1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:04,080 Welcome to the Islands Christian Church podcast. 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:06,720 Subscribe to hear a new episode every week. 3 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:12,240 Thanks for joining us. So last week we talked about who 4 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:14,400 is our neighbor? This whole command to love the 5 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:16,440 Lord, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and 6 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:18,840 mind, and love your neighbor as yourself, the second greatest 7 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:20,720 commandment. And we said, well, who is your 8 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:22,360 neighbor exactly? And we said Jesus. 9 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:24,440 That was a common question that was asked of Jesus. 10 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,800 And Jesus answered that question in a story He told a famous 11 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,320 story of the Good Samaritan. And what we said last weekend is 12 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:35,120 that most of us cast ourselves as the what the Good Samaritan 13 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:37,440 like. In other words, we we tell the 14 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:40,080 story like we're the good guy. We read the story like we're the 15 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:42,440 good guy. And what I think Jesus was doing 16 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:45,200 in that story was trying to get us to see that we were not the 17 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:49,280 Good Samaritan, but that we were the beat up left for dead Jew on 18 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:51,800 the side of the road. And that how you determine who 19 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:54,920 your neighbor is, how you determine who your neighbor is 20 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,120 that you're called to love is a simple question. 21 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:01,240 If you were dying on the side of the road, from whom would you 22 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,000 accept mercy? In other words, who would you 23 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:06,400 let rescue you? Who would you let save your 24 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,320 life, which is draw any lines and say no, no, no, not you. 25 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:11,280 I don't want you coming to my aid. 26 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:13,920 I don't want you rescuing me. Or would you accept aid from 27 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:16,400 pretty much anybody if that would meant you get to live? 28 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:18,560 The answer to that question is obvious. 29 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,040 We would all accept aid from anyone. 30 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:22,720 So therefore, who is our neighbor? 31 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:25,120 Anyone. So who are we called to love? 32 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,400 Anyone. And everyone, that's our 33 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:30,080 neighbor. OK, so that was our question 34 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:31,840 last week. This week we're asking this 35 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,240 follow up question. How do we actually love our 36 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:36,360 neighbors? That's the question. 37 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:38,120 How do we actually love our neighbors? 38 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,080 Because here's the thing, when we talk about love in the church 39 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:44,560 world, it's so it's so very, you know, like undefined and it's 40 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:46,800 sentimental. And we do love everybody and, 41 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,280 and, and just just love people. And love oftentimes kind of gets 42 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,440 interpreted as telling everybody, you know, you're OK. 43 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:55,520 It doesn't matter what you do. As long as you know, you feel 44 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:56,760 good about yourself, we'll love you. 45 00:01:57,000 --> 00:01:59,360 Like, that's not love, that's sentimentality, right? 46 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:01,600 So love without truth is sentimentality. 47 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:06,080 And so how do you actually have biblical love for your neighbor? 48 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:07,400 What does that actually look like? 49 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:08,800 That's what we're going to wrestle with today. 50 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:13,720 So here's the first premise that we have to start with. 51 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:19,440 You have inside of you, if you're a Christian, the love of 52 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,680 Christ. You have the love of Christ. 53 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:25,360 Paul talks about the love of Christ compelling us in his 54 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,240 letters. So you have inside of you the 55 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:32,120 love of Christ. Now, the love of Christ includes 56 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:34,560 things like kindness and gentleness, for sure. 57 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:40,760 But the love of Christ certainly is more than just being nice. 58 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,600 Like this can't be the welcome to Christianity where we're the 59 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:49,480 nicest, right? That's that doesn't sound all 60 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:54,640 that world changing. So what does real Christ like 61 00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:57,320 neighborly love look like in everyday life? 62 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:01,320 And how do we do it practically? So to answer this question, 63 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:03,680 we're going to look at a well known story from the Gospel of 64 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:07,280 Mark. It's a miracle story, a miracle 65 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:09,240 story that happens in all four gospels. 66 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:13,360 And in the moment, in this moment, Jesus performs an 67 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,720 incredible, incredible miracle. But what I want you to notice as 68 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:20,560 we read this is that a lot of Jesus's miracles he did himself. 69 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:23,360 He was the agent of the miracle. You'd spit on some dirt and rub 70 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:25,520 a guy's eyes, which had to be a cool day, right? 71 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:27,200 And it's like, boom, that guy could see. 72 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:29,320 And then other times he would be like, hey, get up and take your 73 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:30,720 mat and walk. And that guy would get up and 74 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:32,120 walk. But this is a miracle. 75 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,640 Jesus actually did and executed through his followers. 76 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:38,960 And that's an important detail. He did a miracle, but he 77 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:41,120 executed it through his disciples, through his 78 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:44,200 followers. The disciples became the ones 79 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,360 through whom his compassion reached others. 