Elevation with Steven Furtick - When They Found Out

Episode Date: September 14, 2020

What you need is already in you; you will not run out. In “When They Found Out,” Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church turns to the story of the feeding of the 5,000 to give us a fresh perspective about God’s provision. When you feel like you don’t have enough, whether that’s energy, confidence, or strength — God is more than enough.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your fate. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. I bring you greetings from Valentine. It's not technically, it's Charlotte, but it's not. Anyway, I bring you greetings today wherever you are in the world. We know that God is going to speak to you for the season that you're in, he is going to supply every need that you have. I don't know what you need today, but God knows. Put it in the chat.

God knows what I need. And some of the things you need, you can't mention, you can't put those in the chat. That's all right. God knows those needs too. And sometimes you don't even know you need it. Isn't that right? Sometimes you don't even know you need it. And then God just bypasses what you think you need to give you what you really need,

that you didn't know to ask for. the Lord. Well, can you tell that I'm excited and full? Yeah, I'm full. I'm full. I feel full. I feel full. I feel full.

Today I want to share a message with you. You can be seated. I want to share a message with you from a passage of Scripture that God had me on a path to study for quite a while. It took me a while to find what he wanted to say in this passage, but wow, when I saw it. Okay, let's get to it. Are you ready? Yes.

Okay. Are you ready? You're ready? See, the kids aren't running around. You've got them on EKids' YouTube channel and all that? Got them locked in the basement, whatever. It doesn't matter. You got them on Netflix.

It doesn't matter. Just get rid of them for a minute. Let's talk, all right? Because you need this. You need this. And you have to feed yourself first, or you won't have strength to feed others. So let's make sure before we start another week that we really get what God wants us to have. This is an important word.

In Mark chapter 6, the miracle known as the feeding of the 5,000 is recorded. It's not only recorded in Mark chapter 6, but I'm going to begin there. It's recorded in all four Gospels, each account giving us a different angle on who Jesus is and what he does. How many know that as you go through life you see Jesus from different angles? You see God from different angles. It opens your understanding. The old hymn said, Thou change's not, and he doesn't change.

But the way we see him has to always expand. If we see him from the same point of view that we saw him when we were 13, we're probably missing something if we're 31. In the process of revealing himself to his disciples, Jesus was very responsible not to give them too much at one time. That was part of his compassion, too. He was more than enough, but he never gave them more than they could handle. As he ministered to them, he did so strategically, in stages. So when he showed them, in John's Gospel, for instance, which I'll reference a little bit later, who he was through what we call the I am statements, it was a continuation of the same thing that God

began to show Moses when he said, I am that I am. It left a blank that Jesus would fill in, not through just what he said, but what he showed and what he did. Every time he demonstrated something, he declared something. And he did that so that we could not only hear it, but so that we could own it and know it and get it deep down inside of us. This particular miracle is connected with the first I am statement of Jesus that's in the Gospel of John. And I want to read it to you from Mark because there's a phrase here that really, really, really got my attention this week. And I want to see if you can find it. It says in Mark chapter 6, verse 29. We'll start with 29. On hearing of this, John's disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, everybody say then. Then, because so many people, everybody say so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat. He said to them, come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place with no Wi-Fi to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognize them. You remember when the kids were a little holly and we used to wonder, do they have a radar that knows when we lay down to take a nap so that they can start screaming and wake up?

Remember, it's like they just knew and they would just start the moment we were finally starting to rest, they would wake up. Thanks, guys. That was fun. That's the stage of parenting you go through. And the hungry crowds are kind of like my kids. The moment that Jesus is moving away, they're already there. Have you ever had a problem waiting for you and you weren't prepared for it when you got there?

Did you notice that trouble doesn't schedule an appointment when it comes? How many of you bad things ask you, is this a good time before they have to? Are you feeling rested? Because today we would like to test your faith. No, no, no. The crowd was what? Waiting. When they found out Jesus was leaving to get away, the crowd was waiting when they got there.

And I don't know what's waiting for you this week. And neither do you. So you've got to get this word right now. I don't need my stool today. Move this stool. You got to get this word right now, right now, right now, right now. Now, right now, right now, because you don't know what's waiting this week. I believe that's why you tuned in, because God wants to give you a word that will last

you all week, no matter what is waiting. Now watch this. Jesus was the word, and when he went to the place where he was taking the disciples to get alone, there was a crowd. When they went away, many who saw them recognize them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. And here's the part of the passage that you may be more familiar with. When Jesus, verse 34, landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because

They were like sheep without a shepherd. So even in teaching them many things. By this time, it was late. How long did Jesus talk? So long. This sermon was so long. Watch how long it was. His disciples came to him and said, these people are about to pass out, and there's no Chick-fil-A.

And so you need to send them away because this is a remote place, and it's already very late. So send them away so they can go to the surrounding cities or the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat. But he answered, you give them something to eat. They said to him, that would take eight months of a man's wages. Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat? How many loves do you have? he asked. Go and see.

