Feasting in the Wilderness - Christ Our Provider - Mark 6:30-44

You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone

podcast, a ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone

Church in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan

Merrick, and it's our prayer that this message

strengthens your faith and draws you closer to

Christ. Let's dive in. Good morning. Good to

see you all. Got some stuff to unpack in the

Book of Marks. If you want to go ahead and turn

there, that would be great. Title my sermon this

morning is feasting in the wilderness Christ

our provider and if you would Put write this

down no Eli if you would bring this up my big

idea is Jesus meets our every need Whether physical

emotional or spiritual and causes to rely on

his abundant provision Now let's do a little

Sunday school fun You guys know I like to ask

questions and have you respond. So let's just

start this way. If I asked you to name a miracle

that Jesus performed, isn't a hard test. Water

and wine. There's a good one. What else? Feeding

the 5 ,000. What was the other one? Walking on

water. Healed the lepers. Raising Lazarus. Good.

Jonah? Jesus performed Jonah? Okay, how about

just the resurrection represents Jonah? How about

that? That was a miracle. Anything else? Kind

of hit them, right? How about there's one that

we unpacked that wasn't said. That's a miracle.

So we had Lazarus. saving the Roman soldier's

daughter that's a good one what's that fig tree

there's another one which is more yeah we're

good that's still a miracle I was thinking when

he healed the man with the legion of demons all

right so the reason why I want us to list out

and just think about We said the feeding of the

5 ,000, which is what we're unpacking this morning,

but the feeding of the 5 ,000 and the resurrection

are the only two miracles that Jesus performed

that are in all four gospels. Those are the only

two. And so, it's important, obviously, that

we understand why the feeding of the 5 ,000 would

be in there, why all of them Matthew, Mark, Luke,

and John, why they would all include the same

story. So why do you think that is? Why do you

think that the resurrection we know why, right?

So the resurrection makes sense on why all four

is their eyewitness account of the greatest miracle,

okay? But why do you think all four would put

the feeding of the 5 ,000 in there? What's that?

Yeah, it is amazing. especially because we're

going to dive in more. And like I was telling

my wife, I go, I didn't realize just how small

this lunch was until I dove in with this. And

there's a couple of other things I learned that

was really cool. But yeah, so it is really amazing.

It's probably more amazing than you guys even

think. But here's the other part of it. And this

is what I want you to write down. I don't have

it up here, but I want you to write this down.

because the feeding of the 5 ,000 reveals who

Jesus really is. What do you mean? It reveals

that he's God. How's that? We're gonna unpack

that in just a second. Let's read it together.

Mark chapter six, starting in verse 30. The apostles

returned to Jesus and told him all they had done

and taught. Where had they gone? I didn't preach

this text, my friend Jason did. Hopefully he

talked like he read the actual passage. What

did they do? They were sent out two by two, right?

Okay, doing everything. Jesus says, go and do

everything that I have shown you that you've

been seeing me do, right? So they come back,

they've done everything they have been taught.

And he said to them, come away by yourselves

to a desolate place. And what does that say?

Rest awhile. For many were coming and going,

and they had no leisure even to eat, and they

went away in the boat to a desolate place by

themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized

them, and they ran on foot from all the towns

and got there ahead of them. When he went ashore,

he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on

them, because they were like sheep without a

shepherd. and he began to teach them many things.

And when it grew late, his disciples came to

him and said, This is a desolate place, and the

hour is now late. Send them away to go into the

surrounding countryside and villages and buy

themselves something to eat. But he answered

them, You give them something to eat. And they

said, Shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of

bread and give it to them to eat? By the way,

denarii is just one denarii is a whole month's

worth of wages, just one. So they're like, we're

going to have 200 denarii just to provide for

these people. And he said to them, how many loaves

do you have? Go and see. And when they had, they

found five, five loaves and two fish. Then he

commanded them all to sit down in groups on the

green grass. I want you to highlight green grass.