80 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:53,200 His disciples became the conduit through whom his compassion 81 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,360 reached others. And that's a powerful reminder 82 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:58,720 for all of us if we're going to love our neighbors the way 83 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,400 Christ calls us to love him, love them. 84 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:05,720 This is this is key. Don't don't miss this if you're 85 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:08,080 going to, if you're going to love your neighbors the way 86 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:10,360 Christ has called you to love your neighbors, we're going to 87 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:12,160 get the biblical understanding of this. 88 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:15,840 It absolutely must be founded first and foremost in your 89 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:20,680 relationship with Jesus Christ. To try to love others without 90 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,480 you yourself. Being loved by and loving Jesus 91 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:26,880 is a fool's errand and is going nowhere. 92 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:30,240 You will end up loving your neighbors in what in Christian 93 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:33,200 terms we say the flesh, meaning you will do it in your own 94 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:35,760 power, in your own wisdom, in your own understanding. 95 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:39,560 In other words, you will be trying to love your neighbors 96 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:42,760 without knowing intimately the author of Love. 97 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:45,440 Does that make sense? In other words, Jesus is the 98 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:48,240 author and originator of love. He's the one that that came up 99 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:50,480 with the whole idea of love. You know, if you're a skeptical 100 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:52,280 and don't believe in this whole God stuff, don't believe in 101 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:53,800 Jesus. Here's what you here's what you 102 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:57,360 need to know is that that the idea of love doesn't exist 103 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,200 unless there's a God. It doesn't exist. 104 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:03,440 It's made-up. It's a made-up thing in the the 105 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:08,600 in Christianity is a is a, as a faith says in its founding 106 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:12,560 documents in the Scriptures. It says that our God is a is is 107 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:13,840 love. It doesn't say it's just a God 108 00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:16,320 of love. It says God is love, that his 109 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,360 very nature is love. And so and so the idea that we 110 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,840 could somehow love people and love our neighbors without also 111 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:27,000 first and foremost being engaged with the author and originator 112 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:31,600 of love is crazy. So you got to get this, you say, 113 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,040 well, first command is the love of the Lord your God with all 114 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:35,680 your heart, soul and mind. And the second command is to 115 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,040 love my neighbor as myself. The reason why they're one and 116 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:43,520 two is because if you aren't not engaged in a loving relationship 117 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:47,920 with your Heavenly Father, it is impossible to be engaged in a 118 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:49,920 loving relationship with your neighbors. 119 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:53,040 You may be sentimental towards your neighbors, you may be 120 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:55,480 affirming towards your neighbors, you may be kind, you 121 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,080 may be nice, you may be all of those things. 122 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:02,400 It may feel good to you and your neighbors, but if it is not, 123 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:06,120 start with you, the believer Christian right now engaged with 124 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:09,280 Jesus Christ in a loving relationship that won't be love. 125 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:12,800 Is this clear? All right, so let's read Matthew 126 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,240 chapter 6, verses 30 through 44, and then we'll unpack this a 127 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:20,280 little bit. All right, the apostles, verse 128 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:24,440 30, the apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all 129 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:28,800 they had done and taught. Then because so many people were 130 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:32,040 coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, 131 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:35,640 He said to them, come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and 132 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:37,800 get some rest. So what you have is the, the 133 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:40,200 apostles have been out doing some ministry, doing some cool 134 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:41,520 stuff. They come back to Jesus. 135 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:43,120 They're all excited. Like, you know, like the little 136 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:45,120 kids are like, guess what? I did, Dad, you won't believe 137 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:47,120 this happened and that happened. They're coming back super 138 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,680 excited and they people have been coming up to them and 139 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,280 taking from them. But you know, and because 140 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:55,720 they're doing ministry and Jesus says to his apostles, Hey, check 141 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:58,280 this out guys, we need to get away. 142 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:00,920 You need some rest. You need to relax a little bit, 143 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:03,880 which is very interesting for those of you who do ministry. 144 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:07,480 If you serve in ministry here, every now and then you got to 145 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:09,040 hit the pause button and you got to go rest. 146 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:13,920 You got to rest. All right, Verse 32 So they, so 147 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:16,680 Jesus and the apostles, so they went away by themselves in a 148 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:20,400 boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving 149 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:25,280 recognize them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there 150 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:27,560 ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a 151 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:30,600 large crowd, He had compassion on them because they were like 152 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,360 sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many 153 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:35,680 things. By this time it was late in the 154 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:37,440 day and so his disciples came to him. 155 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:40,080 This is a remote place. They said it's already very 156 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:42,920 late. Send the people away so they can 157 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:45,680 go through the go to the surrounding countryside and 158 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:47,560 villages to buy themselves something to eat. 159 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:52,640 Now to me, verse 36 is the most like that's the most pastoral 160 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:55,000 verse that you that I've read a long time in the Bible. 