Priscilla Shirer: The Multitude ((applause)) I I don't know what I can say about our communicating our presenter our preacher for the night I love her from the bottom of my heart ((music playing)) I love her deeply dearly her and her husband Jerry our dear friends we got a video let me just show the video here we go look at the IMAX quickly correct I don't care what the other people in my office think I should do and ought to do I have made up my mind that this book is going to be the compass for my life Priscilla Shire is a wife and mom first but put a Bible in her hand and a message in her heart and you'll see why thousands meet God in powerful personal ways at her conferences and through her books as a popular author she's written such books as a New York Times bestseller fervent and resolution for women as well as Discerning the voice of God one in a million life Interrupted and God is able Priscilla Shire had a principal role in the movie War Room a story about the power of prayer and Redemption she and her husband Jerry lead going Beyond Ministries from their hometown of Dallas Texas Priscilla Shire ((music playing)) see Priscilla shine ((applause)) well I'm gonna give you a Texas greeting and say hey y'all it is a privilege to be with you tonight and to have the opportunity to share God's word with you you may take your seat to love God's word I love the power in his word and I love tonight that we have the privilege of hearing his voice I do want to take a moment before I dive quickly into this simple passage of scripture that I'd like to talk to you about tonight just to introduce you to my man if you don't mind I want to introduce you to him and I want to honor him I'm grateful for my husband because I think and I and I say this frequently I really think that any wife any woman who is married in particular who is thriving in her gifts who is able to flourish in her creative talents who is able to do what God has called her to do fully and completely and to be covered and released to do that that takes a good man that takes a good man would you help me to honor my husband Jerry Shire would you stand up babe I'm grateful and you're fine too how about that I'm grateful for that too how about it I want to honor um these two leaders in the church I want to honor them um you know I know that it is customary that in A Moment Like This at an event like this we take this pause don't we always to honor the people who have so lavishly laid out a banquet Feast for us but sometimes you can do things customarily and because you do it all the time or because you're a round genius all the time it loses its flourish you just start doing it because it's wrote and it's ritual so if you just don't mind just give me one second because I want to say to John Jenkins and I want to say to Bishop Owens something that I said to my father who is my pastor in Dallas he has Faithfully served for 40 years and I looked at my daddy this year and I said something that I want to say to both of you on behalf of me and Jerry and all of these folks here we are grateful not only that you've done all that you've done and you've accomplished all that you've accomplished but we are grateful that you have walked in integrity we are grateful we are grateful that you have loved your wives we are grateful that you have raised your children we are grateful that you have not embarrassed the name of Jesus Christ we're grateful we thank you for your faithfulness and we honor you today because you have greatly lifted up the name of Jesus Christ in this generation would you please help me to honor Pastor John Jenkins and Archbishop Alfred Owens thank you thank you you might as well go ahead and stay standing because I have to honor Trina Jenkins and I have to honor co-pastor Susie Owens and we're going to take again all of the custom and all of the routine out of it because I want to tell you exactly why I honor you I honor you because in a post-feminist culture where we are being told that you either have to walk in authority and power or you have to choose to be submissive to Authority that you cannot do both of those things at the same time this little girl wants to thank you that you have shown me what it is to be a woman of power and authority to walk in her gifting and talented and be submitted to the authority of your husbands and to be feminine and to enjoy being a woman in the house of God I thank you so much for that I thank you so much for that I'm grateful ((applause)) thank you for honoring them with me it's a joy to do that when leaders have lived well isn't it sadly it is too rare in our day and age that people have just walked well before the Lord so we're here for Revival a resuscitation a Reawakening let me tell you uh before I pray that there was a professor who lived in the 1940s in England he taught at a Theological Seminary there and he had a handful of students that he took on a field trip so to speak this is University level he took them on a field trip because he wanted them to visit John Wesley's uh home his office John Wesley is one of the reformers of the church one of the great theologians that helped to form the basis for what you and I believe to this day and to rightly divide the word of Truth and so this professor took his young students to John Wesley's home and together they visited the kitchen where this man of God this great reformer of the church would eat and they took him to his office where he would study in the great books of old were there in the library they looked at the ancient spines and they were able to look in some of the texts to see what it is that John thought about and what this great Theologian wrote down they were able to see some of his teaching notes that were on his desk still to this day that have been preserved then they walked up into his bedroom and they just looked around at John Wesley's most intimate place in his home and they walked around to the outer side of his bed and right there in the carpet were two well-worn patches where John