# Authority Over Scarcity

Sermon transcript from Cross Church Surprise.
Series: Miracles of Jesus
Date: May 24, 2026
Watch: https://crosschurchcares.com/surprise/episodes/authority-over-scarcity

## Summary

Are you feeling overwhelmed by life's demands and wondering if you have enough to give? What if the key to abundance lies in surrendering your scarcity to Jesus? Discover how He transforms our limitations into miracles. Let's dive in together!

## Transcript

0:00 · It'd be easier if I don't try to help fix your issues

0:02 · because I'm too broken, but Jesus uses the broken disciples.

0:06 · And he says, I'm going to bring my church,

0:10 · my gospel through you.

0:12 · He says, you feed them.

0:14 · The disciples knew they didn't have enough.

0:17 · Jesus didn't care about the reservations

0:19 · of their inconvenience.

0:20 · He cared about the people, the crowd that was there.

0:23 · The first move of every miracle is his mercy.

0:26 · And when he moves,

0:28 · he often moves through ordinary people like me

0:30 · and like you who are willing

0:33 · to hand over the little they have.

0:38 · So we are glad that you're here in this time

0:40 · where we just get to dive into God's word

0:43 · and see what he has for us.

0:45 · And I want to encourage you, if you have a Bible,

0:47 · go ahead and grab it and open it up

0:49 · to Matthew chapter 14.

0:51 · Matthew chapter 14, and we're going to be starting

0:53 · in verse 13 in a second.

0:56 · And today we're going to spend the majority

0:58 · of our time here planted in this passage,

1:01 · but it's also going to kind of launch us

1:03 · into John chapter six,

1:05 · and eventually we'll end at John chapter 14.

1:08 · But as we dive into this text,

1:10 · we're going to see this topic that naturally comes out

1:13 · is do we have enough?

1:16 · You know, that's a question

1:17 · that I spent all last week asking

1:20 · because school ended and in the Bailey households,

1:24 · we have four kids in our house

1:27 · and two of them who have been in school

1:29 · now all of a sudden are in our house the whole time.

1:34 · And the question me and my wife is, do we have enough?

1:37 · We do not have enough food.

1:38 · We go to Costco a lot.

1:40 · I think we're going to have to go to Costco

1:41 · twice a week and the food just never ends.

1:44 · And then I'm like, do we have enough food?

1:46 · The question is no.

1:47 · Do we have enough money to buy all this food

1:49 · that they keep on eating?

1:53 · Nobody financially prepares you

1:54 · for the berry stage of kids' lives, like little kids.

1:58 · Like my wife's like, I bought blueberries.

2:00 · I was like, how much were they?

2:01 · They were like, $8.

2:01 · I was like, $8 for blueberries?

2:03 · She was like, it was at Sam's Club, it was fine.

2:05 · I'm like, they like it.

2:07 · I'm like, well, tell them to like a different fruit.

2:11 · Find a neighbor who we can steal it off their tree.

2:16 · But as I'm walking around my house,

2:18 · I'm like, do we have enough?

2:20 · Do we have enough?

2:22 · And today when we come to our passage,

2:24 · we ask the question, do we have enough?

2:27 · And Jesus answers it.

2:29 · Because today as we come to Matthew chapter 14,

2:33 · starting in verse 13,

2:34 · we're going to see that Jesus addresses

2:37 · this issue of scarcity.

2:40 · Now if you've been with us through this series,

2:42 · we've been going through the miracles of Christ.

2:44 · And he's addressed storms and demons and sin

2:48 · and darkness and death.

2:50 · And you're like, scarcity?

2:52 · Like, I don't know if that's on the same level

2:55 · as the rest, but scarcity is something

2:58 · all of us must face.

3:01 · Scarcity is the voice that whispers

3:03 · that there is not enough.

3:06 · That there is not enough money.

3:08 · Can I get an amen on that?

3:11 · There is not enough time.

3:12 · Can I get a bigger amen on that?

3:15 · That there is not enough margin in your life.

3:17 · That there is not enough sleep.

3:19 · I have four kids, nine and under.

3:22 · There is not enough sleep.

3:26 · There is not enough patience

3:29 · to deal with the problems of your day,

3:31 · to deal with the kids in your life,

3:33 · the job you are doing.

3:35 · There is not enough years

3:38 · to maybe accomplish and do all that you wish

3:42 · you could do.

3:43 · There is not enough of you to go around.

3:48 · You see, I don't think I have to convince anyone

3:50 · in this room that scarcity is a very real thing.

3:54 · That you woke up this morning aware

3:56 · that in some area of your life,

3:58 · you do not have enough.

4:00 · In some area, there is something missing.

4:03 · Maybe the bill that you can't pay,

4:05 · the child that you can't reach,

4:07 · the marriage you can't heal on your own,

4:09 · the diagnosis that you cannot heal,

4:11 · the hope that you cannot quite muster anymore.

4:17 · And the question this text is asking

4:20 · is the question I want us to wrestle with this morning

4:23 · is what does Jesus do when we don't have enough?

4:29 · So if you read with me in Matthew chapter 14,

4:32 · starting in verse 13, it says this,

4:34 · that when Jesus heard about it,

4:36 · he withdrew from there by boat

4:39 · to a remote place to be alone.

4:41 · When the crowds heard this,

4:42 · they followed him on foot from the towns.

4:45 · When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd.

4:48 · He had compassion on them,

4:50 · and he healed their sick.

4:52 · When evening came, the disciples approached him,

4:55 · and they said, this place is deserted

4:56 · and is already late, send the crowds away

5:00 · so that they can go into the villages

5:02 · and buy food for themselves.

5:04 · You don't need to go away.