161 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:56,080 And you say, well, how's that pastoral? 162 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:58,320 Because most pastors I know would tell Jesus, can you make 163 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:01,080 these people leave, right? Can you just make these people 164 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:03,320 go away for a little while? Can you just give us a break? 165 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,080 Like they're, they're, they're coming to Jesus going. 166 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:06,800 There's a lot of people and they're needy. 167 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:09,160 And I also know what to do here. Can you get rid of them? 168 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,040 Can you make them go and like go away? 169 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:13,160 They, they don't know what to do. 170 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:14,760 They're not sure what to do. They know something should be 171 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:16,200 done, but they don't know what to do. 172 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:20,040 So they come to Jesus and say send them away and in verse 37 173 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:25,520 Jesus says, but he answered, you give them something to eat, you 174 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,160 give them something to eat. And then they said to him, well 175 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:29,600 that would take more than 1/2 a years away. 176 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:32,679 Just are we to go spend that much on bread and give it to 177 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,200 them to eat. How many loaves do you have? 178 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:36,280 He asked. Go and see. 179 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:39,240 Or when they found out they said five and two fish and five 180 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:42,120 loaves and two fish. Then Jesus directed them to have 181 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:44,240 all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 182 00:08:44,680 --> 00:08:47,160 I love the I love the Bible, by the way, that Mark includes the 183 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,240 word green. Isn't that great? 184 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:52,320 He's like, you're like, bro, we figured grass and he's like, no, 185 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:54,640 I just want to make sure, you know, this was a pretty day. 186 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:00,120 This was a pretty day. The green grass verse 40. 187 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,840 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and 50s, taking the 188 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:04,920 five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven. 189 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:07,440 He gave thanks and He broke the loaves. 190 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:10,720 Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the 191 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:12,880 people. He also divided the 2 fish among 192 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:15,280 them all. They all ate and were satisfied. 193 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:18,560 And the disciples picked up 12 basketballs of broken pieces of 194 00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:21,320 bread and fish. The number of men who had eaten 195 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:23,640 was 5000. So here's a miracle. 196 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:25,560 And these are the three ideas we're going to take from this 197 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:27,480 text today. You ready #1? 198 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:31,360 Love starts when we notice people's needs. 199 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:34,280 Love starts when we notice people's needs. 200 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:40,400 When you see it, when you see it, that's when love starts #2 201 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:45,840 love brings those needs to Jesus, love brings those needs 202 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:53,640 to Jesus, and #3 Love's power comes from obeying Jesus. 203 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:56,840 Love's power comes from obeying Jesus. 204 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,160 So love starts when we notice people's needs. 205 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:01,120 Love brings those needs to Jesus. 206 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:03,640 Love's power comes from obeying Jesus. 207 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:05,600 Now let's say that much more simply. 208 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:07,680 For those of you who take notes, here's a much more simple way to 209 00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:10,320 say it. Loving our neighbors means we 210 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:14,600 notice, we pray, we obey, we notice, we pray, we obey. 211 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,440 Very simply, we notice, We pray, we obey. 212 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:20,120 So let's jump into that first idea. 213 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:22,560 We notice. Look at what Mark tells us. 214 00:10:22,560 --> 00:10:24,840 Jesus noticed the needs of the people. 215 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:27,720 Mark tells us that he saw the crowd of people there had come 216 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:31,280 on foot and he had compassion on them because they were like 217 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:33,520 sheep without a shepherd. Now, there's a lot of 218 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:35,800 commentary. You know the Bible. 219 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:37,200 I don't know if you guys know this or not, if you're new to 220 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:40,200 the Bible. So the Bible is this book. 221 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:46,040 It's actually 66 books and there are every in the Bible. 222 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:48,080 You know, like the book, the Mark is a gospel. 223 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:51,320 It's like a biography and then they're on the Gospel of Mark. 224 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:53,640 There are many, many, many, many, many, many commentaries 225 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:55,360 written by scholars. Do you got is this new 226 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:58,040 information for people like so like there are commentaries and 227 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:00,560 there are there are, I don't know, hundreds of commentaries. 228 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:04,000 And so people write these books about the gospel of Mark, about 229 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:06,160 the, you know, the Gospel of Luke, about the book of Acts. 230 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:09,320 And so you the amount of information you have access to 231 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:10,760 is limitless. OK. 232 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:15,320 And the this whole issue around the feeding of the 5000, the 233 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:19,800 Gospel of Mark in this language that Jesus uses, that Mark uses 234 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:21,960 to describe Jesus's thoughts that they were sheep without a 235 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:24,480 shepherd. There's a good chance that this 236 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:28,000 crowd of people is literally 5000 men and that this is 237 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,560 literally 5000 men who are coming to try to convince Jesus 238 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:34,520 to be their military king, to be their military leader. 