So they sat down in groups by hundreds and by

fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two

fish, he looked up to heaven and he set a blessing

and he broke the loaves and gave them to the

disciples to give to the people. And he divided

the two fish among them all and they all ate

and were satisfied. And they took up 12 baskets

full of broken pieces of fish. And those who

had ate the loaves were 5 ,000 men. Notice that

it says men, 5 ,000 men. It didn't include women

and children. Were women and children fed, Pastor

Logan? Yes. So how many did he actually feed?

More than likely, they say that the, if you do

the math and you go, Even just at a minimum,

there was 20 ,000 people there. 20 ,000 people,

and we have a Happy Meal from Runza. By the way,

if you've never gotten a kids' meal at Runza,

this is... I got two chicken finger, or I got

a chicken finger kids' meal from Runza, and you

get a cup that's about that big, you get some

fries, that's about that much. And you get two

tiny little chicken fingers. And that's all I

could think about was that meal. And I'm like,

Jesus, please do something with this. All right.

So where does this take place? Where do we read?

How did it describe the place they were in? Desolate,

right? So it says that they withdrew to a desolate

place and what are they going to do? Jesus is

saying, hey, we've got to draw, I'm gonna draw

you all away so you can rest, right? But what

you need to know is this isn't like, this isn't

a desert. Where they're at is not a desert. How

do we know that? It says it's green grass. It's

springtime and there's green grass. But so what

does that tell you if it says desolate, but it's

not a desert, what does it tell you? Yeah, there's

nothing around, right? They're in a very small

secluded place somewhere in Galilee. So why though

does Mark emphasize desolate place? Because what

he's doing is he's wanting us to travel backwards

in our mind. He's wanting us to travel backwards

to a specific time because he hits on multiple

things that we probably have never picked up

on I hadn't until I got ready to preach this,

and it just was like, oh my Lord, it's right

there in front of me this entire time. So there

was another time when God's people were gathered

in a desolate place. When was that? In the Exodus.

So now do you see it kind of looks kind of familiar,

paralleled, right? You've got a bunch of people

in a desolate place. And Jesus is doing what?

He's gonna feed them miraculously, right? How

did God feed the children of Israel? With miracle

bread, right? Manna. Manna means what is it?

They didn't know. So it's this miracle bread

that God gives them every day and provides for

them. And so back to Israel in the wilderness

is where we're supposed to go. And so back to

a people who had no food, no resources, and no

way to provide for themselves. And what did God

do? Every morning, as I said, He gave manna from

heaven. He provided bread in the wilderness.

He provided meat through birds. And day after

day, meal after meal, God demonstrated that He

alone was their provider. So now Mark is showing

us another crowd in another wilderness like setting

Once again, their need is big and once again

They have inadequate resources and once again,

there's no human solution But once again God

provides So except this time the bread didn't

fall from heaven This time, the provider is literally

standing there with them. I mean, just pause

for a moment. I want you to just be in my brain

for a second, which is a scary place to be, I

know. But if you are a disciple, if you are one

of the children of Israel, it tells us, by the

way, that the disciples still didn't get it.

They still didn't, they still didn't catch what

they're supposed to catch. What is it? I'm going

to tell you in just a minute. But could you imagine

hearing the stories, these ancient stories about

manna appearing and their shoes not wearing out,

their clothes not wearing out. You hear these

things all the time. That is, that is your people's

history. And then the one who did it is now standing

in front of you and he shows you this mirror,

like. Crazy, right? Like what an incredible,

incredible thing. And so if that connection of

Exodus wasn't enough, Mark tells us that they

sat down on green grass. Does that bring anything

to your minds? Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not. He makes me lie down and Jesus had

