As I mentioned during the announcements, today is our Operation Christmas Child packing party, and actually have one of the boxes that we're going to be packing up here. Some of you are familiar with Operation Christmas Child, and you have packed many of these boxes before. Some of you may be new to this whole thing, but, you know, this is just a regular shoe box. I mean, it's the size of a regular shoe box. It's, of course, decorated with the Operation Christmas Child logo on it. And what's inside the box are the things that we're going to put inside them during our packing party, which some people have already done. And of course, they're really small items. They're cheap items. I mean, they're things that we often take for granted. I mean, there's toothbrushes in here, there's a pencil in here, and a pencil sharpener and soap and a lot of other small little items, crayons, a notepad, I mean, a cheap little stuffed animal and and all of these things that that, quite honestly, you and I wouldn't think much. I mean, these are pretty common items that you and I could just run out and buy at $1 store anytime that we want to. As a matter of fact, we would find a lot of the items that are laying around our house, and we might confuse them for junk that they might get thrown away at our house. What it is that we're going to be packing to send as gifts to someone else, they're mostly seemingly meaningless items that, again, if we saw lying around we just wouldn't think much of or might even throw away. I remember the very first time that I came across Operation Christmas Child ministry, and got a chance to pack boxes, and was thinking about this very thing. I mean, again, it seems like these items are so small. This is nothing. It seems so insignificant. I mean, how is this really going to make any real difference in anyone's life. It's not really going to help provide for anyone's needs. It's not going to make impact in their life in any significant way. And quite honestly, if I'm being truthful, I was sitting there thinking, what's the point? Why are we doing this anyway? Why even bother? Right? But then I remembered that there was a time in the Bible that we see the disciples having a similar reaction to mine whenever they were presented with a big problem with a short, small number of resources. And that is what we're going to look at today. We're going to be in John chapter six, looking at the first 13 verses, and what we're looking at today is actually one of the events that's recorded in all four Gospels. There's not very many of these. Honestly, I think even outside of the resurrection, this is one of the only ones that's recorded in all four Gospels. And so the writers of the Gospels thought this was a pretty important thing that you and I needed to know about and that had impact or implications for our life as well. John, the apostle, John begins to write this in John chapter six, verses one and two. He says sometime after this, meaning the things that he had just written about in John chapter five, obviously, one of the other miracles that Jesus did, and some conversations with religious leaders. So sometime after that, Jesus crossed the far shore of the Sea of Galilee, that is the Sea of Tiberius. And he says a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs that he had performed by healing the sick. The apostle John, when he was writing his gospel, writes about signs. Signs are important to John. All throughout the gospel, he's referencing these signs, these things that Jesus did. They're signs that point to him being more than just an ordinary man, him being the Son of God, him being the Messiah. He doesn't want anyone to miss that, and so he's highlighting all of these signs that they saw. He saw and the other disciples saw with their own eyes. Now this is written in John chapter six, but at the very end of John's gospel, he even tells us why, why he was writing about all of these signs. Specifically. Here's what he says, John, chapter 21 verses 30 and 31 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book, but these, he says, These are written. Why? So that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and so that by believing, you may have life in his name, life is not found in better situations, life is not found in better circumstances. And. Getting what it is that you want, or whatever it is that you think that you need to make your life better in this world, life, abundant life, is found in Jesus and through his name alone. And that's why the apostle John says he's writing about all of these signs. These are things that he's pointing us to that give us more evidence, right? We think, well, how can we really know if Jesus was God, right? How do we know he wasn't just made up or some ordinary man? Well, John, in the other disciples spent time with Jesus. They saw him perform these signs up close. These are the things, these this was the evidence that led them to believe that he was the Messiah, that He was the Son of God, and then through believing that they also experienced life in his name. This is after Jesus's death, after his resurrection and ascension and the sending of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came, the disciples received this new life and this new power inside of them, which gave them the opportunity to accomplish things they never thought they would ever achieve in their lifetime. And so, because they were able to see the evidence of who he was, and then experience this new life in their own lives, they're writing