What do you have to offer God?

With Help from Little Friends
Topic
God will use you if you allow Him to do so.

Biblical basis
Passage John 6:1-15:
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
1 After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. 3 Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. 4 (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) 5 Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” 6 He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.
7 Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”
8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. 9 “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”
10 “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. 12 After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.
14 When the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!” 15 When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself.
Description
The key ingredient in the miracle of Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 was not the day, the crowd, the messages, the disciples or even the food. It was the boy with the lunch bag who had the courage to come forward and offer something seemingly insignificant to the Lord. Jesus used the seemingly puny gift of a child’s lunch to create one of His most dramatic miracles.

The big idea
We often hold ourselves back from God’s plan because we see ourselves as having nothing of value to offer, but when we give what we have, He can work miracles.

All of us need to realize that all of us have lots to offer in doing God’s work.

Illustration: pyramid building

In the word
I. Jesus Had Compassion

A. In Matthew 14:14 it says. Jesus saw the crowd and had compassion!

B. Compassion is not just feeling sorry for someone but really hurting for and with them.

C. Compassion is saying, “I know what is going on in your life. I know your needs, and I care!”

D. Jesus knows each of our needs, and He cares about each one of those needs.

1. He sees the needs of those around us as well.

2. Don’t ever think that your needs or others’ needs are too big or too small for God to help you!
E. According to Luke 12:27-30. God knows our needs.

II. Jesus Was the Answer

A. Jesus was the answer for the needs of the crowd.
B. In John 6:7 Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”, the disciples were focused on the need and missed the answer—Jesus.
C. In John 6:8-9 , Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. 9 “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”

Andrew had an idea—but how far would the loaves and fishes really go?

D. Isn’t that just like us? “But God, can You really do it? Can You really use me?”

III. Bring What You Have to Jesus

A. In Matthew 14:18, Jesus says, “Bring them here to Me.”

1. Jesus says, “Give Me what you have and I’ll do something with it.”

2. Bring your gifts, talents and dreams to Jesus.

3. Bring what you have and lay it at the feet of Jesus. He can do the incredible!

B. How do you bring things to Jesus? By prayer!
1. God is faithful to meet your needs, no matter how big they may seem to you.
2. What you bring to Jesus can meet your needs and the needs of others.

C. God will use you to meet the needs of others. The question is whether you will bring your gifts, talents and abilities to God.

Rise up mighty warrior and walk in the anointing of the Lord.
Ps 23: 6 surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.