them do what? Sit down and I'm gonna provide

for you. So the crowd doesn't fully understand

what they're seeing and the disciples certainly

don't fully understand what they're seeing but

Mark wants us to understand that the shepherd

had come and the provider has come and so. The

God who fed His people in the wilderness is standing

before them in the person of Jesus Christ. And

that's why this miracle matters so much, because

it reminds us that no matter where we find ourselves,

whether weary, whether confused, whether broken,

whether fearful or uncertain, Christ is never

too busy, too tired, or too overwhelmed to look

upon His people with compassion and provide exactly

what they need. The question is not whether Christ

is able to provide, the question is whether we

will look to him and trust him. And so let's

look at the three ways in which Christ provides

for his people. If you're taking notes, here's

my first point. Christ provides rest for the

weary. Christ provides rest for the weary. So

notice where the story begins, right? The disciples

have just returned from their missionary journey.

How many of you guys have been on a mission strip?

I don't know if I've ever asked this before,

so we know you guys just got back from one, right?

So how many of you guys have ever been on one

that's like taking you really far away? How many

of you guys have ever been on one where you saw

some pretty incredible stuff, like God do some

pretty incredible things? How many of you guys

were like, you will not believe what I saw whenever

you got back? My man in the back. So like. There's

something about going and doing a missions thing

for Jesus and you want to share about it, right?

Now think about this. Here's the disciples have

been gone a minimum of two weeks, but more likely

they were gone for a month. What was the rules?

What did Jesus tell them that they could not

bring with them? No food? No clothing? But they

couldn't, they weren't naked, but right, no extra,

right? No money. So what could they have? You

remember? They could have staff. And they could

have only one tunic, two tunics. So most of the

time you wear two tunics because one of them

you can either give in case somebody needs it,

right? But also a second tunic. And I only learned

this because I wrote a paper on it. A second

tunic was used as like a weapon. So you have

a staff and then you could use the other way,

the other tunic as a way to kind of be Mr. Jujitsu

and disarm someone. So that's, so essentially

Jesus is like, you're able to protect yourself,

but you're going to depend on me for everything.

So they take no money, no food, right? No extra

clothing, no bag. It's just them and a brother.

and they go out right what does it say that they

did they perform miracles they cast out demons

right and they brought the kingdom to earth right

if you were doing those things and it was just

you and your spouse or you and a friend and you

went out and did these things, and then you all

came back together, what do you think dinner

that night's gonna be like? Like, if all of us

all just came back here, right, we all split

up and went different places, we share the gospel,

we see all types of crazy things, we would all

be fighting, like this place would be so loud

right now, right, we would all be fighting to

try to tell our stories, right? So they're jacked

up, and you know that John is like, Peter, you

will not believe what we saw. And then Peter's

like, shut up, John. Let me tell you about this,

right? You have no idea what I saw, right? They're

going back and forth, and they're really jacked

up with excitement, right? So why does that matter?

Because it doesn't say that the disciples were

the ones that said they needed to rest. Who said

it? Jesus. Jesus looks and he's like, guys, I

love that you're excited. And he's probably like

a proud dad, right? I can't wait to hear all

your stories. Can't wait for you guys all share

it. But here's the thing, you're tired and you

don't even know it. Come on, let's go away. Let's

go to a desolate place. So write this down. Jesus

identifies their need before they do. The shepherd

sees their weariness before they recognize it

in themselves. Parents, grandparents, we understand

this, right? Christy, how do you know when Ransom

needs a nap? He won't stop crying, right? And

does he want to take a nap? No. But in the goodness

of who you are as his mom knowing what's good

for him you say lay down Right and we have to

force them right sometimes You guys know I'm

talking about right our kids our grandkids. They

melt down. They don't even realize they're tired

and And we have to say no you need to eat something

and you need to you need to rest Right Jesus

does the same thing with us and he's doing that

right here No matter how much a child protests,

no matter how much a child argues, the child

may insist that they're fine, but because we

are loving parents, we force them to rest. So

long before the disciples hit the wall, Jesus

is already leading them towards rest. Now, could

I be reading into this a little bit? Yes, sure.