about it so that you and I won't miss out on who Jesus really is, and that we won't miss out on the abundant life that they found in him and that you and I can find in him as well. And so this is why the apostle John is writing these things, and John is about to give us one more sign as we started looking at John chapter six, he's written about some and this is an important one. Here we see again after verses one and two. Just to make sure again, we know where we're at, this crowd of people began to follow Jesus and the disciples after these interactions that he had written about here and that they were following him because they had seen the signs, and they were hoping he would do more signs, they didn't know what he would do next. Well, the apostle John goes on and he writes this next. It says, Then Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down with his disciples, and He makes sure that we know that the Jewish Passover festival, what time of year this really was that it was near. Now, John doesn't write about this year, but we know from the other Gospel accounts, as I said, the other disciples, the other Gospel accounts mentioned the exact same miracle that we're going to look at today. In a Marks gospel, he writes that Jesus and the disciples were trying to get away from crowds. They were trying to get some rest and get away from them to go to this remote area, but again, the crowds followed them. And Mark even said that when he saw the crowds, he was filled with compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. This is one of those things we see that Jesus saying often was that he was filled with compassion for people, and this is who he came to minister to and serve and to ultimately give his life for. And he has compassion for you and feels the same way about you. So Jesus sat down with his disciples and this great crowd. And then we see this is what happens when Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? He asked this only to test him for he already had in mind what he was going to do. So we don't know this yet, but you'll see in the next few verses that I mean this is a lot of people, that there's at least 5000 men who are here, which means, if you're counting women and children, there's at least 10 to 20,000 people that are here. And Jesus looks over with all of these 1000s of people here, and he asks this question to Philip, one of his disciples. Why Philip? Out of all of them? Why would he ask Philip? Well, Philip is from a town called beseta, which is the closest town to the area that they were at this remote area where they were, and so being the most familiar with where to go get things like bread and resources, which were in a town and not in the remote area. He was asking Philip about these things. Now, John makes sure that we know that he really wasn't asking Philip because he was curious about those things, right? Because he says he knew what it was that he was going to do. We'll see that in a second, but he did this to test him.Philip had seen Jesus. The other disciples had seen Jesus perform these signs that we've talked about, all of these things that normal, ordinary men couldn't do, and now we're faced with a problem, I mean, a problem where there. There's 10 to 20,000 people. It's in a remote area. They don't have anything to eat, and we've got to do something about it to help them out here. So Jesus is wondering, in Philip's mind, if he's going to go back to what it is that he's seen Jesus do to meet the needs and do miraculous, big things in these other areas, and translate it to the current situation that they're in and go, Jesus, we don't need to go to a town or Buy food for him. You just take care of it, right? Or if he's going to try to take matters into his own hands and use his own resources to solve the problem and worry and become anxious about these things, well, from his reaction, we see that his mind went to the second area that we just kind of talked about, because we're told that Philip answered him, Jesus, it would take more than a half years wages, right? He actually says 200 Denari. That is in the literal translation. But a denari was a day's wage. And you can see if there's 200 of them, that's a little more than half of a year. So that's why the NIV translates at half a year's wages, and Philip says it take a half a year's wages or more just to buy enough bread for everybody that's in this crowd to have one bite. YouWhat's that gonna do? Jesus,right? I mean, what? What's What's that gonna do, even if we had enough money to buy them all this bread that that could buy, and they had one bite of it that would even put a dent in what it is that we are talking about here. Philip looked at this problem, and he's saying, I mean, what difference is it going to make? We don't have the resources to buy enough for all of these people. It's not going to make any real difference in their life now. Well, I don't know if he overheard it or jumped in a little bit later. The way it reads is it makes it sounds like maybe Andrew who are about to see next. Here's the conversation that's going on, and he decides to jump in. And in my mind, this must be a joke, right? Because of what he says. Here, another of his disciples, Andrew Simon Peter's brother, spoke up and said, Hey, Jesus, here's a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish. But, I mean, how far is that really going to go? You know, like, I mean, I picture Andrew saying this sarcastically, like some of us would do in a situation like that, hey, Jesus, look, here's, here's