The Gospel of John: The Deepest Hunger - March 9, 2025 (Myles Holmes)

Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast.

We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission, the spirit of the Great Commandment.

Thanks for joining us today.

So good to be with you this morning.

If you have your Bibles, and I hope that you do, you can open them up to John chapter 6.

John 6 · chapter mention

The ushers are going to make their way to the front, and their hands are filled with Bibles that they would love to put in your hands.

You can just flag them down, and they'll put one into your hands.

You can keep as a gift to you.

We have more food available to us today than we ever have in the history of humanity.

In fact, I've got some numbers for you.

1961, the average daily caloric supply per person was around 2,880 calories.

By 2018, that number had risen to 3,471.

And yet, despite the increasing abundance of calories available to us, we are a hungry person, a hungry people.

In fact, the way I know this is that Chick-fil-A just opened up in New Market, and if you were like me, you were not protesting outside Chick-fil-A saying, listen, we've got enough food, all right?

We don't need you here.

We want more.

We've never had more food, yet we've never felt more hungry.

That's not only true of physical hunger.

This is true of spiritual hunger and fulfillment as well, isn't it?

Think about social connection.

Never in the history of humanity have we had easier access to relationships, thousands of friends, likes, messages at our fingertips, and yet if we were to measure the depth of those relationships, we would probably find that we've never been more lonely as a society.

It's a paradox, isn't it?

That we have more, but the more that we have, the less that we are satisfied.

We have more food, yet more hunger.

More connection, but more isolation.

More entertainment, but more boredom.

More wealth, yet more anxiety.

I don't know about you, but I find this incredibly concerning.

I find it concerning in my own life that we've run this experiment of getting more and more and more, and it's just not working, but I find it incredibly concerning in our culture as well.

In fact, I'm concerned by the ways that it's affecting young people.

And just this past week ran into the statistic that in the span of 10 years between 2007 and 2017, the rates of suicide increased by 56%.

The highest increase being in young girls.

And since then, the rates have only increased.

G.K.

Chesterton puts it like this: he says this the greatest tragedy of life is not that we are hungry, but that we do not know what we are hungry for.

Loved one, there is a hunger beneath all of our physical hungers and spiritual hungers.

There is a hunger that no amount of food, friends, money, or success can truly satisfy.

And the fact that all the whole world is hungry but does not know what it is hungry for is the greatest eternal tragedy there is.

And thankfully for us, this is a tragedy that consumed all of Jesus' attention while he was on earth.

And in John chapter 6, Jesus meets a crowd that is hungry and desperate for physical bread, but Jesus knows that their hunger really goes far deeper, that there is a hunger beneath their hunger, and that is the hunger for which he came to solve.

John 6 · chapter mention

And this morning he wants to show you and I how he came to solve the greatest spiritual famine that has been plaguing our world ever since the beginning.

Let's read about it together in John chapter 6.

John 6 · chapter mention

Would you stand with me as we read from God's Word?

John chapter 6, verses 1 to 15.

John 6:1–15

This is what the Lord says.

After this, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias, and a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.

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

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

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

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

Philip answered him, Two deneri worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.

But what are they for so many?

Jesus said, Have the people sit down.

Now there is much grass in the place.

So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.

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

So also the fish as much as they wanted.

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

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

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

Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

This is the word of the Lord.

You can take a seat.

When Jesus sees the hungry crowd, Jesus in this story has much to teach us about how he will solve the hunger.

It's fascinating, isn't it?

We know that Jesus is powerful, right, Church?

We know that Jesus is able to do anything.

In fact, John's already told us that in chapter one.

Remember that John said that Jesus was the word through whom the world was created, and that Jesus' power is the power which sustains the universe.

So, of course, the one who simultaneously is standing in front of this crowd while holding all of the galaxies in their place, all of the stars in their place, who decides where every piece of dust lands in the world, of course, the one who has that power could solve this hunger himself, and yet he doesn't.

Instead, in that moment, as he sees the hungry crowd approaching 10,000 people, he turns to his disciples.

He asks Philip.

He involves Andrew.

