Feeding the 5,000 // Mark 6:30-44

Pastor Rex shares the ongoing mission and challenges faced in Trench Town, Jamaica, where he and Jan have served for nearly 30 years. He emphasizes the importance of resting in God's presence while also meeting the urgent needs of those around them, as illustrated through the miracle of feeding the 5,000. Pastor Rex reminds everyone that seemingly insurmountable tasks can be accomplished by surrendering what little we have to God, who multiplies our efforts. He concludes by encouraging the congregation to remain steadfast in their commitment to serve and support missions work, trusting that God will provide the necessary resources and strength.

Transcript

We are privileged this morning to have our missionaries to Jamaica. Rex and his wife Jan Harmon are with us. They were able to share with us yesterday at our chili feet and this morning again at Sunday school time. And it was wonderful to hear them share their experiences with us. Very interesting, some humorous and some heart wrenching.

They have been serving in the really tough area of Trench Town, Jamaica for nearly 30 years now and Bethel has supported them for around 25 of those years. We are very privileged again to have Rex come and give us the sermon this morning. Thank you.

Rex and Jan Harmon have worked in the Kingston, Jamaica inner city ghetto of Trenchtown since 1997. The original intent of the Harmons was to see souls saved and organize a local New Testament church. This happened in the first five years of their ministry. The next phase of the ministry was to train national leadership to pastor the church and to move on to another area to plant another church. However, after 22 years, this is still a work in progress.

Trench Town is a very difficult place. It is full of poverty and criminals. It is run by dons who control and extort all who must live there. Most of these men have never wanted God in their community. They serve Satan and he fights hard.

I have been threatened with death more times than I can remember. Church services are almost always interrupted by spiritually destitute people. In many ways, it is a dark, dark place. We have had several men saved who served God for a short time, but then were discouraged or frightened away because they did not trust God to take care of them. Others were blessed by God and immigrated elsewhere.

Most Jamaicans will not even consider the idea of coming into Trench Town. We have tried to find saved men from other parts of the island to come and help us with little response. Of the two that have responded to the need, only one remains. Although there are many challenges, there are also many opportunities. In addition to our weekly Sunday worship service and Bible study classes, we have an Awana club to reach boys and girls as well as a weekly Bible study in our neighborhood high school.

We have seen many missionary families come and go in this difficult field. It is not a place for anyone who does not daily put on the whole armor of God. We feel privileged to serve God by serving those who are the least of these and thank him daily for the ability to go to war against the powers of this dark world, against spiritual forces of evil. We have complete trust in our God and His ability to keep us under his wings where we are safely abiding. We also firmly believe that God is calling more Men who will risk everything to serve him with us in the spiritual battlefield of Jamaica.

We covet your prayers and appreciate your financial support and pray that you will allow God to speak to your heart about joining us in the fight for souls of those who need him. Isaiah 68. Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then said, I, here am I. Send me.

Praise the Lord for opportunities to serve him. Right. We believe in honoring God's men. So we brought your pastor a gift from Jamaica.

There you go. I use one of those to sweep out my car. They have those. They used to have them just full size. And I said, hey, so I talked to one of the guys that made them.

I said, can you make me some car size to sweep out a car with? They also fit in a suitcase a lot better to bring home and give to pastors.

I also brought one full size home one time, you know, put in the overhead, pretty cool, full size. And I gave it to my mother in law.

Mark 60. Mark 6. Sorry. Chapters 30 through 44. We're going to look at today and be challenged by God's word.

Let's go to prayer as we turn there. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your word that lets us know where your heart is, who you are, who we are, and the changes that need to be made. Lord, work in each and every one of our hearts today. Help us to surrender what you deserve, to be surrendered to you.

We pray that through our lives you would be honored in your son's name. We pay. And our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. All right, Mark, chapter six, verses 30 through 44.

It starts with a debriefing that's in verse 30 through 33. And then we'll move on to 30 through 34 through 42. And that's Christ ministering to those drawn to him. And then verse 42 through 44 will be a recap of what's happened. All right, so let's start in with the debriefing process.