a couple of loaves of bread that ought to do right to feed all these people. I mean, we got this right, Pastor many of you guys are familiar with, and theologian Chuck Swindoll just highlights how little this was and how inadequate it really is. Just again, make sure that we really understand where we're at right now, which, again, is kind of a dub, but I just think this really helps pull out even more. He says everything about Andrew's statement emphasizes inadequacy. The Greek term for lad is a double diminutive. He was a little boy in terms of provision, little children were of no use at all. His barley loaves, well, they were common to the Mediterranean diet, but they were considered inferior to wheat bread. They would have been leavened at elite at least, at least a little, formed into little discs about four to five inches, not diameter, and then baked. And the Greek term for fish, here is the diminutive form of a word meaning little fish. They were small, seasoned sardine like fish included, for the sake of flavor, this was, after all, a small boy's lunch, so there was not much to work with. Again, this is pretty insignificant. I mean, what difference is this little bit that we have, these little resources that we have, it's not even worth paying attention to or trying to do anything about.Verse eight. Verse 10,Jesus said after the people, or Have the people sit down. There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down. About 5000 men were there. Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, distributed to those who were seated, as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted. So they gathered them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. Jesus took five loaves of bread and two small. All fish, and he turned it into a buffet at Red Lobster of fish and cheddar biscuits. Oh, man, I mean, it was so much food, because he says that they ate until they were full. Do you know how much food that had to be for 10 to 20,000 people, not just to have a couple of bites and tie em over until they could take care of themselves, until they were full, takes a lot of food sometimes for us to eat, until we finally push away from the table and go, Gosh, I guess I'm done. I'm full. A lot of us still eat even when that happens, right? But this is this big size miracle that Jesus had done here.What we see is thatsmall gifts, small resources in the hands of a big God can actually make a huge impact on other people and in this world, this was a sign, a sign. This is what John's writing his gospel all about, one of the signs, one of the pieces of evidence that leads to us, pointing to Jesus being more than an ordinary man, more than just a wise teacher, more than just some good old guy who walked the planet and was a good teacher one day. He was the Son of God who could do miraculous things, and he is your ultimate provider who will take care of your needs. But it's even bigger than that, way bigger than that, because Jesus didn't just do this miracle to meet their need of hunger. He was pointing them to an even greater need than physical bread, which is exactly what he gets into as the chapter continues now, technically not right after this. Does it continue? Because Jesus does yet another sign, another miracle that John writes about. He sends His disciples away. They go out on a boat. Jesus doesn't go with them. He often withdrew and went to solitary places and prayed. And we're told this over and over, and then Jesus like all right, I guess I'm done here. I should go join them, but they're out in the middle of the lake. Well, how else does somebody get out to a boat on the middle of the lake? Well, duh, you just walk across it, right? It's what you do. I mean, it's what you do if you're the Son of God, it's, it's, it's not hard, not hard for someone who spoke the water into existence in the first place, right? And so that's what he does. He just walks out to the boat. And of course, that freaks all the disciples out, and they have to write about this is yet another sign that points to him being more than just an ordinary man. But after that event, and they finished getting to the other side, the same crowd that he had just fed gone around to the other side, and the conversation picks up there. John chapter six, when they the crowd that he had served earlier, found him on the other side of the lake. They asked him, Rabbi, when did you get here? We didn't notice that you got in the boat earlier that Jesus answered, Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed, but because you ate the loaves and had your feel on Wednesday nights. We're talking about Jesus's personality a little bit more. We brought this up in a message A while back, and one of the characteristics of Jesus was sometimes he was disruptively honest, right? And he's pretty honest, right? Here. They're like, Hey, when did you get here? They're like, listen, I know why you're here. You're basically just here because you want more fish and cheddar biscuits. Let's be honest. It's really all this is about Jesus is trying to point them to the fact that this miracle that he had done to provide for their needs was way more than about food, which is what he gets into next. He says, Guys do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you for on him, God, the Father, has placed His seal of approval. Then they asked him, What must we do to do the work God requires so, so, so John is making sure that we know that Jesus was trying to tell them that this is way more than about