239 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:37,480 Like some of the language in here suggests that, especially 240 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:40,120 in John's as well. And that that what's happening 241 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:42,760 in this moment is the people have come to Jesus. 242 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:46,320 These men have come to Jesus and say, hey, listen, we've had 243 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:48,920 enough of the Romans. You've done some miraculous 244 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:51,480 stuff. You seem pretty awesome, and we 245 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:53,120 think you could destroy the Romans. 246 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:55,160 In other words, there's a good chance that what's happening 247 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,160 here are 5000 men. Imagine that five. 248 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:02,480 I want you to just imagine for a second if 5000 men of military 249 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:05,960 age showed up to say, you will be our king. 250 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:10,520 We want to make you king. That'd be tough to turn that 251 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:12,960 down with it. That's a pretty good army. 252 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:16,240 I'd be like, well, let's give this a shot, bro. 253 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:18,440 If I win, I'm the king, even if I only get this little small 254 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:20,920 part. But Jesus doesn't do that, 255 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,880 right? He he doesn't, he doesn't accept 256 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:26,920 the type of king they want him to be. 257 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:29,920 Now he becomes their king, but not the type of king they want 258 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:31,160 to be. They want him to be. 259 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,000 And what's interesting about this language, this sheep 260 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:36,880 without a shepherd language is that that language is actually 261 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:39,720 in the Old Testament to refer to an army without a leader. 262 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:42,600 That is one in the in the Old Testament scriptures, that 263 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,480 literally is how it's used in one occasion is an army without 264 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:46,840 a leader, an army without a general. 265 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:49,920 And it's used in the Old Testament to describe people who 266 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:53,120 don't have a guide to care for them, An army without a leader 267 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:55,400 or just the people without protection, a sheep without a 268 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:57,800 shepherd. Now when Mark uses it here, I 269 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:01,680 think he's trying to make something very clear is that 270 00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:04,400 Jesus is ultimately for God's people. 271 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,320 From the very beginning of the Bible to now, to now, and Mark, 272 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:10,440 for all of history, Jesus is the one who cares. 273 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:15,760 In other words, he is and has always been the shepherd for 274 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:19,560 God's people. He's he is the one who truly 275 00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:22,320 cares. And that's what we learned from 276 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:26,040 Jesus in this story is that he notices and that he cares and he 277 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:28,640 takes responsibility for people who are in need. 278 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:32,280 He notices and he cares and he takes responsibility for people 279 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:35,400 who are in need. And that's how neighbor love 280 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:38,880 begins. It begins when we notice and 281 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:42,440 when we care, when we notice and when we care. 282 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:45,280 When we start seeing people the way Jesus sees them. 283 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:50,560 When you start putting on, you know, glasses in the lenses let 284 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:53,320 you see people the way Jesus sees them, your hearts grow 285 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:57,640 softer, your compassion grows deeper, and your love becomes 286 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:00,280 more than a feeling it. It becomes attention. 287 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:04,160 Attention to them. Now, what keeps us from noticing 288 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:06,400 people's needs most of the time? Is it because we're just 289 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,360 self-centered and selfish and just like super narcissistic? 290 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:11,840 Is that the reason we don't notice people's needs around us? 291 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:16,320 Is that really what's happening? Or is it that we're just very 292 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:19,120 busy? Do you ever think maybe you 293 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:22,640 might sometimes miss people's needs around you because you 294 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:28,520 are? Hold on a SEC. 295 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:33,640 I got to I got to check my face. Oh, look, we're live and see 296 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:35,120 what's going on. I need to like this push real 297 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,640 quick. Do you think it's do you think 298 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:43,000 that ever happens that maybe we're buried in a device? 299 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:46,080 We're busy going from 1:00 appointment to another. 300 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:48,480 We're busy. We not necessarily something 301 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:52,680 we're going to, but does your brain run 90 miles a minute all 302 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:55,240 the time? We rush past the very people 303 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:57,400 that God has called us to notice. 304 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:02,040 So if we can't notice, we can't. Love, a few years ago I was 305 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:04,080 walking to a parking lot in a grocery store and I was with a 306 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:05,800 friend. It was pouring down rain and we 307 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:08,880 didn't have an umbrella. And we kind of took off running 308 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:11,320 in the rain to try to get inside the grocery store. 309 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:16,280 And as we're running, I noticed a little little old lady with 310 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:20,320 with a like a raincoat kind of over her head or something. 311 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:22,680 And she was pushing her groceries to the back of her car 312 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:24,960 and she had popped her trunk and she was trying to hold this 313 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:27,400 thing over her head and trying to unload the groceries. 314 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,240 You see, had a big basket buggy full of groceries. 