Mindset Matters

Mark 8:1-10. As we continue through the book of Mark, we find a story that is very similar to one we have already heard. Here, we come to the feeding of the 4,000, not to be confused with the feeding of the 5,000. Yes, these are two separate instances where the situation and outcome are very similar.

On our journey through the gospel of Mark, we are getting very close to the turning point. Much of this book is about the disciples and their learning and reaction to the teachings and miracles of Jesus. In the next couple of weeks of sermons, we will see things start to come alive to them as they continue to follow Jesus.

Mindset Matters. As we go through our passage today, we are going to look at our mindset and compare it to the mindsets that we see in this story of Jesus feeding the 4,000.

Mark 8:1–10 ESV

1 In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 10 And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

Prayer

Mindset Matters. This is not a name it and claim it statement. Mindset matters, not because it changes the outcome, but because it changes us. Our thoughts are not going to make things happen. We cannot manifest things into existence. Only God can do that, not us. But our mindsets really and truly matter.

Mindset will change your outlook on everything. If you have a negative mindset, you will see everything as a problem. You will complain about everything (government, stores, people, church). So yes, our mindset makes a difference.

Because when you have a Christ like mindset, you see the world completely different. You see the world around you and you don’t see problems, but you see opportunities. Those neighbors that are hard to get along with, you now see them as people who need Christ so you build a friendship with them. The coworker that seems to always be causing issues is no longer a problem on your way up the ladder, but a soul that Jesus has put in your life for you to love. The homeless people that are living in our community are no longer invaders, but they are people who God has brought to us to care for.

Our mindsets make a difference. A change in mindset does not mean a change in situation. But it does mean a change in how we look at and react to a situation. When we are looking for inspiration of how our mindset should be, we should always look towards Jesus Christ.

Main Point - We should tune our mindset to the perspective of Jesus Christ

In our passage, we see some varying mindsets. What we need to do is learn from them and take how Christ reacts to the situation, and be like him.

Have a Compassionate Mindset

As time goes on, compassion seems to be getting more and more scarce. The society that we live in is a dog eat dog world. People will run you over if it means that they get what they want. This is the opposite of what Christ teaches. We will see that is the events of our passage.

Mark 8:1 ESV

1 In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them,

We are told that this is around the time of what was going on before this. Leading up to these verses, the gospel of Mark tells us that there was a lot of discussion about purity laws and eating. This debate and belief is about to be overshadowed by Jesus feeding the large crowd.

And this crowd was very large. As we find out, we are told there are 4,000. Jesus always attracted people. People were always searching out for him, waiting in line for him, following him wherever he was going. He attracted people. And, no doubt, that his mindset had a lot to do with this. No one wants to be around someone who has a negative mindset. Jesus had a godly mindset, because he was God. And this godly mindset was a characteristic that was attractive to people. This compassion that Jesus had towards others was attractive.

And we see this here. The large crowd was there and they were hungry. As a pastor, I know that when the crowd gets hungry, it is time to do something about it. The preaching and teaching of Jesus is no different. There came a time when they had been there so long that they were hungry. So he gathered his disciples together.

Mark 8:2–3 ESV

2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.”

Jesus had compassion on them. They had been there three days at this point and they are out of food. This is going to end up being a big problem if Jesus does not act. People get really upset when they get hungry. When we read this, it really brings out some emotion in us. Because we can identify with these people in a sense.

There are some right here, right now that are hungry. Maybe it is not a physical hunger. But you are hungry. And that is why you came to church this morning. Because you know that you needed a good meal and that meal right now is the meat of God’s word. Every one of us should be hungry. This family meal that we take part of each and every week is arguably the most important meal that we will have. You all realize that, that is why you are here. And praise God for that. For the hunger of God’s people.

Jesus realized that, that not only were these people spiritually hungry(they had been with Jesus for 3 days), but that they had become physically hungry as well. He could not send them on their way. If he did, they would likely not make it home. Some of them had come from very far away. This is a testament to the way that the Gentile people viewed Jesus. They wanted to hear more and see more. Jesus saw their hunger and had compassion on them.

If we are to be like Jesus, and we are, then we must have compassionate hearts as well. We need to really be intentional about loving those around us. We can do this with both words and actions. We can first share the gospel with people. To share the gospel is to show compassion. To let people know that they were created in God’s image, but because of the sin of Adam and Eve, we have inherited this same sin and have been separated from God. We need to be brought back into a right relationship with God and that can only happen because of Jesus. Jesus was a real man, who was both fully God and fully human. He lived a perfect life, died and rose from the grave 3 days later. And when we put our faith and trust that Jesus did that for us, we are saved.

So we do it through the proclamation of the gospel. We also do it through our actions. We can physically be compassionate on others. This may be providing a meal to someone in need, helping out with someones bills, or maybe even providing shelter for someone. It is very easy for us to look at other peoples situations and turn our head, or maybe even turn our nose up. But the gospel being alive in us should cause us to act. This is the sign that we have seen the compassion that Jesus has shown for us.

See, compassion shows itself through words and actions. But it begins with the heart. We are to have a compassionate heart. We are to have a compassionate mindset.

Have A Servant Mindset

Being a servant is something that should be very evident in the life of a believer. We are to serve both Jesus and each other. You cannot neglect either one of them as a believer. So, when we see something that we can help with, we do that. We will have an opportunity this year to serve our neighbors as we help to provide Christmas to children in need. I will be bringing to you a list of needs very soon for us to do this.

Jesus has these people in front of him that he has compassion on, and he sees a way that he can serve them.