food. This is about eternal life, this food that endures to eternal life more than just physical food. And apparently they missed the fact that right after telling them about what this is about. He even told them that this is something he would give to them. Why? Because they asked the question, What work do we gotta do? I mean, he just says he's going to give it, but then they're going, well, tell us about how we have to work to be able to do what it is that God requires of us. So once again, Jesus replies here pretty plainly and simply and says, the work of God is this to believe in the one he has sent? There's no amount of work that you could do to inherit eter, to earn eternal life before a holy and a perfect God, it's something you have to receive through faith, through belief. It's the work of God. Romans 328, the apostle Paul puts it this way, For we maintain that a man is justified by faith, apart from observing the law, all the works that you have to do to try to merit yourself before God, he's saying it's not your works that will get you eternal life. It's the work of God that will get you eternal life that gets applied to you when you receive it by putting your faith and trust in Jesus, through believing that He is the Way, the Truth and Life, and that no one comes to the Father, except through him. Maybe that's where some of you are at even today, you've never yet taken a step of faith to believe in Him as the Way, the Truth and the Life, and it's only through him that you could be saved. And guys, that is where it all starts. If you can't ever remember a day or a specific time that you put your faith and trust that you came to believe in the one who was sent, then this is where it all starts. We come to this belief, this point in our lives where the Lord illuminates the truth like the light bulb moment that says, Oh my gosh, this is a holy and a perfect God, and I am not holy and perfect, I am a sinner, and that creates a problem, because there's no amount of works that I can do to make up for the sins to me to stand in the presence of a holy and a perfect God. And so the good news in response to that bad news is that that's why Jesus was sent to pay the penalty for your sins and to substitute himself in your place, to place your sins upon him so that he could die for them, pay the penalty for those sins which you owed, and because he did that, the work required for your salvation was completed. There's no more work for you to do. It's just something you receive. It's a gift being offered because the work has been done, and you receive the gift through faith, by placing your faith and trust in Jesus to be your Lord and Savior. And if that's where some of you are at today, and that's your next step, It's my prayer that you will not leave here today without taking that step of faith. And so Jesus makes this statement to them, and it's been telling them that this is more than about just food. It's about eternal life and believing in me and what it is that I'm pointing you to. And then this statement leads to another interaction and conversation around bread and Manna and what Moses provided in the desert, and they need more signs and proof and these kind of things. And finally, again, Jesus just cut to it in chapter six, verse 35 and said, guys, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. So again, we're not talking about physical hunger, we're not talking about physical thirst. We're talking about spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst. This is what Jesus ultimately wanted to provide for them, not feeding their bellies for one day, but for feeding them for eternal life, not satisfaction for a day, but for all of eternity, to point them to the salvation that he and he alone came to provide for their sins so that they could be forgiven and they could have the abundant eternal life that they were created to have and that they would Have the moment they received His grace by faith. Sowhat was Jesus doing here?He was using food to provide for a need so that he could use it to point to an even greater need in their particular life, which is exactly the same thing, or at least, similarly, what we're doing with Operation Christmas Child and what this shoe box is all about. Again, he is providing some bread and some fish, trying to meet a need for them, to point them to an even greater need of him being the bread of life, and that he's the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that they could be ultimately satisfied only in and through him. So he's using these small, little gifts, and we're putting them in the hands of a big God who can use them to bring joy into their lives and provide something that they need in this moment, but also point. Them to an even greater reality that could have far lasting impact on their lives, which is exactly what these shoe boxes sometimes do. And I want you to see exactly how this is played out in one person's particular life. So turn your attention to the screen and check out Yuri's story. Youthough I got in trouble many times. I had my shorts under my skirt. I just had my shoes hiding and I went, put them on, got in the field.I still did it, because that was a passion that I had.The Lord gave me that gift for a reason.I grew up in 14 different orphanages. At two years old, that's when I got separated from my siblings, including my twin sister. They were so hard. There was no electricity, there was no water, and if we were lucky enough to have three meals, it would be in tortilla and salt. I remember