Wesley was said to have spent several hours every day on his knees in this exact same place asking that God would bring Revival not only as in his country in the UK but that he would bring Revival in the Western World to you and I here in America he prayed and prayed so hard that he wore patches in the carpet so after the students saw this they all went back to the bus and Professor Orr says he just counted to make sure everybody was on and there was one student missing he went back in the kitchen no one was there he went back in the study nobody was there he walked up to the bedroom and even before he encroached over the threshold of the bedroom door he could already hear someone inside he turned the corner and there with his knees planted in the exact same spot as John Wesley's was one of the students praying and saying do it again Lord would you please just do it again and Lord would you do it again and start with me he went around and he touched his shoulder of the young man who was kneeling down and he said it's time to go we're all on the bus and rising from his knees Billy Graham went and joined the rest of the students that were on the bus standing ((applause)) ((music playing)) do it again Lord ((music playing)) father I'm asking you to do it again ((music playing)) what we didn't we didn't come up in here to play church tonight we don't have time for that the hour is short Lord the enemy is plummeting us with schemes and tactics of every kind so Lord we ask that you would really revive us in this house tonight do it again Lord I'm asking that you would rain down in power and authority that you would speak to your people we have worshiped you in spirit and in truth we have rolled out the red carpet for your spirit to come and join us so now Lord I ask that you would open up your word to us that you would run the heavens and come down here and do business in our hearts Lord I'm asking that not one person under the sound of my voice would be able to leave this place without knowing they have been in the presence of God and so Lord I am on my knees before you on behalf of this congregation to ask that you would speak to your people because we came for a word somebody's marriage is hanging on by a thread somebody's heart is broken and needs mending somebody's passion has been wiped out by 2016. I'm asking you for Revival and it is in Jesus name that everybody agreed with me when they said amen amen ((applause)) ((music playing)) Jerry and I have privilege of raising Sons we have three boys they are giant children my oldest is 14 years old I now have to look up to him that I have a 12 year old and I have a eight-year-old and these boys you know that's my full-time job is that I'm a mother to these boys that I am trying incessantly to feed them that is my full-time job my sons I've had this habit since they were little boys that I bought for them I think I started it when my oldest was five years old I bought for them these little journals I went to Ross Dress for Less and over there in the back corner they have a little pile of journals that you can buy for about 4.99 I bought three of them one for each boy and I have kept a journal for each of my sons since my oldest was about five years old so my youngest since before he was born and so I keep a journal for them I don't write daily or even weekly or monthly I just write when there's something that I see the hand of the Lord doing in their life or when they ask an interesting question or I can start to see maturity taking place or they just say something hilarious that I want them to remember that I want to give their wife one day so she can see what she getting herself into so I write and recently I pulled out my oldest Sons because his birthday rolled around in November and I was writing just something at least once a year on their birthday I make sure that I record something for them so I was writing down and before I wrote down for his 14th year I looked back on previous years I just wanted to remind myself of my boy and I remembered that when he was five years old I wrote down an entry about when this boy lost his very first baby tooth I put an injury in there because it was a very interesting experience for our family and I my oldest son has never been one who has wanted to go to sleep he actually doesn't even require a whole lot of sleep he doesn't go to bed well at night and he wakes up very early in the morning and so we had told him though when he lost this very first two there's gonna be a great night for him because this would be the night when he lost that tooth that the Tooth Fairy was going to come and that she was going to in the middle of the night replace that tooth for a treasure and so that night when he was five years old was the only time I can ever remember in my boy's life that he has been interested in going to bed so his tooth came out that day he was so excited seven o'clock 7 30 which was bedtime at the time it rolled around he dove into the bed and he laid his head on the pillow after tucking the teeth the tooth underneath he tried to go to sleep but you know every three seconds he was looking underneath the pillow to see if anything had changed in that little bit amount of time and finally after a while my boy fell asleep I remember that as the night went went by it was about 3 A.M or so that the six foot three 250 pound tooth fairy that I sleep next to every night got up from his bed took uh some treasure that he wanted to give to my boy he snuck upstairs and he replaced the tooth with a treasure in the morning I knew when my boy got up Jackson was excited I could hear the pounding of his feet upstairs I could hear him bounding down the stairs he ran into the bedroom he had both of his fists clenched closed over whatever it was he had retrieved from out from underneath his pillow and so he ran for it he said Mom the Tooth Fairy came and she left the treasure I said buddy I'm so excited for you tell me what it is that she left you he opened up one of his hands and there was a