5:05 · Jesus told them, you give them something to eat.

5:09 · Verse 17, but we only have five loaves and two fish.

5:13 · The disciples replied to him,

5:14 · bring them here to me, Jesus said.

5:18 · Then he commanded the crowds to sit on the grass.

5:21 · He took the five loaves and the two fish,

5:23 · looking up to heaven, he blessed them.

5:25 · He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples,

5:28 · and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

5:31 · Everyone ate and was satisfied.

5:34 · They picked up 12 baskets full of leftover pieces.

5:38 · Now, those who ate were about 5,000 men

5:41 · besides women and children.

5:44 · Let's pray to our Father as we start this study.

5:47 · Dear Lord, I thank you.

5:50 · God, I thank you that as we come to this passage

5:53 · where we wrestle with what is enough,

5:55 · Lord, you answer it for us in yourself.

5:59 · God, I just thank you for all

6:00 · who have gathered here today.

6:01 · I thank you for this Memorial Day holiday

6:03 · where we reflect on maybe those who we have lost,

6:07 · maybe those who have paid a sacrifice

6:08 · and they're still hurt in our families

6:10 · and in our friendships of those

6:13 · who have paid great prices.

6:14 · Lord, let us remember them, let us honor them,

6:17 · and ultimately let us worship you

6:20 · as the God over everything.

6:22 · Lord, we just thank you for this time,

6:25 · and we ask that your presence be in this place.

6:28 · And with all this up in Jesus' name, amen.

6:33 · As we dive into this passage,

6:36 · we need a little context as we start in at verse 13

6:40 · because right away it says when Jesus heard about it,

6:43 · so we have to ask, what did Jesus hear?

6:47 · Well, what immediately precedes this

6:49 · is Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist,

6:52 · had been arrested and he had been killed

6:55 · and beheaded by the queen

6:58 · and these wicked people around him.

7:01 · And when news of his cousin, his friend,

7:04 · the one who baptized him,

7:05 · the one who was the next coming of Elijah

7:08 · who had foretold that he was coming,

7:10 · when news of John's death

7:12 · had reached the ears of Jesus,

7:14 · we dive into this scene.

7:17 · And in verse 13 it says when he heard about it,

7:19 · this trigger word here,

7:21 · he hears the news and Jesus withdraws.

7:25 · He's grieving.

7:26 · He's heading for solitude.

7:28 · He gets in a boat to be alone

7:32 · but the crowd finds him.

7:35 · And what we see happen next in this story

7:37 · is really just preaches straight to us

7:40 · and I think as we start this,

7:42 · the feeding of the 5,000,

7:44 · this miracle that we're gonna unpack,

7:46 · it shows us two things.

7:48 · And the first thing it shows us,

7:50 · it shows us compassion for our hurts.

7:54 · As we said, Jesus has just gotten the worst news

7:57 · of his earthly life.

7:59 · He crossed the lake to be alone.

8:02 · You know when you try to go somewhere alone

8:04 · and people follow you?

8:06 · If you got little kids in your house,

8:07 · you try to go to the bathroom alone

8:08 · and they follow you.

8:11 · Maybe you've been married for a long time

8:12 · and you try to go to the bathroom alone

8:13 · and your spouse follows you.

8:15 · You're gonna be like, can you leave?

8:16 · Go away, far away,

8:18 · on the other side of the house, okay?

8:19 · And Jesus was just like looking

8:21 · for a quiet place to grieve.

8:23 · And this was before,

8:24 · there was restrooms with shut doors

8:25 · and then you could just be in

8:26 · and then scroll on your phone for an hour.

8:29 · Which gets you hemorrhoids.

8:30 · And that's, I'm sorry.

8:35 · That is not in my notes.

8:36 · Why did I say that?

8:41 · What are we talking about?

8:44 · This gets away from me quick.

8:46 · Don't listen to the voices in your head.

8:47 · Anyway, so Jesus goes to be alone

8:52 · and he gets in this boat and hits land

8:55 · and then he's greeted by thousands of people.

8:58 · It says is that right in verse 14,

9:00 · it says as he stepped ashore,

9:01 · he saw a large crowd.

9:03 · Can you just picture this for a second?

9:05 · That Jesus going to be by himself,

9:07 · to be alone,

9:08 · he steps offshore and he steps there

9:11 · and he sees this huge crowd.

9:13 · If I am Jesus in this standpoint,

9:16 · I'm slipping out the back door.

9:19 · I'm trying to disappear.

9:20 · I'm done.

9:21 · I have nothing left to give.

9:24 · But that's not what Jesus does

9:25 · and this is the beautiful thing over and over again.

9:27 · When we look in the gospels

9:29 · and we see Jesus be like,

9:29 · I would do this,

9:30 · Jesus usually does the opposite.

9:32 · Why?

9:32 · Because he is God.

9:34 · And here's what it says

9:35 · when he saw the large crowd in verse 14,

9:38 · he had compassion on them.

9:44 · The Greek word for this word compassion

9:49 · is splachensisimo

9:50 · or it's even harder to say than that.

9:51 · I actually listened to it 10 times over the week

9:53 · and I still got it wrong.

9:55 · It's a big word,

9:56 · but here's what it means.

9:58 · It's this gut level word.

10:00 · It means that the insides,

10:02 · his gut was moved when he saw the crowd.

10:06 · It's like when you have someone you love,

10:09 · a child or a spouse or a close family member

10:13 · when they were sick and you're like,

10:15 · I wish we could just trade places.

10:17 · I see you in pain.

10:19 · I see you in agony.

10:21 · And this gut level compassion just comes up.

10:25 · This deep physical ache that says

10:28 · I cannot leave that person where they are.

