1 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:06,720 Good morning, everyone. Take your Bibles. 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:10,000 Open up to the Gospel of Luke Chapter 9. 3 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:12,680 Luke Chapter 9. That's page 919. 4 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:16,480 If you're using one of the Bibles in the seat underneath of 5 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:20,400 you, for those of you who have asked me the question, those 6 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:22,800 Bibles in the sea, are we allowed to just take them? 7 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:25,760 And the answer is yes. It is our gift to you as a 8 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:27,320 church. We would love for you to have a 9 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,440 Bible that you can bring home with you. 10 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:36,120 I want you to think about a time when you came face to face with 11 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:39,240 your limitations as a human being. 12 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:45,320 I remember one time my sons were sharing a bedroom and they 13 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:49,880 wanted me to paint their bedroom Spider Man colors and being a 14 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,960 good dad I thought this is a great thing and I'm going to go 15 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:55,120 paint their bedroom spider man color. 16 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,600 So I spent all this time painting it the red and the blue 17 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:01,160 and it looked awesome. And I called Shannon into the 18 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:06,360 room to show off my work to her and she said, so what's with the 19 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:10,760 paint all over the carpet or the ceiling? 20 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:14,560 And I, I just like the color outside the lines a little bit. 21 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,080 It's fine. But it, it was like, moments 22 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:21,240 like that have happened so many times in my life where I 23 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:25,640 recognize that Bible college does not train you how to use a 24 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,200 paintbrush or a drill or anything like that. 25 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:32,560 I, I come face to face my limitations all the time at 26 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:33,880 home. And because you're a human 27 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:36,600 being, I know I'm not alone. I know you've got your set of 28 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:40,280 limitations as well. You've got moments that happen 29 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:45,240 where your limitations are exposed, moments where you 30 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,440 realize you don't have enough resources to fix the problem. 31 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:53,120 Even worse, you don't have the skills or the strengths or the 32 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:57,880 personality that you would need to step into the situation that 33 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:01,680 is in front of you. We all have limitations for all 34 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,520 kinds of different reasons, whether it's your genetics, 35 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,320 nobody's ever taught you, maybe it's your age. 36 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,160 Sometimes you've got limitations because you're younger and you 37 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:13,360 don't have all the experience that other people have. 38 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,760 And sometimes those of us, as we get a little bit older, we start 39 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,480 to feel some of our own limitations as well because we 40 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,080 can't do all the things that we used to be able to do. 41 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:26,200 If you've got poor health and health challenges, you are very 42 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:28,960 acutely aware of some of your limitations. 43 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:32,640 So what is your normal response when you come up against your 44 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:35,760 limitations? What what's the way that you 45 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:39,760 normally react to them? Do you just get stressed out and 46 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:43,880 anxious? Do you get angry and frustrated? 47 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:49,360 Do do you feel like a failure or a loser or not enough as a human 48 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:51,760 being? Do you just go, I'm just going 49 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,200 to power through this and figure it out. 50 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:57,800 Or maybe you're just someone who just shrugs your shoulders and 51 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:02,400 goes whatever, and you just accept the limitation and you 52 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:06,400 move on. Well, we're walking through Luke 53 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,080 Chapter 9 and we're talking about how Jesus shapes people's 54 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:14,480 lives, how he shapes us to be the people that God wants us to 55 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,120 be. And as we come to Luke 9 today, 56 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:18,360 here's what we're going to discover. 57 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:24,120 Jesus is going to use your limitations to shape your trust 58 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,560 in God. That from God's perspective, 59 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:29,680 your limitations are not something for you to get 60 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:31,920 stressed out over or anxious about. 61 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,040 They're not something for you to power through and just figure 62 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:36,880 out. They're not even something to 63 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,560 just accept and move on from now. 64 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:44,120 And in reality, the limitations that you have are an opportunity 65 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:48,800 for you to find a greater closeness in your walk with God. 66 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:53,640 It's an opportunity for you to find rest for your soul and for 67 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:55,600 your relationship with God to be strengthened. 68 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:58,600 Now, I know that there's a lot of people who don't like to 69 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:02,000 admit that they've got weaknesses and limits. 70 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:06,320 We, we, we are filled with a little shame sometimes around 71 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:08,560 that. But throughout human history, 72 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:10,920 the human race has tried to show that we've got no limits. 