package of gummy bears which was a big deal at the time because it was his favorite snack he opened up the other hand and there was five dollars exactly I grew up in the day of nickels and quarters anybody know what I'm talking about my husband saw the look on my face and after Jackson left the room Jerry came over to me and he said Priscilla don't you worry he said do you remember that just last month which would have been November at the time just last month was Jackson's fifth birthday he said do you remember that just like we still do this this day everybody in our family came over to celebrate all the cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents they all came over and most of them brought cards with five dollar bills in them he said do you remember that we took those five dollar bills we put them in a birthday drawer in the kitchen he said well this morning at 3 A.M I went right inside that birthday drawer got one of those five dollar bills out and put it underneath his pillow best Good Financial stewardship right there is what that is get excited about treasure that was already his all along ((applause)) vessels that the holy spirit of God has taken up residence on the inside of us not to sit dormant and unused but so that we can realize the fullness of the Abundant Life to which you and I have been called that I believe I want to teach to you from this evening it is at least in part that I believe that this story allows for us to begin to open up the drawer for ourselves and pull out all the spiritual treasure that has been granted to us as Sons and Daughters of the most high King if you have your Bible and you want to actually if you actually still use the Bible with paper Pages like I do you can turn to Luke chapter 9. or your iPhone your iPad any manner of Inez that you might have available to you I think they're also going to put it up on the screen and I just want to read to you Luke chapter nine I'm going to read verses one and two and then I'm going to read from verse 10 to 17. if you want to you can stand at the reading of God's word I want to tell you that every now and then you ought to just make yourself stand up when you read God's word when you buy yourself having devotions quiet time at the kitchen table you ought to just remove yourself out of that posture of comfort and stand at attention just to remind yourself that God is getting ready to talk to you just to show some reverence because of presidents or kings and queens walked in the room today we would not keep our seats we would stand that attention how much more if the god of the universe is going to speak to us should we be preparing ourselves to stand in reference and salute our King y'all this is the voice of God speaking to God's people and every single time you open up the book even when you buy yourself in your bedroom you ought to fully expect to feel the warm breath of God brushing across your cheeks as he speaks a present word over your life Luke chapter 9. verse 1 says and he called The Twelve together he gave them power and authority over all demons and to heal diseases and then he sent them out to perform the king to proclaim the kingdom kingdom of God and to perform Miracles I want to read that again listen and he called somebody say he called he called The Twelve together and he gave somebody say he gave he gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases and he sent somebody say he sent and he sent them out verse 10. and when the apostles returned they gave an account to him of all that they had done and taking them with him taking them with him he withdrew by himself to a city called bethsaida but you know the multitudes they were aware of this so they followed him and welcoming them Jesus welcomed them he began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who were in need of healing and then the whole day went by y'all the day began to decline and the twelve came to him and said please send this multitude away that they may go into the surrounding Villages and Countryside and find lodging and get something to eat because you know here Jesus we're in a desolate place Jesus said you give them something to eat they said but Jesus you know we have no more than Five Loaves and two fish unless we go and buy some more food for all of these people and verse 14 the author wants you to know that there were about 5 000 Men He specifies that so that you will know that that was not the totality of the number of people there there were also women and children scholars believe there would have been about 15 000 people in attendance and he said to his disciples now have them recline to eat in groups of about 50 each so they did so had them all recline and then Jesus he took those Five Loaves and two fish just a little bit of treasure and looking up to heaven he blessed them and then he broke them and he kept giving them to the disciples to set before the multitude and they all ate and were satisfied and the Broken Pieces which they had left over were picked up and there were 12 baskets for them you may take your seeds this is a big one that if you and I glance over it too quickly we'll just sort of assume that there's only one way to take it there's only one way to approach it but I want to introduce to you the possibility that we can look at it from a different vantage point and while we do that we can be compelled to open up our drawers and pull out our treasure once and for all this story I believe doesn't actually start with the feeding of the five thousand that's the climax of the story in fact scholars believe that of all of the Miracles Jesus performed this is among the top range of those that would be the climax of all of Jesus's Earthly Ministry throughout the gospel and so you and I are going to look at this very familiar passage of scripture but it doesn't start when the crowd gets hungry it starts in verse one or two and it gives us a little bit of context so that we can really see what was happening on this little patch of Stony desolate ground