What Do I Bring to the Table?

Good morning everybody.

As we're getting ready here, I just wanted to say we had a great day yesterday.

Was anybody out at the park yesterday?

Yeah, wasn't that amazing.

We had some nice weather and some nice singing, so I encourage you to look for that.

Hopefully next year we're going to do the exact same thing.

We had a great concert.

We had some fun times in the sun with some food, and I noticed up here during the announcements it said singing at 6 o'clock.

That's not true for June and July.

We're doing singing in the small auditorium during Bible class.

We're not meeting in the evenings during June and July.

Okay, let's go ahead and stand up and we'll start our worship and let's begin with a word of prayer.

Lord, thank you for this morning and thank you for everyone from your family that is here this morning.

Thank you that we get to gather and worship and encourage each other.

And, Lord, we just want this service to be an offering this morning, pleasing to you.

So just come in our hearts and just help us bless each other and bless you, and thank you for all that you've done for us, and it's in your son's name we pray.

Amen.

The things that I love and hold dear to my heart are just borrowed.

They're not mine at all, jesus.

Only let me use them to brighten my life.

So remind me, remind me, dear Lord.

Roll back the curtain of memory now and then Show me where you brought me from and where I could have been.

Remember I'm human and humans forget.

So remind me.

Remind me, dear Lord.

Nothing good have I done to deserve God's own Son.

I'm not worthy of the scars in His hands.

Yet he chose the road to Calvary To die in my stead.

Why he loves me, I can't understand.

Roll back the curtain of memory now and then Show me where you brought me from and where I could have been.

Remember I'm human and humans forget.

So remind me, remind me, remind me, dear Lord.

He took my burdens all away up to a brighter day.

He gave me a song, a wonderful song, a wonderful song I now can sing in my heart joy bells ring.

He gave me a song, a wonderful song.

A wonderful song.

He gave me a song to sing about.

He lifted me a song to sing about.

He lifted me from sin and doubt.

Oh praise His name.

He is my King.

A wonderful song he is to me.

I am redeemed no more to die.

Never to say goodbye.

He gave me a song, a wonderful song.

And some of these days in that fair land, sing with the chorus grand.

He gave me a song, a wonderful song.

He gave me a song, a wonderful song.

He gave me a song to sing about.

He lifted me from sin and doubt.

Oh, praise his name.

He is my king.

A wonderful song.

He is my King.

A wonderful song.

He is to me, Amen.

You were despised.

You were rejected, lord, those who passed by even averted their gaze from the sight, such was the suffering you bore for us.

Led like a lamb, a lamb to the slaughter.

You spoke not a word, but chose to be silent, though you did no wrong.

Nor was deceitfulness found in you.

Yet by your wounds our salvation has come.

Yet by your suffering, our freedom is won.

By your suffering, our freedom is won, for God has highly exalted your name.

He has enthroned you on high, jesus, the name above all names.

God has highly exalted your name.

He has enthroned you on high, jesus, the name above all names.

You were despised, you were rejected, lord.

Those who passed by Even averted their gaze from the sight, such was the suffering you bore for us.

Led like a lamb, a lamb to the slaughter you spoke not a word, but chose to be silent, though you did no wrong, nor was deceitfulness found in you.

Yet by your wounds, our salvation has come.

Yet by your suffering our freedom is won, for God has highly exalted your name he has enthroned you on high Jesus, the name above all names.

God has highly exalted your name.

He has enthroned you on high.

Jesus the name above all names.

You were despised.

You were rejected.

Lord, those who passed by Even averted their gaze from the sight.

Such was the suffering you bore for us.

Amen.

Elijah now returned to the Gilgal and there was a famine in the land.

One day, as the group of prophets was seated before him, he said to his servants Put a large pot on the fire and make some stew for the rest of the group.

Good morning.

Let's begin with the word of prayer.

Dear God, we thank you for this day.

God, we thank you for an opportunity to gather together as a family to praise and to worship you, an opportunity to gather together as a family to praise and to worship you.

And, god, we're thankful for an opportunity now to look at your word and hopefully be encouraged and motivated by the things that you have told us and the events and the history of people's faith in their journeys.

God, we thank you for your son.

It's in his name we pray, amen.

All right, this morning.

How many of you are, maybe how many of you are game show fans?