experiencing hope for the very first time when I received my Operation Christmas Child shoe box gift at the age of six years old. It was my first Christmas present. I remember screaming as loud as I could, wow. This is just incredible. For the first time I had something that I can say is my own. I even remember sleeping without shoe box gift for weeks and even for months, like a teddy bear because I didn't want anybody to touch it. But there was something really, really special, and it was the picture of the little girl who packed my shoe box gift, and the note that said, Jesus, love you and I love you too. I kept that picture for me for a long time, because even though I didn't know that little girl, she became part of my family. That's how special my shoe bags was for me.At the age of 13 years old, the directors didn't have financial support for my class to continue going to school, so due to that, I have to cook in a kitchen for 120 kids. One specific Sunday when I didn't have to cook, I took that box with me to the mountains and the orphanage, and I was just angry, angry at God for the life that I was living, because I felt hopeless. I felt that I would just cook for the rest of my life. And one of the questions I asked him was, if you are real, show it to me. Show it to me, because I don't see you here. I remember opening the box that I had with me, and the first thing I saw was the picture and the note of the little girl who packed the shoe box that no they simply said,Jesus, love you and I love you too.In the midst of pain andthe mist of struggling, when I felt that God was really far away from me, simply because I was an orphan, he was always there for me, that day, I embraced God's love. I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I knew that he had a goal for my life, and even though it was really hard, he was like revealing little by little, his plan for my life. And then in 2005 I met my adopted family from Dayton, Tennessee, and then the Lord opened doors for me to come here to the States with a full scholarship to play soccer.Ready number seven,I have coached so many kids since they were six years old. Now they're 14, 1516, years old, and you see them. They're taller than I am, but I'm still the boss. They know that to use that gift of soccer to be able to share the gospel with so many kids. I feel that that's the call that God has given me. I want to impact as many kids as I can so that they can know of Jesus, so that they can know of his love for them is unconditional. The ultimate gift of God. He gave His Son the most precious thing he had. He gave it for us. We don't have to earn anything. This is something that I love to do, because I know that at the age of six years old, when I received my shoe box, it really impacted my life. It's a joy to be able to have a packing party, to see some of the kids that I coach to pack shoe boxes with me, and having, like, the big smile in their face, and like, having so much fun that is incredible. Ever since 2008 I've been packing shoe boxes. I really have a passion for it. The shoe box is just a tool to reach a child they have the opportunity to receive the gospel and be disciple. That gives me more energy and gives me like the goal to pack more and more shoe boxes every single year, we praythat these boxes would be a blessing. God, you know where they're going, even when we don't. And so we pray for each child this goes to the shoe box, Lord, they would come to know your love and your grace,whether it is in the soccer field, whether it is by packing shoe boxes. I want to make sure that I use every SEC of my life to continue making disciples. God's plans for me are bigger than what I can ever imagine. This is just the beginning of my story, and I cannot wait just to see why he has next for my life. You Virginia,small gifts in the hands of a big Godcan make a huge impact on other people's lives.Because one little girltook a bunch of small, meaningless, insignificant items that most of us would throw in the trashand packed them in a shoe box.Wrote a special note to her Yuri,her life has been changed forever. She will be in the kingdom of God because a little girl packed a shoe box, small gifts in the hands of a big God can make a huge, tremendous, eternal impact in someone else's life. And not only did it make a difference in Yuri's life because a little girl packed a shoe box that got sent around the world to Yuri. Yuri's life was changed, and now Yuri Jesus in Yuri is expressing his life through her to all of these other kids that we saw in the video. Do you know how many people are going to be in heaven one day because one little girl packed a shoe box?You donot underestimate the power of small gifts, insignificant resources, in the hands of an omnipotent, omnipresent God he can take and do big time miraculous things. That is why we are participating in Operation Christmas Child, and why we have for the last several years, and thanks to Pam Brower and her team, along with your gifts, we're hoping to pack 1000 boxes or more this year. We're hoping to send 1000 shoe boxes to 1000 kids or more all over the world. As many of you know, we collect these items all year long, which gives us the opportunity to put them all together and pack more and send more, rather than just saying, hey, each one of you go spend some money and fill up a box or whatever, and us send a few 100 over there. We do it on a more intentional effort to do this all year long, and to have all of these items to impact even more people, to have more