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Welcome to the Trinity Sermons Podcast. We are so glad that you are joining us today.

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Today, Rob will be continuing our sermon series called Around the Table, and we're going

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to be exploring one of Jesus' more miraculous meals today. So I hope you enjoy!

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Today's reading is from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 14, verses 13 to 21.

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When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing

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of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large

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crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples

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came to him and said, This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds

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away so that they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food. Jesus replied, They

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do not need to go away. You give them something to eat. We have here only five loaves of bread

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and two fish, they answered. Bring them here to me, he said. And he directed the people

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to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to

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heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the

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disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples

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picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate

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was about 5000 men, besides women and children. The word of the Lord.

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Yes, we are at the beginning of a teaching series called Around the Table. We're looking

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at the different meals that Jesus ate with people throughout the gospels and seeing what

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we can learn from them. And while we've been doing this, we've actually also asked you,

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would you please send us some of the pictures that you have of the meals you're eating together

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with people in your life, people in your family, or people in your church. And some of you

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have already started to send those pictures in. So for example, the Druan family sent

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this picture in of their family eating a lovely meal in Italy, of all places, this past summer.

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That looks absolutely fantastic. We also got a picture sent to us from Bob Clays with his

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family. I believe this was a birthday dinner that was being shared. Actually, we got some

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pictures from Zion. Because last week when the youth were downstairs doing their junior

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youth activities, they were eating Timbits. And so they sent some pictures along of them

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enjoying Timbits. And of course, whenever food is mentioned here at Trinity, Jordan

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and Jesse have to get involved and they have to send some pictures along. These two, wherever

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there's food, you're going to find these guys. You know, and you guys may not know this,

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but historians have found that even Jesus took a selfie during the last supper and it

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has since been on earth. But no, in all seriousness, we definitely want to hear from you. So can

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you send us your photos? Send us your photos. Send them to eattogetherat trinitystreetsfield.org

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and we'll be featuring some of those in our upcoming services. You see, when you read

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the Bible, one of the things you will notice about the meals that Jesus ate with people,

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that even though they were so transformative, they were totally ordinary meals. There was

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almost nothing special about them. In fact, remember last week when we looked at the story

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of Jesus eating with Levi, the tax collector, it changed his life. And yet there was nothing

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miraculous about the meal. There was nothing supernatural about the meal. It was just an

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ordinary meal. And I think that the teaching there for us is to realize that every day

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you will eat meals. Every week you will eat several very, very ordinary meals, but your

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ordinary meals can also be completely transformative depending on who you invite to your table.

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Because you see, for Jesus, meals were about way more than food. It was at meals where

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barriers were broken down, where people found hope, where people found healing, where people

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found wholeness in their lives. You see, people thought the kingdom of God was going to come

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into the world through might and power, but nobody thought the kingdom of God was going

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to come into the world at a booth at the local Tim Hortons. Nobody thought it was going to

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come around a pizza box in your basement apartment when you got together with a friend. Nobody

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expected the kingdom of God to break in around some coffee and banana bread in the office

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break room. Right? But that's how it worked. Ordinary, ordinary meals. Although today we're

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going to talk about an absolutely extraordinary meal. Right? This is possibly the most famous

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meal in all the gospels with the exception of the Last Supper. And it is of course the

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feeding of the 5,000. This was a miraculous meal. And I say it was one of the most famous.

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Why? Because it's recorded in all four gospels. Now you might say, well, Rob, isn't everything

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recorded in all four gospels? Don't they all tell us the same thing? That's not actually

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true. There's lots of duplication sometimes between a couple of gospels or three gospels.

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But these gospel writers had different sources. They knew different people. They talked to

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different crowds. And so, yeah, the gospels are all different. And yet this story ends

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up in all four of those gospels. And that means that this meal, understanding this meal,

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I think is uber important for us to understand. Everyone knew about it. Everyone wrote about

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it. Why was that? It was because there is a question that we all need to figure out

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in life. Sorry, my fancy clicker is also double clicking. And that is this question. How does

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God turn a little into a lot? How does God turn a little into a lot? That's an important

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question that many of us, all of us actually at some point in our life are going to need

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to know the answer to because you're going to come to a time in your life where you need

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God to turn a little bit of something into a whole lot of something. You're going to

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need God to turn a little bit of strength that you have into a whole lot of energy.