Absolutely. Perhaps. But here's what I need you

to know from the text and from my own experience.

I want you to write this down. Jesus is the only

one who provides a rest that actually satisfies.

When I shared that I was burnt out on ministry,

my wife was the only one at the time seeing it

in me and telling me I needed to slow down. I

could feel the Lord telling me, but at the same

time I was telling myself that can't be the Lord

because I'm doing the Lord's work. And so the

Lord was speaking through my wife going, you

need to slow down and you need to rest. And I'm

like, nah. But when he finally let me hit the

wall, because he's willing to let us get there,

when he let me hit the wall, and then I looked

around and like, oh man, like my soul was dry.

My emotions were drained. Yeah. And then I had

to go back to the well that is him. So Jesus

is the only one who provides a rest that actually

satisfies. There isn't a vacation in this world

that can remove every burden from your heart.

There isn't a massage, a hobby, a getaway, or

a day off that can quiet every fear about your

future. Those things have their place and they

are good, but they cannot touch the deepest weariness

of the soul. Only Christ can do that. And notice

how he provides it. He intends to have physical

rest. But did they get that rest, by the way?

Nope. When the crowds arrive, Jesus doesn't simply

dismiss them. Mark says that he looked upon them

with compassion because they were like sheep

without a shepherd and he began to teach them

many things. Jesus understands that our deepest

exhaustion is not just merely physical though.

That's why he begins to teach them, even the

disciples. Sometimes what our hearts need most

is to hear the voice of the shepherd. Sometimes

what our hearts need is just to sit. And as my

wife would say, do you need to hear the voice

of the Lord? Then read this out loud. You hear

the voice of the Lord? Read it out loud. Jesus

doesn't merely meet physical needs, He addresses

the deeper longings of our heart and He provides

direction for the confused, purpose for the wandering,

and peace for the anxious. Church, some of us

spend our lives trying to remove every limitation

from our path, but what if those limitations

are actually gifts from God? What if that closed

door, that weakness, that setback, that season

of waiting isn't merely an obstacle? What if

it's... a shepherd slowing you down because he

knows you better than you do. Here's what I'm

trying to say in that, because I don't think

that that connected well. There have been times

in my life where I've been frustrated that Tracy

and I haven't had the money to do something or

that there were times when we had little kids

that we were not able to do certain things that

I really felt like we should do. And I would

get so angry. And one of the things that my wife

would say that I thought was always so good was

that limitations are placed there by God for

him to go stop, chill, rest. So limitations can

be anything from maybe there's a talent that

you don't have that you wish that you had. God's

like, no, you need to have that limitation. Maybe

it's your current situation and season that you're

in. This is God saying, you need to rest. Limitations

are not bad things. You can write this down,

because this is exactly my wife's quote. Our

limitations can be very good things placed there

by God to force us to stay, stop, or rest. And

you know what, she's right. We are often frustrated

by the very things God is using to shepherd us.

So before you ask God to remove a limitation

in your life, consider the possibility. Maybe

the good shepherd has allowed it because he loves

you. Maybe he sees a weariness that you haven't

yet recognized. Maybe he is leading you beside

still waters. Maybe he is making you lie down

in green pastures. And maybe what feels like

an interruption is actually an act of compassion

from the shepherd who knows exactly what the

sheep need. It brings us to point number two.

Christ provides truth for the wondering. So imagine

the scene, all right, so Jesus is like, hey,

you guys are tired, let's go off to a desolate

place, we're gonna rest. And as they push out,

they're like the Beatles, man. before the Beatles.

They go out on this boat. You know that all the

people are like, there they are. And then they're

like, I see where they're going. We can get there

this way, right? So then everybody's like, yep,

yep, we're still tracking. We're still tracking.

