Formula for Miracles

Happy Sunday. Do you believe in miracles? I do. I love watching God show off.

Today, we're going to look at what I believe is one of God's formulas for miracles. Let me read to you from Matthew chapter 14 beginning at verse 13. Now when Jesus heard this, this is referring to the death of John the Baptist that's found earlier in chapter 14. Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself.

But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd. And he had compassion for them, and he cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late.

Send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." Jesus said to them, "They need not go away. You give them something to eat. They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish."

And Jesus said, "Bring them here to me." And then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples. And then the disciples gave them to the crowd.

And all ate and were filled. And they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, 12 baskets full. And those who ate were about 5,000 men, plus women and children. This is the only miracle other than the resurrection.

This is the only miracle that is mentioned in all four gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all tell this story. It's likely the size of this crowd was around 20,000 because they counted the men, but they add the women, the children. And the disciples are worried it's getting late and their stomachs are growling.

And Mark and John's version mention a dollar figure. They said 200 daenery wouldn't be enough to feed the crowds. A daenerius was a day's wage, so seven months of seven days a week wouldn't pay the bill. According to Mark and to Luke, Jesus tells his disciples to have the crowd sit in groups of 50 or 100.

Actually, they're told to recline like a feast is about to take place. John tells us that all the food that could be found was a young boy's lunch, five loaves of bread, two fish, and as a story we read, Jesus looked to heaven, blessed the food, and the disciples passed it out, and everyone had plenty, and there were 12 baskets left. Today I want to look at three principles that can help us. God's formula, God's formula for a miracle, if you will.

Number one, God can use what you have. God can use what you have. God used this young boy's lunch. We know need to know that God can use our gifts, our talents, our resources.

God can use our smile, our voice, our every ability. Plus, God can also use your pain, your hurt, your mistakes, your worst moments. I have friends who started a grief support group and their town after the death of their son. They had the pain and that's what they wanted to do was help people with their pain and they helped so many.

Maybe you're a fan of Dave Ramsey. His ministry of helping people get out of debt started after he went through a painful bankruptcy. If you've survived cancer, you certainly can have a ministry to those with cancer with a unique perspective that I I just can't have. Whatever you have, if you give it to God, he can use it.

Principle number two, if you want a miracle, be obedient. Even if it doesn't make sense. Be obedient even if it doesn't make sense. Remember what Jesus told the disciples?

Have them sit in groups of 50 or 100. Well, Thomas could have said, "Why? It's no use. Why should we have them sit?

There's no food." The people in the crowd could have said, "We've got to go. We're not going to sit around here and starve. We need to get out of here."

The young boy could have said, "What difference does this make? It's not enough." There's a lot of examples at the tomb of Lazarus. Rolling the stone away didn't make sense, but it was done.

To many, tithing doesn't make sense, but God blesses it. Forgiving others doesn't make sense, but that's what God wants us to do. Loving our enemies, really, if you want a miracle, be obedient, even if it doesn't make sense. 27 years ago, God called my family to Indiana to pastor Hopewell Baptist Church and it just didn't make sense.

Our kids were in the fifth and the eighth grade and our county there in Mississippi. There was a grant that would pay for their college. All of it. Jeanie had family close by.

Our church was growing and life was good. And we had so many dear friends there. And yet we were obedient and we saw miracle after miracle and God's blessing as we went above the Mason Dixon line. Principle three that leads to miracles.

Sharing a small thing can lead to a big thing. Sharing a small thing can lead to a big thing. A friend of mine in Indiana is in church today because he received a card from a dear senior citizen lady and that card planted a seed in his life and he started to go to church and became a believer. A friend of mine is a deacon today because he was taken to VBS years ago by a neighbor.

These little things have ended up being big things. Share what you have and watch God show off. When we offer God what we have, however limited or insignificant, he could shower it with his grace and turn it into a great blessing which we could never dream of. At the end, 12 baskets were left over, one for each disciple.

I wonder what they did with the leftovers. I wonder what they did with the lesson. I wonder what we'll do with it. Pray with me.

God, thank you for showing off. Help us to be obedient to offer what we have to realize that little things can lead to big ones and help our lives prove that in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless.

Thanks for joining me today.