The living archive is loading.
Continue exploring
Connected by scripture or shared themes.
Continue exploring
Connected by scripture or shared themes.
I wonder if this life ever feels a bit overwhelming. The background to our passage today is that Jesus has sent out the 12 disciples two by two in Mark chapter 6 with their mission being summarized in verses 12 and 13. We read: "They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them."
So it goes well and the disciples return and report back to Jesus. Then we read this in verses 31 and 32:
"Then because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, Jesus said to them, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.' So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place."
The disciples are exhausted from working hard. They've not eaten. The needs before them are overwhelming—so many people. And what's more, verses 14 to 29 just before this passage tell us that Jesus is also grieving because he's just heard that his cousin John the Baptist has been beheaded by King Herod. They all need a break. So Jesus says, "Let's withdraw and have a quiet time together, some rest."
Maybe you feel a little bit like this—in desperate need of a break, or you just want to get away from it all. But, as we read on, as often happens, life then hits.
From verse 33, we read:
"But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. By this time, it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him and said, 'This is a remote place and it's already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.' But he answered, 'You give them something to eat.' They said to him, 'That would take 8 months of a man's wages. Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?'"
Jesus asks, "How many loaves do you have?" They go and see. When they find out, they say, "Five and two fish."
Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.
"They all ate and were satisfied. And the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of men who had eaten was 5,000."
Wow. Isn't it interesting that the context for one of the most famous miracles in the Bible—the feeding of the 5,000—is one of exhaustion, hunger, grief, and feeling completely overwhelmed?
In verse 31, Jesus invites the disciples to come with him to a quiet place. In verse 32, they go in a boat with him to a solitary place. But in the original text, which is written in Greek, it's the same two words used in both of those verses: eremo topon, which means literally "a wilderness place."
You see, the wilderness is a place throughout scripture where God's people often end up. The people of God wandered in the wilderness for 40 years before they entered the promised land. Jesus himself spent 40 days in the wilderness before beginning his ministry. It's a place of testing, of preparation, of growth, of encounter, of God's provision.
So if you're here today and you feel like right now in your life you're in a bit of a wilderness place, perhaps you might just be in exactly the right place.
You see, it turns out that the key to greater impact and growth with Jesus is rarely addition, rather subtraction. Jesus later explained that the gardener prunes to produce more fruit. The key insight is this: we retreat in order to advance. As important as the to-do list is the to-don't list.
Rick Warren puts it this way. He suggests: "Divert daily—some devotional time with him every day. Withdraw weekly—keep a Sabbath rest day. And abandon annually—a break once a year, if you can."
And we don't just retreat by ourselves to hide; we retreat with Jesus. He says, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." You're never alone. He's with you in the wilderness by His Holy Spirit.
Here's a question for you: What could you do to make your life 10% slower and 10% quieter? This doesn't mean a less impactful life or less growth. It will likely mean the opposite. Allow Him to show you what to subtract. 10% slower, 10% quieter, a lot more fruitful.
We often can be tempted to think that purpose or our calling in life is where our passion intersects with our competencies—where what we're passionate about aligns with what we're good at. But I often think that there's a third element to calling: it's where this aligns with the immediate need before us. Calling often comes disguised in the form of need.
So the disciples and Jesus retreat, but the crowds follow them. No jet-to holiday for the disciples. And then we read in verse 34 that when Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So He began teaching them many things.
Jesus was motivated by love. He had compassion on the crowds. And their need was both for spiritual food—they were like sheep without a shepherd and needed teaching—and then for physical food. They needed to eat. And the need seemed overwhelming. To buy them bread would take the equivalent of eight months' wages.
I wonder: What is the immediate need before you right now? It might feel overwhelming. Maybe multiple needs pulling you in different directions. But might it be that God is calling you to do something about it?
You see, the disciples probably thought, "Jesus, you just said we need a break. What do you mean feed them?" It probably felt like completely the wrong time. But the right time with God can often feel like the wrong time for us. The disciples were tired, hungry, lacking resource. But this was God's perfect plan.
God often uses us when we've stepped out from our comfort zone or when we're in that wilderness place—not when we're in a place of security or abundance. We read how after the multiplication miracle, when 5,000 men and probably more women and children had been fed, we're told in verse 43 that the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.