And then they get to the other side and they're

all just like, hi, right? So. It had to have

been a hilarious kind of scene where the disciples

were like, well, and Jesus was like, well. So

they've been ministering for weeks and Jesus

has this compassion on him. He says they're like

sheep without a shepherd. That imagery, sheep

without a shepherd should be striking because

it's actually said it's used. with Old Testament

imagery for a reason. Because throughout Israel's

history, God's people had suffered under bad

shepherds. The prophets repeatedly condemned

leaders who cared more about themselves than

the flock. They fed themselves while they neglected

God's people. They used their positions for power

instead of service. And the people knew what

it was like to be spiritually malnourished, and

they knew what it was like to be misled. So here

is Jesus as he steps onto shore as the good shepherd.

He notices what they need first. He doesn't feed

them. He teaches them. Mark says he began to

teach them many things. Luke tells us what he

was actually speaking to them about and what

was God's kingdom, the kingdom of God. So why

does he start there? Because Jesus understood

that their greatest need wasn't food. It was

that they needed truth Write this down for me

and I'll let you guys I know it's three lines.

So I'll let you guys Have some time before their

stomachs were empty their souls were empty Before

they needed bread they needed a shepherd And

before they needed a miracle they needed a message

of the kingdom This is still true today, yes?

We live in a world overflowing with information,

but we're starving for truth. Everyone has an

opinion, everyone has advice, everyone has a

platform and a YouTube channel, yet people are

more anxious than ever, they're more confused

than ever, and they're more directionless than

ever. Why? How can we be swimming in information

and yet still be the most anxious generation?

Yeah, we're absent from the truth. We don't know

the shepherd. We don't know the shepherd's voice.

We don't need more information. We don't need

better information. We need the voice of the

shepherd. We need someone who can tell us who

God is, who we are, why we're here, and where

hope is found. That is exactly what Jesus provides.

Notice something beautiful about Christ's compassion.

He doesn't separate spiritual needs from physical

needs. Sometimes we act as though people are

only bodies. Other times we act as if though

people are only souls when Jesus cares for both.

He teaches them that because their souls need

truth, He heals them because they are suffering.

And in a moment, He will feed them because their

bodies need food. So the Good Shepherd cares

for the whole person. And that's good news because

whatever burden you brought into the room today,

Jesus is not indifferent to it. The confusion,

the grief, the anxiety, the uncertainty, questions

you've carried for years. He sees them all. He

feels compassion and he speaks truth to it. But

then as he speaks the truth and he shares this

teaching, the day continues to wear on and the

physical part of who they are begins to come

through. So what happens? You guys know the story,

right? What did he do? He feeds them. So third

point is just that. Christ provides food for

the wanting. So stay with me on this one. So

by now the disciples have noticed a problem.

The day is getting late, the crowd is getting

hungry, and unlike us, there isn't a case he's

down the road. So. They're in this remote place,

and as the disciples look around, they see a

legitimate need, and to their credit, they want

to care for the people. This is them showing

compassion to the people and to themselves. So

what do they say? We need to send them away to

find food. How does Jesus respond? You feed them.

And you know that they looked at each other and

was like, Jesus. Come on, bro. You think we're

hiding food somewhere, right? That's like whenever

I tell my kids when they're like, dad, we're

hungry. Well, find something to eat. I don't

have any money. Figure it out. You know that

they're like, how are we supposed to do this?

And John tells us actually, in the Gospel of

John, he tells us that Jesus said this because

he was testing them. His disciples see the need,

his disciples have compassion, but they still

haven't fully grasped who is standing in front

of them. Write this down. They are looking at

the size of the crowd, and Jesus is looking at

the size of their faith. They are calculating

resources, and Jesus is revealing his identity.

