Leftovers

After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him.(It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) 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?" He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do. Philip replied, "Even if we worked for months, we wouldn't have enough money* to feed them!" Then Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up. "There's a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?" "Tell everyone to sit down," Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) 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. After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, "Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted." So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.

This is the same text as last week. I wanted to use the same text to show the variety of ways a text could be used. Again, this is a synopsis of the weekly sermon.

Began by engaging the congregation about leftovers. Many talked about how their mothers made use of leftovers and even disguised them so that they would be eaten.

Spoke about the leftover baskets. Which serve as a great picture of the gracious love of God. Many were fed that day, but there was and still is enough for many more.

We celebrated communion, and in the closing prayer expressed the desire to share our lunches and our lives with others. We do this...because there are leftovers aplenty!!

The miraculous

After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him.(It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) 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?" He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do. Philip replied, "Even if we worked for months, we wouldn't have enough money* to feed them!" Then Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up. "There's a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?" "Tell everyone to sit down," Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) 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. After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, "Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted." So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.


This is another synopsis week. My head is almost out of the water, so anticipate full text recaps soon.

The focus this week was on the miracle that took place during the feeding of the 5000. The miracle here is the fact that the boy actually gave up his lunch. To communicate this, at the very beginning of the sermon, I ate a piece of chocolate. I described it and made it very desirable to the congregation. After they were all wanting a piece, I passed around the box, and told them all that they could have some. The Box was empty. There were no treats to be had. It was an easy transition into asking,"What if the boy had eaten all his lunch on the way into town?" Then he would have been deprived of seeing Jesus work. He would have been full physically, but empty spiritually.


At the end...I had chocolates at the door for them to pick up.

Necco Messages

Due to time restraints, some weeks will be only a synopsis of the sermon rather than the full text. This is one of those weeks.

Today I passed around a container with NECCO hearts. We had pulled out the odd ones, like Email me, Marry Me etc. People pulled them out and we discussed them in terms of human love and Godly love. Lots of Chuckles and Laughs, as some said "Go Fish", "Cool Cat", "Hope" and "True Love". We discussed broken heart and loves lost, as well as dreams realized.

Simple sermon, but full of power and recollections of Valentines form the past.

Scripture Emphasis: Love the Lord, your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength...and love your neighbor as yourself.

Super-Vision

Due to time restraints....some weeks I will be giving a synopsis of sermon, instead of full text. By the way, this is one of those weeks.

Lamar Hunt Story...

What's in a name?
Credit a bouncy rubber ball for coining the name "Super Bowl."
In 1967, the game debuted as the "AFL-NFL World Championship Game." Realizing this was too cumbersome, Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt suggested "Super Bowl" after watching his daughter play with a Super Ball. It was meant to be a temporary moniker, but the media latched on to it.
"Super Bowl" appeared on a ticket for the first time in the fourth championship. The previous three games were later retroactively given the name Super Bowl as well.
Hunt died in December. The ball that inspired the "Super Bowl" remains on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Question posed to congregation is...."What if Lamar Hunt had been too busy with his day to day routine to be inspired by the bouncing of the ball?

Our issue--How often are we too consumed with our day to day that we miss the quiet whispers of God given inspiration in our own lives?

Listen....we may be surprised by what we hear.