Now, the word used here for basket is kophinos. It was a particular type of Jewish travel basket which you take with you on your travels or when you were on pilgrimage—sort of a backpack come picnic hamper. In other words, the disciples were not at home with a larder or a kitchen to hand. They were out traveling light. They were literally in the wilderness.
It's often when we're traveling light or we've stepped out in faith that God calls us to do what seems impossible. So here's another question for you today: What if your current limitation was a gift? A doorway to divine abundance. God's grace overflows in abundance. The disciples end up with 12 basketfuls left over, pointing to the eventual restoration of the 12 tribes of Israel under the new covenant.
We need to shift our perspective—to change our view from one of human scarcity to that of divine supply and abundance. But it can be so hard to learn to look at things in a new way.
About six or seven years ago, I was at an Alpha conference in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. We were launching Alpha to the churches in Mongolia for the first time. I'd just spoken on stage. It was a coffee break and two young Mongolian pastors came up to me and asked a question I wasn't expecting. They said, "Pastor, how old are you?" I said, "How old do you think I am?" They looked completely puzzled. They conferred. And then they said, "Ah, are you 20?" I thought the Lord has blessed me indeed. I smiled and said, "No, no. A little bit older than that." And they went, "Ah, are you 70?" No, not quite. And then they said, "Oh, sorry, Pastor. We don't know how to look at a Caucasian face. We need to learn."
I think we can be a little bit like that. We're used to looking at the need before us from our perspective. But do we look at it from God's perspective? Do we put on a lens of faith? You see, the need in front of you, yes, it can feel overwhelming. But see it from God's perspective. For him, all things are possible.
In this miracle, we see how God often works through us and our limitations. God's provision followed a pattern.
Verse 38: Jesus asked the disciples, "How many loaves do you have?" Five. And two fish.
To the impoverished widow in 2 Kings 4, Elijah asked, "What do you have in your house?" Nothing, except a little oil. When Moses was protesting that he couldn't possibly convince Pharaoh to allow 2 million of God's people to be released from slavery in Egypt, God asked him a question: "Moses, what's in your hand?" A stick. A staff.
Start with what you have. It's for good reason that Zechariah 4:10 says, "Do not despise the day of small beginnings." What do you have in your hand? Start right there.
St. Paul writes to the Corinthians in his second letter, 2 Corinthians 12:9: "God's power is made perfect in weakness."
Even if we start with a little, we must fully commit it to the Lord. Allow him to use it. The disciples give the five loaves and two fish to Jesus. You see, whatever we start with in our own strength, it won't be enough. But in Jesus' hands, it'll be more than enough.
Have you given everything you have over to Jesus?
Verse 39: "Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass." A divine multiplication requires a divine plan. Ask the Lord to guide your plans and show you the way in prayer.
One thing that we did at Focus, HTB's annual church camp holiday, was on the Sunday morning we heard from and prayed for and commissioned the next church plants in the HTB network. We were able to pray for and send out 13 new church plants. And that means that to date, this church, HTB, its plants, and its plants of plants, and its plants of plants of plants now number over 200 churches.
Our first ever church plant outside of London was back in 2009 when a team went and planted St. Peter's Brighton. In the couple of years leading up to 2009, a small group of us got together and we wrote a very clear and clever church planting strategy for HTB. And I can tell you absolutely none of it has happened. Brighton was never point one on our strategic plan. But it was on God's plan. And that was the plant that opened the way to HTB being able to plant everywhere.
God's plan is perfect. Your plan might be a good plan. But God's plan is the best plan. Follow Jesus' plan.
Verse 41: "Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking to heaven he gave thanks."
Gratitude is key. You know, when we lack resources, it's easy to lack gratitude. You can feel like God owes you something. But when we trust God for supply, we begin with a thankful heart. And that raises our faith, our expectation, and our joy.
What can you thank God for? Even if it is just a stick, thank the Lord.
Jesus gave thanks and broke the loaves. A breakthrough comes through a break. Breakthrough often requires something to break. Something is often shattered before it shifts.
It could be that our perception needs to break, or our plans, or our ego needs to break first. It might be that we need to subtract something before he multiplies. Even Jesus himself, his body, had to be broken on the cross so that we might all be saved.
What might need to break in you or in your life for God to break through and bring about his miracle?