Thank you, Lord. they found out, they said five and two fish. Then, everybody say then. Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties, taking the five loaves and the two fish. And looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples and they set them before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.

They all ate and were satisfied. One version says they ate as much as they wanted. Yeah. All the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who ate was about 5,000. The title I want to use comes from verse 38, Part B. Put it back on the screen, please. I want to talk to you today about when they found out, when they found. Out. Are there any parents in the room today?

You got kids. Aaron LJ. has got kids. How many? Anybody here? How many? Show me on your fingers. How many? You did five. Yeah, Chunks did five. I don't know what he's planning for the future. Some adoption in the works or something like that. Holly, if you hold up anything other than three in your, yeah, okay. So, I was talking to a couple on our staff the other day who's having their first baby, and they were so excited.

I know this sounds bad, but I get excited for people when they're having their first kid, and then after that, whatever. Because once you have one, your life is already. But when it's their first, I get excited, and Holly always sends a gift to everybody on our staff who has a baby, but they were so excited. I mean, they were so, like first-time parent excited. And I said, you guys are sure excited. And I'm not one of these guys who says, get ready, they're going to ruin your life because

kids are, you know, obviously the best thing that ever happened to me 70 percent of time. And I said, y'all are so excited. And they said, yeah, and we're going Monday to find out what it is. And I thought, no, you're not. You're not going to find out what it is Monday. I know what you mean that you're going to get some blue or pink balloons. And by the way, since I'm in my old man stage of ministry now, these gender reveal parties, we didn't do all that.

So don't feel any pressure. If you don't have the money to shoot a baby seal out of a cannon to show everybody what, people do this crazy stuff I see it. Our gender reveal party was call my mom in the parking lot after the, you know, the ultrasound. That was the gender reveal party. That's how happy we were to find out you were a boy. It's a boy. That was it. And then we went home and save money. But watch this. We're going to find out what it is. Just the way they said it. It stuck with me. Because we often think that we're going to know exactly what it is.

See, the doctor has this thing that he can show you, or she can show you, maybe they can show you the gender, but you will not know what it is just based on male or female. You will not know, quote, what it is just based on, there is no sonogram that can show you how much love you are going to have for this human being who is going to be. to rip your heart out of your chest and carry it around with them through all of their decisions of life. There's no way you can see that on a sonogram. There is some stuff you can't see on your sonogram.

We're going to find out what it is. I nodded. I was like, cool. It was great. No, you're not. No, you're not. We often expect to see what it is before we even bring it forth. We want to know what it is.

And they found out it was a boy on Monday. But they didn't find out whether the boy's eyes were blue on Monday. You find that out progressively, right? It's progressive. Being a parent is progressive. You find out, you go, oh, my kid's so quiet. I thought Graham was quiet for the first five years of his life. I thought he was quiet for the first five years of his life.

He won't shut up now. He turns 13 this month. He won't shut up. He's making me take him to Great Wolf Lodge for his life. his birthday. That's torment that only a loving parent would endure. And I'm doing it for him because I love him. I didn't know how much I would love him on a sonogram. I didn't know his personality. Just because I knew whether he was, you know, blue or pink or a boy or a girl, you don't know what it is. And the challenge of life is understanding that you don't really know what is inside of you, what is inside of others, what is inside of your gift.

See, they can tell you the gender of your kid with an ultrasound, but they can't tell you the gifts. Life has to bring that forth. They can tell you what it is. They can tell you what it is on a surface level, but they can't tell you what's in it. See, that's going to take time. That's going to take maturity. I was a punk rocker when I was 14. I'm a preacher when I'm 40.

My mom didn't know what I was until I became it. Now, Jesus did not become any. I'll prove it. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Somebody say he already was. He didn't become sufficient. He didn't become the Word. He already was.

But they didn't know what He was until they walked with them. Enough to see it in stages. This is kind of the first stage of that for the disciples, where he is showing them, I am the bread of life. He already was. But they didn't know it yet. He already was. Already was.

So you know how this passage is like so familiar? How many sermons have you heard about? The feeding of the 5,000. If this is the first time you've heard about it, you have never been within five miles of a church. And that's fine too. How many sermons have you heard? I love y'all so much. But how many sermons have you heard about the context?

See, the first verse I read mentioned a man named John. This is not John who wrote the gospel of John. This is John the Baptist who got his head cut off for confronting Herod and telling him you shouldn't sleep with your brother's wife, that John, the one who ate locust and honey and prepared the way for Jesus. That, John, the one who was born six months earlier. They didn't have gender reveal sonograms at that point, but they didn't need a gender reveal, because when the angel came to Zechariah in the temple, he said, you're going to have a boy and you're going to name him John.