315 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:32,960 And I ran over there and I said, get in the car, get in the car. 316 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:34,960 I got it. So she went and got in the car 317 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:38,040 and I unloaded her groceries in her trunk and I shut the trunk 318 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:40,880 and I pushed her buggy off and she thank you. 319 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:43,040 You're welcome. And I got inside and my buddy 320 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:47,000 goes, what happened to you? I said, I was helping a lady put 321 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:49,440 groceries in her car out there. He was there was a lady who 322 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:50,840 needed help putting groceries in her car. 323 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:53,400 I didn't even see a lady. I didn't see anybody. 324 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:55,200 He goes, you're you're kidding me. 325 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:57,720 Like you saw somebody putting groceries in the car in the rain 326 00:15:57,720 --> 00:15:59,040 and you stopped to help them. I said, yeah. 327 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:01,600 He said, how is it? I just didn't even see them. 328 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:04,040 I said, I don't know. Try to get saved, bro. 329 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:05,360 I don't know what to tell you. You know what I mean? 330 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:10,080 So now I don't tell you that story to be like, oh, our pastor 331 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:12,080 is so great, although he is, that's not why. 332 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:15,640 That's that's not why, that's not why I tell you that story. 333 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:20,160 It is, it's, it's just a reminder that love begins when 334 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:23,880 we notice, we notice like we see things and we don't miss it. 335 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:28,880 We, we just kind of go, oh, I see that and and it's in my path 336 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:32,560 and I can help immediately. I can help immediately. 337 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:37,200 But let's be honest, not every act of love is that simple. 338 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:40,320 In other words, if everything was just as simple as helping 339 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:42,640 little old ladies load their groceries or hold the door for 340 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:44,720 somebody, then loving people would be easy. 341 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:49,680 Sometimes what we notice is way too difficult for us to handle. 342 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:53,200 It's way bigger than stopping and helping someone put 343 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:56,480 groceries in the back of a car. And that's exactly how the 344 00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,560 disciples felt that day. They felt overwhelmed. 345 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:02,920 They looked at the situation. They saw the problem and they 346 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,480 said, man, this is a big deal. But notice what what they did. 347 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,960 They did bring the problem to Jesus and that's that's the 348 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:13,720 second point They prayed. Love begins when you bring the 349 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:16,920 problem to Jesus. They prayed literally. 350 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:19,400 They didn't pray, but we pray in applying this passage. 351 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:22,520 So that's our second idea this morning. 352 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:25,880 When we notice someone's need, we pray, we bring it to Jesus. 353 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:27,920 Listen to verses 35 through 36 again. 354 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:31,880 It says by this time it was late in the day and so his disciples 355 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:34,240 came to him. This is a remote place, they 356 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:35,800 said, and it's already very late. 357 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:39,480 Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding 358 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:41,880 countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat. 359 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:45,520 Now, you could argue that their advice to Jesus isn't exactly 360 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,760 loving and and but it is exactly human. 361 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:52,040 Have you ever felt overwhelmed by somebody's problems and said, 362 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:55,120 man, there's really nothing we can do with this, this 363 00:17:55,120 --> 00:17:58,240 situation, This is beyond, they need to go out and figure this 364 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:01,880 out on their own. But notice the principle here. 365 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:04,520 While they didn't know what to do and while their first 366 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:08,680 instinct was to, you know, get rid of them, actually their 367 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:10,320 first instinct was not to get rid of them. 368 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:14,800 Their first instinct was what? To bring the problem to Jesus, 369 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,600 to bring the problem to Jesus. They recognize there's a real 370 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,640 problem that needs solving and then they bring it to Jesus. 371 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,480 They come to Jesus and they say, look, Lord, this thing is too 372 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:27,200 big. We don't know what should be 373 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:28,640 done. We know something must be done. 374 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:31,960 And so our suggestion to you, Lord, is send these people away 375 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:34,000 so they can get some bread and then get some food. 376 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:43,160 That's what prayer looks like when we notice a need that we 377 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:45,440 can't meet. Broken families, hurting 378 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:49,760 friends, some people in just deep financial need, people who 379 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:52,640 are far from God, that no matter how much we talk to them, we 380 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:54,360 can't convince them there's a God who loves them. 381 00:18:55,000 --> 00:19:02,240 This is our first move to pray. Now, if you don't pray, if you 382 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:05,640 don't pray, you will do one of two things. 383 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,560 You will attempt to fix it and it'll be too big for you to fix, 384 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:13,120 and you will burn out and you will get cynical. 385 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:15,640 Anybody ever been cynical trying to help people? 386 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:19,960 Amen. Yeah, I've been in ministry a 387 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:25,080 long time, bro. Cynicism is like a cousin of 388 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:33,200 mine, always coming to my door. If you don't pray, then you end 389 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:35,680 up trying to fix it yourself. It's too big for you to fix. 390 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,840 And then you invite cynicism and burnout into your life. 391 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,840 Why? Because you didn't go to the one 392 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:44,560 who can solve it. You try to solve it on your own, 393 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:47,440 but the other option is if you, if you don't pray, you either 394 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:51,640 you're in cynical or burnout. But also if you don't pray, you 395 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:55,840 end up fleeing, you flee. So either you become cynical and 396 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:58,480 burnout or you flee, meaning you run away from that person. 