73 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:14,120 We can do anything. Your mom probably told you you 74 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:15,680 can do anything. She lied. 75 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:21,240 You can't. Even the development of AI has 76 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:26,280 created a world where some people imagine a life without 77 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:30,080 limits. And while humans are capable of 78 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:34,200 doing some pretty extraordinary things, no matter how hard we 79 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:39,080 try, we will always come face to face with things that are beyond 80 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:41,280 our ability for one simple reason. 81 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:47,640 You're not God. You're hardwired by God to be a 82 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:51,800 person who points to what God is like, but you are never going to 83 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:56,560 be able to be and do everything that God does. 84 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,080 In Luke 9, the disciples of Jesus are going to come face to 85 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,320 face with Him, shaping them through their limitations. 86 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:04,520 This is where we pick up beginning in verse 10. 87 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:10,880 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus all that they 88 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:13,600 had done. He took them along and withdrew 89 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:16,040 privately to a town called Bethsaida. 90 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:18,840 When the crowds found out, they followed him. 91 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:23,000 He welcomed them, spoke to them about the Kingdom of God and 92 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:27,400 healed those who needed healing. Late in the day, the 12 93 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,800 approached and said to him, send the crowd away so that they can 94 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:34,600 go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find food and 95 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:37,160 lodging. Because we are in a deserted 96 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,040 place here. You give them something to eat. 97 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:42,880 He told them. We have no more than 5 loaves 98 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:45,600 and two fish. They said unless we go and buy 99 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,760 food for all these people. For about 5000 men were there. 100 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:52,680 Then he told his disciples have them sit down in groups of about 101 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:55,480 50 each. They did what he said had them 102 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,200 all sit down. Then he took the five loaves and 103 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:00,960 the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke 104 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:02,800 them. He kept giving them to the 105 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:04,800 disciples to be set before the crowd. 106 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:10,400 Everyone ate and was filled. They picked up 12 baskets of 107 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:14,600 leftover pieces. So the very first thing that 108 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:18,160 happens in this passage is that is that the disciples of Jesus 109 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:22,120 return and they're reporting to Jesus on what they had done. 110 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:25,160 This is referring to what we talked about two weeks ago, 111 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:29,480 where Jesus had sent the disciples out to go on mission 112 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:32,400 to go and heal people and proclaim the good news of the 113 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:35,040 Kingdom of God. So now they've come back to 114 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:38,520 Jesus and they're telling him stories of what went on while 115 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:40,480 they were out doing the work of ministry. 116 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:43,720 They've been busy. They've been giving their all to 117 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:46,000 love people and meet their needs. 118 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:50,320 When the Gospel of Mark shares this same story, he says that 119 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:54,880 the disciples had been so busy serving other people they had 120 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:56,760 not even had any time to eat yet. 121 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:01,880 Matthew adds one more layer by saying the disciples had just 122 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:05,600 found out that John the Baptist had been killed and they had 123 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:09,080 gone and taken John's body and buried John. 124 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:12,640 So this group of men who had been out on mission giving 125 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:16,240 themselves over and over again to help other people, they are 126 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:18,480 worn out. They are worn out physically, 127 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:22,440 they're worn out emotionally, they are worn out spiritually. 128 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:27,440 And the very first thing that Jesus does is he takes them away 129 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:33,040 from the noise in the crowds to a place called Bethsaida to be 130 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:36,400 alone with him so he could care for them. 131 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:43,160 And right away, Jesus is ministering to his disciples in 132 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:45,080 their limitations. And here's what I want you to 133 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:48,280 hear today. When you are weary and you are 134 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:55,920 exhausted, come to Jesus. I know that in this room and 135 00:07:55,920 --> 00:08:00,200 watching online, there are many, many people who are just simply 136 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:05,120 exhausted. You're working hard, some of you 137 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:09,760 are working multiple jobs, and it doesn't seem to be enough. 138 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:14,880 You're caring for family and friends who are going through it 139 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:19,320 right now, and you're caring. You're so invested that you 140 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:24,400 don't even have enough time to eat proper meals or exercise or 141 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,360 take care of your own health. Some of you, many of you are 142 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,680 faithfully serving in the life of our church family. 