He accepts the young boy's loaves of bread and fish.

It's fascinating for us.

Because when Jesus sees the greatest tragedy of the hunger that is beneath the world's hunger, he turns to his disciples.

He reaches for his chosen instrument.

Loved one, I want you to understand that the chosen instrument that Jesus reaches for when he sees the hunger of the world is you.

This is the heart of John 6.

This is what I want you to take away.

It's gonna come up on the screen.

I hope this is helpful for you.

Jesus came to solve the deepest hunger of humanity.

And his chosen vessel for this mission is you.

Verse 4 gives us a timestamp here.

John tells us that this is the time of the Passover.

The last Passover was when Jesus cleared out the temple.

And so we understand that it has been a year now, a busy year, filled with teaching, filled with healing the sick, with ministry and all the travel that is associated with that in Jesus' life.

So in verse 6, then, when Jesus comes to Galilee, he finds a mountain and he's ready for a moment of rest with his disciples.

You get the picture, a large grassy field.

He's there with his disciples.

We know what that's like, don't we?

We know, teachers right now know what it's like to get to March break.

The feeling of being away from those ankle biting, we love them.

We know what it's like after a long day of hard labor to sit down on the couch and that sigh of relief when you're able to rest from the weary labor of the day.

It's a moment that we recharge, but notice that Jesus doesn't get that luxury.

The sense that we get is that as soon as he sits down, he looks up and he sees this horde of 5,000 men, but likely closer to 10,000 with women and children coming towards him.

Notice how Jesus reacts when they come.

He sees them.

He sees their need.

You see that in verse 5.

Look at verse 5 with me.

Lifting up his eyes then and seeing that the large crowd was coming toward him.

Jesus said to Philip, Where are we to buy the bread?

In this moment, you and I have a microscope into Jesus' heart to see what makes his heart overflow with joy.

It is need.

When Jesus sees hunger, his heart is filled with compassion.

He says that he is gentle and lowly.

It's filled with care and compassion for the tragedy of our hunger.

So the first thing I want you to see is this that Jesus solves the deepest hunger by seeing the need.

Jesus solves the deepest hunger by seeing the need.

Now, listen, I often react differently when I'm tired.

Don't you?

You know, we're all human here.

Can we be honest?

Don't leave me hanging here on the stage.

When we are tired, we are often cranky.

One of my kids, just this week, you know, Jesus loves, God loves to put these little sermon illustrations in for the week.

He said, Dad, are you tired?

I wasn't.

He said, Dad, are you tired?

When you're tired, you're grumpy.

And often I am.

I love kids for their honesty.

That's something I'm working on.

You know, the feeling of exhaustion and yet understanding that God will pour in and still multiply you to pour out.

But loved one, I want you to know that when you come to Jesus, he doesn't need to work on that.

Every time you come to Jesus, no matter how broken you are, no matter how exhausting you have been to Jesus, the promise is that when you draw near to the throne of grace in a time of need, he will meet you there.

The promise is that when you draw near to God, as long as he's in a good mood, he'll draw near to you.

No?

As long as you've been walking in at least some respectable level of righteousness, he'll no when you draw near to God, he draws near to you.

Jesus' reaction to our brokenness is always compassion.

Jesus is the doctor who has come to the jungle where the disease is ravaging the tribes and he's come with the cure.

Jesus is our parent who sees our sickness, and his heart yearns for us to see healing.

This is the heart of the gospel.

It's the heart of the gospel.

Jesus, listen, this is so important.

Jesus is not attracted to your righteousness when it comes to salvation.

We often think that, don't we?

We think Jesus has done so much for me.

I need, in order to make him happy, if if his heart's gonna be joyful when he sees me, I better get my acts together.

And I want you to understand, Jesus doesn't need your righteousness.

He has enough righteousness of his own.

What Jesus needs is your hunger.

Jesus needs to see your need.

That's what fills his heart with joy.

In fact, this past week I was reading in Luke chapter 15.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

I love this because Jesus quantifies how much joy does he get when we come to him in our hunger versus when we come to him in our righteousness and don't really need him, but we want to show him how great we are.

