendance.

And these disciples reply to Jesus, try to give Jesus a reality check.

And they say, we have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for

all these people, for there were about 5,000 men.

They say, you don't understand what you're asking us to do, Jesus.

You're not reading the room.

You're not seeing this for what it really is.

This is impossible for us to accomplish with the provisions that we possess.

But see, Jesus is setting them up.

Jesus is saying, this is not what it looks like.

Jesus is about to teach them about God intervention, right?

God's hand that can interject the supernatural.

See, God's power is not bound by the laws of nature, not by natural limitations or even

logic.

See, God is the one who set those laws in place and he can take away or add to them

anytime he wants.

They are his to do with.

Jesus is about to teach his disciples a bigger lesson about impossible, about the impossible

and provision, because the possible seems impossible when we don't have the provision

we need.

See, it's not impossible to feed 5,000 people.

It can be done if you have enough food for it, if you have enough provision, right?

I looked it up.

I'm talking a lot about food today, so I hope you're not that hungry.

I looked it up, but the busiest Chick-fil-A that is available and open to the public is

in downtown Chicago and it serves an average of 10,000 customers a day.

That's a lot of people.

It can be done.

But it is more than impossible to feed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish,

right?

It's almost impossible to adequately feed 15 people with five loaves of bread and two

fish.

If I invited 15 of you over to my house for lunch and I said, all right, here's what we

got, guys.

We got five breadsticks from Olive Garden and a can of sardines.

Who's coming over?

Yuck.

I don't want to be there.

It's not possible with the revisions, right?

It's ludicrous.

It's not even close.

It doesn't even make sense.

But how many of us know that sometimes the impossible is so not possible that it doesn't

even need discussed.

It doesn't even need talked about.

There's no sense in wasting our time thinking about it.

It's like me asking Ashley.

Ashley's been one of our youth back there.

I told her I'd use her in the sermon and she looked at me like deer in headlights.

It's like me asking Ashley, Ashley, I got you all expenses trip for you and your family.

You guys are all going to go down to Florida.

Paid for the hotel, paid for everything, but you got to get there.

But here's how you're going to get there.

You're going to hop a ride first class on this bad boy.

That one pretty far, but that ain't making it to Florida.

I'll tell you that, right?

It doesn't even make sense.

It's laughable.

It's a joke, right?

This is how the disciples were seeing it.

They had just got back from this marathon miracle tour, right?

People were healed.

People were delivered provision every step of the way.

But this, come on Jesus, this isn't how this is going to work.

They had to be saying that.

They had to be saying, quit messing with us.

This is a good one, right?

But this is crazy.

We're tired.

It's been a long day.

We thought we were coming out here to chill and compress and decompress, but instead they've

been ministering to people all day long.

Let me tell you what.

God is just getting started where our impossible starts.

God is just getting going when we hit our, it's insane to even think like that.

God is just stretching his arms.

He's just getting ready to do something when we think it's even crazy to consider, right?

When we are faced with a ridiculously impossible situation and God is in it, it might not be.

It might not be what it looks like.

When it resembles a mess instead of a miracle, it might be time to buckle up, get your faith

ready.

Because if God gives you the crazy ludicrous command like feed them all, feed the 5,000,

you might have a miracle in disguise.

The disciples realize Jesus ain't joking.

He ain't playing.

He is for real.

He is saying, feed them.

He expects them to feed them, but they're protesting.

But Jesus isn't budging on the idea.

Verse 14 picks up and he says, then he says to his disciples, make them sit down in groups

of 50.

And they did so and made them all sit down.

Jesus has the disciples organize the crowd.

He numbers them.

He puts them into groups, maybe for a couple of reasons.

The first reason I can think of is it's practical, right?

You got 10,000 people.

Jesus is preparing to do this miracle.

You're going to need to get access, right?

Maybe you need to get access like a stadium where they need rows to get in there to distribute

the food that they didn't have.

I also think that Jesus wanted his disciples to know the number, to see the true size of

what he was about to do, to sweat it out a little bit, to freak out at the size of their

problem.

They were probably counting and thinking, this is worse than we thought.

What the heck are we doing, right?

Why aren't we doing this?

We're going to look so dumb.

But Jesus had them do this, I think, so that they would realize the size of their lack,

so that they could later understand the size of the miracle, the size of their God.