You know, Jesus could have given thanks, broken the bread and the fish, and then, tada, a mountain of tuna mayo sandwiches appear. But it didn't. Rather, we read this in verse 41:
"Then he gave them the broken pieces to his disciples to distribute to the people."
It was as the disciples distributed the food that it multiplied miraculously. It's as we step out. It's as we send that email, that WhatsApp, have that conversation, do that deed that the miracle occurs.
In other words, Jesus gives you and me the dignity of being involved in his purposes, of using our hands to bring about his divine plan. And this requires us to walk by faith, not by sight. It was as the widow poured the oil that it multiplied. It was as Moses stretched out his staff that the Red Sea parted. It was as the priest carrying the ark stepped into the Jordan that the water started to stop flowing.
Step out. Serve in the little everyday acts and expect God to use it and for his unending power to flow through you by his spirit.
In 2019, my family and I were pastoring HTBB in Kuala Lumpur and a member of our team—he was a refugee from a war-torn country—happened to say to another member of our team that some of the families that he and his wife knew who were from the same country, they'd fled to Malaysia, they were struggling to make ends meet.
So that team member heard this. And what did he do? He simply looked at what was in his wallet and he went to the local store and he bought 12 cans of sardines, 12 bottles of cooking oil, and 12 bags of rice. And he gave it to the guy and said, "Why don't you distribute that amongst the families that you mentioned?"
So he did. We didn't know it at the time, but that was the beginning of what became an extraordinary ministry. That sort of snowballed. And then, less than 6 months later, COVID hit. And now, it wasn't just many refugee families that were struggling, but many poor families where mom and dad were day laborers, and if they didn't work that day in lockdown, you didn't get paid. Many, many families now were struggling to put food on the table.
So the ministry just multiplied. Fast forward to today, it's grown into something called the Bukit Bintang Community Centre. On Saturdays at the church, there's a huge food bank serving countless families. But then, when the families come, teams from the church also teach the children literacy. They teach the teenagers IT skills on laptops donated by the congregation. They teach exercise classes to keep them healthy. And this one's really popular: they have borrowed guitars and they teach music classes. Our prayer is that a whole generation of worship leaders will arise. And then, the whole center finishes on a Saturday with a massive worship service.
It's an amazing ministry. But it began with a need, and one guy going, 'What's in my wallet? I'll begin with that.'
Reteat with Jesus. Respond to the need. And rely on his power. But there's a fourth thing that is most important of all when we're feeling overwhelmed and we're praying for a miracle.
It's all about Jesus.
You feel on the one hand that the miracle was about feeding over 5,000 people. But on the other hand it was way more than that. It was really all about Jesus.
How so? Well, verse 34 tells us that Jesus had compassion on the crowds because they were like sheep without a shepherd. This connects to the Old Testament Numbers 27:17 where Moses asked God one day to raise up a leader so that the people would not be without a shepherd.
And here in Mark 6, Jesus instructs the people to sit in ordered groups on the ground. This reflects a similar structure used by Moses in Exodus 18 at the advice of his father-in-law. And by feeding the multitudes in the wilderness here, Jesus is portrayed as the new Moses providing manna, bread from heaven as it were. Jesus is fulfilling the Old Testament expectation of a Messianic figure who will physically and spiritually feed the people.
But most important: the feeding of the 5,000 is a foreshadowing of the Eucharist, of the Lord's Supper. See, Jesus takes the loaves, and looking up to heaven, he gives thanks, breaks the bread, and gives it to the disciples. This is directly mirrored a few chapters later in Mark 14 at the institution of the Lord's Supper, the Last Supper.
In other words, this miracle points forward to the cross, the breaking of Jesus' body. And beyond that, it points ultimately to the Messianic banquet in glory to come when God's kingdom is complete.
You see, the ultimate purpose of any miracle is that Jesus would be glorified, and more people would come to the cross, and enter a life-saving relationship with him.
There's a young woman back in KL who's happy to tell her story. Her name is Jean. Jean did not grow up going to church. None of her family had ever been Christians. But she had a pretty tough upbringing. Her mom died when she was very young, and she was brought up by her grandmother who tried her best, but her life sort of spiraled out of control.