Mark 8:4–5 ESV

4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.”

You heard me mention earlier that before this, there was an instance where Jesus fed 5,000 people. We have a similar situation where he wants to feed these people because they would likely not make it home. But, his disciples question him.

I have used the term before called the Monday morning quarterback. This means that it is easy to look at what has happened and say how you would have done it differently.

But would we really? This men have heard all that Jesus taught. These men had seen the miracles (healing, walking on water, exorcism, feeding the 5,000). Yet these men still questioned Jesus. How can we feed these people, we are in the middle of nowhere Jesus?

Jesus does not take this as a teachable moment. He did not even acknowledge their doubt. Instead he moves to action. He sees the problem while at the same time seeing the solution. He takes these doubting disciples and makes them be servants. He asks them how much bread they have and they say that they have 7 loaves.

Mark 8:6–7 ESV

6 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them.

We see a mirror of events from chapter 6 when Jesus fed the 5,000. He took the crowd, sat them down, and took the food and blessed it. In response to the questions of his disciples, he did not turn to a debate. He did not take them aside and correct them. He did not do anything but serve the people.

Jesus is still serving. We have gathered today to sit underneath the preaching of God’s word. Just as the crowd was, we are hungry. So we sit underneath the teaching of Jesus. He is the one who is serving us. These are his words. He has taken this meal and he has blessed it. He blessed it when the author wrote these words to be given to believers. And now, some 2,000 years later, we are still feasting on the same meal.

Not only is Jesus serving us, but through the word of Jesus, he is changing our mindset. Our mindset should always be changing more and more into that of Jesus’s. Romans 12:2 “2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Our mindsets needs to be shifting. So we find ways to be servants. Yes, we come in on Sundays and we speak to each other, we open up doors for each other, we encourage one another. But it has to also happen when we leave here too. We look for those opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our community.

The vision of Immanuel Baptist is Build the Kingdom and Impact our Community. To impact our community, we must be servants. This means that we go and volunteer at the local school and eat lunch with kids who need people to talk to. We schedule a day to go to the community table to serve meals. We go and volunteer at the pregnancy resource center. There are a ton of ways to get involved in our community to cultivate this servant mindset that we must have, because Jesus had this same mindset.

Have A Satisfied Mindset

Now, we shift who we are looking at in the story. We go from looking at Jesus to seeing the reaction of the crowd.

Mark 8:8–9 ESV

8 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.

This week, most of us will get together with family. We will spend hours getting our favorite dishes ready. We will all cook more than we could imagine eating. And we will sit at a table with our relatives and friends and pig out. And I just want to say that if you don’t have somewhere to go to eat a meal like this on Thursday, you call me and I will sit you right next to me at our table.

But what we are going to do is fill up our plates. Maybe you have those plates where there are sections that you can put the food in and it won’t touch. To me, it doesn’t matter. It is all going to the same place. But you are gonna eat that first plate, and you are going to say something to the effect of “wow, I am stuffed”. And then you are gonna get up and go and fix the second plate. And let’s not forget about the deserts too. You can call that your third plate.

When you get done eating, that would constitute as being satisfied. You have eaten all that you can eat and you can’t eat anything else. That is what these people were. They were satisfied. Jesus took the 7 loaves and few fish and fed 4,000 people.

You may read this and think that this story is embellished or that it may not have even happened at all. This account is the literal definition of a miracle. Something that we would have a hard time believing because it should not have happened. And if we cannot believe this account of Jesus feeding 4,000 people, what can we trust in scripture? As believers, we must trust, we must believe, and we must live by God’s word.

But, most importantly, just as these people were satisfied by the food that they ate, we must be satisfied in God’s word. This is a big issue that I see. People not being satisfied in God’s word. They look to other places to be satisfied. People will look to some event or experience that really moved them and they will try to recreate that. They look to music in a church to be satisfied. They look to a preacher who has a wonderful personality. While at the same time, the word of God is being neglected.

As believers, we must be people of the word. We need to read God’s word until it reads us. We need to get into God’s word until it gets into us. We cannot be neglectful of the primary way that God speaks to us.

Our satisfaction should never be found in people. People will let you down. You were probably reminded of that this week when you were going over the guest list for Thanksgiving and remembered about that cousin or aunt or uncle that you really didn’t want to put on the list.

Our satisfaction should not be found in any sort of experience. We think that this is where we find God. But all we find there is emotions. I can play a song here that would probably grab you and really pull on your heart strings and bring you back to a time or a place that means a lot to you. But that is not where your satisfaction should be found.

We need to make sure that as believers, we are shifting our mindsets in this area too. Are we finding satisfaction in other things rather than Christ? My call to you today is to change your mindset to one that is satisfied in Jesus and the word that he has given to us.

“Well David, it sounds like you are worshiping the bible there?”

That is not what I am saying. The point I am trying to make is that we must know the one true God and the way that we know him is through the living word of God. He has given us his word as the primary means of how he reveals himself to us. Look to God’s word to know God. And by knowing the one true God, you can be satisfied in him.

Conclusion

As we close, I want to remind you of the verse in Romans I mentions earlier. Romans 12:2 “2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Our mindsets must be constantly shifting towards the mindset of Christ. We need to be very intentional in developing these renewed minds. Make sure that we are prioritizing the things to do this.

time in God’s word

time in prayer

fellowship

accountability

worship

These are just some of the things that God uses to transform our minds. Just like the people in these verses today, look to Jesus. Be hungry for what God has prepared for us.

And each and every one of us needs to share something from what we have heard in God’s word with someone else this week.

Prayer