You know you like to sit down and watch a game show.

That's something you would enjoy doing.

I remember growing up we would watch different game shows and things like that.

We were a little bit more.

I think we leaned more towards the reality TV thing.

We liked Survivor.

But game shows are a little different than that, and so today we're going to run through, just for a few minutes, the top ten game shows of all time.

Anybody have any guesses of what might show up on this list?

Price is Right.

Jeopardy, family Feud Smarter Than a Fifth Grader.

Riggo says Wheel of Fortune, anything else Jeopardy.

Let's Make a Deal.

Okay, all right, very good.

Number 10 coming in on the list who wants to be a millionaire?

Who wants to be a millionaire?

Who wants to be a millionaire?

We used to watch this one a little bit.

I remember what's his name Regis yeah, he was the guy that hosted it.

And who wants to be a millionaire was kind of a simple game.

You just had to get 15 questions, right, just 15.

And if you did that, you were a millionaire.

I think it happened a few times.

But who wants to be a millionaire?

The idea behind it there's a whole lot of people watching and you have to come up with an answer.

Right, they put the pressure on you.

Number nine the wheel of fortune.

Right, they put the pressure on you.

Number nine, the Wheel of Fortune.

I always just wanted to spin the wheel.

I'll be honest, I don't think I've ever sat down and actually watched an episode of Wheel of Fortune.

I've just, like, watched the wheel spin.

I don't really know what the goal is, but Wheel of Fortune's number nine.

Number eight is let's make a deal.

Carol got that one.

I heard her over there.

Uh, let's make a deal.

That was the, the show where everybody kind of dressed up right in the crowd and you might get called on and they would bring you up and you might win a brand new car, or you might want to go right and so, uh, and what's kind of neat is, as we read through some of these and go through these, a lot of these they've remade or they're still showing.

They've just revamped it a little bit.

I think let's make a deal is still going very good.

Number seven Hollywood squares.

Again, this is a trivia based game, right, but you would call on celebrities in the squares to help you, right?

Is that how it works?

I don't remember Hollywood squares as much, right?

Number six Password.

Anybody remember this one?

It's still on Reruns.

Oh, it's better.

They got it right now.

Okay, if I understand, the password is where you're just trying to get them to guess the word right, but you can't say the word.

So, again, it's one of those high-pressure situations where you're trying to get it right.

Yeah, 16 to nothing.

That's a good one.

It right, that team on the right really spanking good there.

Yeah, 16 to nothing, that's a good one.

All right, number five, the pyramid, yeah.

The 830 service.

They were like, eh, they kind of thought this one was misranked.

I think is what I gathered.

But I think it's the same kind of concept.

I didn't look this one up too much, but you've got to answer questions and you kind of work your way up the pyramid to make some money.

Number four the match game.

Number four on the list, that's Brent Miller's favorite.

He gave his nod of approval.

Number three I'll show you in a minute.

Number three is my favorite show to watch when we have a newborn, because it's on all the time.

It'll be 3 am and I'll be sitting on the exercise ball bouncing the baby watching Family Feud.

The survey says yes, I know exactly what the survey says.

I think I've watched every episode Family Feud, it's on all the time.

Again, that one's a family or team game and you're going to try to guess the most popular answers.

Right, and there's pressure, right, because you've got to push the buzzer, you've got to beat the other team, you've got to ding it first so that you get to go.

Number two is a core memory of mine Because I used to spend the summers at my grandma nanny's and my grandma would let us have the TV from like 8 am till 10 am and we would watch, you know, blue's Clues and we would watch Rugrats and things like that.

But at 11 am Bob Barker came on.

At 11 am the TV was no longer the Korean kids.

Nanny was going to watch the Price is Right and I've got to be honest, it became a dream of mine to want to spin that big wheel.

But the price is right Again.

It's one of those high pressure games.

You got to ding the buzzer.

Guess the price right?

I always wanted to play Plinko too.

Buddy built one once and we have it's over there somewhere.

So if anybody wants to play Plinko after church, maybe we can get it fired up church, maybe we can get it fired up.

And then number one what is jeopardy Right?

Everybody saw that one coming right.

It had to be on the list.

Jeopardy All right.

And so the point of game shows is to put you in a high pressure, high intensity moment and see how you respond.

