Sermon Tone Analysis

John 6:1-15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Caswell © 2005

Introduction

 

/What do you look for in effective ministry?/

Warren Weirsbe describes Christian ministry like this.

*/Ministry /*/takes place when* Divine Resources *meet* Human Needs *through *Loving Channels *to the* Glory of God.*/

This morning I would like to look at some of the principles of Christian Ministry.

Today more than ever we rub shoulders with needy people.

/How can we make a difference?

Where do we begin?

What can we do when our resources are inadequate?

/*John 6* answers these questions.

The Lord Jesus Christ overcame human inadequacy.

This morning we will see /3 things/: */The Multitudes, The Master, The Miracle./*

 

1.

The Multitudes

 

/a.

Great Needs/

 

Jesus knew how great the needs were.

The people of Israel like all of us had incredible spiritual needs.

They also had immediate physical needs.

The feeding of the 5,000 is one of the few miracles recorded in all 4 Gospels.

As we read the various accounts we get a detailed description of that day.

Christ and the disciples had gone aside to a quiet place to rest for a while.

They had just returned from a ministry trip in the region.

The disciples had been very busy preaching about the Kingdom of God. 

 

*Luke 9:10-11:* /And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done.

Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.

But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing./

Even though they were having a time of /Rest and Recreation/, Jesus received the crowd.

5,000 men, women and children came to Jesus with various needs.

The Lord ministered to all their needs.

He healed the sick amongst the crowd.

He taught them about the kingdom of God.

This dealt with their most important need; the need of salvation.

Christian ministry is not physical or spiritual, it’s both.

/The Salvation Army used to have a slogan when ministering to the down and outs of society.*

Soap, Soup and Salvation.

*It’s not an either or situation.*

We must minister to the whole person.*/

/b.

Limited Resources/

 

*John 6:5-9:* /Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.

Philip answered Him, *Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient* for them, that every one of them may have a little.

One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, There is a lad here who has *five barley loaves* and *two small fish*, but what are they among so many?/

/Jesus asked Philip where they could buy food for all the people to test him./

Philip replied that 200 days wages wouldn’t be enough to give everyone just a little.

*/Perhaps Jesus asked Philip this question because it was close his home town of Bethsaida./*

He was a local and should have known where the local markets were.

Philip’s reply was we can’t meet the need.

The disciples didn’t have the resources required for this.

This is a problem Christians are always confronted with.

*/We just don’t have enough money, resources and workers to help everyone.

/*Yet the disciples were wrong.

They had the Master with them.

Jesus is always sufficient.

He can always meet the great needs of this world.

*/The disciples answer was to send the crowd away hungry./*

They said it’s getting late; let the people go to the surrounding villages to buy food for themselves.

*Luke 9:12:* /When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here./

*/Another disciple, Andrew found a young lad with a small lunch./*

He brought the boy to Jesus with his small lunch of 5 barley loaves and 2 fishes.

*/Andrew then correctly observed,/* */but what are they among so many?/*

 

/c.

Christ’s Concern/

 

*Mark 6:34-37a:* /And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and *was moved with compassion* for them, *because they were like sheep not having a shepherd*.

So He began to teach them many things.

/ /When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, this is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.

*Send them away*, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.

But He answered and said to them, *you give them something to eat.* /

 

Christ looked upon the crowd very differently to the disciples.

*/Firstly,/* Christ lifted up His eyes to see the crowd.

Then He considered their needs.

The word */saw,/* *θεάομαι* in *John 6:5* means */to behold, contemplate, view attentively, indicating the sense of a wondering consideration involving a careful and deliberate vision which interprets its object./*

He didn’t see them as a multitude as the disciples did.

The disciples saw the crowd as a big problem that they couldn’t solve.

They wanted to send the problem away.

It was too hard.

/Jesus saw them as individual sheep without a shepherd./

The good shepherd is concerned about lost sheep.

He wants to save them and bring them into the fold.

*/Therefore he commanded the disciples to give the people something to eat./*

They weren’t just a multitude but individual people with real needs.

A shepherd feeds his flock.

Jesus had fed them spiritually and now He was concerned about their physical needs.

Application

 

/How do we view ministry?

/The needs of our community are great.

Our resources are limited.

Money, time and workers seem insufficient.

/Do we see the needs as too great for us to make a difference?

Have we responded like the disciples did, sending the crowds away?

Or do we view the multitudes like Jesus did?/

He saw them as lost sheep needing a Shepherd.

/Have we forgotten that the Master is with us and His resources are sufficient?/

2. The Master

 

/a.

Brought To Christ/ 

 

*John 6:9:* /There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?/

/ /

/You often find Andrew bringing someone to Christ./