From Lack to Abundance - Trusting God's Provision
Notes
Transcript
Handout
FCF: Even after experiencing God’s power at work in our lives, we often face new challenges and immediately feel inadequate, overwhelmed, or like we don't have enough to offer. We struggle to remember that the Christ who sends us is the same Christ who provides for us.
Reflection Question:
Jesus said, “You give them something to eat.” The disciples answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” (About five thousand men were there.)
Reflection Question: When do I feel inadequate about what I have to offer?
Sermon Opening:
Have you ever had a "Mountain Top" moment? Maybe you just finished a great week at camp, or you finally aced a test you’ve been studying for, or you had an amazing experience where you felt like God was right there with you. You feel like you can take on the world!
But then... Monday morning hits. You walk into school or work, and suddenly there’s a new problem. A friend is hurting, a project is failing, or you just feel totally drained. Suddenly, that "Mountain Top" feels like a million miles away. Even though you just saw God show up, you look at this new challenge and think, "I have absolutely nothing to offer. I'm not enough for this."
If you’ve ever felt like your "tank is empty" right when people need you the most, you’re in good company. Today, we’re looking at a group of guys who had the ultimate mountain-top experience, only to find themselves in a "remote place" feeling totally inadequate.
Text Opening:
Today we are in Luke 9.
By the time we get to Chapter 9, things are changing. Up until now, the disciples have mostly been watching Jesus do all the heavy lifting. They’ve seen Him heal the sick and calm the storms. But here, the focus shifts. Jesus begins to entrust the mission to His followers. He’s challenging them to grow from just being "learners" to being "doers."
Let’s look at how He prepares them for this mission.
Point 1: Empowered for Mission
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.
Explain:
In these first few verses, we see a specific rhythm. Jesus gathers the Twelve together and gives them power and authority.
There are two cool words here.
The word "disciple" (mathetes) means "to learn." Discipleship is the process of learning to be like Jesus.
The word "apostle" (apostello) means "to send." Apostle was an emissary - a representative.
Jesus disciples them and teaches them how to be like Him, and then He sends them out to do what He does. He sends them into the world like he was sent - no staff, no bag, no extra shirt. He’s teaching them to be humble and to trust. He’s saying, "Don't get caught up in who is popular or how much stuff you have. Just go."
He sends them out and they teach the gospel and heal diseases everywhere.
Here at Riverside Friends Church, we have a mission: To Encourage our Community to Find Hope and Transformation in Jesus Christ.
This is my first point:
Point 1: We are Empowered for Mission.
Jesus disciples his disciples. He teaches them to be like him. HE empowers them so that he can send them as apostles. He sends them to other people.
This mission is never about us; it’s always about others.
You can measure how mature you are in your faith by how much you care about yourself versus others.
When you’re a "baby" in the faith, you’re worried about whether you are being fed. But as you mature, your focus shifts to how others are being fed.
Illustrate:
C.S. Lewis once described the difference between heaven and hell using a giant feast. In both places, people are sitting at a table full of delicious food, but their forks are three feet long. In hell, everyone is starving because they are trying to feed themselves, but the forks are too long to reach their own mouths. In heaven, they are all full and happy, because they are using the long forks to feed one another
Apply:
When we understand God’s mission, we stop worrying about "What am I getting out of this?" and start asking, "How can I feed others?"
This week, remember: your mission isn’t about you. It’s about being sent to the people around you.
Jesus discipled the disciples, he taught them to be like him. Then he sent them on a mission to teach and to heal. They did, and word got around.
Point 2: Engaged with a Seeking World
Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on. And he was perplexed because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. But Herod said, “I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?” And he tried to see him.
When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
Explain:
Something fascinating happens here. King Herod—the ruler of the land—starts hearing about all these amazing things. But notice why he notices. Jesus had been doing miracles for a while, but Herod only gets "perplexed" once the disciples start doing them, too.
The world takes notice when followers start acting like their Leader. Herod didn’t have a category for this. He thought, "I killed John the Baptist... so who is this?" He tried to see Jesus because the impact of the disciples was so big it reached the palace.
People take notice when we are:
Engaged with a Seeking World
This is my second point:
Point 1: Empowered for Mission
Point 2: Engaged with a Seeking World
There were places that the disciples were not wanted, Jesus told them to leave when they weren’t welcomed.
They engaged the people who did welcome them. When the apostles met those people, they healed them, and taught them the good news.
Jesus' focus wasn't just on getting a "to-do list" done; it was on training people.
There’s a leadership principle happening here.
Organizations where leaders prioritize training others to do what the leader does grow faster and into healthier than organizations where leaders prioritize getting the job done.
