Hey Guys,
Sorry for the delay. This week's sermon is the last in the SHAPE series.
If by now you still can't remember what SHAPE stands for, then here it is below.
Spiritual gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personality
Experience
We all have different shapes, but are all masterpieces made by God. And even at this time, God is constantly molding us, as said in
Philippians 1:6 "And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
God has different plans for all of us, hence "your unique kingdom impact". God is always ready for us to serve. Question is: Are we ready?
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The verses used this Sunday are from John 6:1-21 (Chinese ver.
here). Basically, it's two stories, first being Jesus feeds 5 thousand, and the other being the walking on water.
Here's a beautiful song that tells not only the story of five loaves and two fishes, but also the message behind the story. Maybe it sometime it will be in our 'A New Song' post?
Hopefully the song is able to help us understand how our attitude towards serving should be. No gift is too small. Even though the boy had nothing but five loaves of bread and two fishes, he offered it to the disciples, who brought the boy to Jesus. And at that time the they didn't have the technique to use yeast to raise flour (if I'm not wrong) so it wasn't that good at all. Jesus didn't require a wealthy man to sponsor everyone. All He needed is for someone to come up and offer whatever He had. Similarly, God doesn't need us to be very smart or very capable; God needs someone willing to offer himself.
Out of five thousand men, and plus few thousand more women and children, surely a handful of them had their lunch boxes with them. However, only one boy came up to offer his food. Are we the ones that keep their food to ourselves, or are we the little guy, willing to offer whatever we have? When we are willing to give our all to God, God will multiply whatever we have to feed others.
At the end of the miraculous meal, Jesus asked the disciples to gather the leftovers. Twelve baskets full were collected. Why twelve? If we read the story again, and from other Gospels (like Matthew and Mark), we see that the disciples were doubtful at first. In the end, all of them were able to collect one basket, resulting in twelve in total. This can be seen as a personal testimony to each of them - at an individual level. When we bring ourselves to the Lord, God shows us miracles, and speaks to us at a personal level.
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The second story is about Jesus walking on water. Sorry that there's not an epic song for this part. At least not yet.
[EDIT: But here's a previous A New Song post which links to this story and the message as well.]If we read the story, we find that the disciples were on a boat, with the storms roughing them up. They were already scared at the time and when they saw a figure walking on water, through the storm, towards their boat, they peed in their pants (not exactly). Who wouldn't? However, after they knew that it was Jesus, they were elated, and helped Jesus up the ship. When we are stuck in the storms of our lives, Jesus also walks through the storm towards us. It's like the old Sunday School song we used to sing: "With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm~ smile at the storm~" God will never forsake us, and that's a good thing to know when we face troubles when serving.
Another thing to note is that when Jesus came on board the boat, they were instantly there.
John 6:21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
When we invite God into our lives, out boats, God helps us in ways that we might be able to understand.
So during this busy time, take a moment to approach God; you might find yourself at where you want to be instantly.
Labels: sermon, SHAPE