397 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:00,840 Like this person's in need, they got something going on. 398 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:02,960 It's too big for you to solve. You don't know how to solve it. 399 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:05,040 You're not praying, you're not talking to Jesus about it. 400 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:06,640 You're getting cynical, you're getting burnout. 401 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:09,400 And then you're like, I'm not, I'm not talking to them anymore. 402 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:12,280 Who's that calling me? Oh no, ignore that call. 403 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:14,800 And you think I would never get to that? 404 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:16,320 No. Well, you do get to that because 405 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:19,080 there's this point where you're like, I'm just burned out on it. 406 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:21,240 I don't want to deal with it. I can't help them. 407 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:24,520 And it's all because we didn't stop and pray. 408 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:28,120 So the disciples didn't ignore the problem. 409 00:20:28,120 --> 00:20:29,480 They didn't flee. They didn't get burned out. 410 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:32,480 They didn't get cynical. But they also didn't pretend 411 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:34,240 that the problem was theirs. They didn't go, well, I got to 412 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:36,000 solve this. And you know, Matthew and James 413 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:37,120 and John, they didn't get circled up. 414 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:39,600 You know, Peter, Jim, you know Peter, Jim, John. 415 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:41,120 Hey, guys, what we going to do? We got to figure this out. 416 00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:42,720 We want to make Jesus proud of us, right? 417 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:45,240 Let's figure out a solution. We'll go tell they they didn't. 418 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:47,800 They didn't see it as their problem to solve, but they did 419 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:49,440 go and they talked to Jesus about it. 420 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:55,000 They did, in a sense, pray. They brought Jesus the problem. 421 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:58,160 Even with the wrong solution attached, they still at least 422 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:00,560 came to him and friend. That's your first move. 423 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:02,920 Your first move is not to strategize. 424 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:05,080 Your first move is not to to call a friend. 425 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:09,000 Your first move is to pray. And that is your after you 426 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,000 notice. Your first act of love after 427 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:23,050 noticing is prayer. Prayer invites Jesus into the 428 00:21:23,050 --> 00:21:28,090 solution. Prayer admits this is bigger 429 00:21:28,250 --> 00:21:35,920 than me. Prayer acknowledges I don't have 430 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:41,080 capacity to solve this, but I want to. 431 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:48,960 I want to. You see, This is why prayer is 432 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:51,560 the first move of a loving heart towards your neighbor. 433 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:58,400 Because if you love somebody so much that you're burdened by 434 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:03,040 their circumstance, that you're willing to go before the Creator 435 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:06,240 of the universe and intercede on their behalf, friend, that is a 436 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:14,980 deep love for that person. There's something else that 437 00:22:14,980 --> 00:22:18,460 prayer does. When you pray and you talk to 438 00:22:18,460 --> 00:22:20,700 the Lord about a problem, you see that you can't solve, that 439 00:22:20,700 --> 00:22:22,460 you're not quite sure what to do, but you know something 440 00:22:22,460 --> 00:22:26,860 should be done. Prayer softens your heart to be 441 00:22:26,860 --> 00:22:31,080 part of the solution. Prayer softens your heart to be 442 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:34,000 part of the solution. You can see when I pray for 443 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,600 others and I ask Jesus to solve a problem in someone's life, he 444 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:40,720 turns around and oftentimes says to me, this is great, glad 445 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:43,040 you're praying for them, but I want you to be a part of the 446 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:45,120 solution. I'm going to have you help in 447 00:22:45,120 --> 00:22:47,800 this situation. And that's exactly where we're 448 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:51,400 headed to next in this story. When we notice a need and we 449 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:55,840 bring it to Jesus in prayer, oftentimes we're expected by him 450 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:58,720 to obey him to be, to be part of the solution. 451 00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:02,200 Now, sometimes He fixes it for us and we don't have anything to 452 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:06,360 do with it, but other times He fixes it through US. 453 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:09,000 He serves those people through US. 454 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:12,080 I mean, we are, after all, the first ones who brought them to 455 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,360 the Lord in the 1st place. We are, after all, the first 456 00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:16,680 ones who interceded on their behalf and asked the Lord to 457 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:20,040 soften our heart toward them. And so we should at least be 458 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,000 open to this idea that we might be the ones through whom Jesus 459 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,560 is working. And so that brings us to the 460 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:29,960 third idea this morning. We obey, so we notice, we pray 461 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:34,040 and the number three we obey. When the disciples told Jesus to 462 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:36,080 send the crowd away, he surprised at me. 463 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,200 He goes, hey guys, y'all give them something to eat, which had 464 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,640 to be shocking to them. Their response was basically, 465 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,040 man, that's impossible. We don't have the resources. 466 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:45,560 Now that's important. That's what they're saying. 467 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:47,800 We don't have the resources. We don't we don't have the 468 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:49,440 capacity. We don't have the resources. 469 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,920 We cannot do this. But but wait a minute, Jesus 470 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:54,920 just command. He commanded you to do 471 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:57,880 something, but you can't do it. I mean, that's that's what's 472 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:00,640 going on here. Jesus is like you must feed 473 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:03,440 these people. Go, you go feed them Jesus. 474 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:05,480 We don't, we don't have enough bread. 475 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:07,920 We don't have enough food. It would take a half a year's 476 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:09,280 wages. We got to go into town. 477 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:10,480 Like, what are you talking about? 