10:32 · And that is what Jesus felt

10:34 · when he looked at the crowd

10:35 · that had ruined his grief.

10:39 · You know, as I was reading it,

10:41 · I was like, you know, this is honestly,

10:43 · as I was like trying to get into the mindset of Jesus,

10:46 · I was like, this is the hardest part

10:48 · about being a dad or being a mom

10:51 · is that sometimes there are just no days off.

10:56 · I found, tried to look for the time clock

10:58 · of where I could clock out being a dad

10:59 · and I could not find it.

11:02 · And we can't clock out from being a dad

11:05 · or a mom or a spouse.

11:07 · It's something we do all the time

11:09 · and sadly we fail time and time again at that.

11:13 · But the hardest part of opening people into our lives

11:17 · and being a part and leading and loving people

11:20 · is there are no days off.

11:23 · And here's the thing, Jesus' compassion for us,

11:26 · it didn't take a day off even when he was hurting.

11:30 · And here's the beauty of this.

11:32 · There has never been a moment

11:33 · in the history of the world

11:34 · when Jesus has been too tired, too sad,

11:38 · too overwhelmed, too disappointed

11:40 · to feel compassion for you.

11:43 · Hebrews 4.15 says that we have a high priest in Jesus Christ

11:47 · who is able to sympathize with our weakness.

11:50 · That's why he came here on earth

11:52 · to understand how messed up and weak humans are

11:55 · to know what our experience is like.

11:58 · And Jesus didn't just have compassion

12:00 · when his tank was full,

12:02 · he had compassion when his tank was empty.

12:05 · And then it moves on to verse 15

12:07 · and I love it because this one stings

12:08 · because I see myself in the way

12:11 · that the disciples answer here.

12:14 · They basically come up to him and say,

12:17 · hey, Jesus, send them home.

12:19 · They're like, it's getting late.

12:20 · They're hungry.

12:22 · They need to figure it out for themselves.

12:24 · This isn't our problem.

12:25 · He literally says send them into the villages

12:27 · so they can eat.

12:28 · He's like looking around,

12:29 · he's like, there's no Chick-fil-A out here.

12:32 · Go tell them to go somewhere else.

12:34 · He's like, it's like being in like Tucson.

12:36 · There's nothing good there.

12:37 · Go somewhere else.

12:41 · That wasn't in my notes either,

12:42 · but it's the first thing that pops in my head.

12:46 · But he's like, hey, this is not our problem, Jesus.

12:49 · Let's not take this on.

12:52 · But I love Jesus' answer in verse 16.

12:55 · It's one of the most striking lines

12:56 · in all the gospel.

12:58 · He says, they don't need to go away.

13:01 · And then he puts it on the disciples.

13:03 · You give them something to eat.

13:05 · And the disciples, they wanted to dismiss the hurt.

13:08 · But Jesus wanted to address it.

13:11 · And he didn't want to just address it.

13:12 · He wanted to use them to address it.

13:17 · Now church, think about what is happening in the story.

13:21 · As we come to 2026, the world is full

13:24 · of hurting people.

13:25 · And the temptation of every church member,

13:28 · every disciple in every era is to say, send them away.

13:32 · It's not my problem.

13:34 · Let them figure it out.

13:35 · I'm tired.

13:36 · I'm tapped out.

13:37 · I'm dealing with my own stuff.

13:39 · Let them figure it out.

13:42 · But Jesus looks at his tired, grieving,

13:46 · under-resourced disciples.

13:48 · And he looks at us today and says, you feed them.

13:53 · You see, it's hard to love and feed our world

13:55 · because it takes a lot of energy that Christ calls us to be.

14:00 · Over the past year, we kind of rolled out in our church.

14:03 · We say our mission is to make Jesus known.

14:06 · But we ask, how do we know we are making Jesus known?

14:09 · What is he doing in building in us and creating us

14:12 · to know we're headed the right direction?

14:14 · And one of the things we impact here

14:15 · at Cross Churches Surprise is we will know

14:18 · we are making Jesus known and being effective

14:19 · when we are hungry, humble, and hospitable.

14:22 · When we are hungry, that we are chasing after Christ.

14:24 · We're getting closer to him.

14:26 · We're spiritually craving on him.

14:28 · When we are humble, when we stop thinking

14:30 · that we are on second base because we hit a double,

14:33 · but we realize that God has moved us and provided

14:37 · so we can give our time and energy to others.

14:40 · But we also talked about this last one.

14:42 · I think the hardest one in the suburbs of Surprise

14:44 · is to be uncomfortably hospitable.

14:47 · And when we said we wanna be uncomfortably hospitable,

14:49 · he said we want to bring people into our homes.

14:53 · Those who are church members and saints,

14:56 · but those who are also sinners of our neighbors

14:58 · and those who are hurting around us.

15:01 · And let me tell you, it's not always easy

15:03 · to host and love people in your home

15:05 · to get meal, to break bread, and to do life together.

15:09 · Me and my wife have fully embraced this

15:11 · through ministry and God has challenged us

15:13 · more and more, and I love having people over.

15:16 · I love having family.

15:17 · Just last weekend we had families over

15:19 · and whenever we invite two families over,

15:22 · it ultimately ends like there's 20 kids in our house

15:25 · just because we have so many and they have kids

15:27 · and it's just chaos.

15:28 · And I love cleaning up our house

15:30 · and making the food and doing all that,

15:32 · but sometimes even unforeseen things happen.

15:36 · Like the hardest part of hosting for us now

15:37 · isn't the cleanup, it isn't the food,

15:40 · it isn't making sure our kids aren't jerks

15:42 · and hit other kids.

15:44 · It is the stuff that sometimes happens after the fact.