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You're going to need God to turn just a little bit of faith into a whole lot of hope. You're

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going to need God to turn just a little opportunity into a great big opportunity. So whether it's

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money or whether it's health or whether it's patience or whether it's courage or whatever

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it is, there are some things in life that we have just a little bit of. We have just

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a wee little bit of, and we need God to give us more. How does God turn a little into a

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lot? The church, Trinity Streetsville, also needs to know the answer to this question

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because there are many times when we hear at Trinity, we have just a little bit of resources,

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but we need to turn it into more. We have just a little bit of vision, but we need to

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turn it into more. Today is our ministry fair Sunday. We'll say more about that later, but

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we need to learn how to turn a little bit of people power into a whole lot of people

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power here at Trinity. How does God turn a little into a lot? Well, the meal that we

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are going to look at today answers this question, I believe. And remember this, Jesus never

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did these miracles just to show off. He didn't do it just as a raw demonstration of his power.

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Hey, everybody, look at me. No, he did these miracles to teach us something. And chances

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are if he's been recorded doing this miracle four times, then there's really something

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important we need to learn here. So how do we turn a little into a lot? I've even given

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you some teaching notes, some sermon notes. If you want to follow along, I think there's

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something really important we all need to remember today. But here is the first step.

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If you want to turn a little into a lot, the very first thing you need to do is you need

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to admit your need, right? You have to admit that you have a problem. And it is very difficult

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for many of us to admit that we have a problem because we see it as a sign of weakness. We

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see it as a sign of failure to say, I've got a problem here. And yet it's so clear from

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the story that that is the very first step toward witnessing a miracle. In our reading

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this morning, it's very clear what the problem is. There's a lot of writing up there, but

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the crowds have followed Jesus out to a remote place. It is getting late in the day and there

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is no food and there is no McDonald's within 20 miles of where they were. And the disciples

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have a real need. They have a real problem. And they actually admit that need. They confess

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that need to Jesus. So before we go any further, let me just ask you this. What is the need

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that you have come here with this morning? What is the problem in your own life? Many

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of us face problems, but actually we know how to solve those problems. We do. But there

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are other problems we don't know how to solve. So maybe you're facing a financial problem

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and you actually know how to solve it. You say, Rob, I just have to cut up my credit

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cards because I'm overspending. I just need the strength to do it. But then there might

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be other financial problems that you're facing that you just do not know where to go from

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here. You're like, you know, the landlord just raised the rent. My car broke down and

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I lost my job. I do not know what to do. Or take health, for an example, you might have

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a health problem and you know exactly what it is you need to do, right? You need to quit

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smoking. You need to quit drinking so much. You know what it is you need to do. You just

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need the strength to do it. But there are other problems that we may face that we actually

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just do not know. And there is nothing that we can do about it. The doctor called and

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told you some very distressing news and there's nothing you can do about it. It is completely

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out of your hands. You don't have one thing to do about it. It's beyond your ability.

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So there are some problems we know how to solve, but we just need the strength. There

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are other problems that we don't even know where to start. But for either of these problems,

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the first step is for us to admit that need to God. Whatever your problem is, the first

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step is to say, God, I got a problem. God, I need some help. Because this is the really

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good news. The really good news is that every miracle begins with a problem. If you don't

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have a problem in your life, you don't need a miracle. If you don't have a need in your

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life, then you don't need God. But whatever you're facing, a spiritual, a physical, a

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financial, a relationship problem in order for God to turn a little bit into a lot and

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in order for God to give you what you need to overcome that problem, we have to admit

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that needs God. I've got a problem. Jesus, I need some help. I want to say that again

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here at Trinity, we're a church and we also have needs. We have spiritual needs, physical

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needs, resource needs. We have financial needs. There are classes here at Trinity that need

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to be taught. There are people here at Trinity that need to be welcomed. There are young

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people here at Trinity that need to be mentored, meals that need to be served. There are ministries

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that need to be resourced. That's what today's ministry fair is all about. Not just to celebrate

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all the stuff that God is doing here, but to admit to God and to admit to you. These

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are our needs. These are the needs we have. And that is okay because God can turn a little

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bit into a lot when we take that first step and we admit we have needs in our lives. That's

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the first step. But here's the second step. The second step after we have admitted that

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we have a need is to then take some responsibility for that need. I find it very interesting

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in this story that we just read that this miraculous meal, Jesus does not intervene.

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Jesus does not solve the problem until the disciples have gotten concerned about the

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problem, until the disciples have started to take some responsibility for it. I mean,

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here's what I mean. As evening approached, as evening approached, the disciples came

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to him and they said, this is a remote place. It's getting late. Send the crowds away so

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they can go to the villages to buy themselves some food. Jesus knew without a doubt there

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was going to be a food problem. Right? Long before anybody else ever recognized there

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was going to be a problem, Jesus knew, but he did nothing until his disciples got concerned.

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And it's only when they realized there was a problem, it's only when they started accepting

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some responsibility and saying, someone's got to do something about this, that Jesus

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began to act. I think there is a lot of truth to this statement. I think that God saw your

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marriage problems long before you acknowledged that they were there. He was waiting for you

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to take some initiative, to get concerned and to take some responsibility for that.