478 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:12,080 We can't feed. It's impossible. 479 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:14,800 But yet he commanded them to do something that was impossible. 480 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:19,560 So then he asked a question. Well, what do you have? 481 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,200 What do you have now? What's going on here? 482 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:25,040 Yeah. Listen, when Jesus calls you or 483 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:28,040 commands you or leads you or directs you to be a part of a 484 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:33,080 solution in someone's life, He will always take what you have 485 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:37,080 to do it with. He'll take what you have. 486 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:39,760 Now, will he multiply what you have? 487 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:41,280 Well, what what happened in the story? 488 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:43,280 They brought 5 loaves and two fish. 489 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:44,720 Did they? Did Jesus multiply what they 490 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:46,320 have? Certainly, yes. 491 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:50,320 And this is how the principle works. 5 loaves and two fish is 492 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:52,840 not nearly enough. But Jesus says to them, bring me 493 00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:54,560 what you have. And so, hey, here's the command. 494 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:56,200 You feed them, man. We can't. 495 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:57,720 Can't feed them. What do you have? 496 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:00,680 We got 5 loaves and two fish. Bring me what you have. 497 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:03,840 You see how this is working? Jesus gave a clear command. 498 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:05,480 You feed them. We can't. 499 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,000 What do you have? Give me what you have. 500 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,960 Now guess what? Now you can obey the command I 501 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:13,840 gave you. The command I gave you was you 502 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:16,720 to feed them. And now because you trusted me 503 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:18,840 with your resources, you're going to actually be able to 504 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:22,680 obey that command. Don't miss this. 505 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:30,040 Jesus took the bread that they gave 5 loaves and the Bible says 506 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:36,440 that he gave thanks and that he broke it. 2 verbs gave thanks 507 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:44,480 and then he broke it. Friend, when you say Lord, I see 508 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:47,440 this person, there's a saying I'm burdened by them, I want to 509 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:49,640 help them, will you leave me on what to do? 510 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,080 Oftentimes he may say, well, this is how I'm leading you to 511 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:54,240 help. I want you to be a part of the 512 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:59,680 solution and it's going to include your resources. 513 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:04,480 This is the hard part. It's going to include your time, 514 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:11,160 your energy, your emotional energy, maybe your, dare I say 515 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:18,040 it, money. Now you're hold on brother. 516 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:24,880 Can I just go back to praying? It may include this. 517 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:27,960 It may include this. Let me help you. 518 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,320 But when you put those resources, your time, your 519 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,320 money, your energy, your emotional self, your words of 520 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,560 encouragement, when you put those resources in the hands of 521 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:45,360 Jesus, in other words, you'd say, Jesus here these things 522 00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:47,840 belong to you. When you do that, then he 523 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:51,400 blesses them and he breaks them and he multiplies them. 524 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:56,080 And then the Bible says that he gave it to the disciples and 525 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:58,160 they distributed it. And that's what he does. 526 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:00,960 He takes your resources that you say, Hey, Lord, you own 527 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:02,600 everything. Here's everything I have is 528 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:03,480 yours. My money's yours. 529 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:05,920 My time is yours. My my emotional self is yours. 530 00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:08,400 Everything belongs to you. I'm giving it all to you. 531 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:10,200 And he says, OK, thank you. I'm going to take it. 532 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:12,400 I'm going to bless it. I'm going to break it and put it 533 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:16,160 back in your hands for you to distribute, to use to serve 534 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:18,640 others. So don't miss this. 535 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:23,040 The miracle mood from the disciples hands first bread, 5 536 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,520 loaves of two fish into the hands of Jesus. 537 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:28,440 That was that's the first miracle. 538 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:30,920 By the way, if, when a human being like if you're in a group 539 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:34,240 of 5000 and you're starving and you have 5 loaves of fish, is it 540 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:36,120 your tendency to give it to one person? 541 00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:41,600 No, your tendency is to be like, no man, we didn't, we couldn't 542 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:42,720 find anything. We might want to send these 543 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:45,440 people away. That's not our. 544 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,840 So the first miracle is you gave up the resources, you gave up 545 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:51,120 the five bread, you gave up the 2 fish, you gave it up. 546 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:52,480 That was with miracle number one. 547 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:55,120 And then the miracle number 2 was, was Jesus's miracle where 548 00:27:55,120 --> 00:27:57,960 he took it, he blessed it, he broke it, and then he began to 549 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:01,680 multiply it and then he put it back into your hands, back into 550 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:03,800 the disciples hands and then they distributed it. 551 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:06,080 So notice the miracle was, hey, it was in our hands. 552 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:08,000 At first we gave the resources to Jesus. 553 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:10,560 He took those resources, he broke them, He blessed them, he 554 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:13,040 multiplied them and then he put them back in our hands and they 555 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:15,840 distributed out. That's how the miracle worked. 556 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:20,240 And it all started with prayer from the disciples to Jesus 557 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:24,520 going to talk to him. We bring what we have, we place 558 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:29,680 it in Jesus hands and then we obey what he tells us to do and 559 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,400 he multiplies it. And friends, Jesus can do 560 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:37,000 incredible things with your life with very little. 