143 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,640 You are giving and giving and giving of yourself to others for 144 00:08:35,799 --> 00:08:38,840 for their benefit. And and you're almost afraid to 145 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:43,559 stop because if you stop, you don't know what might happen 146 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:45,440 when the adrenaline comes crashing down. 147 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:52,120 That's how tired you are. And if that's you today, if you 148 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:56,360 find yourself in a place where you are just tired and your soul 149 00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:02,800 is feeling weary by the grind of life, I want you to know Jesus 150 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:07,160 is not a slave driver who is just going to say to you, suck 151 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:12,160 it up and learn to work harder. The exhaustion you're feeling is 152 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:17,120 God's way of showing you that you've got limitations, and it's 153 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:21,480 also an invitation from Jesus for you to find rest and 154 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:25,400 refreshing from Him. I don't know what you do to 155 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:29,360 refresh yourself, but if you're like most people, you probably 156 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,560 take a vacation or you've got hobbies that you use. 157 00:09:32,560 --> 00:09:37,280 You like to take a nice long nap, long nap. 158 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:42,800 All those things are great things to do, but there is 159 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:48,560 something unique about going and being alone with Jesus and 160 00:09:48,560 --> 00:09:51,080 allowing Him to speak into your life. 161 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:55,920 He's going to give you something that no other outlet you have to 162 00:09:55,920 --> 00:10:00,360 be refreshed can give you. He's going to renew your soul. 163 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:04,880 Jesus is the one who knows exactly what your limitations 164 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:07,360 are, and Jesus has compassion for you. 165 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:11,440 He is the Good Shepherd who loves you. 166 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,400 At the core of the Christian story is not a whole bunch of 167 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,360 responsibilities or tasks that we have to accomplish. 168 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:21,560 It's not about how many ways am I serving the needs of all the 169 00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:23,920 other people. Everything about the Christian 170 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:29,680 story is rooted and flows out of a love relationship with God. 171 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:32,320 Jonathan Edwards said it like this. 172 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:37,240 He said a true Christian delights at times to retire from 173 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:39,720 all mankind. Now doesn't that sound awesome? 174 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:43,560 Who doesn't want to retire from all mankind sometimes, right? 175 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:46,800 But this is not that's not the whole sentence. 176 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:48,640 Here's what his full sentence is. 177 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:53,040 A true Christian delights at times to retire from all 178 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:59,000 mankind, to converse with God in solitary places. 179 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:03,400 It's the words of David in Psalm 42. 180 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:10,280 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so I long for you, God. 181 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:17,160 Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus is the living water. 182 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:22,040 And when you're exhausted and worn down, he sees you and he 183 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:27,960 simply says, hey friend, come here and and let me refresh you. 184 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:36,720 So when was the last time you turned off all the noise and you 185 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:39,800 stepped away from all the responsibilities? 186 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:43,560 Not just to go on a trip somewhere or go up to a cottage 187 00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:45,720 or take a vacation. But when was the last time you 188 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:49,560 did all those things so that you could just simply sit in the 189 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:54,480 presence of Jesus? Not, not to tell Him all the 190 00:11:54,480 --> 00:12:00,240 things that you want from Him, but to receive what He wants to 191 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:03,440 say to you and speak into your own heart and soul. 192 00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:09,000 Some of you may not even know what that even looks like or how 193 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:12,160 to even do that. So I want to just take a minute. 194 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:14,760 I want to kind of give you some practical handles of what that 195 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:17,040 might look like for you if you've never done something like 196 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:18,920 that before. First of all, you don't have to 197 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:21,960 go far away to have this kind of time with Jesus. 198 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:25,600 You don't have to sit there and think, OK, how do I go to the 199 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:29,120 desert somewhere or up to a mountaintop somewhere to have 200 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:31,520 this kind of time alone with Jesus? 201 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:33,640 The disciples are brought to Bethsaida. 202 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:37,360 Bethsaida was the hometown of three of Jesus disciples. 203 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:42,240 But what Jesus does is he keeps them close to home, but he takes 204 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:45,280 them to a deserted area, probably just outside of 205 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:48,200 Bethsaida, an area where they could be free from the 206 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,360 distractions and free from all the things that are going to 207 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:54,760 take them away from hearing what Jesus wants to speak into their 208 00:12:54,760 --> 00:13:01,440 life. And so turn off your phone, turn 209 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:04,640 off your television, turn off your computer. 210 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:11,360 If you are dealing with young kids and the reality of your 211 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:14,440 home and you're going Kirk, silence is not a thing. 