And Zechariah says, it's not possible. I'm too old for that. And the moment you start telling God what's not in you, the one who made you, doesn't know what's in you? The angel said, you're not going to speak until the day your baby is born. And that's what it was. And when they gave the baby the name, the father spoke. He said, his name is John. They said, there's nobody in your family called John. He said, I'm not going off of external. I'm going off of internal. This is what God told me. This is what God spoke, right? That John. When he died, his disciples buried him. He didn't have many disciples left because he gave all of his

disciples to Jesus. He told all of his members to go to another church, and they did. He said, I must become less. He must become greater. When he found the Messiah the one he had looked for, he said, that's the one. He gave up what he thought was important once he found what was really significant. That John, who died at the hands of Herod's ego, who was beheaded, John, when he died, the disciples brought the news to Jesus, and Jesus wanted to get away. When he found out what had happened to John, he withdrew, when he found out. But see, John and Jesus had a special relationship, because John knew who Jesus was before they ever met physically.

When Elizabeth was six months pregnant, and Mary found out she was pregnant, the first thing she did, was go find Elizabeth, her cousin, who was also pregnant. And Elizabeth says the weirdest thing, and you only understand this if it's ever happened to you. And you don't have to be a woman to understand this. You can understand it on a spiritual level. She said, as soon as you got here, the baby that was inside of me started dancing. My baby started walking on water. My baby started doing the tootsie slide. The moment I heard your voice, my baby started dancing. on the inside of me. So it's crazy how sometimes you know things before you should know them.

Let me give you an example of that. Some of you know right now that God's hand is on your child. But you can't see evidence of that yet, but you still know. And some things can't be shown. They have to be known by the spirit of God. Some things you know before you can show. I know this sermon is going to hit your heart today, but you don't know that yet. But God showed it to me. And I know what's in me before I give it to you. That's very powerful. Because if you wait on circumstances to validate God's voice, you might be waiting a long time.

No, no, no. Faith says, I know it before you show it. I know it on the inside before I see it on the inside. before I see it on the outside. And whoever this is for today, God has shown you something that eyes cannot see, that ears cannot hurt, that cannot enter in the heart of a man,

but you know it by the Spirit of God. John knew who Jesus was while they were still both embryonic. This might not be good to you, but it's good to me. Because you've got to know that you know, that you know, that God is with you. You've got to know that you know, that you know, that you know that he's spoken. You've got to know that you know that you know that you know that what he gave you is enough. So when you face a circumstance that challenges your dependency and you find yourself in a season of deficiency, you will know definitely that God is with you. Give him a praise if you know he's good.

Of course, none of the disciples really knew what Jesus was carrying, not only the purpose that he carried to die on the cross for their sins. They didn't know that yet. They found that out later. They followed him as he performed miracles, but only he really knew what he was carrying, the burden of it. In fact, the Bible says something interesting. It says that John's disciples came and told Jesus that John was dead, but it doesn't say that Jesus told the disciples.

He told them, let's go rest. He carried it alone. I want to speak to somebody today who's carrying something alone. You're the provider for your family. Maybe you're dealing with something right now that isn't public material. To carry something alone, that's what I felt from Jesus that he was carrying something. Like Mary was carrying him. Now he's carrying something.

Not only the news of John's death, but also the potential of the ministry, because in the text we read it said it was going really good with the ministry of Jesus, but the ministry of John ended. That made me think about how you can be getting good news in one ear and bad news in the other. And learning how to balance that is the essence of faith. You carry, on one hand, sometimes a blessing that's so heavy you can barely carry it. You carry with the other hand a doubt or a question, and that balance is what keeps you walking straight. Jesus goes away, the crowds find out, they meet him there, surprise Jesus, we want to be healed. Surprise Jesus, we're interrupting your vacation.

This is like your in-laws and everybody else you don't want to see showing up on your vacation. Not only that, but there's 5,000 men and women and children, and Jesus looked up and he saw them. He saw. He didn't see them as a crowd. He saw them with compassion. That amazes me. that God knows exactly what you've been going through this week. Because to me, I'm looking in one camera.

God doesn't see a crowd on the other side of screens. He sees where you're hungry and he sees where you hurt. Do you believe that? I don't know if you do. I think a lot of people think that Jesus loves them like it's a group insurance policy. Like he just covers everybody with his blood. No, no. The power is that he sees the one.

We would talk about the 5,000, but he would talk about the one. One at a time he healed everybody that needed healing. And then although you know the story, bear with my folly a moment, he says to them, we need to feed them and the disciples start calculating. How many of you are overpackers? Overpackers? of the world unite? How many suitcases does it take us to get away for three days?

Right? So many suitcases. And it's not her, it's me. I'm worse than her. So don't stereotype her, okay? It's me. Now, the reason I mentioned it is because it would have been one thing if Jesus would have told the disciples we're going to feed these people before they got there.