Brothers and sisters, how often have you been

like the disciples? You're looking at what's

practically in front of you and going, there's

no way this is gonna happen. And Jesus is like,

I'm sorry, are you not my kid? So we tend to

look at the size of the problem and Jesus reminds

us of the size of who he is. We count what we

don't have and Jesus points us to what He can

do. We focus on scarcity, and Jesus specializes

in abundance. Eventually they discover a little

boy carrying a simple lunch. Five loaves and

two fish. So, here's what Bible software does

for you. Those five loaves, and maybe I'm just

a goofball, When I was telling my wife and kids

this they were like well dad Yeah, it just seemed

logical because it's for a little boy, but I

hear five loaves of bread Does anybody else think

five loaves of bread? So yeah, just just you

okay, just me and Theo then all right Theo at

least we're on the same page I just think five

loaves of bread. I'm like that's a lot of bread

for a little kid All right, so his mom packed

him But those those loaves were actually biscuits

So he had five biscuits, and he has two, what

would essentially be like sardines for us. I'm

sitting here thinking like dude's got two large

mouth bass he's carrying along, and he's got

two sardines because it's just pickled fish.

That's what he would eat, pickled fish. So they're

like. Anybody got food? And the little boy's

like, I mean, so just to let you guys in on how

this looks in my head, Eli, can you bring up

that there should be a picture in there? I asked

AI to recreate this for me. This is what I think

in my mind happened. Little boy's like, I didn't

bring enough for everyone, and Jesus is like,

no problem, let me show you something really

cool. He's Jewish, he's got curly, we'll talk

about that later. So, hardly this is enough for

20 ,000 people and you know that they're all

like, that's all we got Jesus and Jesus is like

perfect, right? So, before the miracle begins,

Mark gives us a very interesting detail. Jesus

has all the people sit in groups of green grass.

Again, going back to Psalm 23, so here he is,

the Lord is my shepherd, I shall want for nothing.

and he makes me lie down in green pastures."

Once again, Mark is reminding us who Jesus is.

The shepherd caring for his flock. Then Jesus

takes the bread, he gives thanks, and he breaks

it. What does that sound like? In the future,

he's going to do that again, right? So they've

got this disciples are now acting as waiters,

right? They're taking food. Jesus is like, cooking

in the kitchen, sending it out, grabbing the

food, taking it to all these people, trip after

trip after trip after trip after trip after trip

after trip. Here's something that's really stinking

cool though. John McArthur points this out in

his commentary on this, because I'm like, man,

it's just like taking little bits of a sardine

and somehow making it. He wasn't doing what I

used to do when I was a youth pastor. We've done

it on Wednesday nights. Vicki knows what I'm

talking about. When we cut the pieces of pizza

into smaller pieces. Sometimes my wife will do

that with me and she'll put it on a smaller plate

to make me think that there's more there. Jesus

wasn't doing that. I'm like, what is going on?

John MacArthur goes, The creator is creating.

He was literally creating food again. Making

something from... He isn't stretching the food.

He's literally making it. So you can write that

down. The creator is creating. There should be

a point right there, Eli. The one through whom

all things were made. The same God who spoke

the stars into existence is speaking lunch into

existence. John chapter 1 tells us that, right?

John 1 · chapter mention

Through Him were all things made, including a

lunch. The same God who provided manna in the

wilderness is once again providing bread for

His people. The crowd may not fully understand

what they're witnessing, but Mark wants us to

understand. This is not merely a miracle worker,

this is the Creator standing in the wilderness

providing for his people. And then we are told

that everyone ate and was satisfied. Everyone

ate their fill. Everyone was satisfied. But what

else is it? What is another detail that we learn

in there? Everyone eats and was satisfied, which,

by the way, that that word satisfied literally

means satisfied. They could not eat anymore.

So what's the other detail? There were leftovers

and do they just let the leftovers go to waste?

No, they gather them up. How many leftovers of

baskets were there? Man, is that not a crazy

number? 12 baskets What are we learning? What

is Jesus saying in that moment? He provided he

looked at the disciples and goes hey fellas,

I haven't forgot about you either Because you

know there was somebody like Judas or Logan Mare

could have been like, okay, we're feeding everybody

else. We ain't feeding me. So Jesus in effect

is saying, I didn't forget about you either.