15:47 · This past weekend we had two families over,

15:49 · everything went great, we enjoyed it,

15:51 · and then at 11 p.m. at night,

15:54 · my two-year-old daughter, Alice,

15:55 · started throwing up in her crib.

15:58 · So that meant we had to text the other families

16:00 · and be like, your kids are gonna start throwing up

16:03 · any minute now.

16:05 · And it was almost like this gut-wrenching thing.

16:07 · Even when we're trying to do the right thing,

16:09 · even when we're loving our community,

16:11 · even when things are going well,

16:13 · sometimes there's a temptation of like,

16:15 · I don't know if I can do enough.

16:17 · It would be easy if I just like,

16:19 · put my kids in a bubble, you put your kids in a bubble,

16:20 · we don't even do life together.

16:22 · It'd be easier if I don't try to help fix your issues

16:24 · because I'm too broken,

16:26 · but Jesus uses the broken disciples.

16:29 · And he says, I'm going to bring my church,

16:32 · my gospel through you.

16:34 · He says, you feed them.

16:37 · And you see, the disciples knew

16:38 · they didn't have enough.

16:40 · They knew they didn't want the liability

16:43 · of getting all these people out here,

16:45 · feeding them food and them throwing up after,

16:47 · and then be like, oh, that was bad.

16:49 · But here's the thing, Jesus didn't care

16:51 · about the reservations of their inconvenience.

16:54 · He cared about the people, the crowd that was there.

16:58 · And in this front half of this passage,

17:00 · here's what I think we need to see.

17:01 · Jesus has compassion for our hurts.

17:05 · The first move of every miracle is his mercy.

17:08 · And when he moves, he often moves

17:10 · through ordinary people like me and like you

17:13 · who are willing to hand over the little they have.

17:17 · Which leads us right into the second thing

17:19 · this miracle shows us,

17:20 · not only the compassion that Christ has,

17:23 · but it also shows us the resources for our needs.

17:26 · The resources for our needs.

17:28 · You look at verse 17 as the story keeps unwinding.

17:32 · It says here, as he's telling them,

17:34 · you feed them, the excuses come.

17:38 · But, but we only have five loaves and two fish here.

17:43 · They said to him, five loaves, two fish.

17:47 · And now we're talking about a small little packed lunch.

17:50 · These five loaves are probably like the size of a biscuit.

17:52 · So this was not like your sourdough bread

17:55 · that you might bake in the oven

17:56 · if you're in your sourdough era

17:58 · and your starter hasn't died.

17:59 · Some of you know what I'm talking about, right?

18:02 · These are like tiny little bread, little baskets,

18:05 · like little things you get without the cheese

18:08 · at Red Lobster, okay?

18:09 · So like less than that, but small.

18:12 · And then these are two fish.

18:13 · These aren't like big old fish.

18:14 · These are probably dried fish,

18:16 · almost like the size of sardines.

18:19 · And all this, this was this little boy's lunch

18:21 · as John tells us in his account.

18:23 · This was all they had.

18:27 · You think about this for a second

18:28 · and from the disciples' perspective

18:30 · is do you know what it's like to feel

18:32 · like your food is always disappearing

18:35 · and the shelves, as soon as they get stocked,

18:37 · are just empty again.

18:39 · They were probably going around.

18:40 · They're like, there's gotta be some food here.

18:41 · Maybe I'll look in this area.

18:42 · Maybe I'll look in that area.

18:44 · And everywhere they tried to look,

18:46 · there was just not enough.

18:50 · But check out what God does with this.

18:53 · As he sees that there is not enough food,

18:56 · it then turns to it gets,

18:58 · the problem gets more complex

19:00 · because then all of a sudden,

19:01 · they see there's not enough food

19:03 · because they start counting the crowd.

19:05 · Verse 21, it says, now those who ate,

19:08 · and we're skipping ahead,

19:10 · but we'll get to how they ate in a second,

19:11 · were about 5,000 men

19:13 · besides women and children.

19:17 · It's just 5,000 there

19:18 · and this is why this miracle is commonly called

19:20 · the feeding of the 5,000.

19:21 · But they only counted the men.

19:23 · They didn't even count the women and children.

19:25 · Ancient estimates said this size of the crowd

19:27 · was probably more like 15 to 20,000 people.

19:31 · 15 to 20,000 people

19:33 · hanging out in the middle of nowhere

19:36 · in a wasteland slightly better than Tucson

19:39 · waiting for some food.

19:42 · And all the disciples can bring to Jesus

19:46 · is five little loaves of bread

19:49 · and two small fish.

19:52 · And what does Jesus do with it?

19:54 · Well, we're told in verse 18,

19:56 · as they collect these

19:57 · and it's the only thing they can find

19:59 · in the whole sea of 15,000 to 20,000 people,

20:03 · they bring it to Jesus

20:04 · and he says this in verse 18.

20:06 · He says, bring them here to me,

20:08 · the stuff they had.

20:09 · Then he commanded the crowds

20:10 · to sit down on the grass.

20:12 · He took the five loaves

20:14 · and the two fish

20:15 · and looking up to heaven,

20:16 · he blessed them.

20:19 · He broke the loaves

20:20 · and gave them to the disciples

20:22 · and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

20:27 · Now, slow that down.

20:28 · There are four things that Jesus does right here.

20:30 · He took the elements that he was given.

20:33 · He blessed them.

20:35 · He broke them.

20:36 · And then he gave them out.

20:39 · These four words will be used again

20:41 · throughout the gospel.

20:43 · These of he took, he blessed, he broke, and he gave.