212 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:21,640 Tag team with each other. Seriously, your team work 213 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:25,000 together so that each other can have some time alone with God. 214 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:31,760 If you're a single parent, tag team with other single parents 215 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:35,680 and create some space, support each other in being able to do 216 00:13:35,680 --> 00:13:39,680 this. And then take 20 minutes or an 217 00:13:39,680 --> 00:13:43,160 hour or half a day or a full day, whatever it looks like, 218 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:46,720 whatever you can take. Get alone with God. 219 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:48,880 And then you're probably going to need to take a few deep 220 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:52,120 breaths. Because if you're like me, your 221 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:56,120 brains kind of still in about 500 different spots and you're 222 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:58,160 going to need to take a few deep breaths and just remind 223 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,080 yourself, OK, I'm here right now and I just want to hear from God 224 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:04,760 and invite God. Like God, would you come and 225 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:07,280 minister to my heart and my soul? 226 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:09,520 Would you speak to me? The things you want to speak to 227 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:15,000 me, you open up to places in the Bible and verses like Psalm 23. 228 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:21,000 The Lord is my shepherd. You read passages throughout the 229 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:24,600 Bible that talk about the amazing gifts that God gives to 230 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:28,960 you because you're his child. And just listen to what the Holy 231 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:31,240 Spirit wants to say to you from Scripture. 232 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,360 I promise you, God doesn't just want to speak to somebody like 233 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:37,400 me who's standing on a platform as a posture. 234 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:42,320 God wants to speak to all of his children and minister to your 235 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:45,360 heart and soul. Sing worship songs, fix your 236 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:49,000 heart on God, invite him to minister to you. 237 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:51,880 And I, it's going to feel weird at first. 238 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:54,720 I'm just like, if you've never done that before, I promise you 239 00:14:54,720 --> 00:15:01,000 it feels weird at first, but I'll tell you, there's nobody 240 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:02,720 who loves you more than Jesus does. 241 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:09,200 He delights in caring for you and ministering to you. 242 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:18,520 Enjoy His presence and His love. Now the reality is this, 243 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:23,680 spending time alone with Jesus does not remove all the 244 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:28,080 pressures and responsibilities. They're going to still find a 245 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:31,520 way to find you. And if you've ever gone away on 246 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:34,320 vacation, you know that's true when you come back to work after 247 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:37,640 a vacation. And the same thing happens here 248 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:39,960 in this story to the disciples in verse 11. 249 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:43,320 The crowds find out where Jesus and his disciples are, and they 250 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,000 go to them. They go chasing them down. 251 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:49,400 Jesus is trying to be alone with his disciples to minister to 252 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:51,160 them. And the crowds just keep coming 253 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,120 and going. Give us more, Jesus, Give us 254 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:56,000 more. So Jesus starts ministering to 255 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:57,400 these people. He's healing them. 256 00:15:57,400 --> 00:15:59,480 He's speaking to them about the Kingdom of God. 257 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:03,320 And the day is going on and on and on and getting longer and 258 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:05,680 longer. And, and the disciples, they 259 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:12,840 come to Jesus and they say, hey, Jesus, hey, we're really tired. 260 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:16,680 Could you just send the crowds away, please? 261 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:20,040 Could you just get rid of the people? 262 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:23,440 We're in a deserted place here, Jesus. 263 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:27,040 We're tired. There's no food to eat. 264 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:31,040 There's nothing here to help these people other than you 265 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:34,200 meeting their spiritual needs. But practically, there's nothing 266 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:39,560 here for them, Jesus. Just send them away to a place 267 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:41,200 where they can get their needs met. 268 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:46,160 And really, it's a very logical response from the disciples. 269 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:50,600 There's a clear need here. These people are getting hungry. 270 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:54,240 We need to feed them. And the only solution is send 271 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:57,040 them away to the villages where they can get some food. 272 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:04,160 But Jesus has a different idea. Jesus looks at his disciples and 273 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:10,319 then he looks out at the crowd, looks back at his disciples and 274 00:17:10,319 --> 00:17:14,440 he says, you give them something to eat. 275 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:21,160 That is such a wild response from Jesus because he's actually 276 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:25,280 the one who created all the realities of the limitations 277 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:30,000 that are happening right now. First of all, he brought the 278 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:33,200 disciples out to a deserted place where he knew there was 279 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:37,760 going to be no food. Second, earlier in Chapter 9, 280 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:41,000 Jesus had told his disciples don't bring any food for the 281 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:46,560 journey, so they didn't have a whole bunch of extra snack food 282 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:50,120 in their backpacks. In the end, they're in a 283 00:17:50,120 --> 00:17:52,240 deserted place that Jesus brought them to. 284 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:59,240 And then Jesus says you give them something to eat sometimes. 285 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:04,400 Jesus is going to create the limitations in your life to 286 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:07,720 teach you this lesson. When the need feels 287 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:10,680 overwhelming, don't just pass it off. 288 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:16,560 We live in a culture of constantly outsourcing our 289 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:22,240 problems to other people. We, we can easily identify all 290 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:25,000 kinds of things that need to be addressed. 