As leaders,
Our focus has to be less on getting the job done and more on training the people.
This is counter-intuitive. When we focus on people, the job gets done anyway. When we focus on the task at hand, people recognize that they are not the priority.
This is the academic difference between leaders and managers or administrators.
This is why good administrators can be detrimental to organizations when they know how to do things but not how to train people. So the job gets done but nobody gets trained.
Let me bring this back to our mission.
Our mission is to encourage Mason City to find hope and transformation in Jesus Christ.
If we want Mason City to find hope, they have to notice us. And they will notice us when we are like Jesus in our daily lives.
Illustrate:
Let me put it like this:
Sarah just got a new phone after her last one gave up. She has a portrait mode. It blurs the background and enhances the face. It’s a great feature and takes great pictures.
Learning to be like Jesus is like portrait mode.
When the disciples went out, they were like Jesus' "Portrait Mode" in the world. People didn't just see 12 random guys; they saw the character of Jesus so clearly that even King Herod started asking, "Who is this Jesus?"
Apply:
Discipleship Opportunities
How do we engage a seeking world this week? It starts with "reppin’ Jesus."
People in Mason City are perplexed like Herod and overwhelmed; they are looking for hope but looking in the wrong places.
The "What": This week, look for one person who seems "perplexed" or overwhelmed.
The "Where": In the school hallway, at the coffee shop, or in your office.
The "How": Don’t just offer a "fix"; offer the same "healing and good news" the disciples did. Listen to them, pray for them, and show them the kindness Jesus showed the crowds. When you act like Him, they will start asking about Him.
Point 3: Exceed Human Limitations
The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.” But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” They did so and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
Explain:
The disciples just got back from their mission. They’ve seen miracles! But now, it’s late, they’re in a "remote place," and 5,000 hungry men (plus women and children) are staring at them.
The disciples' first instinct is: "Send them away! We don't have enough!" But Jesus says: "You give them something to eat."
Jesus was giving them a chance to show what they’d learned. But they immediately went back to looking at their own empty pockets. "We only have five loaves and two fish."
Check this out:
Even after seeing and living in God's power, they felt inadequate.
Jesus said to his disciples, have the crowd sit down in groups of 50.
They sit down and Jesus blesses the food and the disciples hand it out and everybody ate until they were full.
When we learn to be like Jesus we will exceed human limitations.
This is my third point:
Point 1: Empowered for Mission
Point 2: Engaged with a Seeking World
Point 3: Exceed Human Limitations
Even after experiencing God’s power at work in our lives, we often face new challenges and immediately feel inadequate, overwhelmed, or like we don't have enough to offer.
Do you ever feel that way? You’ve seen God work in your life before, but this current challenge feels too big? We often only see our deficiencies.
We struggle to remember that the Christ who sends us is the same Christ who provides for us.
Illustrate:
Imagine you are trying to build a massive LEGO set—like the 7,000-piece Millennium Falcon—but all you have in your hand is one single, tiny 2x2 blue brick. You look at the box, look at your one brick, and think, "There is no way." That’s exactly where the disciples were. They had five loaves and two fish for 5,000 men (plus women and children!). It wasn't just "not enough"; it was laughably small. But they didn't need a warehouse of bread; they just needed to put their "one brick" into the hands of the Master Builder.
Apply:
This is where we address our Feeling inadequate
Instruction: Stop staring at your "five loaves" (your lack of time, your social anxiety, your feeling that you aren't "holy" enough).
Situation: When God asks you to serve someone or share your faith, and your first thought is "I can't do that," recognize that as the "Remote Place" where we feel inadequate.
Enablement: Jesus didn't make the bread appear in the baskets first. He broke what was given to Him. Your feeling of
Inadequacy isn't a stop sign; it’s an invitation to hand your not enough to Jesus and watch Him multiply it.
Closing:
Today we’ve seen that Jesus doesn't just want us to sit and learn; He empowers us for a mission that is about others, not ourselves. He calls us to engage a world that is confused and searching, showing them who He is by how we act. And when we feel like we have absolutely nothing left to give—when the crowd is too big and our lunch is too small—He reminds us that His power starts where our limits end.
Closing Application:
My challenge for you today is this: What is the 'five loaves and two fish' in your life right now? What is that thing you feel is 'not enough' for the task God has put in front of you? Stop trying to buy more bread on your own. This week, I want you to literally pray:
'Jesus, I don't have enough for this, but I give you what I have.'
Go into Mason City this week not as people who have it all together, but as people who know the One who provides everything. Let’s be a church that feeds the hungry, not because we are rich, but because our King is.