outside of bethsaida on this particular day Jesus had with him these were the ones that were closely associated with him he called them to send them out on assignment this particular story is found this whole passage that we've just read it is found in several other portions of of the Gospel narrative and it is particularly listed in the synoptic gospels that's Matthew Mark and Luke are the synoptic gospels while John had his own tone and texture to some of the stories it is Matthew Mark and Luke who get the Synergy in their storytelling they allow us to see some layers on top of layers and when we read the synoptic gospel sometimes we can see things that differ one from the other and think that maybe somebody along the way made a mistake but I know that in this Bible teaching church and in Greater Mount Calvary down the road I know that we believe that the scriptures are completely inerrant that every T is crossed and that every eye is dotted specifically as the holy spirit of God said it should be there is not one portion of it that is not God breathed and any preacher that you hear that manipulates in any way the scriptures is not bringing to you the truth from the word of God and so when we read something that seems like a disparity we automatically tell ourselves well I don't quite get it now but I will I will because it's the truth so this same story you don't need to turn there I will tell you this same story is told in Mark chapter six Mark chapter six what it does is it gives us another layer on top of this story so that it can increase its richness and its fullness so I got to tell you I'm a chocolate lover I love chocolate you put any kind of chocolate in front of me I'm gonna enjoy that one layer chocolate cake I will enjoy that but if you give me a choice between a one layer chocolate cake and a seven layer chocolate cake I'm gonna choose the seven layer chocolate cake every single time I think that you would too that is because the more layers there are the more rich and full and exciting the experience the more palatable it is and the more delicious it becomes Mark chapter is gonna give us some layers so we can have some richness to the passage we find out in Mark chapter six that this is the same time where Jesus summoned the disciples to himself and he sent them out in pairs he sent them out two by two into surrounding neighborhoods and towns so that they could preach repentance so that they could tell the neighboring towns that the kingdom of God wasn't had he sent out though they could heal so they could perform miracles to authenticate that Jesus Christ was who he says he was he gave them power and he gave them Authority with which to accomplish this task this is the passage of scripture where they are told listen don't take anything for your journey when someone beckons you to come into their home you just stay there and make yourself at home until your time there is done but if there is someone else who does not receive you he said don't worry about it check the dust off your feet and keep on trucking Mark chapter six our layer of chocolate cake tells us that they had effective Ministry when they went out in pairs that they were healing and that they were teaching and they were preaching they did not waste a single bit of their time in fact their time was so well spent that they came back to Jesus looked him Square in his eyes and gave him an account for how they had handled the assignment that he had sent them on about how they how they time Talent talents enough that they had honored Jesus's assignment that they were able to come to him and give him an account of what it was they had done y'all I want a Ministry worth telling Jesus about when I see him he said I stand before him I can give him an account for how I use my time and how I use my gifts and how I use my talents and let me tell you something I'm not even gonna be I'm not even going to mince words about this when I talk to my Lord I'm looking for well done and what if we spend all of our time impressing people and not impressing our God what if we have a Ministry that is worth Instagraming but it is not worth standing in front of Jesus Christ and looking at him in his eyes and declaring to him how we took care of the assignment that he sent us out on and just to be clear everybody in the room is in Ministry everybody in the room if you have name the name that administering it would be the enemy of the Church of Jesus Christ that would declare to us that you got to be standing on a stage with a microphone in your hand in order to be in Ministry we have stated illegitimately those up skills and gifts and talents that need to be on a platform while simultaneously downgrading the ones that are behind closed doors and behind the scenes but it's those people who are teaching your children and my children in the Sunday school every single Sunday it's the ones who are going to sleep up after us so that we can come back tomorrow night and be blessed again I don't are the ones that are Behind These cameras and that are backstage that are making sure that we are here those gifts need to be celebrated just as much oh but it's not just that it is the mother who has chosen to stay at home with her children for this season at the beckoning of the Holy Spirit it would be the enemy that would tell us that that ain't Ministry every time new way to cook chicken for dinner my sister and you put it on that table and you minister to your children around that table and teach them the word of God you are in Ministry and every single time corporate woman or man when you sit around that boardroom table and everybody is talking about their morals and their idea ideals that are contrary to the word of God and you are the light in the midst of that Darkness you are in Ministry thank you and I want a Ministry that I can look my Jesus squarely in the face oh before my grandmother went to be with Jesus at 97 years old I remember her saying to me just about meeting the Lord y'all just about meeting him she