When did they find out that he wanted to feed them? anything about it. You ever felt like that with God? Y'all are so fake today. I don't know what's going on. Did you miss me so much that you can't forget how to respond to a sermon? Have you ever thought, God, if you would have told me that they were going to leave me, I wouldn't have loved them so much. Now it's too late for me not to love them. They're gone. And they took my love with them. If you would have told me it would be like this, I would have made preparations, I would have packed sandwiches. We could have hired a catering company. We could have got some Jersey mics to go bucks. We could have done

this right. Why didn't you tell me beforehand? They found out about the need after it was too late to meet it. That's a fine time to find out. Why didn't God tell all of us preachers that our churches weren't going to be able to have people in them for 17 years before we built I could have built this thing for less money. A lot less money. That's your kid wasn't in a street in your own path, something you'd be prepared. Why does this stuff just go off road? Why does some stuff just, he didn't tell them what he had in mind, but that doesn't

mean he didn't know it. Come on, you know this about God by now. He said, I know the plans I have for you. Subtext. You don't. This year, the Word of God over most of our lives has been, ha ha. That's him laughing at everything that we set a schedule for. When we do our year-in series this year, I thought I might call it, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,

that's God laughing at everything that we said we were going to do in 2020, and God said, I get the last laugh. Don't you think, now I'm just asking a question. What do you think the personality of Jesus was? I think Jesus' personality was fully God and fully man enough that when he asked Philip in John's Gospel, what are we going to do to feed all these people? Or rather he asked him, where are we going to buy enough bread? Everybody say enough, enough, enough, enough.

That's a big word right now. In pop culture, it's a big word. Everybody's saying, you are enough. But the problem with saying that you are enough on that level is just because I say that you're enough doesn't mean you feel like you're enough. So Jesus first takes Philip through this process. This may be the process you're going through. He addresses the fact that they cannot buy enough bread to meet the need that's in front

of them. Are you there right now? You can't buy enough. Philip starts calculating. Philip wants to be the CFO. Philip wants to be the accountant. Philip wants to plan it. He said eight months wages, that's 200 denari, that's a day laborer's wage, would not be

enough for each person to have a bite. A bite. A bite. If we took a half a year's wages, because he's calculating what he thinks they need for the situation they're in. And most of us are pretty good at that. How many of you you know something that you need from God right now? Now, I want to show you the verse in John because it's so, so powerful. He said, If we bought, there it is, more than half of years' wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite. And then in verse 8, another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, verse 9. Here's a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many? Now, stay with me. This is where it gets good.

I have a Philip inside of me, and I have an Andrew inside of me. Maybe you'll want to find another church because I have dual personalities. Philip is a calculator. Philip's job, and this way he does all the time to me, he starts counting all the stuff that I need that I don't have yet. What's going to take this and it's going to take that, and you don't have this staff member, and you don't have that person, you don't have that thing, you don't have that gift, you don't have that ability, you're not good at this, you're not good at basketball.

The devil started messing with me yesterday because I can't play basketball. Has anybody ever needed me to play basketball? I was feeling good about myself one moment. This is what I asked Graham. I said, what was the point when you found out that your dad was a bad athlete? He said, Dad, I don't know. For the long time, I thought you were a beast. But he goes, you're pretty good at lifting weights.

Like a consolation prize. I said, but when was the moment that you knew? See, because you don't know it all at once. His revelation of his dad grew. He was two? I was LeBron. I was LeBron when he was two. But he said, Dad, it took, I realized how bad you sucked at sports in stages.

It took me a while to realize how actually bad you were and anything with a ball. But he knows now, and I wish he didn't, but he found out. How many of you live your life in fear that when are they going to find out that I don't know what I'm doing? When are they going to find out that I don't have a clue? Some of you in your job right now, you wake up in the morning, you feel something in your stomach. What are you feeling? Is today going to be the day they're going to find out?

You're not stealing money or anything. You just feel like you're stealing intellectual space because of the fact that they think they know more than you do. You feel like? Isn't it crazy how they didn't find out until they ran out? Why would Jesus do them like that? Once they became empty, and I was studying the text because I was like, you know, I was like, Like, okay, when they found out, and I was connecting that in a couple different ways.

Follow me. When they found out that John the Baptist had been killed, they moved. They retreated so that Jesus wouldn't be taken by force as king because he didn't come for an earthly kingdom, and he said, I have worked to do. When he withdrew, they found out he was going to be there and were waiting, welcome Jesus. When the disciples found out that there wasn't much daylight left, they tried to send them away because there's no door dash out here on this mountain.

And the Bible says something so powerful. Go back to Mark 6. 38. Philip said, this is what we need. Jesus asked the question, how many loaves do you? Go and see, when they found out, when they found out what they already had, not when they figured out what they thought they needed. God doesn't need me to figure out how.

He just needs me to find out what. Y'all better shout if you don't know what you're doing, because it is good news. Some of you have no idea how. They didn't either. But when they found out what was already there, Jesus did not become bread. He already was. He didn't become enough. He already was.