High-intensity moment and see how you respond.

I wanted to play minute-to-win-it games with everybody in here, but I decided not to Put everybody under pressure.

But this morning we're going to look at a story.

It takes place in 2 Kings 4.

It's a story that probably is not going to sound familiar.

I was trying to figure out what we were going to do this week and I knew I wanted to do something from the Old Testament.

And I was flipping through and I ran across this story and it's not long, it's only four verses.

So if you're lucky, we're going to get out early today.

It's four verses, it's not a very long story, and as we read through it you're going to say, okay, fine, I got it, I understand it, and we're going to look at some of the different perspectives in the story.

But in 2 Kings, chapter 4, elisha is the man of God.

2 Kings 4 · chapter mention

He is the prophet.

He has been handed the torch.

It is now his turn to be the person that the people go to.

He's the prophet, so he's the messenger for God, and he has started to take on that responsibility.

He's started to preach and to teach and do the prophesying, and people are seeing that.

Yes, in fact, he is the man of God, and so what's happening is just like they did with Jesus people are starting to flood to Elisha Because they know Elisha is going to have something powerful to say.

He may even have the power to do something to change somebody's life.

In fact, earlier in chapter 4, he does that.

But the story we're going to pick up in today is Elijah is sitting in front of a group of men, a group of people, and this is where the story picks up, verse 38, it says Now Elijah returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in the land.

One day the group of prophets was seated before him and he said to his servant Put a large pot on the fire and make some stew for the rest of the group.

So the servant is given a task.

Right, what's his task?

To make stew?

Probably nothing that he hasn't done before.

Right, you're going to make some stew.

But the issue the very first part of that we learn that in the land there is a famine, there's a shortage.

I don't know what it would be like to live in a famine.

I'll be honest, I've not had to worry too much about where the next food or meal is coming from.

I was trying to think back and think what would it be like to live during a famine?

The closest thing I could come up to or come up with was back during COVID, right in the middle of COVID, when really everything started to shut down.

Do you remember that point, like at first it was, the schools were kind of shutting down and then it was kind of like you know, keep your distance.

But then there became a point, like I think in the March and April time period, where it was like everything you started to have to make appointments to go to the bank and just things like that.

And I remember I was here at the church, woody and I were recording something to put online, and Morgan calls and she wasn't at school and she says, hey, I think we need to start preparing for what's going to happen next.

Like I think you need to go to the store and pick up some groceries and we need to put some things in the deep freezer, because it sounds like the whole world is going to shut down.

So she calls and says you need to run to the store.

I remember running up to Walmart, leaving here afterwards, and going up to Walmart and I'm standing in the meat selection and there's nothing there.

Remember that?

Remember when everybody started shopping and I was standing there in Walmart and there's nothing, I was like, well, this is a problem, right?

So then I went down to Aldi's, I went over to the selection.

There's one pack of chicken breast, four of them.

So I was like, well, looks like we're having chicken.

So I grabbed the pack of chicken breast and I remember calling Morgan back and saying, morgan, I don't know what we're going to do, like there's nothing, you know, looks like we're eating Cheerios for however long.

And I said, okay, I'm going to go one more place.

I went to Cash Saver.

Cash Saver was loaded, they had it all.

So we bought steaks and meat and beef and all this stuff and I think it's still in the freezer.

But it was in that moment where I was like I really felt this moment of scrambling right.

It was a high pressure situation.

It really did feel like we had to get something.

And so I want you to think about this as we read through this story.

Yes, he's a servant.

Yes, he's used to doing this, but the stakes are a little bit higher.

There's a room full of people and there's a famine.

That means there's not a whole lot out there.

So we keep reading.

He gets told go make some stew.

So the young man went out to the field.

He gathers up herbs, and he came back with a pocket full of gourds and he shredded them and he put them into the pot without realizing that they were poisonous.

I want you to think about this.

This young man is out doing what he's supposed to do, right?

He's supposed to make stew and he's scrambling around.

He's like all right, I found some basil, I found some oregano and I can't find anything else.

And then there was probably this moment where he found the gourds and he thought, like me, when I walked into Cash Saver, I got it right.

So he grabs the gourds, he shreds them up and he throws them into the stew.

I fully believe that he didn't know.