Mark 6, 30 through 33. And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus and told him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. And they and he said unto them, come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest awhile. Where there were many coming and going. And they had no leisure so much as to eat.

And they departed into a desert place by ship, privately. And the people saw them departing. And many knew him and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them and came together unto him.

Verse 30. The apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, told him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. Now, what had happened before this is Jesus gave them power to cast out demons, to heal, heal the blind, to do the works that Jesus had been doing. He gave the apostles power to do that. And he sent them out two by two to do this.

And they went out two by two. And God did some amazing things through them.

And many of them, I'm sure, felt unworthy to be in that spot, but they were willing to do what God wanted them to do. And they went out and God worked mightily through them. And they went to all the places that Jesus was going to go. They went before him, just as John the Baptist has gone before him. And the verse 29, which we didn't read, but it was covered last time, what had happened was they went out and they did all this ministry and they're coming back and they hear something absolutely horrible.

They hear something that they disagree with a little bit.

Something horrible had happened. So they went and they collected the body of John the Baptist, the headless body, and they gave him a proper burial. And then they came and met with Jesus and told him what had happened, and then told him all the things that he had been doing through them while they were all two by two. How exciting was that? How amazing.

And then it came to such tragedy.

Sometimes things very tough happen in our lives. Jesus had been preaching and telling people he was there to heal the broken hearts, to free those that are bound to heal. John the Baptist had been bound for a long time, and they were looking forward to him freeing them.

And now he'd been killed. And they collected the body, put it there, and they really couldn't understand what's going on. Jesus had preached that he's there to free the captive.

John the Baptist hadn't been freed. He'd been killed.

Or had he been freed?

He went from a time on this earth wearing camel's hair and eating bugs to the glory of heaven.

Sounds like he'd been freed to me.

We have an amazing God, don't we?

Verses 34 through 42. We're going to see Jesus ministering to those who are drawn to Him.

Closest to him are the disciples. And we see him ministering to them, teaching by example.

Many times they get ahead of him and they put their plan in place rather than his plan or present their plan to him to so that he can approve it, but it's not his plan. Do you ever do that. Have something you want God to do through you. And he's got a different plan.

Verses 33 says. And the people saw them departing, and many knew him and ran afoot thither out of all cities and outwent them and came together unto him. And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people and was moved with compassion toward them because they were a sheep having not a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. Now, the disciples had just been through a very tough time, a very exhausting doing all this work that God had been doing through only Jesus.

And now they were being used to do it. And Jesus said, let's come aside, come aside for a time and heal from this broken heart of our brother John the Baptist.

No longer here on the earth.

Let's spend some quiet time healing and resting. And when you're out ministering like they were and seeing God work, it's. Though it's invigorating, it's still exhausting. And he said, let's go aside to a private place and let's get a little bit of rest.

And Jesus is teaching them.

You know, when you go on a mission trip and God works mightily, sometimes you need a little rest. When you get home, come to a quiet place. But sometimes you get home and like them, they got in a ship and they went to go to a desert place all apart and privately so they could rest and recuperate some and be encouraged by Jesus. Words. And the crowd outwent them.

They ran ahead of them, and when they come to shore, here comes the crowd again. That's the way it is sometimes in ministry you desperately need a rest, but the needs are there and you press on. And Jesus was teaching them. I believe here that yes, we need a rest. We need to come apart and we need to rejuvenate a little bit.

But the need has come and met us, and we need to meet that need.

Saw all this crowd of sheep having no shepherd, and he began to teach them many things. Give them his word, give them the encouragement they need, feed them spiritually, give them the direction their lives needed. Explain the scriptures that are so hard to understand for them. Lay it out plainly.

That's one thing I am so excited about, this miracle of feeding the 5,000 that we're about to read about. He's ministering to them. And this miracle is so important to understand. It's recorded in all four gospels. There's only one other miracle recorded in all four gospels.