They don't understand what Jesus is doing, but they obey Jesus' command to organize the

people.

When we are faced with the impossible, just do what Jesus says to do, right?

That's exactly what the disciples do here.

When we are faced with the impossible, just do what Jesus says to do.

Do it where Jesus says to do it.

Do it when Jesus says to do it.

Do it how Jesus tells you to do it.

Do it with whom Jesus says to do it with.

Just do what he commands.

I love how the Gospel of Mark records this.

Mark 6.39 says, then he commanded them, he commanded the disciples.

He says, to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass, in the green grass.

So they sat down in ranks in hundreds and in fifties.

Jesus tells them where, when, and how to do this, and with whom his command should be

carried out.

He doesn't leave them to speculate, but he also does not give them the end result.

Do what Jesus specifically says to do, and only do that.

Sometimes we get caught up in thinking, well, I'll help Jesus out.

I'll do the next step on my own, right?

Jesus said do this, but I'll do this too.

Do it without knowing the end result.

Do it by faith.

Do it even if it doesn't make sense to you.

Just do what he says.

Here's the real kicker.

Here's the real hard one sometimes.

If Jesus didn't tell you to do nothing, don't do nothing, right?

Don't do it.

Don't take that step in faith and say, well, I'm going to take this step and see if Jesus

will meet me out here.

That's not what Jesus told you to do.

Don't do it.

If you walk with God long enough, sooner or later, he will command you to do something

that does not make sense to you.

He might tell you to go somewhere that doesn't make sense.

He might tell you to talk to somebody.

You'll feel that prompting, that tugging, to talk to somebody.

He might tell you to do something at a time that doesn't make sense.

Where you're like, my schedule is so busy, but I feel like I have to do this, right?

But I can tell you, God never misses it.

He knows exactly what we need to do, when we need to do it, where we need to do it,

and with whom.

So we don't miss the miracle that he wants to show us.

What if the disciples would have refused?

What if they said, you know what?

We're going home.

Send the people home.

We're embarrassed.

This is, we don't have any food to feed you.

Go on home, get out of here, right?

What if they did that?

They would have missed the miracle altogether.

What if they said, we're not going to be responsible for them being hungry and stuck in the wilderness

overnight.

This day is gone.

The day is gone.

It's too far gone.

It's too late to do this.

They're probably all saying to themselves, like we do so many times, this makes no sense

to me.

Sometimes I need to get the me out of the way to obey his command.

Actually all of the time, I need to get little old me out of the way to obey his command,

right?

Do it anyway, what Jesus asked you, even if it doesn't make sense to you.

Do it anyway.

Because with Jesus, it's not what it looks like.

Your miracle might be on the other side of that command from Jesus.

Our obedience to Jesus may be the only thing between us and that miracle.

The stage is set, right?

The people are all seated.

They're ready for the miracle.

Luke 9 16 says, then he took, this is Jesus.

He takes the five loaves and two fish.

He came up to heaven, he blessed and broke them and gave them to the disciples to set

before the multitude.

This verse teaches us something important about a miracle.

A miracle can only happen when we are willing to give Jesus what is in our hand.

They only had five loaves and two fish, not even a drop in the bucket for what they needed

to complete the task that they were asked to do.

Not even close, not even close.

So inadequate that it's almost funny, that it's almost a joke, right?

They put their inadequate, they're not enough.

They're ridiculously small provision.

They put it in Jesus's hands.

And Jesus does two things with it once he gets a hold of it.

He blesses it and he breaks it.

He blesses it because he blesses everything that is turned over to God, right?

Really turned over to him completely.

If we release anything into his hands, it will move towards blessing.

When we release full ownership over to Jesus, when we turn over a situation, we turn over

a relationship, we turn over whatever is going on over to Jesus, we release our control of

it.

We give it to him fully.

It has to move towards blessing because he knows more what to do with it than we do,

right?

Because anything in his hands becomes sanctified, it gets sanctified, he purifies, he brings

it to life.

But we have to be ready because if we put something in God's hands, he may break it

before he can bless it.

They put their pathetic provision, they're not enough, their embarrassment in Jesus's

hands, but in Jesus, it's not what it looks like.

Because yes, Jesus blesses it, but he also breaks it.

