The Provider is greater than the provision

Mission and Vision Meeting tonight

Continuing our Sermon series

It is my hope that through this series, Jesus has been showing you who he really is. I hope that you have been participating in Lent in such a way that Jesus has shown up and demonstrated who he is

Today’s sermon is the Provider is greater than the provision

READ

PRAY

Now there is a lot of good stuff in here, but the one thing I’m going to leave you with is that the Provider is greater than the provision

So a cool fact about this story is that it is the only miracle that we are covering that is in all 4 Gospels

So first lets talk about some of the logistics before we get into the applications stuff

So we see that there is a crowd following Jesus

Not because they recognize him as the messiah, but because they want something from him

These are people, the text tells us, who are following because they heard that Jesus heals.

They saw the signs he was performing on the sick and they wanted to participate and receive the healing

We see that this crowd is of over 5000 people

That’s 5000 men not to mention women and children

Some scholars estimate the actual crowd to be around 10-20 thousand

There were so many people that Philip commented that 200 denarii or about a years worth of minumum wage wouldn’t get appetizers for the squad that was there

This was a massive crowd.

Logistically speaking… doing anything for or with this crowd would’ve been crazy

Jesus asks Phillip where to buy bread so that these people can eat....

Scripture says it was to test Philip

Side note...

When God tests us, its always a test of do you trust me… an opportunity to exercise faith. God doesn’t test us with evil. With sin

You need to know that if sin is knocking at your door its not because God is testing you it’s because, as the book of James says, we are being lead away by our own desires.

God doesn’t test us with sin… just throwing that out there

Jesus was allowing Philip to verbally acknowledge that there was no earthly way to feed these people so that when the miracle occurs there would be no second guessing what had happened.

So then Andrew finds a young man with 5 loaves and 2 fish

THere are a couple things I want to point out about this

FIrst

Andrew had faith enough to bring the boy and his meager provisions to Jesus but didn’t have a complete understanding of the power of God

He knew that he should bring the food to Jesus but didn’t know what Jesus could do withit

Jesus didn’t rebuke Andrew for his incomplete or for his small faith. He takes the boy’s food and he creates from it

He takes the opportunity where faith is being exibited…no matter how small or incomplete it is

earnest faith was being exhibited and Jesus used that moment to show who he was

Second

Not only was andrew’s faith incomplete or meager… so was the meal

Let’s be real… we couldn’t feed the congregation here with that much food

But Jesus was showing the disciples that the little that we bring he is able to mulitply so that it not only blesses you but those around you

If you are thinking that your faith is too small, your time is too small, your ability is too small… put it in Jesus’s hand and see what he does with it.

Trust Jesus with it and allow the master to bless and mulitply what you give to him

Hear me..

I’m not saying give jesus your scraps and see what he does. I’m not saying that he’s happy with you throwing him what’s leftover

THis bread and fish were all that they had. It wasn’t much, but it was everything

GIve everything that you have in you to muster over to Christ. Even if its small. Even if it seems like its not enough… he is the one who makes it enough not you

Why did Jesus perform the miracle

What does this sing point to?

IT points to the fact that Jesus is THE provider

Say THE provider

These people were following him because of the provision… the miracles, the food… but he was not providing so that the people would start trusting in his provision

I’m saying he didn’t give them health and food so that they could then put their trust in health and food

He blessed them so that they could see that HE was the source. He was the provision. He was the provider. That JESUS was what they truly needed. Not so that they could get something from him but so that they could have communion with the lover of their soul;

IT tells us that once the crowd perceives the miracle they want to make Jesus king

It was around passover, they were all in the mood of redemption as the season was preparing their hearts every year

They saw Jesus, because of his sign, as someone who would greatly benifit them as the political and physical redeemer.... yet they missed what the sign truly pointed to which was the fact that Jesus isn’t a tool to be used for provision … he is the provider and he is so much greater than that

I don’t know what you’re dealing with but I do know that there are a lot of hurt and hopelessness going around in this comunity

There are some local provisions… some key elements in our local economy that have fallen on some pretty hard times

I know that Jesus never meant for us as individuals or as a body of believers… never meant for us to put our trust and our faith in the provision that he supplies

We are never to put our faith in things so fleeting as food, as money, as health, as even life.

Because all of those things are shifting. They can be here one moment and gone the next

Jesus provides so that you can see that he loves you and cares for your needs.... because he LOVES YOU

And because he truly loves you… not just agrees with you all the time.... that’s what our generation considers love

But because he truly wants you to find life in the only place it is to be found… that is in him

He will continue to point you to him

Through blessing and through hardships. Through mountain tops and through valleys

He is your portion. He is your fulfillment. Jesus and Jesus alone is the one whom your soul finds rest in

Stop trying to make your emotions the goal, your finances the goal, your relationships the goal, your comfort the goal.

These are provisions and they can be great blessings when they are in order… but Jesus is greater than the provisions he provides

Time to Respond

Brief example