said oh Priscilla she called me pee pee Oh peepee I don't want to meet him with my head hung down ((applause)) Church you don't want to meet him with your head on down you want to be able to give an account as the disciples did on this occasion to stand before him not in Pride not in arrogance but humbly laying our crowns out at his feet and saying thank you Lord for the privilege of these gifts and these talents and the time you gave me to serve the kingdom of God so I just wondered if you don't mind before we get to uh the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand which we'll we will get to but if you don't mind would you let me open up a parenthesis right here because I just feel the need to take a rabbit Trail and y'all seem like you don't mind a rabbit Trail is that okay I wondered what would make it such an effective Ministry that they didn't mind telling Jesus giving an account that they were anxious to tell them where they've been and what they'd done I wanted to know if there was a recipe here in the text somewhere for Effective Ministry and there is the recipe has three ingredients in verse one of chapter nine it said that he called them there was a summoning of the Holy Spirit there was a holy whisper there was a beckoning straight from the mouth of God that announced to them their specific assignment they did not ignore it they did not try to choose something better to do they did not hope that someone else would fill this particular assignment because they had other Ambitions they heard the voice of God giving them their assignment for this season and they heeded the call of the Holy Spirit what happened to the days where we honored the calling of the Holy Spirit on our lives where we were not so ambitious that we wanted to do other things that would impress people more than we wanted to honor the commissioning and the usuring of the Holy Spirit In Our Lives to accomplish his assignment for us whether that's staying at home in this season whether that's working in that cubicle eight to five every day whether that is serving in the choir serving in the Usher board whatever it is that God calls you to do you want to do it with all of your hearts oh they were called there was a whisper of the Holy Spirit a summoned to do what it was that God had called them to do and they heeded his call into the days when there was fire shut up in our bones where we could not Escape through of the Holy Spirit where we had no choice but to say yes sir and go where he called us and do what he said Lord would you forgive us when we have a sign to ourselves things that you never meant for us when because of our need to impress people when because of our need our hubris our arrogance to receive the Applause of people we have stepped into shoes that were never meant for us forgive us Lord when we walk down a lane that was somebody else's Lane to walk down we're on the stage of Life we've been so busy trying to play somebody else there has been no one to play us Lord forgive us for no longer honoring the call of God but if you want effective Ministry the first ingredient in the recipe is you need to hear and heed and discern the calling of God for your life and then have enough courage to say yes sir but you know what I love y'all is that he did not just skip to the third ingredient he did not call and then send but before he sent them he gave them power and authority he entrusted them with Supernatural power to accomplish the task because y'all I gotta tell you something if you go in your natural ability and if you go in your natural Talent y'all we may impress the people but there will be no anointing to break yokes there will be no power to lift burdens off of people's lives and if you and I want to pray for people and see their marriage is restored if we want to pray for people and see broken hearts mended if we want to pray for people and see the burns lifted off of their lives then you can't go in the natural you got to go into Supernatural oh we need power and authority Lord would you forgive us for thinking that we are gifted enough to accomplish your tasks would you forgive us for thinking we are talented enough and Savvy enough and impressive enough that we can accomplish your tasks only those things done by the spirit can accomplish those things that the spirit needs to be accomplished oh and cannot tell you that the enemy hopes you will go in your power he hopes that we will go in our strength because then he knows the best our natural abilities can accomplish our natural solutions and natural remedies but to get to the heart of it all we need the supernatural entrusted power of our great God it is not my might it is not my power it's by the spirit of God and some trust in chariots others trust in horses but we trust in the name of the Lord our God ((applause)) hey ((applause)) when someone comes to me and they say oh I love that film oh I loved that book I appreciated that kids book I loved that message you know what I say thank you out of my mouth I'ma tell you what's what I'm saying on the inside I'm saying thank you but I'm laughing hysterically me and God on the inside because I know the real deal ((applause)) I know that it was God the whole way I know that I was going in pushing past fear and insecurity just the call of God beckoning me forward but because he entrusted me with his power and his authority for the task at hand there were Yokes broken people's lives changed not because I'm great but because he's great the only way people can go in a movie theater and not just be entertained not just enjoy a Coke and a smile the only way that tears can run down your face and that Hearts can be broken open for the things of God that marriages can be restored the only way we got letters and and emails from prayer meetings amongst strangers that broke out in theaters that ain't good acting that's the Holy Spirit foreign Lord forgive us for ignoring your colic and then Lord forgive us for going in our own strength and our own power the best I can do