561 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:40,960 You think you need to be wealthy and you think you need to have 562 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:45,280 some kind of fancy job, or with very little, He can do amazing 563 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:48,680 things with very little, with very little of your time, very 564 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:50,840 little of your money, very little of your encouragement, 565 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:52,760 very little of your prayers, very little. 566 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:57,200 If you just give him a little, he takes ordinary obedience and 567 00:28:57,200 --> 00:28:59,240 turns it into extraordinary impact. 568 00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:03,720 It's what he does. So if something feels 569 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,240 impossible, I want you to talk to Jesus about it. 570 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,120 I want you to just say, hey, this is a situation. 571 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:12,080 I see Jesus, I want to help it, I want to solve it. 572 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:17,560 I don't know what to do. And then listen and do what he 573 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:21,720 says. You don't have to have enough. 574 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:25,240 You don't need to have enough. Did the disciples have enough to 575 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:29,440 feed 5000 that day? But did 5000 get fed that day? 576 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:34,040 That's the sermon, man. That's the sermon. 577 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:39,800 This is what obedience looks like. 578 00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:43,120 It isn't always flashy, but it's always faithful. 579 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:48,000 You may not have much to offer, but friends, if you put it in 580 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,800 the hands of Jesus, you'll be amazed. 581 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:58,880 So how do we love our neighbors? We notice, we pray, we obey. 582 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:02,640 Super simple, We notice, We pray, we obey. 583 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:08,200 If you skip Step 2, you're cooked. 584 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:11,120 Is that OK? I can't say cooked. 585 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:13,480 Thanks, Aiden. You're cooked. 586 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:15,360 Cook's bad, right? Dylan? 587 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:16,760 Cook's good. Cook's. 588 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:18,840 What do you think? Bad. 589 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:20,520 I'm going with them. Cook's bad. 590 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:25,520 If you skip, skip two. I'm so confused right now, I 591 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:28,120 can't even keep up with it. Let me say it this way. 592 00:30:28,240 --> 00:30:31,880 If you skip, skip 2, skip. If you skip Step 2. 593 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:36,800 And you don't pray. If you don't pray, that's bad 594 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:41,360 and not like bad in the 90s when bad was good, but that's like 595 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:44,760 bad. That's real bad, OK, it's 596 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:46,360 actually bad. No good. 597 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:48,880 Don't skip Step 2. Y'all will never forget this 598 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:50,720 part of this sermon. Like 10 years from now we'll be 599 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:55,880 talking about it. You, you notice, you pray, you 600 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:59,400 obey and obedience will cost you something. 601 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:04,320 So if you don't think you can give up something, don't pray. 602 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:11,160 I'm telling you. Because if you see a need and 603 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:13,560 you start praying about it, there's a good chance it's going 604 00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:16,560 to cost you something. So if you know now you can't 605 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:20,080 give up your 5 loaves and two fish, don't pray. 606 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:27,000 You and I cannot fix every problem we see. 607 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:30,960 Can I say that again? You and I cannot fix every 608 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:34,040 problem we see. This is why prayer is so vital 609 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:36,600 because He's the one that directs where we should be 610 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:38,760 involved and where we should just keep praying. 611 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:44,240 But we can offer Jesus what we have and let Him lead us and how 612 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:48,760 we distribute our 5 fish and two, our five bread loaves of 613 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:51,800 bread and two fish. So when your prayer meets His 614 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:54,160 compassion, people experience neighborly love. 615 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:58,680 I got to say it again, when your prayer meets His compassion, 616 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:00,400 people experience neighborly love. 617 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:04,360 So how do I love my neighbor? I pray, I talk to Jesus, I let 618 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:07,480 Him guide me and direct me because He's the author of love. 619 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:10,920 So this week, don't wait for the perfect plan or the perfect 620 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:13,720 moment to love your neighbor. Just bring what you have to 621 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:16,120 Jesus. It could be as simple as it's 622 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:18,840 raining and a little old lady putting her groceries in the 623 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:24,880 back of a sedan and you're just going to get wet because that's 624 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:29,880 what loving others looks like. Will you stand with me? 625 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:31,440 I want to say a benediction over us. 626 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:37,920 So therefore, my brothers and sisters, as you go from this 627 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:50,440 place, open your eyes. Notice those around you bring 628 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:56,440 their needs to Jesus in prayer and then listen for the voice of 629 00:32:56,440 --> 00:33:00,120 Jesus and do whatever it is he asks of you. 630 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:07,320 May his compassion flow through your life in all moments, and 631 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:12,760 may your ordinary moments become places where his love multiplies 632 00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:17,080 like a miracle. Now you, my brothers and 633 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:21,040 sisters, go in peace and love your neighbor in the name of 634 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:22,840 Christ. Thank you, Amen. 635 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:26,840 Love you guys. If you enjoyed this episode, 636 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:30,320 please like and subscribe so you hear a new episode every week. 637 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:34,720 You can also worship with us in person in Savannah, GA or watch 638 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:38,760 our live stream on Facebook and YouTube every Sunday at 9:15. 639 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:40,040 Have a great week.