291 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:30,040 And we also quite easily go, I don't have the ability to help 292 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:33,600 these people with these things. Like you, you look at some of 293 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:37,480 the people in your own life and you go, man, I, I see all the 294 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:42,040 things that they need help with, but, but I don't have the skills 295 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:45,680 to give them the counseling they need or the finances to help 296 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:47,520 them get out of the trouble that they're in. 297 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:51,760 So what do we do? We, we outsource the solution. 298 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:55,000 We, we say, well, you should go here for counseling and you 299 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:57,840 should go check out these places to get all the supports and 300 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:01,440 resources that you need. One of the things that happened 301 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:06,000 in a church all the time is people go, I think you should 302 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:10,880 talk to the pastor about that. You should sit down with him and 303 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,000 and let him solve the problem for you. 304 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:18,160 And we outsource all this stuff to pastor or to staff members. 305 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:23,040 God is going to bring people in needs into your life that 306 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:25,200 sometimes are going to feel too big for you. 307 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:29,960 Do not automatically pass the buck to someone else. 308 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,400 Start by asking how can I be part of the solution? 309 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:39,640 Now I I know some people immediately you're thinking, but 310 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:43,040 Kirk, you don't really understand how big some people's 311 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:45,920 problems are. There is no way I can do 312 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:48,880 anything to help. You want to talk about a big 313 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:52,360 problem? These guys in this story are 314 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:56,360 facing a big problem. They're about to come face to 315 00:19:56,360 --> 00:20:01,840 face with 5000 very hangry men. It is about to become a big 316 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:05,320 problem. And that's just men. 317 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:08,840 This is not a men's conference. Probably it doesn't count the 318 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:10,880 women and children who were probably there. 319 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:16,840 They were probably looking at how do we feed 15 to 20,000 320 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:21,400 people? So there's this huge need, 321 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:27,320 there's no food, and Jesus says, I want you to do something about 322 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:30,680 it instead of just passing it off to someone else. 323 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:38,520 So what do you do in a moment like that, assuming you would 324 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:41,160 say yes to Jesus, you probably would do the same thing. 325 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:43,680 What the disciples did you look to see? 326 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:47,120 Well, what do we have? Let's see what? 327 00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:49,920 Let's do a bit of inventory and see what we have to be able to 328 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:55,920 feed all these people. And then once you figure out 329 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:59,400 what you have, you think to yourself, what I have to offer 330 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,280 is not nearly enough for the size of the problem. 331 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:07,560 And here's what Jesus is teaching his disciples. 332 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:12,160 When you feel like it's not enough, bring what you have 333 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:16,840 anyway. In verses 13 and 14, the 334 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:22,640 disciples tell Jesus, hey, we only have 5 loaves and two 335 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:28,200 fishes. Thousands of people hungry. 5 336 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:34,760 loaves, 2 fish. Now 5 loaves isn't even as much 337 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,600 food as you, and I think 5 loaves is because back in that 338 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:41,640 day a loaf was a smaller loaf of bread. 339 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:47,200 It actually took three loaves of bread to feed one person, so 340 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:51,960 it's even less food than you. And I think about the math is 341 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:58,600 not math thing in this story. And you will encounter moments 342 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:03,480 like this in your life where you come face to face with your 343 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:08,800 limitations and Jesus says, I want you to still bring what you 344 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:12,520 have to offer and you go, I don't have much to bring. 345 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:21,800 And moments like this are quite often a defining moment in our 346 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:25,200 lives. What do you do when you don't 347 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:29,600 have enough to meet the need? Do you just give up? 348 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:34,840 Do you send people somewhere else? 349 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:41,120 Or do you obey Jesus and bring what you have to Him? 350 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:48,640 See, the temptation in moments like this is to forget all the 351 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:52,480 promises that God has made to us would have been the same 352 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:56,400 temptation the disciples faced. It would be so easy in that kind 353 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:59,440 of a moment for them to forget the promise that Jesus had made 354 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,120 to them. Just a few verses earlier in 355 00:23:02,120 --> 00:23:05,880 Chapter 9 where he said, I am sending you out with all of my 356 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:10,200 power and authority. So this group of men are given 357 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:15,640 the power and authority of Jesus to go out, and now they're at a 358 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:21,760 spot where it's getting real. Like there there are times where 359 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:26,080 our faith is theoretical. We know that this is the right 360 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:28,120 thing. We know what the Bible says. 361 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:31,000 You've been sent out with power and authority, but then you're 362 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,800 presented with a moment where the odds don't make any sense 363 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:37,600 and you know what Jesus has told you to do. 364 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,200 But you're like, that doesn't add up though. 