That's the resurrection of Christ.

This is a very important Miracle.

He began to teach them many things. In verse 35. And when now the day was. Excuse me. And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him and said, this is a desert place.

And now the time is far past. Send them away. They may go into the country, round about and into the villages and buy themselves bread for they have nothing to eat. He answered and said unto them, give ye them to eat.

Give ye them to eat.

And they say unto him, shall we go and buy 200 pennyworth of bread and give them to eat?

I think sometimes we don't realize what God's wanting to do through us. Now these guys have been out healing the sick, curing the blind, casting out demons, and he says, give ye them to eat. How can we do that?

Now they're back with Jesus and they expect him to do all the work.

Sometimes as church members, we expect the pastor to do all the work, don't we? Sometimes so much so he needs to hire two or three or four more pastors to work with him.

Jesus had just given the apostles power and they're just. Maybe they still had enough to do this miracle, but they didn't see it. Sometimes God enables us to do things we don't see. We miss them. We miss the chance of honoring the God with our lives because we're not looking, we're not saying, God, what can you do through me?

Here I am. Send me, use me.

Sometimes while he's using us, it gets incredibly tough.

And we're looking, we say, whoo, I'm tapped out, Lord, I need a break now. I believe they were tapped out and they thought they needed a break. And here comes this crowd who outran them. And they're getting to the shore and the crowd is gathering even while they're docking.

Jesus begins to feed them, give them food that will sustain them for eternity. Give them what they need, heal the maimed, doing the works of God.

And he does that all day. And remember, they're tapped out. Before all this started, they'd been going all day. And so they say, jesus, send these guys away so we can get the rest we need. They can go buy themselves some food.

They've got to be hungry. Been here all day, no vendors anywhere.

Jamaica, we have vendors even at funerals.

My wife shakes her head.

They say, give ye them to eat. What, man, if we had 200 pennyworth, could we buy them enough to eat? These are 5,000 men. And John points out women and children.

And what they're saying to Jesus is 200 pennyworth. Wouldn't be enough. What's 200 pennyworth? Sounds really small to us, doesn't it? That's six months wages at that time.

That would be way too small to feed this crowd.

And Jesus just gave them the opportunity to give ye them to eat. And they're questioning and doubting Jesus. You ever do that? You know in your heart Jesus wants you to do something? Boy, how could I do that?

God called me to Jamaica. My next prayer was Jamaica, God. People wouldn't believe that.

I still tell this wife to my. To my wife. Excuse me. I still tell my wife to this day. Getting ahead of myself, aren't I?

Not many men love their wives so much. They'll take her to an island paradise.

Give ye them to eat. Verse 38. He said unto them, how many loaves have ye? They miss the opportunity. Let's realize when God's given us an opportunity to serve him again, to do more.

To let him use us to bless the lives of others. How many loaves have ye? Go and see. When they knew, they said, five and two fishes.

Five loaves and two fishes.

There's some importance there. I'll tell you about here in a little bit.

Five loaves and two fishes. Verse 39. He commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks by hundreds and by fifties. When he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes.

He looked up to heaven and blessed and brake the loaves. And gave them to his disciples to set before them. And the two fishes divided he among them all. And they did all eat and were filled five loaves and two fishes.

There's some important lessons here. Let's look at a few of those and you can probably see a few more if you look a little deeper. To understand this miracle, we have to look at all four Gospels. See which ones add just a little bit more. But as we look at this miracle, we realize, or should realize the importance of thankfulness and saying grace at meals.

Because before Jesus multiplied and distributed the bread. He raised his eyes to heaven and prayed.

He emphasizes the importance of not being wasteful with food. Here in a little bit. Because Jesus tells them, gather up the fragments, lest they be lost. Tells them that in John 6:12.

What should we also see?

The goodness of Jesus. Because he feeds those who seek Him. Seek ye first. The kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things shall be added unto you.

What things? Actual food as well as physical food.

You'll feed us spiritually.

You'll give us all things that are necessary for life spiritually and life of our bodies.