You don't have to go get peace. It's already yours. You don't have to become righteous. I have to find a reason to rejoice. You've already got one when you discover what God already put inside of you. So the moment of discovery is not the moment of deposit. It already was what it was. Nobody came with five loaves and two fish at that moment.

It was there the whole time. But it took them walking through the crowd. You got anything, you got anything, you got anything, you got anything, you got anything, you got anything, you got anything, you got anything. How long are we going to do this, man? Nobody's got anything got anything. And if they do, they're not offering, you got anything, you got anything, you got anything, you got to walk around your life and take inventory. You got to walk around your own soul and take inventory. You could say, oh, my soul, why are you discouraged?

Why are you downcast? You got anything to praise them for you? You got anything to praise them for? You got anything. You got anything. Somebody say in the chat, have you got anything, have you got anything, have you got anything, have you got anything, have you got anything, have you got anything? Have you got anything?

Because you've always got plenty of something. You know what's weird? Can I show you something that only Bible nerds appreciate? Only Mike Todd will love this point. Mike, this for me and you. Why did John say in John 6 there was plenty of grass in that place? That's a stupid thing to put in a story. Who cares about the grass?

You can't eat grass. Maybe he wanted us to see that you've always got plenty of something. You've always got plenty of something. When you don't have a job and you don't have plenty of money, well now you've got plenty of time. I was laughing so much when everybody who prayed for God to give them, I just need, Lord, I need more time with my family. And then God gave it to you. He gave you plenty. How many of your moms that are homeschooling are having plenty? So much time. How much time? So much grass, green grass.

Mark said green grass. Did you see that in the text? Green grass. Why are you telling me that? Maybe you're trying to call me back to the 23rd Psalm that the Lord is my He shepherds, and I shall not want. He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me into green pastures. So God said, what is your pasture? What do you have?

That was the question, right? Is that in the text? What do you have? Go and see. And when they found, I wonder, is this going to be the day you find? We don't find out usually all at once. I should tell you that we find out in fragments. You don't know why you're going through anything while you're going through it.

Now, most of the time, even when you're succeeding, you don't really know you're succeeding while you're succeeding because you're struggling while you're succeeding. Well, that's true of everybody. I watch all these documentaries of classic albums. Fleetwood Mac, rumors. Good music like that. None of this current crap that you kids are going around. calling music. This is real music, vinyl. They asked Mick Fleetwood, how did it feel when you were

making rumors? He said it was terrible. We were all breaking up and fighting and we were high all the time, coming down and high, coming high. He said, it wasn't until we heard all 12 tracks, that we said, this is a pretty good album. It sold 30 million copies. How did it feel while you were the album. How did it feel while you're recording it? I'm raising world changers. Changing world diapers. You don't know what it is. You don't know what change is while it's happening. Do I need to give you another example? How many people am I preaching to right now? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Raise your hand if I'm preaching to you. This is only if you have felt like you are not enough or you don't have enough. Okay. You do understand that

I'm preaching to way more people than I'm pointing to. You do understand that God is doing way more in your life than you. Hold on. Who am I preaching to right now? Put your name in the YouTube chat, your first name, middle initial and last name, your government name, in the chat right now if I'm preaching to you. You see that? I said it and nothing happened.

This is going to take a minute. We're going to find out what it is Monday. It takes a while to find out. So it takes a while between when you instill the values or when you believe the promise, or when you suck. Now here it comes. Here it comes right now. Now I'm seeing, check out the chat, Autumn.

Check out how fast it's going. Autumn created YouTube, all right? Autumn, look at all these people I'm preaching to. I saw who I thought I was preaching to, but I found out later you're going to find L.J. Mitchell, B-flat. I'm preaching to more people than I can see. God is doing a great work within me. There is living water within me. And I'm going to go on so I can find out what's on the other side of this valley. I got green grass. I got still waters.

I got a shepherd. Bless the Lord! Have you got anything? Have you got anything? Have you got anything? Have you got any grass? How many? The chat?

How many do you have? That's not the message. That is not my sermon. Sit down. Because that's what Jesus told the people to do. Sit down. How many do you have? It's that five and two. They threw in the fishes an afterthought. I think that's really funny. I wonder if they were saving those for themselves. Who knows? But I know this. Mark wrote the gospel that Peter told him to write.

John wrote the gospel that he saw with his own eyes. Y'all got a minute. Are you full? No. I struggle with portion control when it comes to preaching the Word of God. I'm trying to preach these five-hour sermons like Mike Todd preaches, man. He's great. I'm going to six. Can I get a seven? It ain't crazy that the children of Israel had to march six days before they found

out why they were marching? What's that about? You know why I said, Pastor Mike Todd? He didn't become anointed when he got great words. worldwide ministry. Just one of the greatest voices. He comes to see me after his sabbatical. He came to see me unshaven yesterday. We came in the wait room. I said, let's work out. We did one exercise and talked the rest of the time. That's right. We were strong in the Lord, though. We worked out our salvation with fear and trembling. Preacher humor.