Eventually, Jean managed to get on a bit more even keel for a few years, but then about a year and a half to 2 years ago, Jean's grandmother passed, and Jean spiraled again. And one night, she was sitting on her balcony in her apartment, and she just wanted it all to end.
And in that moment of extreme darkness, she suddenly heard an audible voice. It simply said this: "You are not alone."
And Jean doesn't know why, because having no Christian frame of reference at all, in that moment, she had this very strong impression that it was the voice of Jesus. She thought, "Where did that come from?" So she thought, "I don't know. I'm going to go to bed."
She went to bed. The next day, the cat's not well. She has to take the cat to the vet. So she goes to the vet, and she's sitting there waiting to be seen, looking out through the window at the front of the vet with the street in front of her. And she thinks, "Gosh, that was weird last night. I wanted to end it all, and then suddenly I heard this voice. I think it's Jesus."
So she thought, "Ah, Jesus, if that was you speaking to me, I want a miracle, please, to prove it was you. Would you send a very rare car past the window now on the street?" She thought, "What's a rare car?" Now, in KL, a rare car is a Tesla. There's BYD everywhere, but Teslas are rare. So she goes, "Jesus, if it was you, send a Tesla now."
And then she thought, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, no, no, no. Jesus, if it was you, that's too easy for you. I want it in a really rare color." She's sitting there with the cat thinking, "What's a rare color?" She said, "Okay Jesus. If that was you speaking to me last night, send a sage green Tesla."
She sat there, and about 10 seconds later, honestly, a sage green Tesla drove past, and she was like, "Oh my goodness."
So that weekend, Sunday, Jean decides, "I'm going to go to church for the first time in my life." She Googles for a church. Up came HTB. She went along. She walked in. She sat at the back there, and she happened to sit next to a woman, Sue I. And she said to Jean, "Hello." She said, "Hi." "Are you new here?" She said, "Yeah, first time ever in church." And then Sue told Jean that that Wednesday Alpha was beginning again. She said, "I think you'd really love the Alpha course."
So Jean came along that Wednesday evening. And on that Alpha, she heard the good news about Jesus. She put her faith in him. She was filled with the spirit. And then recently, she got baptized. Her life completely turned around.
And if all of that was not enough, the cat is fine.
Jean asked for a miracle. Her life is transformed. But it's actually all about Jesus. Him glorified.
If Jesus does a miracle in your life, if you in your wilderness moment right now get a breakthrough, I'm so thrilled for you. You will be blessed. Others will be blessed through you. But ultimately, it will all be about him.
Would you like to stand, please? We're going to pray that ancient prayer of the church: "Come, Holy Spirit."
Saint Paul says to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 12 that no one can say "Jesus is Lord" unless by the Spirit. So if you've said "Jesus is my Lord" and you meant it, the Spirit is dwelling within you. But to the Christians in Ephesus, Paul writes, "be filled with the Spirit"—present continuous tense. There's always more of God's Spirit and blessing and power that can flow through us. This is not about our salvation. This is about our sanctification and being empowered to be his hands and feet.
If you're here today and you don't know Jesus, in the book of James, it says, "draw near to God and he will draw near to you." This is your moment where you might want to turn to the Lord and invite the presence of Christ into your life, to give it over to him, and just see what he does.
You might want to put your hands out. You don't have to. This is just helpful for us. It's a posture of saying, "Lord, I want to receive." It's the opposite of this, which is "Jesus, don't come anywhere near me."
You don't have to pray out loud. Just in your heart, turn to Jesus and pray, "Come, Holy Spirit."
God pours his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he's given us. Receive the spirit of the Lord, the love of God poured into you right now. Come, Holy Spirit. The love of the Lord speak to you right now in your mind. He can direct your thoughts.
If you're in a wilderness moment right now, the Spirit is your unending supply of God's power. Maybe ask him to show you how you can be 10% slower, 10% quieter, what to subtract as he multiplies. Maybe you're praying for a breakthrough. Or maybe there's an immediate need right before you. And you sense the Lord prompting you to repent and to begin to reach out in faith to meet that need.
We'd love to pray with you that the Lord would empower you and work through you even in the brokenness. If you'd like prayer for that, just come forward. The Lord is here to heal. He's spoken through his word. And as we begin to worship, this is an amazing opportunity to come and receive prayer. We always say: if you can't get prayed for in a church, where can you get prayed for?