Look at this in Luke chapter 15.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

There will be more joy.

Some of you guys love math.

You know I'm not good at it.

So here's some math from scripture for you.

There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.

Loved one, turn to the Lord for 99 days in perfect righteousness with no need for repentance.

Turn to him for 99 days, and then for one day in brokenness, come to him in submission and humility, and you know what Jesus will be more happy with?

The brokenness.

The brokenness.

There's more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.

Jesus sees our need, and that need is his passion.

But I want you to notice that Jesus also has a plan for how to solve it.

And the second thing I want you to see here is that Jesus solves the deepest hunger by preparing a people.

He solves the deepest hunger by preparing a people.

Now, this is fascinating.

When Jesus sees the crowd coming and knows that they are hungry, he turns, the God of the universe in Jesus Christ, he turns to Philip.

And he asks Philip what to do.

Jesus isn't, clearly doesn't need information from Philip.

Philip has nothing to offer Jesus that he doesn't already know.

I mean, this would be the equivalent of me turning to my dog and asking my dog how to cook a filet mignon.

And it's especially concerning because I don't have a dog to ask that to.

Something else is going on here.

Verse 6 tells us, look at what verse 6 says.

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

And what Jesus is doing this morning is testing our faith.

How will he solve the hunger beneath the hunger?

Do we understand how Jesus will address the lostness of the world?

Listen, many people have come up with different answers about this, but Jesus has made it clear.

He will do it by preparing a people to address that problem.

John makes it clear for us that Jesus himself knew what he would do.

Now, this is crucial.

I want you to see three realities from this fact that Jesus knew what he would do.

The first thing I want you to see is this Jesus knows who he will use.

Jesus knows exactly who he will use.

When Jesus sees the hunger of the world, he reaches for the instrument to solve it.

And I want you to understand the instrument is not something extraordinary.

In fact, it is incredibly ordinary, if anything, below ordinary.

It's just his disciples.

The way that Jesus will reach the lost world, the way that Jesus will fulfill the hunger that is beneath the hunger is by mobilizing his disciples, his church.

This is the mission of the church.

To make disciples by seeing lost people saved, saved people matured, and mature people multiplied.

And I want you to understand that that's just not like some creative thing that we've come up.

Hey, we found this really pithy thing and it's kind of cool.

You should listen to it.

This is from the heart of Jesus.

Jesus sees the hunger and he longs to solve it, and his answer is the multiplication of disciples.

It's Jesus' solution to the spiritual family.

You know what this means for me and you?

It means that you and I need to have a high view of the local church because of the severity of the problem that the church solves.

The church is not a place just to drop in, to plug into a program, to feel a bit nearer to God.

The church is the institution that is chosen by Jesus to address the greatest tragedy in the world, the lostness of humanity.

That means that at its very heart, what happens in the church, the discipleship that happens in the church, is missional in the sense that it calls us to go and address a problem, and it is urgent in the sense that that problem is the greatest need of humanity.

Church is an embassy of heaven on earth.

It snatches lost souls from their path to fiery destruction and brings them to eternal life.

In light of the urgent mission, then, what needs to happen individually is that you and I commit ourselves, our time, our talents, our resources to building this up.

When we understand that the church is the chosen vessel that Jesus has chosen, that it is you as his disciple.

It energizes us, it kills all apathy because we understand what's at stake.

There is a world burning.

And Jesus has called his church, he has mobilized his church to go to that world with the message of salvation.

You know, my fear is that we can live lives where we take the many gifts that God has given us, the time, the gifts, the energy, and we pour it into building institutions and systems that provide some surface-level solutions to the physical hunger that people are experiencing in this world, but they do not address the deepest hunger, the hunger beneath the hunger.

We pour ourselves into things that provide solutions in the short term, but ultimately have no eternal value.

They address temporary needs, but they don't solve the deepest hunger of the soul.

Could you imagine for a moment that you were a firefighter?

It's fun to dream, right?

We only got to work one day a week.

It's it's great.

Three firefighters just left the church.

