Embracing the Abundance of Jesus

Summary:

Pastor Carly shares insights on faith, miracles, and Jesus’ abundant provision, emphasizing trust and prayer through life’s challenges.

Transcript:

My name is Carly and I am one of the pastors here at Journey and I just got nervous. I am getting to talk to y'all today, which is one of my favorite things to do. And fun fact, my very first time ever teaching was exactly one year ago on the 16th, July 16th. So here I am again. So it's so good to be back. I was going to start this morning off with a little joke and I love little jokes. I love to the wit and all that. So this past week I was in California with my family and my brother-in-Law is also a pastor. And so we were talking about preteen and all the things and I was like, oh, I'm going to start off with a joke. And he goes, really? I was like, yeah, I told the joke and it was crickets. It fell so hard. I ended up having to explain my joke. I was like, no, it's funny. It was a parable, but it's really a miracle. And they were all like, okay, so I'm going to spare y'all that.

No if I have to explain it. No, they weren't even like halfway thought it was funny. So we're not going to do that today. We're just going to get right into it. Kenny will get it. Kenny will get it. Okay, so let's start off with a prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, I thank you so much for this time right now. I thank you for every single person that you have brought here. Jesus, in all of our different walks of life, you brought us here for a specific purpose, for a reason, Jesus. And for that, I thank you and I praise your wonderful name. Jesus. Let as we talk about your miracles, let it not be lost in us that you are still doing miracles today. It is in your wonderful name. Amen.

So the first time I taught, I got to teach on a parable and I love me some parables. A parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson to help us understand something about God or how we should live. So I was fortunate to talk about the parable of the seeds and the soil and the sower and all the things of what makes a parable a parable. And today I get to talk about a miracle. Miracles are a surprising and welcome event that is not understood by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency, something that you do not understand. And that is how we're going to lead into the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

So Jesus is healing people from their sicknesses and he goes up to, he starts on his way up a mountain and the setting is a crowd of people follow him. And Jesus sees this and he asks, how are we going to feed them? And Philip and Andrew look at the situation and realize the inadequacy of their resources. They don't have any food. These people have followed Jesus and there's no food. We in Journey Junior have been talking about hospitality and what it means to be hospitable to your neighbors and to your friends and to your family. And Jesus hits this spot on. He's saying, how are we going to feed them? How are we going to make them feel at home in this large crowd? And it says that when he looked up and saw the large crowd, so some versions, this is in Matthew, mark, Luke, and John, and some of them say that it was 5,000 people. And then other scriptures say it was 5,000 men, not including women and children. So it's more than 5,000. Jesus's response to their hunger demonstrates his compassion for our physical needs. Just like the disciples, we often face challenges that seem insurmountable and our resources are limited and the problem appears too big,

Too big for us to understand what to do. We only have too fish in five loaves. How are we going to multiply this? How are we going to make this into something that amounts to anything? And here we get into the provision verses eight through nine. One of his disciples, Andrew said to him, there is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people, this little boy's is a small offering of five loves and two fish. It's an insignificant amount, but it's what they have. God often uses what we consider insignificant to bring about his abundant provision. Our small efforts when placed in his hands can achieve extraordinary outcomes. And one of the coolest things about this was that Jesus trusts us to help in his miracles. He uses a little boy to usher in this food and he uses us to distribute the food. He uses his disciples to go into the picture shows, to take the food to people. It's not just Jesus on his own. He could do it on his own. He can do everything on his own. But the fact that he uses us to administer and help with miracles, that's incredible. He trusts us. He knows us, and he knows that he is planting seeds of trust. And when you see something so vividly happening, how do you not trust? How do you not believe?

I love that he uses us. Then the miracle verses 10 through 14 make the people sit down. Jesus took the loaves. And when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish as much as they wanted, when they were satisfied, he told the disciples, gather up the leftovers so that nothing may be lost. They gathered them up. And from the fragments of the five barley loaves left by those who had already eaten, they filled 12 baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they begin to say, this is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world. Jesus performs the miracle feeding over 5,000 men, women and children with the small meal. And not only is everyone satisfied, but there are 12 baskets left over. So thinking about this makes me, I've always said I am a bread and fish. That is how I live. That is how I want to live. I want to live with having

The littlest amount and watching God multiply it. Over the weekend we got news that Everly got accepted into a little beautiful but very, very small Montessori school and we're excited. We're so happy for her. She's going to excel. She's really, this school is beautiful and amazing. And the cool thing is not only is it Montessori based, but it's Jesus based. So she gets to be in a class of I think 10 kids and learn about Jesus in a hands-on way. But it is not free. It is not even cheap. Yes. And before David and I went to go toward the school, we said, you know what? If she gets in, that is going to be a miracle in itself because we were on a wait list, but we knew that something about this school was important, something about this school where she can learn and thrive.