Another thing we need to note, God gives the increase. Since the multiplication of the loaves and fish. Highlight also that every year God increases the seeds sown. Farmers sow their seed year after year. God increases the seed sown as we give out the Gospel day by day, year by year.

Told you earlier today, we gave out God's message. You sent it there. We gave it to Bianca. She gave it to her best friend, Peaches. It increases, multiplies itself.

Moses said in Deuteronomy 18:17, 18. Lord said unto me, they have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee. And he will put my words in his mouth. He shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

That's Moses telling the people, one day God will send a prophet. This is the prophet, the Messiah. And when Jesus is feeding this multitude, they begin to understand, this is the Messiah.

He said, like unto thee and will put my words in his mouth. And he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

In the Old Testament, we find loaves multiplied.

As we check the other Gospels, we find out these five loaves are barley loaves. Barley loaves. What does barley signify? What is barley significant for? Barley is one of the first fruits of the harvest every year.

It grows faster than other things, and you can plant it earlier. Ruth, when she's gathering in Boaz fields, was gathering barley.

What's the story of Ruth about our kingsman, Redeemer?

Boaz is her kinsman. Redeemer Christ is ours.

That whole book is about the prophecy of Christ.

The Old Testament loaves were multiplied. Elisha was a successor of Elijah, the greatest of all prophets. God used Elijah to multiply meal and oil to save a widow and her son from starvation. And all they had to do was give to God first the first fruits.

God used Elisha to multiply 20 barley loaves so as to feed 100, with some even left over. Second Kings 4, 42. But in the gospel, Jesus multiplies five barley loaves and feeds 5,000, leaving 12 baskets afterwards. 12 baskets left over.

So here's a clear message. Jesus is a prophet greater than even Elijah and Elisha.

How many baskets of scraps are left over? 12. That's a significant number in scriptures. 12, the number symbolizing God's people. 12 tribes, 12 patriarchs, 12 apostles.

And now 12 baskets.

Some get to eat again and eat more. I'm thankful we have the Scriptures so we can Eat all the time.

Woman came to the well to get water.

Jesus said, if you asked me about the water I have, you'd want it.

She got the water of life, a well springing in her up into eternal life.

I'm thankful. God's no respecter of persons.

He wants us, each and every one, to have that well within us, springing up into eternal life, a well that gets those around us wet, a well that soaks the land, a well that floods the hearts toward him.

This is missions month. It's about being that well that floods the land toward him.

Let's accept the responsibility, the challenge and the blessings that God has for us.

Let's be a vessel honoring him, giving him the glory he deserves through each and every one of our lives so he can work mightily, be more effective.

And all it takes is surrender, accepting the faith he has for us. Walking by faith, not by sight.

The apostles couldn't see how they could feed the multitudes. Jesus had to stop and teach them again how they could feed the multitudes by faith, take what they had, give it to God and let him multiply it. I'm thankful for your testimony that you've done that year after year. We're thankful to be recipients of your testimony and to have a part in your ministry around the world.

As the pastor comes up, I want to encourage and challenge you to keep on keeping on, keep on honoring God, keep on giving him all he is due and even asking him if you can give more, if he can do more through you, if he can do what you can't even see yet.

I'm sure I've told you about before, when man told me he was going to come and kill me, pulled out his knife and he's ready to kill me. And my first prayer to God was, lord, I'm going to be home soon. Really believe that, looking forward to being with God. Wouldn't that be a great thing? Paul said, boy, I'm looking forward to that.

But it's much more needful I be here.

Then when the man put his knife away and walked away, I said, still talking to God again. I said, lord, what a rip off.

I thought I was supposed to be with you. I'm still here, guys. We're still here. God's not done with us yet. He still wants to use us and use us mightily.

We need to be willing, step out by faith and trust him that he will use us mightily.

Pray for our leaders as they come. Pastor, thank you for honoring him today. Those that serve you by doing that. You're honoring God. Let's keep on keeping on.