He didn't become anointed when his platform grew. That's when they found out. Elijah didn't become talented when he started making beats. That was in him. Now I'm just finding out. I'm just finding out. I hadn't even found out yet. I don't even know what the three of you are going to do.

Change the world or destroy it. I want to find out. They'll ask them, are you going to be a preacher like you? Shut up. She's nine. You're going to be a preacher like your dad? You do a sonogram on my daughter to try to find out what's in her before it's had time to grow.

And you know people think they don't love their wife anymore because they stopped being curious. So they thought they needed another woman, but they didn't even find out what they had in their own house. People might leave a church for that reason because they didn't find out what was there. You will send something away and not even find out. Don't you want to find out? I do.

Oh, come on, man. I've wanted to quit many times on everything important God gave me. I want to quit every Monday. But I just want to find out what God would do. I want to find out, don't you? Say it in the chat. I want to find out. I want to find out.

I want to find out. I want to find out what God put in me. Mark Twain said there's two important days. day you're born in the day you find out why. Find out why. I want to find out why. I want to find out what comfort he's going to minister out of the comfort he comforted me with what the hell I went through.

I didn't go through the fire to smell like smoke. I came through the fire to burn off what was binding me when I went in in the first place. I want to find out why you gave me this gift. I want to find out. Let's find out. Let's find out. When we're going to open the church again? The church is already open.

Well, when are you going to have the people back in there? I don't know. I'll tell you when I find out. I look like the governor to you. Does the governor wear a baggy corduroy short-sleeve, three-quarter-inch shirt on the... No, I'm not on the when. We'll find out together. We'll find out.

I'm a find out. I have another point, but I got to stop there. Don't you want to find out? You want to go through everything you went through? and then not even find out why? You want to come all this way through the valley and then turn around and die there? You don't want to find out what God could do? You want to find out what it could be? When they found out what they had, the miracle began. Now, I've got to say this right, because if I don't get this right, I'm going to be so mad at myself. The way the Lord

showed it to me, he said, because I thought that was the sermon. When they found out what they had, And people need to find out what they already have. Okay, what gifts do you have, what talents do you have, what passions do you have, what resources do you have, what time do you have? Stop focusing on what you think you need. That's Philip. Eight-month wages. Did I ask you how many months wages?

I just said, where are we going to get the bread? Go see what you already have. Five loves, two fish. So I thought the miracle began when they found out what they already had. And God said, no, that's not it. That's not the message. He said, that's when they found out how many they had. Five and two.

You can count that. They found out how many by counting. Put John, chapter 6, verse 9 back up again. You ready? You're not full, are you? When Andrews said, here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, barley is the cheapest grain and two small fish. When they found out what they already had,

How many? And you're asking a question, how far will they go among so many? You ready? They found out how many they had by counting. They didn't find out how much it was until they put it in the hands of Jesus. You've been thinking how many. wants to show you how much. And there is a big difference. There is a big difference. How many and how much? How many? You can count that. One, two, three, four, five, and one, two. This is how many I have. This is what grade I dropped

out of school in. This is how many. You can count that down to the cent in your bank account. You can count how many. God doesn't want to show you how many. He wants to show you how much. And you don't find out how much by counting. You will not figure this out with a calculator. Watch this. They found out how many by calculation. They had to find out how much by faith.

And here's how I know. Here's how I know. Because the Bible doesn't say that it all of a sudden became enough. It was five and it was two. And it wasn't enough until they came back to Jesus to get more. It wasn't enough all at once. And see, that's how we want it to be. God, I want enough. You give me enough, enough, enough. That's the problem with our concept of enough. We think that enough happens all at once. Enough happens. Here you go. You ready? Peace by peace. Peace by peace. He did not. He did not. give them their next direction until they took inventory of what they had right now.

Why would God show you what to do next when you won't do what you have been called to do right now? What do you have? That's how many. What can it be? That's how much. And the only way to find that out is to put it in his hands. I'm not done yet.

I'm not done yet. I want to break this all the way down. Just so you can't say when you get to heaven, Pastor Ferdick didn't teach me about this. I went to elevation. I logged on, I subscribed to the YouTube channel. They never taught me this. Put them both on the screen. How many?

How much? How many? How much. How many? Calculation. Five and two. You can count that. How much?

This is the beautiful thing. You still don't know the answer to this one yet. How many? This is all the crap that you've got to worry about coming up this week. They knew how many people were in the crowd, about 5,000. How much? That's something that you can only find out in fragments. God shows you the purpose of your life in pieces.

So he did not perform a miracle where it became enough all at once. And he's not going to do it in your life either. What he's going to do is to show you that every time you come back to him, he will have what you need for right now. I needed this word. I got a Philip inside of me. Philip is really, really prominent in my personality. He's always telling me how many I need, but he never tells me how much I have. God said he wanted to show you how much.