And it's all about Jesus.
I wonder if this life ever feels a bit overwhelming. The background to our passage today is that Jesus has sent out the 12 disciples two by two in Mark chapter 6 with their mission being summarized in verses 12 and 13. We read: "They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them."
So it goes well and the disciples return and report back to Jesus. Then we read this in verses 31 and 32:
"Then because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, Jesus said to them, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.' So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place."
The disciples are exhausted from working hard. They've not eaten. The needs before them are overwhelming—so many people. And what's more, verses 14 to 29 just before this passage tell us that Jesus is also grieving because he's just heard that his cousin John the Baptist has been beheaded by King Herod. They all need a break. So Jesus says, "Let's withdraw and have a quiet time together, some rest."
Maybe you feel a little bit like this—in desperate need of a break, or you just want to get away from it all. But, as we read on, as often happens, life then hits.
From verse 33, we read:
"But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. By this time, it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him and said, 'This is a remote place and it's already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.' But he answered, 'You give them something to eat.' They said to him, 'That would take 8 months of a man's wages. Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?'"
Jesus asks, "How many loaves do you have?" They go and see. When they find out, they say, "Five and two fish."
Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.
"They all ate and were satisfied. And the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of men who had eaten was 5,000."
Wow. Isn't it interesting that the context for one of the most famous miracles in the Bible—the feeding of the 5,000—is one of exhaustion, hunger, grief, and feeling completely overwhelmed?
In verse 31, Jesus invites the disciples to come with him to a quiet place. In verse 32, they go in a boat with him to a solitary place. But in the original text, which is written in Greek, it's the same two words used in both of those verses: eremo topon, which means literally "a wilderness place."
You see, the wilderness is a place throughout scripture where God's people often end up. The people of God wandered in the wilderness for 40 years before they entered the promised land. Jesus himself spent 40 days in the wilderness before beginning his ministry. It's a place of testing, of preparation, of growth, of encounter, of God's provision.
So if you're here today and you feel like right now in your life you're in a bit of a wilderness place, perhaps you might just be in exactly the right place.
You see, it turns out that the key to greater impact and growth with Jesus is rarely addition, rather subtraction. Jesus later explained that the gardener prunes to produce more fruit. The key insight is this: we retreat in order to advance. As important as the to-do list is the to-don't list.
Rick Warren puts it this way. He suggests: "Divert daily—some devotional time with him every day. Withdraw weekly—keep a Sabbath rest day. And abandon annually—a break once a year, if you can."
And we don't just retreat by ourselves to hide; we retreat with Jesus. He says, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." You're never alone. He's with you in the wilderness by His Holy Spirit.
Here's a question for you: What could you do to make your life 10% slower and 10% quieter? This doesn't mean a less impactful life or less growth. It will likely mean the opposite. Allow Him to show you what to subtract. 10% slower, 10% quieter, a lot more fruitful.
We often can be tempted to think that purpose or our calling in life is where our passion intersects with our competencies—where what we're passionate about aligns with what we're good at. But I often think that there's a third element to calling: it's where this aligns with the immediate need before us. Calling often comes disguised in the form of need.
So the disciples and Jesus retreat, but the crowds follow them. No jet-to holiday for the disciples. And then we read in verse 34 that when Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So He began teaching them many things.
Jesus was motivated by love. He had compassion on the crowds. And their need was both for spiritual food—they were like sheep without a shepherd and needed teaching—and then for physical food. They needed to eat. And the need seemed overwhelming. To buy them bread would take the equivalent of eight months' wages.
I wonder: What is the immediate need before you right now? It might feel overwhelming. Maybe multiple needs pulling you in different directions. But might it be that God is calling you to do something about it?
You see, the disciples probably thought, "Jesus, you just said we need a break. What do you mean feed them?" It probably felt like completely the wrong time. But the right time with God can often feel like the wrong time for us. The disciples were tired, hungry, lacking resource. But this was God's perfect plan.
God often uses us when we've stepped out from our comfort zone or when we're in that wilderness place—not when we're in a place of security or abundance. We read how after the multiplication miracle, when 5,000 men and probably more women and children had been fed, we're told in verse 43 that the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.