You read through the stories, we read through this, and you see how Elisha responds.

You get the idea that this was totally an accident, but he just does what he is supposed to do.

Verse 40, it says some of the stew was served to the men, but after they had eaten a bite or two, they cried out man of God.

So they're crying out to Elijah there's poison in this stew and so they wouldn't eat it.

I am curious of how this played out.

Did it just taste really bad, or did they eat it and it start to hurt?

But they quickly realized they didn't want any more.

So this morning.

We're going to look at this from the idea of who am I in the story?

I know you're looking at me.

There's only a few characters in the story.

What do you mean?

There's a few different perspectives that we're going to look at in the story and so, as we go through the outline, the first one is this what if I'm the servant?

The servant was asked to do something.

The situation was difficult.

He didn't have a lot of options.

He didn't have a lot of options.

He didn't have much time.

It was high pressure.

He goes out and he looks and he finds what looks like it's going to work.

He's scrambling to find something that would just be a solution and so, like I said, he picks that gourd and lets out a sigh of relief of I've got it, no information that it was done on purpose or ill intent, but he just starts to make the stew.

He starts to make the soup.

Many of us in our life, if we sit here this morning and we think about it, we've probably been the servant before.

We've probably hurt somebody without meaning to.

It wasn't our purpose, it wasn't our plan, we didn't want to, but in a moment when things got intense, when there was pressure, we but in a moment when things got intense, when there was pressure, we responded in a way that we hurt somebody.

Now, it may not be physically, it might have been, but it may not be but maybe you've hurt somebody emotionally.

Something you've said has hurt them emotionally, or maybe spiritually.

Maybe you've said something or the way that you responded in a situation has hurt somebody.

Now, you didn't mean to, but in the moment you did what you thought was best, but maybe you've hurt somebody.

This servant wasn't trying to hurt anybody.

He was just trying to do what he was supposed to do, but the result was people were hurt.

And I started thinking about this.

And I know most of us in this room are good people right, we want to do good things, right but the truth is that sometimes we hurt people, and so I was reading through this story on Monday and I don't ever remember reading this story and I started thinking you know, I know there's been times that I've said something that's hurt somebody.

Now, if you know me, I hate conflict, so I'm not going to do that on purpose, but I know there's times where I've let your kid down and I've hurt them emotionally.

I know that, and so I walked down the hall because Jeff was in the kitchen.

Because Jeff cooks weird things in the kitchen.

I think he does use gourds.

That's why I don't eat it.

I think he does use gourds, that's why I don't eat it.

But if you don't know who Jeff is, jeff is on staff, he's a counselor.

And so I walked down to the hall and I said hey, jeff, what do you do when you accidentally hurt somebody?

How do I work through that?

I said Can you give me like three simple steps of what to do when I've hurt somebody physically, spiritually or emotionally and it wasn't done on purpose?

Maybe it's weeks down the road or months down the road that they pointed out, like you really that hurt me.

Or maybe it's years.

Maybe a child has came back and said you know, when you did this that really affected me.

How do you do that?

How do you work through that if you're the person that's caused the pain?

Because the servant's job was to what Serve.

So guess what this guy was going to have to do the next day Serve again.

If we are Christians, we are called to serve right.

And even if we've made a mistake and hurt somebody, guess what we've still got to do Serve.

So I asked Jeff, what do we do?

How do I get through that?

How do I get through?

I've hurt somebody and I want to make it right.

He came up with three little things and we really should have co-preached this because he would probably say this a lot better than I.

But the first thing is, he said you've got to take ownership.

The first thing that you have to do is just recognize that you played a part in it, that I in fact, yes, I didn't mean to, I hurt somebody.

And then he said the second thing is humility, which kind of plays in part with ownership, but it's the understanding that, yes, I've hurt somebody without even knowing it.

And he said something like this.

He said it's humbly admitting it's not that, I didn't mean to, so it's not my fault, because that's our natural reaction.

It's like, well, I hurt you, but I didn't mean to, so it's not really my.

Jeff said part of the process is taking that ownership and humbly admitting that, yes, I didn't mean to, but I did, and maybe you were just passing on something that you'd seen before, that, yes, I didn't mean to, but I did, and maybe you were just passing on something that you had seen before, or sharing information or advice that you had heard before and you thought it was okay.