Six cops just joined.

They're like, yeah, finally someone's talking about something real here.

Imagine though, you were a firefighter and you were given a team and you were given resources to battle a massive wildfire that is raging.

And you took that team and you took those resources and you spent your time building this lavish, luxurious firehouse.

Of course it's necessary, of course it meets a need.

You start creating committees, talking about the design of the firehouse, where should we put the kitchen?

Where should we put the beds?

And you finish and you have this luxurious firehouse.

What's the absurdity of the illustration?

The absurdity is that while you have been building that beautiful firehouse that sure meets a need, there is a fire raging on outside that you are not pouring your resources into.

In the same way, many of us in our lives are focused on building institutions, whether it's our career, whether it's our family's success, whether it's even personal comfort, that ultimately will not address the spiritual.

Famine of the world.

So listen, how do we understand if we're building firehouses and not addressing the fire?

Let me give you some thoughts to help us reflect on our life and ask ourselves if the priorities are in the right place.

If you're regularly too busy to meet with a small group of people, to pour into them, to labor for their minute their maturity and for their growth, it's possible that you've consumed yourself with building firehouses.

If you are in the business world and you are using your entrepreneurial skills and your leadership abilities to build great things to solve temporal needs for people, but you are not using those gifts and abilities in the church, you do not have leadership over people in the church, you are not mobilizing the church to advance in its mission.

Is it possible that you are building firehouses while the fire rages on?

If you're able to carve out time for the endless pursuit of comfort, whether it's through extravagant vacations, endless Netflix series, the pursuit of your hobby?

If you're able to carve out time for that, but you fear serving too much because you might burn out, is it possible that you are too devoted to building firehouses while the fire rages on?

Now listen, I understand that there are seasons.

What I'm asking here is is there a trend in your life where you are more devoted to lesser institutions, to physical, to solving physical hunger, when Jesus is calling you to his church to solve the lostness of the world.

See, the church, it's not a side project in your life.

It is not a program that you plug into and then disconnect from.

It is central to God's mission.

J.

H.

Bavanick puts it like this: puts a finger on the heart of our problem.

Says, people wish to remain quiet in the peaceful little church under high Gothic arches.

They would brood about God and be preoccupied with the needs of their own souls.

They do not want to be shocked by the bewildering idea that there are still many hundreds of millions of people who have never heard the gospel.

May it not be so at redemption church.

Jesus knows who he will use.

Second thing I want you to see is that Jesus knows how he will save.

Jesus knows exactly how he will save.

We are told that the crowd numbered 5,000 men, like I said, likely closer to 10,000.

And yet there is Jesus with absolutely no worry.

I love this about Jesus.

You know, he can be on a ship that everyone's afraid it's gonna sink, and he's asleep on the pillow.

And he can see a crowd of 10,000 and yet with no food, not be filled with an ounce of anxiety about how he might feed those people.

Impossibility in a situation doesn't cause a hint of reservation in Jesus' mind.

He knows how he will save.

Love one, I want you to hear this and be encouraged by this.

Jesus is not without a plan.

You and I often have our own ideas of how Jesus should work, especially in the lives of those that we love.

And our ideas are often pretty linear, aren't they?

You know, my my kid will be born, and then they'll go into the Sunday school program, and when they're you know seven or eight, they'll confess Jesus as Lord, and then through their teenage years, they'll be wonderful, obedient children.

They'll always come up to me and say, Hello, gracious and kind Father, thank you for all that you have done.

And youth, they'll plug into the ministry, they'll they'll grow and know about Jesus Christ.

When they you know get out of high school, they're gonna go into ministry and they're gonna serve the Lord.

Maybe not that last part, but you know, that's kind of our plan.

It's this very linear.

But then you get into life, and like what has happened in your life that has been linear?

Your life is like this knotted mess.

Your life is like a pair of headphones that you've put in your pocket.

You remember those wired headphones and you pull them out?

It's like no one could ever untangle this.

Beloved one, I want you to know that what is a tangled mess to you is very linear to God.