Now, the word used here for basket is kophinos. It was a particular type of Jewish travel basket which you take with you on your travels or when you were on pilgrimage—sort of a backpack come picnic hamper. In other words, the disciples were not at home with a larder or a kitchen to hand. They were out traveling light. They were literally in the wilderness.
It's often when we're traveling light or we've stepped out in faith that God calls us to do what seems impossible. So here's another question for you today: What if your current limitation was a gift? A doorway to divine abundance. God's grace overflows in abundance. The disciples end up with 12 basketfuls left over, pointing to the eventual restoration of the 12 tribes of Israel under the new covenant.
We need to shift our perspective—to change our view from one of human scarcity to that of divine supply and abundance. But it can be so hard to learn to look at things in a new way.
About six or seven years ago, I was at an Alpha conference in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. We were launching Alpha to the churches in Mongolia for the first time. I'd just spoken on stage. It was a coffee break and two young Mongolian pastors came up to me and asked a question I wasn't expecting. They said, "Pastor, how old are you?" I said, "How old do you think I am?" They looked completely puzzled. They conferred. And then they said, "Ah, are you 20?" I thought the Lord has blessed me indeed. I smiled and said, "No, no. A little bit older than that." And they went, "Ah, are you 70?" No, not quite. And then they said, "Oh, sorry, Pastor. We don't know how to look at a Caucasian face. We need to learn."
I think we can be a little bit like that. We're used to looking at the need before us from our perspective. But do we look at it from God's perspective? Do we put on a lens of faith? You see, the need in front of you, yes, it can feel overwhelming. But see it from God's perspective. For him, all things are possible.
In this miracle, we see how God often works through us and our limitations. God's provision followed a pattern.
Verse 38: Jesus asked the disciples, "How many loaves do you have?" Five. And two fish.
To the impoverished widow in 2 Kings 4, Elijah asked, "What do you have in your house?" Nothing, except a little oil. When Moses was protesting that he couldn't possibly convince Pharaoh to allow 2 million of God's people to be released from slavery in Egypt, God asked him a question: "Moses, what's in your hand?" A stick. A staff.
Start with what you have. It's for good reason that Zechariah 4:10 says, "Do not despise the day of small beginnings." What do you have in your hand? Start right there.
St. Paul writes to the Corinthians in his second letter, 2 Corinthians 12:9: "God's power is made perfect in weakness."
Even if we start with a little, we must fully commit it to the Lord. Allow him to use it. The disciples give the five loaves and two fish to Jesus. You see, whatever we start with in our own strength, it won't be enough. But in Jesus' hands, it'll be more than enough.
Have you given everything you have over to Jesus?
Verse 39: "Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass." A divine multiplication requires a divine plan. Ask the Lord to guide your plans and show you the way in prayer.
One thing that we did at Focus, HTB's annual church camp holiday, was on the Sunday morning we heard from and prayed for and commissioned the next church plants in the HTB network. We were able to pray for and send out 13 new church plants. And that means that to date, this church, HTB, its plants, and its plants of plants, and its plants of plants of plants now number over 200 churches.
Our first ever church plant outside of London was back in 2009 when a team went and planted St. Peter's Brighton. In the couple of years leading up to 2009, a small group of us got together and we wrote a very clear and clever church planting strategy for HTB. And I can tell you absolutely none of it has happened. Brighton was never point one on our strategic plan. But it was on God's plan. And that was the plant that opened the way to HTB being able to plant everywhere.
God's plan is perfect. Your plan might be a good plan. But God's plan is the best plan. Follow Jesus' plan.
Verse 41: "Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking to heaven he gave thanks."
Gratitude is key. You know, when we lack resources, it's easy to lack gratitude. You can feel like God owes you something. But when we trust God for supply, we begin with a thankful heart. And that raises our faith, our expectation, and our joy.
What can you thank God for? Even if it is just a stick, thank the Lord.
Jesus gave thanks and broke the loaves. A breakthrough comes through a break. Breakthrough often requires something to break. Something is often shattered before it shifts.
It could be that our perception needs to break, or our plans, or our ego needs to break first. It might be that we need to subtract something before he multiplies. Even Jesus himself, his body, had to be broken on the cross so that we might all be saved.
What might need to break in you or in your life for God to break through and bring about his miracle?