I think about this story.

Maybe the servant had seen somebody use that gourd before.

He just didn't know how to prepare it in the right way.

Humility is understanding that things are not great, but I need to be honest about it and through that, things can be better.

I don't have to stay in this moment of feeling guilt.

Things can get better.

And then he said the last step is just simply gratitude, understanding, allowing myself to believe that things can be fixed and that God can work and this can be something we can get through.

And so that's kind of the first perspective through the story that I want you to look at.

Maybe I'm the servant, maybe there has been somebody I've hurt before.

What do I need to do?

Maybe you're the hungry.

What if I'm the hungry?

Silly question you ever been hungry?

You know, sometimes when I'm hungry, I walk into the kitchen, and I've done this from a very young age.

I just open the cabinet and I just stare.

Then I shut the cabinet, I move over to the other cabinet, I open the cabinet and I just stare.

Then I go over to the fridge and I open the fridge and I just Then I go over to the fridge and I open the fridge and I just I know my mom's asked the question before what are you doing?

Well, I know I want something, but I don't know what the something is.

And so I'm looking for something without knowing what the something is.

And so I'm looking for something without knowing what the something is, and it looks real obvious to everybody else, because it's like there's a cabinet full of chips.

What are you doing?

I think I want salt and vinegar.

No, that'll make my tongue hurt.

I want barbecue?

No, then I'll get all the stuff on my finger.

I don't want that hurt.

I want barbecue?

No, then I'll get all the stuff on my finger.

I don't want that.

What do I do if I know something's missing or I'm feeling empty?

I want you to think about this story.

The people that were sitting there listening to Elijah speak get hungry.

Elijah can notice it.

Like listening to Elijah speak get hungry.

Elijah can notice it.

Like hey, these people are hungry.

They've been here for some hours.

Let's give them some food.

When the servant brings the food, it's not that they sit there and go.

What's all in this?

Instead, they probably smell it.

They have a craving and a desire, and guess what they do?

They act on it right and they eat it.

They have a craving and a desire, and guess what they do?

They act on it, right and they eat it.

Some of us, hopefully, are not.

Maybe you are physically hungry right now you're ready for Bob Evans but there are times in our life where spiritually, we're hungry and we're sitting in this moment.

We know something's missing, but we're not sure exactly what it is.

So again, I was standing there talking to Jeff in the kitchen and I said I really want to look at it from the perspective of the hungry too, like someone that's craving something spiritually.

And he said well, it's use the same three things.

And so if I'm spiritually hungry, one of the first things I have to do is I have to take ownership, to say that I know that I'm not 100%, that there's something in my life that's making me feel empty and not complete, and so I have to do that.

And then I have to use humility, because I have to be able to recognize and understand that I need something and I crave something, and that something might be bigger than anything that I can get, that I need somebody else to play a role in the story, that I might not be able to fill the void, but maybe I need God to.

And so it's humbly going before God, saying I feel empty spiritually and I need filled.

And then there's gratitude Even when I'm hungry spiritually, I can be thankful that there's gratitude.

Even when I'm hungry spiritually, I can be thankful that there's a God that can provide and that there are people that God places in my life that can help me feel spiritually full.

And then there's another part of the story.

What if I'm the hurting?

Maybe I'm not the person that did the hurting, but maybe I'm the person in the story that's taken a bite of the soup.

I want you to recognize and understand.

It didn't take long for the consumers that were eating the soup to realize that something was wrong.

And what's really important is that they did what they stopped.

Right, because we don't read in the story that they actually died, it's just that they ate it and went oh, that's not right.

I shouldn't feel this way.

They didn't keep eating, they didn't ignore the signs, but they realized that something was hurting and they didn't allow it to become deadly, so they stopped Sometimes in faith.

In our faith journey and in our walk with God, there are things that happen that sting.

There are things that happen in my spiritual walk that hurt, but oftentimes what we do is we just try to manage the pain.

But oftentimes what we do is we just try to manage the pain.

We choose to ignore it.

Right, just like the check engine light in the car.

But if you continue to ignore the check engine light, what's eventually going to happen to the engine?

It's not going to work.

And so if I'm dealing with things spiritually that are hurting, that are causing me pain, and I continually to ignore them, guess what's going to happen to my spiritual life?