God is not looking at the situation in the lives of those who have yet not been saved and saying, Oh man, I don't know how we're gonna get out of this one.

I don't know how I'm gonna untangle this.

God knows how he will save.

His timing is perfect.

His plans are precise and his methods are sure.

And he is not scrambling to figure out how he will address the spiritual hunger that is in your family, the spiritual hunger that is in Newmarket, the spiritual hunger that is in our world.

Church is part of his plan.

He's calling us to that mission.

Third thing I want you to see is that Jesus knows what he will do.

Jesus knows what he will do.

Jesus here is testing us, he's asking if we truly understand what it takes to solve the greatest tragedy of the world's spiritual hunger.

And the way that Philip and Andrew respond is fascinating, and I really do think it mirrors the way that you and I often respond to the call that Jesus gives to us to make disciples.

Notice how Philip answers in verse 7.

He says, 200 denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.

Philip looks at the problem and he sees on a human level there's no way we could address this need.

What Jesus wants to accomplish, Philip says, it's impossible.

It's plagued with impossibility.

And Philip is right, you know, he he does the math and he figures out how, like, listen, an unfathomable amount of money would not even begin to address the problem, Jesus.

You understand what you're asking us to do?

Here's the issue.

The problem isn't too big for Jesus.

The problem is that when Jesus calls us to make disciples, to preach the gospel to the lost, to mature the saved, and to multiply the matured, we often look at things merely from a human perspective.

And I believe this has been our great failure often as the people of God is that we try to do the work of God without the power of God.

So we always then go to the lowest bar.

We're never willing to take risks, we're never willing to stand out with courage, we're never willing to accept the call that requires faith to step out and risk ourselves for the advancement of the gospel because we just want to do things that we know are comfortable and possible according to our human limitations.

Philip says essentially no amount of money or resources could solve this, and that is just not true of five, feeding the 5,000.

It's true of the deeper spiritual challenge that you and I face of seeing lost people saved.

You understand that what we're called to do and preach the gospel?

What God wants to do when you share the gospel with someone, when you share your testimony with someone, when you invite someone to church, God wants to raise the dead.

And you look at that and you say, God, like, how could I be a part of that?

That is impossible.

Human effort cannot change dead hearts.

And at its core, the mission that Jesus has given to this church and to your life, it is impossible in our own strength.

And what Jesus is asking you this morning is, do you believe that what he truly wants to accomplish through you can be done through human efforts, or must you trust the one who does the impossible?

This is why I truly believe that the backbone of all ministry, especially of all that has happened at Redemption Church, is prayer.

Prayer is what you and I turn to when we are with Philip, standing beside Jesus, and we look up and we see the 10,000 lost people coming towards Jesus, and Jesus looks to us and says, What are you gonna do?

Prayer is all we have.

What are we gonna do?

We recognize we have no power in ourselves to feed even one soul.

We recognize that nothing of eternal significance will happen apart from prayer.

I truly believe this, that revival cannot happen through this church in New Market and the surrounding area.

It cannot happen apart from the revival of our prayer meeting.

I look back over everything that God has done.

We celebrated it last week, the 10-year anniversary.

I look back and right underneath everything He has done, I place prayer.

It is.

It is what moves the hand of God.

So that revival of Newmarket begins with the revival of the prayer meeting in the church.

Those kids are so excited about what I just said.

We gotta just like cut off some of that excitement and bring it into here because it's prayer that revives the church.

Thomas Brooks wants, yes, yes.

Now the kids are in kids' ministry being like, what are they doing out there?

I want to go out there.

Thomas Brooks said this look at oh, the power of prayer.

It has a kind of omnipotency in it.

It takes God captive.

It holds him as a prisoner, it binds the hands of the Almighty.

Yes, it will wring a blessing, a mercy, a blessing out of the hand of heaven itself.

Loved one, we must be a people of prayer.

That's why we love our worship and prayer night.

It is not like, I mean, I just I have no, you know, shame about guilt tripping you into getting there.

Because that like, I think we're gonna get to heaven and look back and realize like there was nothing so valuable as the minutes that we spent together as a church praying that he would do the impossible in us.