You know, Jesus could have given thanks, broken the bread and the fish, and then, tada, a mountain of tuna mayo sandwiches appear. But it didn't. Rather, we read this in verse 41:
"Then he gave them the broken pieces to his disciples to distribute to the people."
It was as the disciples distributed the food that it multiplied miraculously. It's as we step out. It's as we send that email, that WhatsApp, have that conversation, do that deed that the miracle occurs.
In other words, Jesus gives you and me the dignity of being involved in his purposes, of using our hands to bring about his divine plan. And this requires us to walk by faith, not by sight. It was as the widow poured the oil that it multiplied. It was as Moses stretched out his staff that the Red Sea parted. It was as the priest carrying the ark stepped into the Jordan that the water started to stop flowing.
Step out. Serve in the little everyday acts and expect God to use it and for his unending power to flow through you by his spirit.
In 2019, my family and I were pastoring HTBB in Kuala Lumpur and a member of our team—he was a refugee from a war-torn country—happened to say to another member of our team that some of the families that he and his wife knew who were from the same country, they'd fled to Malaysia, they were struggling to make ends meet.
So that team member heard this. And what did he do? He simply looked at what was in his wallet and he went to the local store and he bought 12 cans of sardines, 12 bottles of cooking oil, and 12 bags of rice. And he gave it to the guy and said, "Why don't you distribute that amongst the families that you mentioned?"
So he did. We didn't know it at the time, but that was the beginning of what became an extraordinary ministry. That sort of snowballed. And then, less than 6 months later, COVID hit. And now, it wasn't just many refugee families that were struggling, but many poor families where mom and dad were day laborers, and if they didn't work that day in lockdown, you didn't get paid. Many, many families now were struggling to put food on the table.
So the ministry just multiplied. Fast forward to today, it's grown into something called the Bukit Bintang Community Centre. On Saturdays at the church, there's a huge food bank serving countless families. But then, when the families come, teams from the church also teach the children literacy. They teach the teenagers IT skills on laptops donated by the congregation. They teach exercise classes to keep them healthy. And this one's really popular: they have borrowed guitars and they teach music classes. Our prayer is that a whole generation of worship leaders will arise. And then, the whole center finishes on a Saturday with a massive worship service.
It's an amazing ministry. But it began with a need, and one guy going, 'What's in my wallet? I'll begin with that.'
Reteat with Jesus. Respond to the need. And rely on his power. But there's a fourth thing that is most important of all when we're feeling overwhelmed and we're praying for a miracle.
It's all about Jesus.
You feel on the one hand that the miracle was about feeding over 5,000 people. But on the other hand it was way more than that. It was really all about Jesus.
How so? Well, verse 34 tells us that Jesus had compassion on the crowds because they were like sheep without a shepherd. This connects to the Old Testament Numbers 27:17 where Moses asked God one day to raise up a leader so that the people would not be without a shepherd.
And here in Mark 6, Jesus instructs the people to sit in ordered groups on the ground. This reflects a similar structure used by Moses in Exodus 18 at the advice of his father-in-law. And by feeding the multitudes in the wilderness here, Jesus is portrayed as the new Moses providing manna, bread from heaven as it were. Jesus is fulfilling the Old Testament expectation of a Messianic figure who will physically and spiritually feed the people.
But most important: the feeding of the 5,000 is a foreshadowing of the Eucharist, of the Lord's Supper. See, Jesus takes the loaves, and looking up to heaven, he gives thanks, breaks the bread, and gives it to the disciples. This is directly mirrored a few chapters later in Mark 14 at the institution of the Lord's Supper, the Last Supper.
In other words, this miracle points forward to the cross, the breaking of Jesus' body. And beyond that, it points ultimately to the Messianic banquet in glory to come when God's kingdom is complete.
You see, the ultimate purpose of any miracle is that Jesus would be glorified, and more people would come to the cross, and enter a life-saving relationship with him.
There's a young woman back in KL who's happy to tell her story. Her name is Jean. Jean did not grow up going to church. None of her family had ever been Christians. But she had a pretty tough upbringing. Her mom died when she was very young, and she was brought up by her grandmother who tried her best, but her life sort of spiraled out of control.
Eventually, Jean managed to get on a bit more even keel for a few years, but then about a year and a half to 2 years ago, Jean's grandmother passed, and Jean spiraled again. And one night, she was sitting on her balcony in her apartment, and she just wanted it all to end.