It's going to be dead.

It's going to be dead.

There are people that are physically here this morning but spiritually have gone through so much pain and hurt that they walk in here physically but spiritually they're dead.

So what do I do if that's me and that can happen to anybody at any age?

I used to say the comment, or make this statement every once in a while, that 70% of teenagers leave the church after they graduate.

I recently found out some of the ladies are doing a study on apologetics, recently learned that what is actually happening is that junior high, in junior high, children are deciding whether this whole faith thing is for them or not, and so spiritually, they're checking out if that's what they choose in middle school.

Now they're not telling you that because you're still dragging them here.

So physically they're here, but right now they're already done.

They've already decided this isn't for me, and so I know if it can happen with a teenager or a 12-year-old, guess what it's going to do.

It's going to happen for you and I.

I know that there are people here this morning that are sitting here physically, but spiritually they're not here.

So what do we do if that's me?

Any guesses?

Ownership Everybody's going to know how to spell ownership and humility and gratitude this morning.

It's crucial that you admit that there's something hurting, crushing, squeezing, restraining your spiritual life.

Even if you can't specifically identify what it is that's hurting you, it's important that you recognize that you are feeling hurt.

You don't want to ignore it or allow yourself to manage that.

Humility is the second part Understanding that there is pain that you need help dealing with that.

You may not be able to do it on your own, and maybe it's as simple as not as simple.

But maybe the first step is taking it to God and saying, god, I am hurting spiritually, I wanted this to happen and it didn't.

And I'm angry and I'm bitter and every day, god, I'm walking with this pain and I just need you to know about it.

Or maybe it's finding a brother or sister in Christ and just saying, hey, I'm going through it and I just need to say it out loud.

Or maybe it's sitting down with somebody professionally and talking through it, but being humble enough and recognizing that I need help and that if I need help, it doesn't take away anything about who I am or whose I am, that even if I need help, I'm still a child of God and God still loves me.

And then there's gratitude, praising Jesus that I don't have to stay in this moment of pain, knowing that that moment doesn't have to stay in this moment of pain, knowing that that moment doesn't have to be the thing that kills me spiritually, that I can continue this walk.

And recognizing that the story continues and Elijah steps in.

They cry out ah, this is poisonous.

And Elijah says bring me some flour.

He throws it into the pot and says now, it's all right, go ahead and eat they eat it no one's harmed anymore.

How do I become that person?

Because all Elijah did was step in when someone needed him.

He hears their call.

He hears their hurting.

He hears their hurting.

He sees it as an opportunity to help and he does it.

So how can I become the man of God in this story?

I don't want to be the hurting anymore, I don't want to be the hungry.

I want to be the man of God.

I want you to notice he doesn't just sit there.

There's often times in my life when there's an opportunity to do something, to be the man of God, but I just sit Because in my head someone else has more experience, there's someone else that's better, that could talk to them.

You know, elijah could have sat there and said somebody else probably has a better recipe that would make this taste better, or someone else knows how to work with those gourds, but instead he just jumps into action.

But the typical response when we're presented an opportunity is to what Step back?

I wrote this outline on Monday.

Tuesday morning, jeff calls me.

Hey, is there a gentleman that I've been working with trying to help and he needs someone to talk?

He needs to talk to somebody and Jeff said I'm going to be in meetings all day, I'm not going to have an opportunity to meet with him.

And he's really asking to meet with somebody.

Can you meet with him this morning?

So immediately, guess what my head starts doing what excuse can I spout out that I can't go meet this guy?

Because in my head I said, jeff, what's he want to talk about?

He said I don't know, he just needs somebody right now.

So in my head I immediately start going well, what if I don't have the answer?

Or what if he asks and I don't know what to do?

And so I try to retreat and Jeff's like, if you can, it's okay.

But I mean he really and Jeff's a really good pusher.

And so I think I literally said on the phone I don't really have an excuse not to.

So yeah, I can.

So I'm like reluctantly going Steeler goes with me.

We go to McDonald's, we help this guy get a gift card to help him get to a job interview.

He goes and lands the job and his life is going to be changed tremendously because he got a job.

He went from staying in the Deer Creek Hotel to having a full-time job because he just needed somebody to help.