Jesus may break what we place in his hands before he can bless it.

He might need to break it up before he can multiply it.

He might have to crush it before it can grow like breaking hard soil before you put in

fresh seed.

You might have to destroy it and put it back together on the potter's wheel before it can

become a new thing.

He might have to pull it apart back to its very fibers before he can put it back together

the right way, put it back together his way.

Our first instinct is to hold on to it, to hold on to our stuff and say, we don't want

a chance losing this little thing we got, this small provision we have, because it might

not go back together again, right?

We say things like, don't you know how long it took me to get this, Jesus?

Now you want me to hand it over so you can bust it all up?

It's taken me years in this little bit of relationship.

It's taken me years to accumulate this five loaves and two fish.

I spent years in this career and this profession and this business, these circumstances, years

and years.

I know it's a mess, but it's all I got, Jesus.

And you want me to let go?

You want me to put it in your hands so you can bust it all up?

Church, the answer to that question is absolutely yes, because he won't bless it unless you

let him bust it up, unless you let him break it.

They give it all to Jesus.

They don't hold on to it, right?

They put all of their faith in it because they had to know they were probably going

to eat last.

If this five loaves and two fish ran out, they were eating last.

So they don't hold on to it saying, hey, I got to save a bite for me.

No, they give it all to Jesus.

They release total control of the situation and give it all to Jesus.

And Jesus takes all of it.

He breaks it and he blesses it.

And the disciples begin to distribute it.

917 says, so they all ate and were filled and 12 baskets of leftover fragments were

taken up by them.

There was not only enough for the 10,000 plus, but there was extra.

There was more than enough.

What Jesus makes the disciples gather up.

I love this part.

Why does he make them gather up the leftovers?

Right?

Why does that matter?

Because they need to know.

You need to do what Jesus says to do.

He needs to give him what is in your hands.

You have to let him break what needs to break so he can bless it.

Welcome back and the praise team if you come in.

If you are in the house this morning and you are able, would you please stand?

Pastor Elrik is going to come up at East shore now as well.

And church, we were praying.

Our that was praying in preparation for the sermon yesterday.

I just felt this gnawing, this tug, this passion

to preach this sermon because I know there's some of you

in this house that need a miracle for something.

And this is Jesus saying, give it to me.

Turn it over to me.

Let me do with it what you have not been able to do with it.

Or maybe you're in the house this morning

and you don't know Jesus, and you don't know

this miracle worker that I'm talking about today.

The Bible says that today is the day of salvation.

And I don't want you to leave this house this morning

without hearing an opportunity to do that.

And all you need to do to do that is you need to admit

that you have sinned, that you have wronged God.

The Bible says that we have all sinned

and fallen short of God's glory.

But God gave us a gift through Jesus Christ

who died on the cross for us

so that we could live forever with him in heaven.

Because when he died on that cross, he didn't stay dead.

He came back to life.

And that everlasting life is available to us this morning.

If you want that everlasting life this morning,

that opportunity is there.

I would love to talk to you.

Pastor Kipp would love to talk to you.

Miss Dixie, Zach, the prayer team,

we would love the opportunity to pray with you.

But how I wanna close out this morning.

In a moment, I'm gonna pray.

I'm gonna pray a prayer of closing.

But church, if you were in the house this morning

and you need that miracle for something,

maybe it's not for you.

Maybe it's for somebody else.

I want you to come forward.

I want you to come here.

I want you to just, in an act of surrender,

in an act of giving it over to God,

I want you to come down here

and I want you to just give it over to God.

In prayer, our prayer team will come.

They'll be willing to pray with you about it.

But I wanna open this up, open this altar up.

It's not big, we don't have a lot of room.

But I bet it was crowded when Jesus fed them 10,000.

As I pray, I want you to make your way.

If you need a miracle for something,

I feel strongly about this this morning.

If you need a miracle for something,

is there something in your life?

If it's your family, if it's your finances,

if you need Jesus to do a miracle,

if you need God to reach into your life

and do something that doesn't make sense,

I want you to come down this morning.

I want you to come down this morning.

Thank you for tuning in to this message

from Life House Church.

We pray that you were impacted powerfully by this message.

If you have been personally affected by our ministry

and you would like to partner with us

as we love God, love people every day,

visit our website at www.lifehousecog.com.