But like I said, learn about Jesus in such a deep way. We're like, we have to try it. And then if she gets in, we'll pray and we'll figure it out. And that's where we are right now. We're praying, we're figuring it out. But we know that no matter what happens, God has her and us where he wants us. And it's not prosperity gospel uhuh. It is not that. It is trusting God to take what we have, how little it is, and just asking him, Lord, if it's your will and if it's your way, multiply it. David and I have many, many stories of how we have seen Jesus multiply in our lives and it is beautiful to look back and be like, wow, we lived in a 600 square foot apartment and it was teeny tiny, but we were so happy. We were so happy we had hardly any nothing, but we were so thrilled and we knew we had God on our side.

And Jesus is not just a provider but an abundant provider. He gives not just enough, but more than enough in our lives. He provides for our needs in ways that sur past our expectations. And I'm not saying that he will answer our needs like that. Every Wednesday we have prayer here, and since I've been on staff for a little over a year now, we meet every Wednesday at 11:00 AM and we come and we pray. People text in their prayers. And I will say that we have been praying for some people since the first day I ever came to a prayer Wednesday. It is not something that we see God answering prayers right away. We have had prayers come in since day one and we're still praying. We're still praying for restoration of marriages. We're still praying for children that have gone astray. We're still praying for medical needs to come, but we're still praying and they still are bringing their prayers to us. They know that God can abundantly answer them, but we also have prayers. One Wednesday it comes in, I'm having surgery. Please pray. The next Wednesday surgery was a success. Thank you so much. So God takes what we have and he multiplies it. And that is something that is incredible.

And not only does he feed the 5,000, but then he gets in a boat, he feeds the 5,000, he gets in a boat and he, no, he doesn't get in the boat. He walks on water, nevermind spoiler. I was like, wait, no, he doesn't get a boat. The disciples get into a boat, they start rowing. There's a storm coming. They are terrified. They've been rowing for miles and they have not gotten anywhere. Just as the disciples face this storm, we encounter turbulent times in our lives. We struggle and feel as though we are making no progress. I have been in a boat personally, metaphorically and have been rowing and rowing and rowing, and I do not see an end. I do not see the shore at all. And there's a storm coming and all of these things are coming at me. And in our struggles we look up and we see Jesus coming towards us.

He is walking on the water towards us. He is above our problems. He can handle the storms. His presence brings peace and assurance. He is not bound by limitations that restrict us. The sight of Jesus walking on the sea is both astonishing and reassuring. He sees us in our darkest spot and he comes to us in verse 2021. Jesus said to them, it is I do not be afraid. Then they wanted to take him into the boat and immediately the boat reached the land towards which they are going. Jesus' words remind us to trust him when he is with us. There is no reason to fear. His presence changes everything and brings us safely through our trials.

Sometimes you're in that boat for just a little bit and you see a storm coming off and instantly I'm praying, I don't like that storm. I see that storm. I do not want that storm. And we start praying other times. That storm comes at us hard and fast. It is medical news that you did not expect to see and that storm hits you. It is that deterioration of a relationship coming at you and you did not want that. It is all of these things that we do not see an into or even we did not even see the beginning. We didn't see it coming. But Jesus is walking in that storm and he is coming to us and we can look up, we can see him and we can say, yes, Jesus, and we can be terrified of it. But knowing that he will come in that boat with us is incredible.

Is what we need, is what we as our faith. To see him coming towards us can start to solidify us even more to get on our knees and to pray and to ask Jesus. Lord, take this because as soon as he got in that boat, the storm stopped. So as we get into our time of prayer, let us think about things that we would desire prayer for. It doesn't have to be because you are sick and it doesn't have to be because you need guidance. It could be Jesus, I need prayer because I am tired today. Jesus, I need prayer because I do not have a happy heart. He answers all of these prayers. He is open to any sort of prayer. It is talking to him. It is getting a direct line to him when we pray and we are up here and we are to pray for you. Yes, if you are sick, come up. We will lay our hands on you and we will anoint you with oil in the name of Jesus. And knowing that you are taking these steps towards prayer, we'll grow your faith. That is what we are here to do. We are here to pray for each other. We are here to love each other.