365 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:49,760 What do you do? The odds don't look good. 366 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,880 But in those moments, are you willing to trust Jesus? 367 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:58,960 Are you willing to do what Jesus would want you to do, even if it 368 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:03,920 doesn't make sense? See, that's what it means to 369 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:08,400 bring what you have to Jesus. It just means being obedient. 370 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:14,480 Give what you have financially, give what you have physically, 371 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:18,320 give what you have emotionally and relationally to what matters 372 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:24,000 to Jesus. That's what one boy does in this 373 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:29,120 story. When John tells this story, he 374 00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:32,360 talks about a young boy who is the one who provides the five 375 00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:37,280 loaves and two fish. And John puts in this little 376 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:39,480 piece where he says it was barley bread. 377 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:44,520 And what we learned from that is that this boy really is bringing 378 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:47,120 nothing to the table of significance. 379 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:53,920 You see, barley bread is the kind of bread that was only used 380 00:24:54,000 --> 00:25:00,280 in homes where people were poor. Wheat bread is what was used for 381 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:02,840 people who had money to be able to make bread for themselves. 382 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:09,520 Giving up this bread to this boy was not only costly to his 383 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:14,080 stomach, it was costly to his wallet. 384 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:19,280 But he brings it to Jesus anyways. 385 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:24,480 God doesn't ask you just to bring what you don't have. 386 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:27,040 He asked you to trust Him with what you do have. 387 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:31,880 Some of you right now, you are in the middle of some incredible 388 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:35,200 challenges. There's someone you love who's 389 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:39,760 very sick, your family or your marriage is just stretched to 390 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:42,920 the limit. Your friends are in crisis. 391 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:46,800 And the question you need to ask yourself is, what is it that 392 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:48,960 Jesus would want me to do in this moment? 393 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:56,280 And bring what you have. Take the skills and the wisdom 394 00:25:56,280 --> 00:26:01,920 and the experience that you have and bring it into the situation 395 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:05,000 and love people. And you might think, but Kirk, 396 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:07,800 some of the problems are so big. I, I, it's not going to be 397 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:09,680 enough. You might think, I, I, I just 398 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,000 have this limitation. Do it anyway. 399 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:17,400 Bring what you have anyway. I've heard multiple stories over 400 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:21,160 this past week of people in our church who are engaging in 401 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:25,240 spiritual conversations with people who don't have any faith. 402 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:30,320 And there's this temptation when we talk to people who are 403 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:32,880 exploring Christianity or struggling with spiritual 404 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,920 questions. And the temptation is I'm not 405 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:37,440 going to be able to answer their questions. 406 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:39,080 I don't know how to respond to them. 407 00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:43,200 So I'm going to invite them to go to AA, will fix the problem 408 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:45,680 for them. You'll get your answers there. 409 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:48,960 And Alpha's great. It's good that you invite people 410 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:55,080 to Alpha, but what if before you just sent someone away, you 411 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:57,080 brought what you have to that person? 412 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:03,040 Like if you're already a follower of Jesus, you have the 413 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:05,040 Holy Spirit of God living in you. 414 00:27:06,360 --> 00:27:10,160 You're empowered by God to go and make disciples. 415 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:13,360 Alpha's awesome. It's a great resource for you to 416 00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:16,720 have, but it's not meant to replace you going and sharing 417 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:21,680 the story with other people. You want to talk about a big 418 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:23,760 challenge. As a church, we face huge 419 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:29,320 challenges. You look at the thousands upon 420 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:34,560 thousands of people all around us in our region who don't know 421 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:38,320 Jesus, and Jesus says go and make disciples. 422 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:42,640 You talk about all the people who are struggling with mental 423 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:46,720 health and financial issues, and it's like, how can a church like 424 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:49,440 us possibly meet all the needs in our area? 425 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:57,920 And then on top of all of that, we have a building that requires 426 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:00,960 a lot of work to be done to it, a few $1,000,000 worth of work. 427 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:03,840 How in the world are we going to do all of that? 428 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:11,920 See, the truth is limitations are simply an opportunity for 429 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:13,840 you to experience God's provision. 430 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:19,680 There is something really incredible that happens in this 431 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:23,280 story. They've got nothing compared to 432 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:26,440 the need. And then Jesus says to them, OK, 433 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:27,840 well you've got 5 loaves and two fish. 434 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:30,480 Now I want you to have everybody sit down in groups of 50. 