And in that moment of extreme darkness, she suddenly heard an audible voice. It simply said this: "You are not alone."
And Jean doesn't know why, because having no Christian frame of reference at all, in that moment, she had this very strong impression that it was the voice of Jesus. She thought, "Where did that come from?" So she thought, "I don't know. I'm going to go to bed."
She went to bed. The next day, the cat's not well. She has to take the cat to the vet. So she goes to the vet, and she's sitting there waiting to be seen, looking out through the window at the front of the vet with the street in front of her. And she thinks, "Gosh, that was weird last night. I wanted to end it all, and then suddenly I heard this voice. I think it's Jesus."
So she thought, "Ah, Jesus, if that was you speaking to me, I want a miracle, please, to prove it was you. Would you send a very rare car past the window now on the street?" She thought, "What's a rare car?" Now, in KL, a rare car is a Tesla. There's BYD everywhere, but Teslas are rare. So she goes, "Jesus, if it was you, send a Tesla now."
And then she thought, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, no, no, no. Jesus, if it was you, that's too easy for you. I want it in a really rare color." She's sitting there with the cat thinking, "What's a rare color?" She said, "Okay Jesus. If that was you speaking to me last night, send a sage green Tesla."
She sat there, and about 10 seconds later, honestly, a sage green Tesla drove past, and she was like, "Oh my goodness."
So that weekend, Sunday, Jean decides, "I'm going to go to church for the first time in my life." She Googles for a church. Up came HTB. She went along. She walked in. She sat at the back there, and she happened to sit next to a woman, Sue I. And she said to Jean, "Hello." She said, "Hi." "Are you new here?" She said, "Yeah, first time ever in church." And then Sue told Jean that that Wednesday Alpha was beginning again. She said, "I think you'd really love the Alpha course."
So Jean came along that Wednesday evening. And on that Alpha, she heard the good news about Jesus. She put her faith in him. She was filled with the spirit. And then recently, she got baptized. Her life completely turned around.
And if all of that was not enough, the cat is fine.
Jean asked for a miracle. Her life is transformed. But it's actually all about Jesus. Him glorified.
If Jesus does a miracle in your life, if you in your wilderness moment right now get a breakthrough, I'm so thrilled for you. You will be blessed. Others will be blessed through you. But ultimately, it will all be about him.
Would you like to stand, please? We're going to pray that ancient prayer of the church: "Come, Holy Spirit."
Saint Paul says to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 12 that no one can say "Jesus is Lord" unless by the Spirit. So if you've said "Jesus is my Lord" and you meant it, the Spirit is dwelling within you. But to the Christians in Ephesus, Paul writes, "be filled with the Spirit"—present continuous tense. There's always more of God's Spirit and blessing and power that can flow through us. This is not about our salvation. This is about our sanctification and being empowered to be his hands and feet.
If you're here today and you don't know Jesus, in the book of James, it says, "draw near to God and he will draw near to you." This is your moment where you might want to turn to the Lord and invite the presence of Christ into your life, to give it over to him, and just see what he does.
You might want to put your hands out. You don't have to. This is just helpful for us. It's a posture of saying, "Lord, I want to receive." It's the opposite of this, which is "Jesus, don't come anywhere near me."
You don't have to pray out loud. Just in your heart, turn to Jesus and pray, "Come, Holy Spirit."
God pours his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he's given us. Receive the spirit of the Lord, the love of God poured into you right now. Come, Holy Spirit. The love of the Lord speak to you right now in your mind. He can direct your thoughts.
If you're in a wilderness moment right now, the Spirit is your unending supply of God's power. Maybe ask him to show you how you can be 10% slower, 10% quieter, what to subtract as he multiplies. Maybe you're praying for a breakthrough. Or maybe there's an immediate need right before you. And you sense the Lord prompting you to repent and to begin to reach out in faith to meet that need.
We'd love to pray with you that the Lord would empower you and work through you even in the brokenness. If you'd like prayer for that, just come forward. The Lord is here to heal. He's spoken through his word. And as we begin to worship, this is an amazing opportunity to come and receive prayer. We always say: if you can't get prayed for in a church, where can you get prayed for?
And it's all about Jesus.