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God knew your health problems long before you did, but he's waiting for you, waiting

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on you to take some initiative, to take some responsibility. Look at how Jesus invites

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his disciples to take responsibility here. He says, don't send them away. You can give

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them something to eat. This is for you to figure out. It seems absolutely crazy. Even

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if they had a thousand boxes of Kraft dinner, they couldn't boil it up and feed all those

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people in that time. Right? And it's financially impossible too. We're told that the disciples

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were pulling out their hair, wondering how they were even going to pay for all this.

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But God often asks us to do things that seem impossible. Why? To, to ignite within us a

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concern and to spark within us faith. Because as the Bible says, without faith, it's impossible

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to please God. Here at Trinity, we've got lots of ministry needs. We've got lots of

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ministry opportunities that can actually also seem overwhelming, like the disciples. But

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if everyone, if everyone takes some responsibility, if everyone finds something that concerns

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them, if everyone has a little bit of faith, then we too will see God work miracles here

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in our midst. But here's the problem. So many times in our life when we see, we see a need,

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we have these excuses. The first excuse is that we, we procrastinate, right? Notice,

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did you notice that the disciples didn't even begin to try to solve this problem until

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evening approached? Come on, they knew there was a problem looming, right? What were they

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waiting for? Did they think it was just going to go away? Were they, were they hoping that,

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you know, it was just going to disappear? I wonder if in your own life, there's a difficult

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situation that you're facing and you are just putting off dealing with it. Oh, someday.

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Ah, someday I'll get around to it. Someday I'll deal with it. Even here at Trinity. You

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can go across the hall after the service and you'll see all these ministry opportunities

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and you'll say, ah, someday, someday I'll volunteer. Not, not today, not today, but

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someday I will. Right? Procrastinating never solves any of our problems. But the disciples,

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they also had this other excuse and that is they pass the buck. They say, oh, send, send

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the crowds away. It's not our fault that they came out here into the middle of nowhere to

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listen to Jesus. That's on them. That's, that's not on us. Let somebody else do it. Let somebody

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else volunteer. It's not our responsibility. Or we say, it's not our problem. Or we even

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say it's not our business. But whenever there is need in the world, whenever people are

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suffering for Christians, it's their business. It's our business. And the third excuse that,

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that kind of comes up here is they, they panic, right? Ah, that would take more than a, how

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many years wages would that take? And they start to get anxious. You can just feel the

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temperature going up. How are we going to do this? How are we going to organize this

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way? Do we need a health permit to serve this much food? Peter, have you had your, your,

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your safe food handling course? Do you know how to do this? Do we have to contact the

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health department and have our kitchen inspected? They are panicking. Now, the funny thing about

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all this is, is while they're panicking and while they're freaking out, who is standing

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right beside them? Jesus, Jesus, the one who could snap his fingers and have manna fall

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from heaven, but they seem to have forgotten all that. So now if you are faced with a problem

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that you cannot solve, remember first step is admit that you have need. And then secondly,

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don't pass the buck. Don't procrastinate. Don't panic, but take some responsibility.

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And once you've done that, then thirdly, what that means is you can start to do what you

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can do. We may not feel like we've got the resources or the abilities to solve the problems

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that we are facing, but God waits to see what we will do with what little we have. And this

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story, the disciples go out on a reconnaissance mission into the crowd and they come back

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with a little boy and this little boy is in John's version of the story, in John's version.

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This little boy actually becomes the hero of the story. And why is that? It's because

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he did what he could. He, first of all, the little boy, he gave what he had. He's only

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got a couple fish. He's only got, you know, five loaves of bread. And apparently we're

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supposed to believe, apparently he was the only one in the crowd that day who had some

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food with them. Police, police. Nobody goes on a journey like that without packing a bit

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of a lunch for themselves. I guarantee you there were lots of people in the crowd that

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day with picnic baskets shoved under their robes. No, the little boy wasn't the only

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one with food. He was the only one who was willing to give what he had. Right? And it

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wasn't a lot, mind you, but never underestimate what God can do when ordinary people give

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what they have. I think the second thing you can deduce from this story is that he gave

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all that he had. Right? It wasn't like he, he said, well, I'll give you 10% of this fish.