The only way for you to find out is to take it one piece at a time. I'm so sorry if I'm not getting this across the right way. How God showed it to me was so beautiful. He said, you think it's going to become a buffet when I touch it. I'm not going to make it a buffet all at once, because I want you to come back to me. I'm not going to give you every answer. I'm not going to give you the five-year plan. I'm not going to do it because if I turned it into a buffet, you would worship the buffet.

By bite. Peace by peace. By peace. Sufficient is today for its own trouble. Today has enough trouble. God didn't promise to give you enough for tomorrow. He said, give us this day our daily bread. It's enough for now.

Thank you, Lord. I got enough for now. I'm going to need more later, but I got enough for now. I want you to get this revelation, I am the bread of life. Did you get you? I am enough. I am. So he didn't say I will be.

He didn't say I was. Do you remember when they were in the wilderness and they ate manna? How much did they get enough for? Today. You know what happened if they tried to save today's manna for tomorrow's hunger? It would get maggots in it. You got maggots in your mind from worrying about tomorrow. Oh my God, that's nasty.

You got maggots in your mind because you're trying to save it for tomorrow. Enough. Enough. It's enough right now. It's enough for now. I have enough strength now. for now. I have enough resource now for now. I'm not saying don't save money. I'm not saying don't plan ahead. But when you find yourself in a situation and you didn't find out you were

going to be in it until you were in it, trust this. He's enough for that. He will not become bread. He is bred. He will not become enough. You will not be enough when you get through this stage. You will not be enough at a time in the future. You are enough right now for right now. You are enough now. You are enough today for today. You are enough 40 for 40. You are enough 30 for 30. You are enough single for single. You are enough 90 for 90. You are enough right now for right now.

It's enough for now. I am the... I'm going to preach this all the way to Botswana. I'm going to preach this to Bamberg. There is an anointing on this message today to tell you that you keep counting how many, but you don't know how much, until you break it off piece by piece. I think it stayed five and two. I don't think it ever got more five than two.

Not one gospel writer said, and then it was seven, and then it was twelve, and then it was fifteen. That's because the real message has nothing to do with when they found out what he could do. The real message was, I am the bread of life. they found out who he was, it would be enough for any situation they would ever face. When they found out, give me my title. When they found out how many they had, the miracle began.

But they found out how much every time they went back. You mean there's still more? I made it through another day. Some of y'all, that's too much. I made it through another hour. Some of y'all, that's too much. I made it through another minute. Do you know I've had some times that were so violent in my life, some storms that raised so hard

that I had to take it second by second? Because I didn't know if I was enough, but I found out I was enough all along, and he showed it to me in stages. I found out I was enough for now. Please don't ask me about tomorrow. I don't know yet. But he's enough for now, and you're enough for now, because he is the bread of life. He is the bread of life.

Do you know he told the crowds? He said, you came to me because you ate something and had your fill. But unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part in me. What's he talking about? You've got to get it in you. You've got to get it in you. How many that's what you have around you. Look at it again.

Look at it. How many? That's what's around you. That's what you can count. How much? Look at it. Look at the thing on the screen. I put it up there for you.

How much? That's what's in you. That will never run dry. If you keep coming back to this well, you'll thirst again. But if you receive what I have, it'll always be it. It'll always be it. It'll always be enough. I will never run out of bread from heaven.

I will never run out. Shout it, I'll never run out. I'll never run out because I know where the bread is. I know who my father. You think he's going to feed a worm and let me die? I have a father. His name is I am. And he is enough.

Thank you, Lord. For everybody who needed this message, whether they knew they needed it or not. I needed it so much. How much did you need this? So much. Because I got so much. So many questions, many needs, and eight months' wages wouldn't feed them all. But you said, you are the bread.

They found out what you could do, and then they found out who you were. And that means you can do it again. So I speak it over the life of every person who needs to hear it today. I thank you that your word will not return to your void, but it'll accomplish that what you sent it to do. I thank you that you are the bread that came down from heaven, and you are not manna that disappears every day. But you and me are enough.

My sufficiency. Christ, my all in all. Peace by peace. Great is thy faithfulness. Oh, God, my father. This is a bad key for me. Can we go down? Great is thy faithfulness.

See, it's not how many notes you can hit. It's how much you mean them when you sing them. I'll sing it with one note. shadow of turning with thee. There's truth in it. I only need one note. I only need one. So God's going to supply for me. I felt the spirit on that. I only need one. One is enough. Trust me, one is enough. One verse says, all I have needed, thy hand has provided. I was just thinking about that. When they put it in his hands, they saw how much it was. Do you know I have John Mears guitar?

You've seen it. Israel Houghton gave it to me. What's up, Israel? I went to see John Meir play in concert. He had the same guitar. It sounded different in his hands. Six strings like mine, same knobs, same color. In his hands.