Church, I can't plead enough.

The revival that God wants to ignite through this church, it begins in the room of prayer.

So we make it a priority.

Philip says the situation's impossible.

Andrew takes a slightly different approach, doesn't he?

He believes something could be done.

He just doesn't think that he really has enough.

He finds a boy with five barley loaves and two fish, and he brings them to Jesus.

This leads to our third point.

I want you to see this, that Jesus solves the deepest hunger by multiplying what you bring.

Now, listen, I think as we thought about this story in the past, I think we often get distracted by the boy here.

This is the only uh story that's that's mentioned in all four of the gospels is the feeding of the 5,000.

And it's only in John's gospel that he talks about the boy.

And so I think we've focused on the boy, maybe to lose the meaning of what's happening here.

I think the real focus here is Andrew.

Notice what Andrew has done.

He's put in some work, he's mustered up some resources, but in light of the needs that are before Jesus and the disciples, he feels completely inadequate.

Have you ever felt inadequate?

In fact, you know, if you've been a Christian for any length of time, you've heard sermons on evangelism before.

And don't we often feel leave feeling inadequate for the work at hand?

Don't we often feel like we leave feeling like this punch in the gut, like I just, I can't do this?

And you know what, that's exactly the feeling that you should have.

That is exactly the feeling Andrew had.

He had five barley loaves and two fish.

And he looks at them and he's like, what am I gonna do with this?

We feel the inadequacy, don't we?

We lack the confidence to step out in the face of rejection.

We lack the knowledge to answer objections.

We feel like we don't have the right words or we'll say the wrong things.

We worry that maybe our lives aren't good enough examples of Christ to make a difference.

And so we see the mission, we recognize the need, and yet we feel insufficient.

And and church, here is the great news.

You ready for it?

You are.

You are insufficient.

Jesus wants to solve the spiritual famine that is in our world.

Billions and billions of people do not know the gospel.

And we look at the problem, and all we've got is, I mean, maybe some of us have five barley loaves and two fish.

I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel like all I have is like a saltine cracker in my pocket.

But but that's not the point.

The point is that you are insufficient.

And the foundation of missional success in this church is that we understand exactly that, that we what we offer is not enough.

It's why Jesus said at the outset of his church, apart from me, you can do nothing.

Because he's got to tear down the pride of his disciples, he's got to tear down our feelings of self-dependency and sufficiency.

If he's gonna do anything through us, apart from me, you can do nothing.

Because we can't.

Have you ever watched uh like Timbit hockey before?

I will watch professional hockey, and I think Timbit hockey is my favorite thing.

You know, you got these professional athletes, 225-pound men doing amazing things with a stick and a puck.

It's blowing your mind.

But then in the middle, between the first and the second period, they unleash like 404-year-olds onto the ice to play hockey.

None of them know how to skate, no one plays defense, everyone's a forward, everyone's after the puck.

It's a miracle if they can even stay standing.

I love it.

You imagine one of those Timbit hockey teams had to play against an NHL team?

Could you imagine if they won?

Who would get the glory in that scenario?

It would have to be the coach.

Like, how did this coach wrangle up these guys?

They don't have anything to offer in terms of like the challenge that they face.

How did this coach do that?

He gets the glory for assembling and organizing and mobilizing this team.

So it is with discipleship.

That's the point of this story.

It's laughable.

I think we're supposed to read this story and not be like, oh, the boy, he's so cute with his five.

Like, I'm not trusting any.

If any kid walks up to me with two fish in his pocket, I am not trusting him at all.

I don't know about you.

Especially don't trust my kids because that could definitely happen from my kids.

The point is that it's like we're supposed to laugh at it.

It's it's a it's a laughable offering.

What would five loaves and two fish do for 10,000 people?

That's not the focal point.

The focal point is Jesus' power to multiply.

On our own, you and I are laughably insufficient.

But this is not about what we bring.

This is about what Jesus does with what we bring.

And look at what he does in verse 10.

Jesus said, Have the people sit down.

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

Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed it to them to those who were seated, also the fish, as much as they wanted.