435 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:37,440 He takes the bread and he takes the fish and he blesses it and 436 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:43,560 he says to them here, just start with this group of 50 over here 437 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:46,600 and let's, let's see how far we can get the food. 438 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:54,360 Like forget trying to feed 5000 men, feeding 50 from 5 loaves 439 00:28:54,360 --> 00:29:00,080 and two fishes is a miracle. And you can imagine the 440 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:02,840 disciples taking this food that Jesus has blessed and given to 441 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:07,240 them and they start to distribute it and, and then they 442 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:09,800 get to the end. It's like, oh, there's enough 443 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:11,680 food. We can, we can go to the next 444 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:17,680 group of 50. Oh, hey, Peter, there's more 445 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:19,160 food. We can go to the next group of 446 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:20,400 James. There's more food. 447 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:21,760 We can go to the next group of 50. 448 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:23,640 Oh, John, we can go to the next group. 449 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:28,520 And then before you know it, like 100 plus groups of 50 450 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:38,590 people have all been fed. Jesus says this first, He goes 451 00:29:38,590 --> 00:29:45,000 just feed this first 50, and after a while you're going to 452 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,400 reach a point where you look back and you go, wow, how 453 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:49,520 amazing is the faithfulness of God. 454 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:57,560 Sometimes in my experience, when you come up against some big 455 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:00,680 challenges or even big opportunities in life, Jesus 456 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:02,840 does not show you the whole story. 457 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:09,080 He does not show the disciples how they're going to feed all of 458 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:12,040 those thousands. He just takes it one group of 50 459 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:18,080 at a time. Sometimes, many times, Jesus 460 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:19,760 just calls you to take the next step. 461 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:24,120 You don't know what the whole story is going to look. 462 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:26,360 You know what the whole need is, but you don't have a clue how 463 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:27,840 you're going to meet the whole need. 464 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:36,400 What Jesus is just saying, trust me to get there, just take the 465 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:43,920 next step. Sometimes we miss experiencing 466 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:47,920 the provision of God because some of us just need to see the 467 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:50,560 whole story mapped out for us before we're going to take the 468 00:30:50,560 --> 00:31:02,060 first step of obedience. I've got to tell you, it's, it's 469 00:31:02,260 --> 00:31:09,420 scary, but man, it is an amazing ride when you just trust God to 470 00:31:09,420 --> 00:31:13,920 take you through the journey. The ability to look back at the 471 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,600 faithfulness of God to to sit there and go. 472 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:19,880 How in the world did we get from there to here? 473 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:25,840 And here's what's even more awesome about this part of the 474 00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:28,480 story. Not only did everyone else leave 475 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:32,440 full, there is enough leftovers for each disciple to have one 476 00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:36,400 basket full. Jesus doesn't only care about 477 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:38,120 you meeting the needs of everyone else. 478 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:43,920 Jesus will take care of you too. It's so radical because we are 479 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:46,320 taught look after yourself. Look after yourself. 480 00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:50,760 But what if the best way to look after yourself is to trust your 481 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:52,560 entire life into the hands of Jesus? 482 00:31:55,440 --> 00:32:00,160 God created you and me with limitations, but bringing those 483 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:05,280 limitations and offering them to Jesus is an opportunity for you 484 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:08,240 to experience just how much God loves you. 485 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:13,040 God is your provider, not just with your physical needs, but 486 00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:15,440 with your emotional and spiritual needs too. 487 00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:21,760 The single greatest limitation that every person has is your 488 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:25,480 inability to be good enough to measure up to God's standards. 489 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:32,040 You are not a perfect person. Maybe you know that already, but 490 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:34,640 it has a far greater consequence than you realize. 491 00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:38,800 Every single one of us. We are all sinners, the Bible 492 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:42,120 says, and no matter how much you try to be a better person, you 493 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:44,840 will still fall short. The book of Romans tells us all 494 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:51,320 have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but Jesus is 495 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:53,920 God's abundant provision for you. 496 00:32:55,680 --> 00:33:00,960 Jesus makes up what you cannot. He was perfect for you while you 497 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:03,440 were still a Sinner. Jesus Christ died on the cross 498 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:06,240 for you. He died to provide you with 499 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:09,480 eternal life, to provide you with the opportunity to have a 500 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:13,040 reconciled relationship with God, and to give you all the 501 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:15,480 blessings that come from being a child of God. 502 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:20,880 You can experience God's provision for you spiritually 503 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:24,960 when you get honest with your own limitations, when you stop 504 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:28,040 trying to measure up and you start to put your life into the 505 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:32,560 hands of Jesus. And for those of you who are 506 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:35,120 already believers in Jesus, let me ask you this question. 507 00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:40,240 Where right now in your life are you sitting and thinking, Hey, 508 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:44,840 I, I don't have enough to meet that that need that exists. 509 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:51,600 I don't have enough. Where in our church are some of 510 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:56,000 you thinking, hey, we don't have enough to be able to do this? 511 00:33:58,240 --> 00:33:59,640 Now I want you to imagine something. 