Matthew 14:13-21 A Little Goes a Long Way

Good morning boys and girls!

Are you having a good summer? What fun things have you been doing?

Have any of you taken any trips? Are any of you planning on taking any trips this summer? I’ve taken a little trip to be with you here this morning. I don’t live here in Bridgewater. I live in Liverpool. Now Liverpool is only about a half an hour’s drive from here, but I make the trip from Liverpool to Bridgewater at least once a month, mainly because my mother loves to shop at Indian Garden Farms and Walmart, and I love shopping at Staples and The Garden of Readin’…and in fact we’re going to some of those places later the service this morning! In fact, I bought this Bible Storybook at the Garden of Readin’. When we come to Bridgewater, we always have our lunch at Swiss Chalet, because the food is delicious.

Speaking of food and trips, I’m going to take you on a little trip this morning, and we’re not even going to leave this church! Let me tell you the story of the loaves and the fish. 

I want you to close your eyes and imagine for a moment that you're part of the crowd in the story. We’ve been listening eagerly to Jesus' words all day. We’ve traveled a long distance. It's been a long day, we’re tired and hungry, and we realize that we didn't bring anything to eat. We have heard Jesus tell his disciples to find food for the people. To make matters worse, the only food available is five small loaves of bread and two small fish. Surely that won’t be nearly enough to feed 5,000 men plus women and children! We see Jesus take the food, bless it and give it to the crowd. After the meal, we see the disciples gather up the broken, leftover pieces---enough to fill twelve baskets.

 I’m sure that your parents have been in the same situation. Company arrives unannounced and when meal time comes your parents are rushing around in a panic trying to find enough food for everyone. Now you know what the disciples were thinking when Jesus told them to feed the people. Can you imagine trying to feed all of those people with such a small amount of food? We can, if we remember that with Jesus anything is possible. He can take whatever we give to him, no matter how small it is, and do more than we can possibly imagine. Little becomes much when we place it in God’s hands.

Let’s bow our heads for a moment of prayer. Dear God, thank you for loving us. Help us to remember that when we give what we have to you, even a little bit is more than enough. Just as Jesus used a small amount of food to feed more than 5,000 people, we pray that you will use the children here today to bless everyone they meet each day. We ask this in the Name of Your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, AMEN.

Bibliography

1.      The Real Life Devotional Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008)

2.      Craig Condon, “Parable of the Loaves and Fish.” Retrieved from the author’s personal sermon library.

3.      “A Feast for All.” Retrieved from www.sermons4kids.com

4.      “Feeding the 5000.” Retrieved from www.sermons4kids.com

5.      The Standard Bible Storybook (Cincinnati, OH: Standard Publishing; 2009)