Both Philip and Andrew, they were caught in this trap of religious thinking, that God's love and power depended on what they could bring.

But the gospel is that God loves you no matter what you can offer.

The gospel is that when you come to him in humble submission, in honesty, he receives you and he not only receives you into his kingdom, he then mobilizes you for kingdom work.

He uses you for eternal purpose.

Let me suggest that some of us approach evangelism with this same religious mindset.

We know we cannot save some anyone, but we still feel like God expects something impressive for us, from us.

Maybe it's perfect words, maybe it's like a deep theological understanding or some sort of special gifting.

But I want you to see this so clearly.

God is not asking for something that you do not have.

What he's asking for is something that you already do have.

Listen, Jesus is not as discouraged about what you offer him as you often are.

You come to him, you say, I am broken, I'm a mess.

What I have to offer you is laughable, and his heart is filled with joy.

And he says, Watch this.

Constantly amazed by the testimonies of salvation that we hear in our church.

You know, I know that God works through apologetics and, you know, strong defenses of the faith.

That is so important as a Christian.

But, you know, isn't it fascinating that often that's not, you know, we've heard so many testimonies in the baptismal waters of people who have been saved in this church.

And I don't think I can think of one that was like, you know, oh, this person gave a really strong defense and understanding of the Trinity, and I turned and I believed.

You know, there was one person I can think of who wanted to have that conversation with me who said, I, there's like a lot of roadblocks, but before I could even have that conversation, the Lord had done something through someone else.

That was just like encouragement.

Jesus doesn't need your 200 denarii.

What he asks for is your five loaves and your two fish.

Well, what is that?

Let's get really practical for a moment.

What are the things that you already have that all of us can do that Jesus will take and multiply?

What are those things?

In a spirit of being very practical here.

In other words, what are what are our loaves and fish?

Well, how about this?

You pray for an unbeliever.

God will work through your commitment to regularly pray for an unbeliever.

He will work through something as simple as inviting someone to church, a small step that has led countless people to salvation.

He will work through you sharing your testimony even if you don't have the right words to say.

He'll work through you hosting a meal for your neighbors or for your coworkers.

You know, these settings where gospel conversations often happen just sort of naturally.

He'll work through you serving in a church ministry, even in ways that seem like they're behind the scenes.

He'll work through the support or the encouragement that you give to a missionary or a church planter.

He'll work through your integrity at the workplace because people will notice when you are living differently.

He'll work through you when you offer to pray for a coworker.

Because even the most hardened skeptics, when things go wrong in their life, are often very warm to prayer.

He'll work through something as simple as keeping a Bible on your desk, asking good questions about someone's spiritual beliefs, telling someone that you were at church on the weekend or on the weeknight.

And people are more curious than we often think.

Jesus will work through your generosity.

You support the kingdom work, you support the ministry.

And Jesus will work through that.

He will work through the gifts and the talents that he's given to you.

Whether you're a musician or a tech person or a teacher or anything else that he's given you, he will given you these gifts for a reason.

Jesus will even work through your passions.

I cannot help but to think that there are so many bakers in our church who are looking for an outlet for all these things that they're baking.

And you know, you can make a plate of cookies and attach an Easter invite to it, and that will speak wonders, I am sure.

Unless you're a bad baker, then it's probably maybe don't attach our attach another church's invite to it, but I think most of you, by my sample size, are great.

He'll work through you sharing a gospel resource.

He'll work through how you use social media and and can share what the Lord is teaching you there and share testimonies of his faithfulness.

God will even work through the way that you just pursue growth in your own life.

Because growth in your own life often overflows in evangelism.

Listen, all of these things, I don't give you this list as like, okay, listen, you gotta do all of them.

I give you this list to say, like, what Jesus is calling you to do is not too hard to do.

Everybody can do it.

What the question is, is do you believe that Jesus can take these small things and use them?

Do you believe that he can use them?

Jesus takes small offerings and they become miraculous provisions.

Last thing I want you to see is this that Jesus will solve the deepest hunger by satisfying our greatest need.