20:47 · And the next time Matthew will use these four words

20:49 · is actually in Matthew chapter 26

20:52 · where he talks about the first Lord's Supper

20:54 · that the night before Jesus was crucified,

20:57 · when he sits down with his 12 disciples in a room,

21:00 · they are going to do the same thing

21:02 · as Jesus is pointing forward to that miracle

21:06 · of what he will ultimately perform on the cross.

21:11 · And as Jesus takes and he blesses

21:14 · and he breaks and he gives,

21:16 · in verse 20 we see the results of this.

21:20 · It said everyone ate

21:22 · and they were filled

21:24 · and they picked up 12 baskets

21:27 · full of leftover pieces.

21:29 · Now I don't think there is an accident here

21:32 · that there are 12 baskets.

21:35 · There's one for each disciple that was present.

21:39 · And I don't think that's an accident or coincidence.

21:41 · The disciples started that day

21:43 · saying we don't have enough

21:45 · and then each one of them

21:47 · got a whole basket overflowing with food

21:49 · showing them how wrong they were.

21:53 · Jesus didn't just meet the need of the crowd.

21:56 · He outpaced the doubt of the disciples

21:58 · that were following him.

22:01 · And I think here's what the text wants you to see

22:03 · that five loaves and two fish in your hands,

22:06 · in the hands of disciples,

22:08 · that is a problem to feed 20,000 people.

22:12 · But five loaves and two fish in the hands of Jesus

22:15 · is a feast that will never end

22:18 · as long as he doesn't want it to.

22:21 · I love this because as we read this passage,

22:24 · I think about how God often calls us

22:27 · out of our comfort zone

22:29 · to show how he can provide.

22:32 · If this is your church family,

22:33 · in March we launched an ambitious two year campaign

22:37 · called Let's Go.

22:38 · You heard about our Let's Go launch

22:39 · which is our internship program

22:41 · where we wanna raise up leaders in the church

22:43 · but not Let's Go in March.

22:45 · We talked about how we also wanna raise up

22:47 · the resources for this.

22:49 · And over the next two years

22:50 · we asked our church family to say

22:51 · hey what would it look like

22:52 · for you to commit to funding the mission

22:56 · of how can we start more churches

22:58 · in more areas so the gospel in Jesus

23:01 · can be made known in a greater impact

23:03 · that not just has an impact today

23:05 · but for generations to come.

23:08 · And if you're in part a cross church

23:09 · we're already doing this in our collective.

23:11 · By the end of the year

23:12 · we'll have six locations in Arizona

23:14 · where we have pastors at each location

23:17 · preaching and teaching and leading worship.

23:20 · That's already six of those in Arizona.

23:22 · We have three of those internationally

23:23 · but we're asking God of like

23:25 · how can you continue to do this more?

23:27 · How can you multiply what you're already doing

23:29 · in a way that we can't even understand

23:31 · and we can't take the credit for?

23:33 · And here's the thing that I had

23:35 · the same mentality of the disciples

23:37 · as we came into this

23:38 · like God I don't think we have enough.

23:41 · I know I don't have enough in my bank account.

23:42 · I don't know if I have any more time.

23:44 · I don't know if I have any more margin.

23:46 · I have any more bandwidth.

23:47 · I can only do this much

23:48 · and sometimes when God calls us to big things

23:51 · the first thing we say is like

23:54 · I don't think I have enough God.

23:56 · Like I just have this little bit,

23:58 · these five loaves, these two fish.

24:00 · They're not gonna contribute to the church.

24:02 · They're not gonna contribute to the kingdom.

24:04 · Most of us if we're honest

24:06 · we rock around clutching what little we have.

24:11 · Terrified to hand it over

24:14 · but here's the thing.

24:15 · The only path to a miracle

24:16 · is when we hand over the little

24:18 · that we have to Christ

24:20 · and watch how he uses it

24:22 · in more abundance than we ever could.

24:25 · He says what's underlying all this story.

24:29 · What is in your hand this morning

24:31 · that you've refused to give it.

24:33 · When you give it to Christ

24:34 · he will do more with it

24:36 · than you can do alone.

24:38 · Your money, your gifting, your story,

24:41 · your hurt, your pain.

24:43 · Hand it over and watch how God uses it.

24:48 · And you see this is exactly

24:50 · what this miracle shows us.

24:52 · But here's what I love about this story

24:54 · is this is not where it totally ends.

24:57 · This is where Matthew's account ends.

25:00 · But what I love about this miracle

25:03 · is the feeding of the 5,000

25:04 · is the one miracle

25:06 · that's actually recorded in all four gospels.

25:09 · Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

25:12 · And when you flip over to John's gospel

25:13 · in John six looking at verse 32

25:17 · he gives some commentary on this miracle

25:20 · and why it's so important.

25:23 · And after Jesus does all these crazy things

25:26 · here's what I love

25:27 · is not only does it show us

25:29 · his compassion for us.

25:31 · Not only does it show us

25:33 · how we need resources, our needs

25:35 · no matter how little we have.

25:37 · But the feeding of the 5,000

25:39 · then points us to something.

25:41 · And what it points us to first

25:42 · is it points us to recognize

25:44 · who our true provider is.

25:46 · Let's keep going in this

25:48 · and in John chapter six verse 32

25:50 · I love that the next morning

25:52 · after the feeding of the 5,000 happens

25:55 · the same crowd who just got fed

25:57 · all this delicious bread and fish

26:01 · they come back and they track Jesus down again.

26:03 · Like Jesus left and they find him.

26:05 · And they find him and they're like

26:07 · dude we want another meal.

26:09 · We want another miracle.

26:10 · We want another show.

26:11 · They wanted him to keep performing

26:13 · for them.

26:14 · And then Jesus says something

26:16 · in John six verse 32

26:17 · that pivots the entire conversation.