Lift your hands, lift your hands, in his hands. It's enough. It's enough. Summer and winter and springtime and harvest Thine own dear presence to cheer into God Strength for today That's it right now Strength for today

Not 10 years from now Strength for today not November Strength for today And bright hope for tomorrow Blessings all mine How much do you have? Blessings all mine How many, how many blessings all mine with 10,000 beside.

Count them all. One, two, three, four, five, six, ten thousand. Ten thousand. How many miracles? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, five, five, and two, seven. The number of completion. How many, how many, how many blessings all mine with ten thousand. I can't even count them all.

How many. Pardon for sin. Bring me the bread. Pardon for sin. Right now, hurry, please. Pardon for sin. You got the bread. Come on.

I know there's bread here. Somebody say, I know there's bread here. I know there's bread here. I'm waiting for it. I know. See, he was ready to bring me the bread. Before you even knew I needed it. Come on, you need to glorify God.

This is a Holy Spirit moment. Somebody is receiving the bread. Lord, speak the sustenance of your word right now. Pardon for sin. How many sins? How many sins? And a peace. How much peace?

And a peace that endureth. And a peace. Every time they came back, another piece. Every time they came back. Another piece. And a peace, it doesn't look like much, but it endureth. It's going to last. It's not going to run.

He's coming back. Thine own dear presence. That's all I need. I found out he was bred and everything I need is in his presence. God, I want this word to go deep in you. So the next time you start thinking how many, you can find out how much. The only way to find out is to keep coming. How many miracles did the disciples see Jesus do?

Give them the wide shot, please, in the back of them. up please in the back. I want them to see this online. How many miracles did they see? When did they find out how much he loved them? It was when he gave his life, and when his body was broken like the bread, and when his blood was spilled, they realized. They found out. How much does he he? He showed you that already. Haven't you found out? Can he make a way? Wasn't he there? with Noah. Do what you didn't even know? The real miracle wasn't when they found out what they had. It was when they found out who he was. The bread of life is in your living room. The bread of life is in your kitchen. The bread of life is in the hospital. The bread of life is in the place of your greatest need.

And peace by peace moment. Let me show you. Can I give you one more? How many? That's plural. How much? That's singular. You don't say grammatically how many shoe.

You say how many shoes. You don't say grammatically how much shoes. You say, how much shoes. Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Singular. Let me give you a minute. Think about 1st Corinthians 1017. Put it on the screen, please.

I saw this this morning, because there is one loaf. We who are many are one body, for we all share in the one loaf. Let me tell you something today. I don't know your situation. I don't know who left you. I don't know what you need. God does. If you have him, you have enough.

Just keep coming back. Peace by piece, step by step, prayer by prayer, day by day. He is more. Oh yeah, you're leaving with leftovers. Oh yeah, you know that part. part. Their biggest problem when they got to the wilderness were we don't even have a bite. Their biggest problem after Jesus touched the bread was, we don't have enough baskets.

I am telling you, child of God, you're leaving with a different level problem. You're not even going to know. You got so much joy. I got so much peace. I got so much. So much, so much. How great a salvation, how firm a foundation, so much, so much. He loves you so much that he sent his son for God so love the world, that his body was broken

on the cross. Right now there's someone who needs to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ. I invite you in this moment to pray with me. There's only one loaf, there's only one name, there's only one way. It is by grace through faith that we are saved. What if God sent me to preach this whole message for you? He sees the one. If there is one, that's enough for me to stop right now and give you this moment.

Because when you have come to the end of yourself, it is the beginning of grace. So right now, the scripture says that if you confess your sin, he is faithful and just. He will forgive your sin. Cleanse you from all unrighteousness. That if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. He is enough. He is your bread.

He is your strength. He is the door. He is the way, the truth and the life. He is the resurrection. He's all of that. and he longs to come into your life. So bow your head and close your eyes. If you need to put your life in the hands of God today, I promise you it can be so much more

in his hands than it can in yours. And right now this is your moment to turn it over to God. Remember, he can do a lot with broken pieces. It doesn't matter where you've been or what you've done. But right now, if you're ready to give your life to Jesus Christ, I want you to repeat this prayer after me out loud, Heavenly Father. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. Today I make Jesus the Lord of my life.

I believe he died, that I would be forgiven and rose again to give me life. I receive this new life. I am a child of God in Jesus' name. If you just prayed that, I want you to put right now in the chat, I just received Jesus. We're clapping. The angels are clapping. You know what the Bible says? There is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner.

There are thousands right now who just came into the kingdom of God. Come on, put it in the chat. I received Jesus. I received Jesus. I couldn't buy it. I couldn't earn it, but he did it, and he is enough. Come on, let's give him 30 seconds of great praise. Minister to your soul.

We love you. We're praying for you. We're here for you. And he is enough. And you are praise if you believe it. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. It's because of you that this ministry is because of you that this is you

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