When the people sat down to eat, look what happened in verse 11.

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

So also the fish.

Church, listen to this, as much as they wanted.

They had fish and bread to the full.

I don't think there's a better way to describe the gospel.

Whoever has found Christ has found all that they need and more.

To be in Christ is to be an ocean floating, sorry, a sponge floating in the ocean.

And the more you soak up, the more there is to soak up for all of eternity.

The fulfillment that he brings into our life.

It's not just a fleeting moment of ecstasy.

It's a fulfillment that never ceases.

It is a constant source of joy and peace.

And we can admit here that we have had physical bread before.

We've been satisfied by things before.

Like, like if you know, if if what you're pursuing is success in the business world, the reason why you're doing that is because you've tasted and seen the physical bread of success before and you want more.

And the problem with it is that the fulfillment just never lasts.

You long for something that lasts.

And as Jesus comes to this crowd that is now full, he wants them to know that the fullness points to something else.

And so it does in your life too.

Why is there such joy in the presence of friends?

Why is it like when you are with friends and you know you're la like your good friends, if you have them, you praise the Lord because they can make you laugh like nobody else can.

And there is such joy in that laughter, and you wish it could never end, but it always does.

Listen, Jesus, as we will experience him in heaven, is the laughter and the feeling of laughter that never ends.

Don't you hate it when you find a good book?

You know, you're reading this book and you're so captivated by the world, or you're watching a movie and you're consumed by the story, but the story comes to an end, and there's this moment of regret because you will never experience it like that again.

Jesus is that experience for all of eternity.

The reason why you tasted that temporary fullness is because it's a sign, a sign of something more.

So many of us need to understand this.

Heaven is not just the absence of bad things.

Heaven is the eternal delight of anything you've ever enjoyed in this world.

Anything.

Take those few seconds of ecstasy, and Jesus will multiply it to span throughout all of eternity.

The reason you have tasted it now is because it points to something deeper.

It is an echo.

And the echo is meant to point you to the source of the sound, but to experience it, we must surrender to who Jesus truly is.

Perhaps the greatest tragedy of this story is that when Jesus feeds them, they still do not see him for who he truly is.

So then in verse 15, they say, perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, a political ruler, Jesus withdrew again.

The language there is likely powerful, that he fled.

Why does he flee?

Because the thought of ruling a throne on earth, rather than ruling from his throne in heaven, which he will ascend to through his death and resurrection, the thought brings him great terror.

Jesus is horrified by uh at the thought of solving a hunger that is not the deepest hunger.

And the hunger of our hearts is that we were made for communion with God.

And the mission of Jesus Christ is what we just sang.

And we're gonna we're gonna sing it again: that he came to seek and save the lost.

He won't merely be an earthly provider.

He wants to be our eternal satisfaction.

Loved one, have you known Jesus like that?

Have you tasted and seen that the Lord is good?

Have you delighted in the goodness of Jesus?

If you have, then our mission is critical.

The world longs to taste the physical bread of earth, but we have something so much more.

We must carry the bread to the world.

You and I, we're nothing more than beggars showing other beggars where to find bread.

Church, will you be one of those beggars showing the world where to find the true bread that satisfies?

Let's turn to him in prayer.

Father, I'm truly amazed, God, that you would work through us.

So many things you could do.

You could write the gospel in the clouds this afternoon and cause thousands and thousands to believe.

But God, you have chosen us.

And Lord, we delight in that.

Thank you, Lord.

God, I pray that through the Holy Spirit, you would stir in us a faith in your power to multiply what we bring.

That you'd stir in us a confidence, Lord, that if you called us to do it, you will do it.

That you'd give us courage to risk ourselves for the gospel.

God, that we'd be able to stand and say, what if we do, what if we're rejected?

What if we're laughed at?

God, all of it would be worth it.

To be able to point someone to the eternal bread that satisfies that is Jesus Christ.

So God, we confess that now, that that's who you are.

Lord, that you are deserving of our praise.

And we turn to you now to give it to you, Lord.

Thank you.

Pray this in the name of your son.

Amen.

Could you stand and worship?