26:20 · He says as Jesus said to them

26:21 · the crowd who was looking

26:23 · for their next meal ticket.

26:25 · He says truly I tell you

26:28 · Moses didn't give you the bread from heaven

26:31 · but my father gives you the true bread from heaven.

26:35 · For the bread of God

26:36 · is the one who comes down from heaven

26:39 · and gives life to this world.

26:43 · You see the crowd was thinking.

26:46 · They knew their history

26:47 · and they knew their Old Testament.

26:50 · And you know this story about Moses

26:51 · as he was leading a million Jews

26:54 · through the wilderness

26:55 · escaping Egypt trying to get into the promised land.

26:58 · And they knew their stories

26:59 · and they knew that story of like

27:00 · hey God kept feeding them for 40 years.

27:05 · There was no Chick-fil-A in that wilderness.

27:07 · All right.

27:08 · For 40 years

27:09 · God sent manna and dew

27:11 · to feed a million people.

27:13 · Mind blowing.

27:15 · And like I think we just found our Moses.

27:17 · We found our next meal ticket.

27:19 · Like let's stop working.

27:20 · Let's stop providing for our food.

27:22 · Let's stop being farmers

27:24 · or carpenters or whatever.

27:25 · Let's just follow this guy

27:27 · and he will provide.

27:29 · He will give us everything we need.

27:31 · And Jesus says stop right there.

27:34 · He's like Moses didn't give you that bread.

27:37 · He says my father got in heaven did.

27:40 · And he says this then he ups it

27:41 · and he says in the real bread of heaven

27:44 · is not falling on the ground every morning.

27:46 · It's not being multiplied in baskets

27:49 · from a little boy's lunch.

27:50 · He says the real bread is standing right

27:54 · in front of you.

27:56 · What a mic drop moment.

27:59 · Jesus told them he's like

28:01 · I am not the new Moses

28:02 · handing out the meal next meal.

28:05 · I am the bread itself

28:06 · to meet every hardship and hurt

28:09 · that you will ever have.

28:12 · You see church this is huge

28:14 · because if we're honest

28:16 · I think often we're like the crowd

28:18 · and we come to Jesus the same way.

28:20 · As we come to Jesus we're like

28:21 · Jesus I got some more messed up stuff in my life.

28:25 · I really need you to pay this bill

28:26 · because it's hurting

28:28 · and I don't know how I'm gonna do it.

28:29 · Jesus I really need you to heal

28:31 · this sickness that I'm going through

28:33 · because I don't see around it.

28:35 · Jesus I really need you to fix my relationship

28:37 · that I've been stupid

28:38 · and the reason it's so messed up

28:39 · is because I've made it messed up.

28:40 · But Jesus if you could just fix it all

28:42 · that'd be great.

28:43 · Jesus if you could just make my wife love me more

28:44 · and fix my marriage

28:45 · because I said some dumb things

28:47 · and bail me out of this that'd be great.

28:49 · Jesus I haven't fathered

28:50 · and led my kids the way I should.

28:53 · But Jesus if you could just make them better kids

28:55 · that would be awesome.

28:56 · Jesus I really haven't put my full effort in at work

28:59 · but if you could just make me a better employee

29:01 · and make my bosses like me

29:02 · that would be great.

29:03 · And maybe you're not as superficial as that

29:06 · but you come to Jesus often

29:08 · just looking for the next meal.

29:10 · The next little holdover.

29:12 · The next fix to get you through the day

29:15 · and we come with our hands out to Christ

29:17 · just looking for him to give the things we need

29:21 · instead of give you something lasting

29:23 · that goes beyond it.

29:26 · And hear this before you're like

29:27 · man that's a bummer

29:28 · because I do pray to Jesus for all those things

29:30 · and you should

29:32 · because Jesus does fix our problems.

29:35 · He does do miraculous things.

29:36 · He does pay bills sometimes

29:38 · and restore relationships

29:39 · and there's story and story after that.

29:42 · But Jesus refuses to be reduced

29:44 · to a vending machine of miracles.

29:48 · He came to give us not the gift

29:51 · but to give us himself in the giver.

29:55 · Not to just give us the bread

29:58 · but to give us his very body and himself.

30:01 · And you see what's happening in the story

30:02 · is the crowd wanted continual provision.

30:05 · The crowd wanted heavenly handouts

30:09 · but Jesus as the provider

30:11 · he's the one who gives heavenly hand ups.

30:15 · I was at our Phoenix location, Cross Church Phoenix.

30:18 · That's where I started with Cross Church 10 years ago

30:21 · and I was there for about eight and a half years

30:23 · and I love that church and it's thriving

30:26 · and doing amazing things

30:27 · but one of the things I was most proud about

30:30 · and most excited that I think when we just leaned on God

30:34 · and he did a great thing

30:35 · is starting a Celebrate Recovery ministry

30:38 · and it still goes to this day every Wednesday at 6.30.

30:40 · Actually another pastor in the area asked me

30:42 · if we're still doing it and I'm like absolutely.

30:44 · And what I love about Celebrate Recovery is

30:46 · it's saying we want to help people

30:48 · and to have freedom from their hurts,

30:50 · habits and hang ups.

30:51 · And here's the deal when people come to CR

30:54 · we have help and needs there.

30:57 · We'll give out food,

30:58 · we'll give out provision that they need

31:00 · but what we're trying to point them to

31:03 · is how do you find ultimately your value in Christ

31:07 · that will then teach you the disciplines

31:09 · that will change your life forever?

31:12 · And instead of saying hey I just need this little more

31:14 · to get through and I'll be fine.