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I'll give you a 10th of my loaf of bread. No, he gave all that he had. Jesus is looking

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for people not to find out the minimum amount that they can give, but to find out how much,

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how generously people can give. Have you ever made this, this kind of deal with God where

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you say, God, I will give you anything except this relationship or God, I will give you

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anything except my career or I'll give you anything God, except my money or God, I'll

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give you everything except whatever this little thing is over here that I refuse to let you

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have. You can have everything else God, but not this thing. I tell you, the little boy,

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he gave it all. He didn't hold anything back. Gave all that he had. And then I think he

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can also deduce from this story that not only did he give what he have and give all that

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he had, but he gave it immediately. He didn't wait around to see what else was going to

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happen. He didn't wait around to see if somebody else was going to, to stand up and solve the

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problem. He gave it right away. Remember, Jesus could have solved this problem with a

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snap of his fingers, but here is the mystery of the story. God always starts something

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miraculous in your life or in my life or in the life of this church. It always starts

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when we give what we have. And it might not seem like much to you. And you might not think

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that what you have to give will make any difference. You know, the apostle Paul wrote a little

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bit about this later. He said, he said, the important thing to remember, sorry, the important

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thing is to be willing to give as much as we can. This is what God accepts. And no one

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is asked to give what he has not got. Whether you got a little time or a lot of time, a

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little talent or a lot of talent, a little bit of finances or a lot of finances, a little

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bit of energy or a lot of energy. Miracles happen. Changes happen when, and that little

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bit turns into a whole lot when we start giving God what we already have. So that brings us

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to the fourth point. If you can admit your need and then if you can take responsibility

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and then if you can do what you can, then finally we can expect a miracle because something

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amazing happens when you take what you have and you put it into Jesus's hands. That little

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bit becomes a whole lot. We read that, you know, Jesus gave thanks and he broke the loaves

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and they all ate and they were satisfied. And the disciples then picked up 12 baskets

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full of broken pieces that were left over. Whatever we put into God's hands, he multiplies.

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You might not have much time, but when you give your time to God, he multiplies the impact

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of that time. You might not have much talent, but you put it into God's hand. He multiplies

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the impact of that time. You might not have much faith. There might be some of you here

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today who have very little faith. The Bible says, if you've got faith, even the size of

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a mustard seed and you put that into God's hand, then you can move mountains in your

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life. Trinity streetsville can be a place where miracles happen and lives are changed

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and the kingdom comes and people experience healing and hope. But it only happens when

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we put what we have into God's hands. I tell you, this boy, he probably had some explaining

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to do when he got home that day because his mom sent him out the door with a couple fish

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and five loaves of bread and he probably came home with armfuls of leftovers. And she was

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like, where did you get all that? He says, well, it was amazing. I gave it to Jesus.

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And before you know it, I had way more than I brought. She's like, you sit down, young

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man, you're not going anywhere until you tell me the truth. Or like Georgia, if I sent Georgia

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off to school for her lunch and I gave her a $10 bill and then she came home and she

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had $500. And she'd say, dad, you wouldn't believe it. I gave my $10 bill to the cafeteria

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lady and she gave me back $500. I'd say, Georgia, you better sit down here, young lady. We got

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to call the school. What on earth have you done? Nobody is going to believe a story like

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that. But the truth is, and one of the principles of this whole story is, is that whenever you

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give to others, whenever you serve others, you always get back more than you gave. It's

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the old saying, you can't out give God. And I know I'm on shaky ground here because there

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are a lot of those prosperity preachers out there who say, oh, God blesses you so much

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when you bless others or God gives when you give. But there is some truth to it. I was

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talking to one of our volunteers here at Trinity who helps out from time to time in the kitchen

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serving coffee after the service. And she said, yeah, Rob, it's difficult and yeah,

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it takes a little bit of extra effort. But listen, Rob, I get way more out of it than

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I put in because I get to meet all these people that I work with and I get to develop friendships

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and I get to have great conversations and I get to see the smiles on people's faces

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after the service as they, as they mingle and mix and they have something to drink and

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something to eat. Yeah. I get, I get way more out than I put into it. And televangelists

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will say, Hey, you give us a hundred dollars. Well, he'll give you a million dollars. God

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will give you a million dollars. This is not a pyramid scheme, right? But Jesus is saying,

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listen, there are blessings you don't know about when you give, when you volunteer and

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when you serve, you get back more than you could possibly give. So then in your life,

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in my life, in the life of this church, how do we turn a little into a lot? How do we

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overcome the problems that we're facing this morning? The answer is this. First, admit

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your need to God, God help simplest prayer. You can pray, admit your need. Secondly, take

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some responsibility, develop some concern over what it is. This isn't somebody else's

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problem. This is your problem too. And then thirdly, do what you can. Even if you don't

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have much to give, give what you can. And then fourthly, we can expect a miracle because

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when we put what we have into God's hands, it multiplies so much so that not only are

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others blessed, but we are too. Thanks be to God. Amen.

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Thank you for listening to our Trinity Sermons podcast today. I hope that you took some valuable

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lessons from what Rob has shared with us. Today's message was taken from the September

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15th service at Trinity Church, Streetsville in Mississippi.