story like more stories like yours. And so because you've been so generous, we have a lot of items to pack. And so what we need from you is your help. We need your help packing the boxes in the shoe and in the first place, right tables are lined up in the gym. You'll go by there and take one of these cards, and you'll see, in each box gets these little items that we were talking about. And then here's one or two other little things that you can put in there. And then you stack that box up on the stage, and then you run around and get another box, and you do the same thing, and just keep repeating until we get all of the shoe boxes packed. And this, of course, is something that we can all do. I have pictures from when my kids were little and three and four years old, up until now, every year of them packing shoe boxes. And so this is something that kids and adults and parents and grandparents and every single one of us can actually do. And that's the really cool thing about it, is even in the miracle that we looked at today, Jesus was the one who did it right, but he took the small gifts and he multiplied them to make huge impact, and then he gave it to the disciples. And the disciples are the ones who. Got to take it to the people and impact their lives and be a part of what it is that Jesus was doing in that moment. And in a similar way, you and I are the disciples passing out the loaves and the fishes in this moment, and Jesus will take it in his omnipresent and in omnipotent hands, and he will be the one that does miraculous things and open UPS people's hearts and minds to receive Him as their Lord and Savior. And so this is what we're going to be doing immediately after the service. Thanks to the people who were in the first service and some people using their Sunday school time, we've already packed at least 250 of those boxes, we're about a quarter of the way there, but as you can see, that all that's still a lot of boxes. I mean, that's still 750 boxes or so that we need to pack, and if we don't get them packed, then that means, even though we were blessed to have all of the items, then that means they won't get sent. And if they don't get sent, that means they won't show up in Yuri's hands, and then Yuri won't come to know Jesus. And so we need as much help as we possibly can to get this done. And so again, I hope that you can stick around after the service. There'll be pizza down there, maybe a few extra donuts left over from earlier, and you can eat and you can continue to pack boxes. I'm being honest with you, it'll probably take us at least a couple of hours to get that many boxes done during this time, and we need all of you to make that happen, otherwise, the few people that stick around have to stay till five or six or seven or eight o'clock or nine o'clock tonight, or get too tired and quit, and then those boxes don't get done. And so this is our first need, is for you to help us pack boxes after the service today, if at all possible. The second way that you could help is to help pay for shipping these boxes right here, because they're getting sent all the way across the world cost about $10 to ship around the world. And so if we pack 1000 boxes today, then easy math tells you that it's gonna cost $10,000 to send all of these two kids around the world. And so maybe you could donate 1020, $100 towards that effort. And you can do that online and go to designate, there's a drop down menu when you do that and click Operation Christmas Child, you can give in the gym. When you go down there, there's an envelope down there you can give cash towards or write a check to, just be sure to designate what it is that it's for. And then finally, encourage you to pray over each and every single box, because, again, this box right here represents a child. I mean, this, this is a child that we're praying for, and so we're picturing this child, and we're lifting them up to the Lord and that he would use the gifts that are in here to bring joy into their lives and to let them know that they're valued and they're loved. But we're we're we're praying that he'll use it to open up their hearts and minds to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior as well. So these are the ways that you can be involved in. Listen as we think about this, and we're making immediate application towards the opportunity to be a part of Operation Christmas Child. Don't miss the fact that even after you participate in this and you leave today, that God is still up to doing the exact same thing in your life, in your workplace and in your school and in your neighborhood. He's taken the the resources, sometimes what you think are small things that you have around and gifts and abilities that you have, and in the hands of an omnipresent, Omni, omnipotent god, he takes those things, and he even begins to work that kind of thing out and do his kingdom work in your workplace and in your school and in other areas. So it starts here, but it doesn't stop when you leave here today, Jesus wants to take the fish and the loaves of bread that you have lying around your house, or take the fish and loaves of bread as the gifts and abilities and talents that you have. And he wants to multiply them to do his kingdom work in and through the context that you live in and what it is that you are about each and every single day, and so as we get ready to be dismissed and head down to the gym, let's spend some time praying for the Lord to bless our time together and for the children that will be receiving these boxes today.