31:16 · How do you change your entire life,

31:19 · organize it around Christ himself

31:21 · and watch how everything changes as a result?

31:25 · And then instead of coming to Jesus

31:26 · just for your next problem to be fixed

31:29 · you start coming him to continually to change

31:32 · who you are and change how it affects you.

31:36 · And here's the deal until you recognize

31:39 · that everything you call provision in your life,

31:42 · your job, your house, your savings,

31:44 · your relationships, your health and your family

31:46 · until you realize it is from him

31:50 · and it is only ever a picture of him

31:53 · then you will spend your whole life

31:55 · just seeking Jesus for the next thing

31:58 · instead of seeking him to change everything about you.

32:02 · You see the feeding of the 5,000

32:04 · it points us to recognize our true provider in Christ

32:07 · but it also points us to embrace our true need.

32:13 · As this story is going and as Jesus

32:15 · already disappoints them because they're like

32:17 · man I wanted more bread and he's like

32:18 · bro the bread is right here

32:19 · and they're like I don't get it.

32:20 · What is he talking about?

32:22 · Is he saying we should be cannibals and eat him?

32:25 · But he stops there and verse 34 as they respond

32:31 · and they say like I just want my bread.

32:33 · They say in verse 34 it's so revealing of their hearts.

32:36 · They then said sir give us this bread always.

32:40 · Like okay so you are the spiritual vending machine.

32:42 · Just keep giving us more bread

32:44 · that they still didn't get it.

32:45 · They still thought they were at a buffet line.

32:47 · They still thought they were at the Golden Corral.

32:48 · Thank goodness those are all closed right?

32:50 · They're all disgusting.

32:52 · You all get stomach bugs and throw up after anyway

32:54 · so sweet tomatoes all those are gone.

32:57 · Actually there's still sweet tomatoes.

32:58 · You know where it's at?

33:00 · Tucson yeah.

33:03 · It came back around.

33:05 · That was the Holy Spirit planting that joke in early

33:07 · all right.

33:08 · I didn't have it in my notes.

33:09 · Anyway what are we talking about again?

33:12 · I don't know.

33:15 · But here they're like they just wanted more.

33:17 · They wanted more food

33:19 · and they're not understanding what Christ says

33:21 · and then I love this in verse 35.

33:23 · This is one of the great I am statements of John

33:25 · that Jesus lays them on as they're like

33:27 · give us this bread.

33:29 · Give us more.

33:30 · We're just gonna hang out with you

33:31 · and you're gonna feed us.

33:32 · We're gonna become fat on our laziness

33:34 · and just seeking you

33:35 · but not actually doing what you say

33:37 · and then Jesus says this

33:39 · I am the bread of life.

33:43 · Not the bread that you keep getting that you eat

33:45 · but the bread of life

33:47 · and then he adds this statement

33:49 · no one who comes to me

33:52 · will ever be hungry

33:54 · and no one who believes in me

33:56 · will ever be thirsty again.

34:00 · Just stop for a second

34:03 · and feel the weight of that statement.

34:08 · He says you'll never be hungry again.

34:11 · You'll never be thirsty again

34:14 · and guys he's not talking about food.

34:17 · He's talking about something greater than food.

34:21 · He's saying you're not gonna be hungry for purpose.

34:23 · You're not gonna be hungry for love.

34:26 · You're not gonna be hungry for peace.

34:28 · You're not gonna be hungry for meaning.

34:30 · You're not gonna be hungry for forgiveness.

34:32 · You're not gonna be hungry for hope.

34:34 · You will never be hungry again

34:36 · because something greater will fill you.

34:41 · You know we're Baptist

34:41 · so we don't often talk a lot about fasting

34:45 · because we like our potlucks okay.

34:48 · But here's how fasting actually works

34:51 · is when you're deprived of food

34:54 · you're depending more on God

34:57 · to provide for your needs and it keeps you going.

35:01 · And here's the crazy thing.

35:03 · I'm not telling you guys to stop eating food

35:05 · because you do need to still eat food all right.

35:07 · But when you fill yourself with the spirit

35:10 · and you seek God and you love God

35:12 · sometimes it fills you up

35:14 · that the other stuff the superficial things of life

35:17 · like food and drinks and all those things

35:19 · like I don't even need Red Bull on Sundays

35:21 · if I'm being honest I drink it

35:22 · because it gets me up

35:23 · but I get jacked up on Jesus

35:25 · before I get jacked up on Red Bull okay.

35:27 · And here's the thing

35:28 · sometimes when the spirit is filling us up

35:30 · and we are seeking God

35:31 · and we're finding our sustenance from God

35:33 · we don't even need those things.

35:34 · Here's what's funny after church on Sundays

35:36 · is like I never have an appetite.

35:38 · And my wife's like you want anything?

35:40 · Our routine is we pick up salad

35:41 · and go and Wendy's on the way home

35:43 · to eat for the kids

35:44 · and I'm like I don't even need food.

35:45 · Like I'm not hungry.

35:46 · Sometimes I force myself to eat

35:47 · because I think I need it

35:49 · but I'm just like so filled with Jesus

35:51 · from being with my church family

35:53 · and being with the word of God

35:55 · that I'm like I don't even need food.

35:57 · I'm just gonna go run until I pass out

35:59 · because I'm full with Jesus right now.

36:03 · One person thought that was cool all right

36:05 · that wasn't a clapping moment

36:06 · I'll get you later.

36:09 · But here is our problem church

36:11 · we have spent our whole lives

36:14 · trying to satisfy our deepest hunger

36:18 · that our world has to offer

36:20 · with the wrong food.