512 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:04,520 Imagine how your life would be different if you stopped looking 513 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:09,199 at what we don't have and started looking at what God is 514 00:34:09,199 --> 00:34:12,800 capable of doing if we simply take what we do have to Him. 515 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:21,520 Several decades ago there was a man who worked as a butcher in 516 00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:23,840 Brantford. His name was Ray. 517 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:28,840 Ray was a blue collar guy, typical butcher, rough around 518 00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:32,840 the edges. Through a whole series of really 519 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:38,360 miraculous things, Ray started to realize that he needed Jesus 520 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,120 in his life. A bunch of people had come to 521 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:45,199 him and started talking to him about the Lord and and he 522 00:34:45,199 --> 00:34:48,679 realized he needed Jesus. So he he put his faith in Jesus, 523 00:34:48,679 --> 00:34:52,440 surrendered his life to Jesus, started going to church, started 524 00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:55,719 reading his Bible, started doing all the things that a Christian 525 00:34:55,719 --> 00:35:00,800 does, and over a period of time he kept growing in his faith. 526 00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:04,960 And Fast forward a little bit while longer and God started to 527 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:11,000 call Ray to go into full time Christian ministry as a pastor. 528 00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:14,960 And Ray was really struggling with it. 529 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:18,320 He, he thought God was calling him to do it, but didn't totally 530 00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:20,600 make sense because he had two really big problems. 531 00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:27,800 Ray had a massive stuttering problem, which is kind of a big 532 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:33,160 deal when you're a pastor. And second, he had no money to 533 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:37,600 pay for his schooling. All kinds of debt. 534 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:48,840 So Ray just kept praying, kept talking to his wife, they kept 535 00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:50,600 trying to figure out what they should do. 536 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:54,880 And then one day, after a whole series of time of praying, the 537 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:58,320 two of them agreed that, hey, let's just fill out an 538 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:00,960 application for Bible college and see what happens. 539 00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:05,520 Let's just take the next step. The whole story doesn't make 540 00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:07,480 sense, but let's just take the next step. 541 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:10,560 So they filled out an application to go to Bible 542 00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:17,560 college, and within a matter of days, Ray's stuttering stopped. 543 00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:23,960 He could just talk normal without any stuttering. 544 00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:29,240 And within a matter of days after that, someone contacted 545 00:36:29,240 --> 00:36:31,640 him and said, hey, you're thinking about going to Bible 546 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:33,160 college. I want to pay for you to go to 547 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:40,480 Bible college. I've become convinced that one 548 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:45,840 of the reasons people struggle with their faith, like sometimes 549 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:49,680 long time Christians struggle with their faith and sometimes 550 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:53,880 even get bored in their faith, is because we've stopped 551 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:56,440 experiencing the reality of God in our lives. 552 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,480 For a lot of us, the Christian life is simply a whole bunch of 553 00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:04,120 information. We gain a bunch of facts and 554 00:37:04,120 --> 00:37:07,600 knowledge and truth, which is great and important, but it was 555 00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:11,760 never meant to end there. The Christian life is meant to 556 00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:15,920 be a real living relationship between you and the God of the 557 00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:19,680 universe. And I'm not going to promise you 558 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:23,080 that God's going to stop your stuttering problem or he's going 559 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:25,680 to give you all kinds of money. In fact, He probably won't give 560 00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:31,600 you all kinds of money, but I am going to tell you this in every 561 00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:35,200 single opportunity and challenge that God's God brings your way. 562 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:38,640 Don't lean into your limitations. 563 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:41,480 Lean into the God who wants to provide for you. 564 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:45,560 In those moments. Watch what God does. 565 00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:49,800 Bring what you have to Jesus. Be obedient what He would with 566 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,960 what He would want you to do. Don't worry about the whole 567 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:59,000 story, just take the next step and watch what God does. 568 00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:01,760 He is your provider and He loves you. 569 00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:09,640 We pray. Father, thank you for your word. 570 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:13,120 Thank you for your great love for us. 571 00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:17,400 That is not just a theoretical love, but it is a very real 572 00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:21,640 practical love that shows up in the everyday of life where we 573 00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:25,480 can experience Your provision for us. 574 00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:37,800 Help us God, help us to receive from you, to trust You, shape 575 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:44,320 our lives to be people who are filled with faith of the living 576 00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:51,720 God because we are confident the Lord will always provide God. 577 00:38:51,720 --> 00:38:57,600 I know that some of us are wrestling with real fears around 578 00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:01,320 doing that. Fears of letting go, fears of 579 00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:04,680 what ifs and what might happen and what might not happen. 580 00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:11,800 Father, I pray that your spirit would set your people free from 581 00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:17,120 fear and help us to fix our eyes on the greatness of a God who 582 00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:23,840 deeply loves us. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 583 00:39:24,240 --> 00:39:26,320 Amen. Let's stand together and worship 584 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:26,800 our God.