The shepherd feeds the crowd and the shepherd

feeds his under shepherds. But brothers and sisters,

here's the tragedy of it all. Many of these same

people would later walk away from Jesus. We find

that out. in the other gospels. In John chapter

John 6 · chapter mention

6, after receiving miracle bread, many of these

followers abandoned him because they wanted the

gifts more than the giver. They wanted a king

who would provide free lunches. They did not

want a savior who demanded repentance and faith.

Because remember, he preached the kingdom before

he fed them. Yet when the crowds left, Jesus

turns to his disciples And he asked, what? We

had that as our verse of the week, right? What

does he ask him? Are you going to go too? And

Peter responds with one of the greatest confessions

in all of scripture, Lord, where shall we go?

You have the words of eternal life. Peter didn't

understand everything yet. We know this because

if you keep going to when Jesus walks on water,

It says, they did not fully understand, but he

understood though, you can write this down, the

bread was never the point. The miracle was never

the destination. The food was meant to point

them to the one who truly satisfies, the bread

of life. Church, Jesus refused to be a permanent

source of free meals, but he gladly became the

eternal source of life. The bread fed them for

a day, but Christ satisfies us forever. And as

we close, I want us to follow the example of

our shepherd. Here's what I mean by that. I love

what we do on Wednesday nights. I love coming

here and seeing all the kids that are here. I

love the fact that Vicki and Anita are in the

back. cooking food and I love to see the little

chubby Hispanic boy that makes like six, what's

his name? Steven. You know, he makes his way

up there multiple times, right? He's probably,

if he could, he would probably line his pockets

with tin foil and shove extra pizza and everything

in there. I love that we do that. I love that

Doug and Scott and the Janssings and Christie

and all of you guys, I love that you feed them

spiritually. That's fantastic. I love to see

the guys here providing security and seeing Trudy

helping with all the things like I love all of

that. That is serving our community. Here's the

thing. I don't want it just to stop and it just

in there. I don't want it to just be a Wednesday

night thing. How do we meet the needs of our

community outside of just a Wednesday night?

So here's what I want to offer you. What would

happen if we carried the same mindset of a Wednesday

night of feeding, meeting a physical need, and

also sharing the gospel to provide for a spiritual

need? Could your dinner table become a place

where lost people are welcome? Could your lunch

break become an opportunity to bless a co -worker?

Could your home become a place where people experience

both hospitality and the hope of the gospel?

Because Christ is still performing miracles,

amen? And the biggest one being salvation. So

my question to you is this, and my challenge

to you is this, as we close this up. All of you

guys here, and sometimes it's about different

seasons of life. I'm aware of that too. Some

of you are here and you need Jesus to be the

one ministering to you right now. Your cup is

low and you need the church and for Jesus to

minister to you to fill your cup. others of you

guys have your cups overflowing and are not doing

anything with it. So my challenge for you is

this, if you are the one that's in the season

of I need my cup filled, then I want to pray

with you. And I would request that you would

let us know as the church how we can help in

love on you. Because you cannot do what I'm about

to say next for the challenge if you don't have

a filled cup, right? So then the others of you

who have a filled cup, here's what I'm gonna

ask. I want you to one time a month, one time

a month, invite someone into your home, preferably

someone that's not a believer, for a meal. And

I want you to have an intentional conversation

with them. Now it doesn't mean that you got to

be like get saved or you pay for the meal you

just ate right like we're not saying that right,

but I Mean my wife will tell you we've got stories

like we've had people into our home who we didn't

really know at all that I invited over And it

was awkward There were awkward meals and just

doing everything you can to kind of fill the

silence but ultimately We got to have some conversations

And it was stretching for us, and it was good

for them to be fed physically and to also be

met with a need spiritually. And so I want to

challenge you guys just one time a month. Do

that and see what kind of miracles God performs.

Let's pray.