36:22 · We've tried to filled our stomachs

36:25 · our spiritual stomachs

36:26 · our emotional stomachs

36:28 · our mental stomachs

36:29 · with things like achievement

36:30 · with approval

36:32 · with possessions

36:33 · with relationships

36:34 · with substances

36:35 · with screens

36:37 · in every time we leave the table

36:39 · we are still hungry.

36:41 · C.S. Lewis diagnosed this beautifully.

36:43 · I love this quote.

36:44 · He says if we have desires

36:45 · nothing in this world can satisfy

36:48 · that is you.

36:49 · You have desires that you fill

36:51 · with thing after thing after thing

36:52 · and you are not satisfied.

36:53 · He says the most likely explanation

36:55 · is that we were made for another world.

36:58 · Oh that's good.

37:01 · And here's the deal

37:03 · is you were be made

37:04 · you were made to be filled

37:06 · not with the stuff

37:08 · that we make in our world

37:09 · that just get us day by day

37:11 · is you were made to be filled

37:12 · with the bread of life

37:14 · Jesus Christ himself.

37:16 · And until you embrace that need

37:18 · until you stop trying to feed your soul

37:20 · on five loaves

37:22 · and two fish substitutes

37:23 · you will never know

37:25 · what enough actually feels like.

37:27 · And here's what I love

37:28 · cause this is the real message

37:30 · of this whole miracle

37:32 · that it points to

37:33 · and comes to fruition

37:34 · in John chapter 14

37:36 · is after Jesus has multiplied lunch

37:38 · and he has said he is the bread himself.

37:41 · I love this

37:42 · because the disciples

37:43 · who saw this in John chapter 14 verse 8

37:46 · Philip one of the dude

37:47 · who collected a basket full of food

37:49 · he says this Lord

37:51 · show us the father

37:52 · and that's enough for us.

37:55 · Philip's like okay I get it

37:56 · we need more than food

37:58 · but show us God the father

38:00 · and we'll be satisfied.

38:02 · And Philip thinks he's made this huge leap

38:04 · he thinks he's theological

38:05 · he thinks he's smart

38:07 · it's the cry of the human heart

38:08 · he said show me what's enough

38:10 · show me what fills me

38:12 · show me what satisfies me

38:13 · and Jesus answers in verse nine

38:14 · and I love this.

38:16 · He says have I been among you

38:18 · all this time

38:20 · without your knowing me Philip?

38:22 · He says the one who has seen me

38:25 · has seen the father.

38:27 · Here's what Jesus is saying

38:28 · if you know me

38:30 · you know your creator

38:31 · you know God the father

38:33 · you know everything you need to know

38:35 · in other words Philip

38:37 · what you're looking for

38:38 · everything you strive for

38:40 · everything you've pushed for

38:42 · it is all found in Christ

38:44 · and here it builds

38:45 · to this miraculous truth

38:46 · that we see in this passage

38:48 · that you will never have enough

38:50 · church you will never have enough

38:52 · that you try to fill your life with

38:55 · all the achievement

38:56 · all the money

38:56 · all the success

38:57 · all the family

38:58 · none of it will be enough

39:00 · until you accept that Jesus is enough

39:02 · all right?

39:03 · Do you hear this?

39:07 · None of it will be there

39:09 · you will never have enough

39:10 · until you accept that Jesus is enough

39:12 · you will never have enough money

39:13 · until you think that Jesus is enough

39:15 · you will never have enough success

39:16 · until you know Jesus is enough

39:18 · you will never have enough recognition

39:20 · enough security

39:21 · enough control

39:22 · enough comfort

39:23 · man we love our comfort here

39:24 · we will never have enough of anything

39:27 · enough relationships

39:28 · enough addictions

39:29 · anything until you come to the foundation

39:31 · that Jesus you are enough

39:40 · You see this boy, he gave Jesus five loaves and two fish

39:49 · that were not even close to enough to feed 20,000 people.

39:56 · But Jesus did it because he can take in your life

40:01 · what is not enough, he can multiply it,

40:05 · he can make it enough and he can give you himself

40:09 · that is all you need.

40:13 · So here's the questions that we need

40:14 · to wrestle with this morning.

40:17 · At first, if you are a believer in the room today,

40:21 · if you say, I am a follower of Jesus,

40:24 · I have said that Jesus is enough,

40:28 · you need to ask the question,

40:32 · what are you still trying to feed your soul

40:36 · that only Jesus can feed you?

40:41 · What are you trying to seek after?

40:44 · What's the loaf that you keep reaching for

40:46 · that always leaves you hungry?

40:50 · Surrender it, give it up, hand it over,

40:56 · stop chasing crumbs at the feet of a savior

40:59 · who is offering you the feast.

41:05 · And maybe that's not you today.

41:08 · Maybe you don't know Jesus yet

41:12 · and maybe you've never trusted him before.

41:17 · I want you to hear me that we get this truth

41:19 · from God's word, that you've spent your life

41:26 · trying to find enough.

41:29 · And I know if you're honest, you haven't found it.

41:33 · You haven't found enough purpose,

41:36 · enough love, enough peace,

41:41 · every meal, every hack,

41:45 · every lie that the world has fed you

41:48 · has left you hungrier than you were before.

41:53 · But there is a savior who took five loaves and two fish

41:59 · and fed 20,000 people,

42:02 · but this same savior took his own body.

42:08 · He broke it on the cross for us.

42:11 · He died in our place for our sins.

42:14 · And the miracle is he rose again to defeat those sins

42:19 · so that you can be forgiven.

42:21 · So that you can find purpose

42:24 · so that you can have a life that is enough.

42:29 · He is the bread of life.

42:32 · He is the offering himself to this morning

42:36 · that you will never have enough

42:39 · until you accept that Jesus is enough.

42:46 · Church, he is enough.