But we always want to step back and think of the next.

Friday comes around to help, but we always want to step back and think of another thing.

Friday comes around.

I'm standing here with Steeler Steeler's interning.

He's supposed to be learning from me a little bit.

I'm standing in the carport of the church getting ready to go do sack lunch and there's a man walking down the road with a big old gallon of water and he looks like he's been walking for quite some time and I see him and I'm like what am I going to do here?

And then he walks over to the youth center where my car is parked and I'm across the street.

I'm watching him through the doors and he's trying to open the door.

He's looking for something.

He's looking for something.

He's looking for help.

I even mentioned to Steeler like oh man, there's a brother over there.

He's trying to get in.

Steeler's just looking at me.

I'm like I don't know.

I don't know what he's going to want, I don't know what he's going to need.

I don't know what we're going to do.

He walks across the street, starts pulling on the glass doors, not the one we're standing by, but the ones just down.

I'm thinking, ah, he chose the wrong door, because this is what we do when we're presented with opportunities, when God says here, this is what we do and I'm just being honest with you.

So I'm just standing there, here, this is what we do and I'm just being honest with you.

So I'm just standing there and Steeler just kind of looks at me and I have no idea what you were thinking.

Steeler probably like what's this guy?

Why isn't Josh going to help him?

But I'm I can't get my feet to move because what is he going?

What's he going to want?

What's he going to need?

Finally, I'm like all right, I gotta open the door, I gotta see what he needs.

I open the door there.

He said, hey, I'm just passing through.

Is there any way that I could just get like a snack bag with some things so that I could keep going?

I just need a little bit of protein to keep going.

I look down and I'm standing next to the sack lunch cooler that is loaded with Uncrustables and protein bars and I thought to myself God gave the opportunity, it's all right here.

All I've got to do is say you've got this, god, you're big enough to handle it and I'm going to let you do it, but we're so hesitant to do it.

So I give the guy like 32 Uncrustables and he's on his way Right.

But Elijah doesn't just choose to sit there.

He decides to act.

We want to help but we freeze.

He grabs the flower and he says okay, god, use me, god, you're going to use this, god bless this situation.

Throws the flower into it and it changes everything.

The people eat and they're full.

So how is he able to do that?

I hope you didn't jump.

Gratitude's the first step, recognizing that God is big enough and God is good enough to help in whatever situation.

That's what Elijah was thinking.

He's got gratitude, he understands, he's thankful and knows that God is good enough and God is big enough.

So I'm just going to jump at the situation.

I'm going to grab the flower and it's going to go.

And then he's got humility, recognizing that God is big enough and he is good enough.

So that must mean he can use me.

That's a belief that he can use me.

So he faithfully steps out, humbly steps out and throws the flour into the pan and then, because he knows God is big enough and because he knows that God is good enough, he now knows and understands that I'm a part of the plan.

I have a purpose and a mission.

You've heard that before.

And so he jumps at it.

How do I become the man of God?

Gratitude, humility, ownership.

God has put me in a situation.

God has put you in a situation to help to do.

The story continues.

We're almost done.

We're wrapping up here.

One day, a man from Balao Shalash brought the man of God a sack of fresh grain and 20 loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of the harvest.

Elisha says give it to the people so they can eat.

What says the servant?

Feed a hundred people with only this.

But Elisha repeated give it to the people so they can eat.

For this is what the Lord says.

Everyone will eat and there will be even some leftovers.

Does that story sound familiar?

Doesn't that really sound like the feeding of the 5,000?

I want you to notice what happens.

A man brings some bread, some loaves of bread, and it's from the first grain.

He's really offering this to Elisha as a man of God.

He's given some good stuff, but it's not a whole lot, and Elisha, being a man of God, says okay, let's give it to the people Now.

I hope I have no way of connecting the dots here, but I hope, I really hope it's the same servant from the day before.

I really hope it's Elisha saying hey, I know yesterday didn't go as planned, but you tried your best, let's give it another shot.

And it almost feeds the argument that it could be, because he says what do you mean this bread?

With all these people you can almost feel like the negative idea of like I tried yesterday, man, it didn't work.

And Elisha says no, just take it and give it.

And he does.

But even if it's not the same servant, it's just a reminder that God is big enough and he's good enough to use it and go do it.

And so it's a reminder for you and I.

No matter where you fit into the story this morning, whether you're the servant, the hungry, the hurting you have another job, there's another opportunity that God's going to present to you.

God's got this.

He's big enough, he's good enough.

Let's pray, father.

God, we thank you so much for today.

God, we thank you for an opportunity to get together, god, and I pray that as we live our lives, that we can be people that understand just how good you are and just how great you are.

And, god, I pray that you take all the fears away.

God, I pray that you take the doubt away that when we see an opportunity, that we will just do it.

And knowing that you're in control, knowing that you've got this and you just want to use us, knowing that you've got this and you just want to use us, god, I pray for the people in the room that have been the servant or are the servant, that were presented with an opportunity, a stressful situation and just tried to do the best they could but in the end they ended up hurting someone.

God, I pray that we can find peace in that, that we can work through that.

God, I pray for the people that are in this room this morning, that are hungry, that are spiritually looking for something.

They don't know what it is, they don't know what they're missing, but, god, I pray that they can take ownership of that today and recognize that there's a God that can provide.

God, I pray for those who are hurting, those who have been through spiritual damage, that there's pain and hurting in their life.

God, I pray that they can recognize that pain and that they can seek the help and knowing humbly that they can fall before you and know that you can provide only the healing that you can.

And, god, I pray that as we leave here this morning, that we can be people that want to serve, that we want to be the man or woman of God that's willing to just jump into a situation.

God, I pray that you take away the fears and the doubts and God just add belief that we will trust and know that you are big enough and good enough to do it.

God, I pray for opportunities this week.

I pray for opportunities for everybody in this room to see your love and to show your love to the people around.

So, in Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.

All my words fall short.

I've got nothing new how could.

I express all my gratitude.

You could sing these songs, as I often do, but every song must end, and you never do and praise you again and again, cause all that I have is a hallelujah Hallelujah, and I know it's not much, but I'm nothing else fit for a king, except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah.

I've got one response.

I've got just one move With my arms stretched wide.

I will worship you.

So I throw up my hands and praise you again and again, because all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah, and I know it's not much, but I'm nothing else fit for a king, except for a heart singing Hallelujah, hallelujah Come on my soul oh don't you get shy on me.

Lift up your song Cause you've got a lion inside of those lungs.

Get up and praise the Lord.

Come on, my soul, oh, don't you get shy on me.

Lift up your song, cause you've got a lion inside of those lungs.

Get up and praise the Lord.

Come on, my soul, oh, don't you get shy on me.

Lift up your song, cause you've got a lion inside of those lungs.

Get up and praise the Lord.

So I throw up my hands and praise you again and again, cause all that I have is a Hallelujah, hallelujah.

And I know it's not much, but I'm nothing else fit for a king, except for a heart singing Alleluia, alleluia.

Let us pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for our church family and all the blessings that you've given us, just to keep us tight in your light, give us the opportunity to listen to the needs of the people.

You give us through our path, from listening to them, giving them a handout to hand up our brothers and sisters and our future brothers and sisters.

Also, please keep an eye on our first responders, our firefighters and our law enforcement.

They do a great blessing of putting their life on the line to keep us safe.

Just keep an eye on us through the week.

Just help us walk bright in your light and listen for the calling that you have for us.

Just thanks to everything, your son Jesus, amen, amen.

If the skies above you are gray, you are feeling so blue.

If your cares and burdens seem gray all the whole day through there's a silver lining that shines in the heavenly land.

Look by faith and see my friend.

Trust in his promises.

Grand Sing and you'll be happy today.

Press along to the goal.

Trust in him who leads you.

He will keep your soul.

Let all know where you belong.

Be faithful, look to him and pray.

Lift your voice and praise him in song.

Sing and be happy today.

Oft we fail to see the rainbow up in heaven's fair sky, when it seems the fortunes of earth frown and pass us by, there are things we know that are worth more than silver and gold, if we hope and trust in each day we shall have pleasures untold.

Sing and you'll be happy.

Today, press along to the goal.

Trust in him who leadeth the way he is going your soul, let the world know where you belong.

Be faithful, look to Jesus and pray.

Lift your voice and praise him in song.

Sing and be happy today.

Amen, God bless you everybody.

Have a great week.