in my natural is teach you tonight and you will be impressed by my words but know it takes the Holy Spirit to cause the word to fly on the wings of his love and his grace into your heart and penetrate all of us so that we are sealed by his word before we leave this place tonight other words otherwise we could have just had a pep rally and been on her way but what makes this church is that it's not by our power and it does not by our might It Is by God's spirit and so you mother in God's spirit you be a father by God's spirit you'll be a co-worker by God's spirit you do what it is that God has called you to do by his Spirit it is the only way change will be broken and then he called them and then he entrusted them and then y'all he sent them listen he's the one who did the sending if he has not told you to go yet then restrain yourself resist the urge from walking too early into a calling that it is not time for just as important as your calling is there is a time there is a season for every single thing under the sun and if you prematurely move forward out of the protective covering of God's developmental process you will abort the character he was trying to establish in you the spiritual backbone that he was trying to use to gird you up so when that Spotlight was on you you can handle it you will abort that process if you go too soon and let me tell you something that Spotlight you might be craving if it hits you and you have no character it will burn you to a crisp Lord forgive us ((applause)) and make us patient enough to wait till you say go ((applause)) don't let us be lured in an attracted to the Applause of people the opinions of people telling us what to do and when to do it may we be like Paul May our Ambitions be to please Christ and Christ Alone ((applause)) because we're a church that wants to hear well done I want to know is anybody after a well done ((applause)) so the disciples have been called they have been entrusted with power and authority and they have been sent the recipe for Effective Ministry and they come back after being effective Mark chapter six our layer of chocolate cake on top of another to make this more Rich tells us that when they came to Jesus they did not just simply give him an account but they gave him such an account that Jesus himself vocalized the fact that he recognized in them that they were flat out exhausted he said to them y'all look tired in fact the scriptures say that they had been so busy they hadn't even eaten now I don't know y'all might be the kind of people that that happens to I ain't never been that busy I'm just not the kind of of girl that will order a salad and drink some water to be cute that ain't me I'm gonna order the largest plate of nachos they have then when I finish it I'm gonna scan your plate for leftovers that's me but these guys were so busy that they did not even have time to eat and Jesus acknowledges their exhaustion soon that in a group the size with those of us who are gathered in this room and also those that I know are streaming they're on the other side of the screen there are literally thousands of us and in a group decides I know that there is no way that somebody has not been burnt out by 2016. you have invested so much emotional energy in that relationship and you tired you have given so much of your ideas so much of your passion so much of your creativity so much of your time so much of your investment into that relationship into that job into that Ministry into that business you've given yourself and 2017 is meeting a tired person who is exhausted Jesus acknowledges the disciples exhaustion they are exactly where you might feel that you are right now today and he says to them Come Away With Me he allows them to be exhausted he allows them this idea that they need a vacation they need some replenishing they need something to satisfy them once again and restore to them what they have poured out but he does not say thank you Jesus he does not say to them go away from me get yourself together and then come back that's not what he says he says your refreshing is going to be found as You Come Away With Me occasion from your job but don't take a vacation from Jesus that doesn't mean you still are in the scriptures hearing what it is that your God wants to say to you just need to step down for a second so that you can regain your composure take holiday but don't take a holiday from your savior because your intimacy with him is the cure for your exhaustion and so he says You Come Away With Me let us withdraw together come to me all ye that labor and are happy Lane I'm the one that's got rest for your soul take my yoke upon you you learn from me and when you do you will see this burden of God is easy it's light come to me come to me intimacy is the cure for your exhaustion Jerry and I had the privilege I um was invited to minister in Cape Town in April so we we went there we knew it a year in advance so we planned to take our boys we thought who knows if we'll ever get to go back again we're going to save up we're going to figure out what we need to do to take the boys we homeschool our children because they travel with us a lot so I planned uh their homeschooling what they were learning in the six weeks before the trip I planned it around the trip I was like we're gonna take full advantage of this and so we studied the geography of Cape Town so that we could see it when we got there and then we studied apartheid and Nelson Mandela and just began to look into the history of Cape Town that was our deal then we went there together I think they thought we were on vacation we're not laying up in this hotel swimming every day eating food no no we're going to the apartheid Museum we're getting up to see where Nelson Mandela lived we're getting ready to go over here and climb Table Mountain because that's where we studied in geography every morning my family was looking at me like oh but I know one day they gonna rise up and call me blessed they better we drove two hours outside of Cape Town Cape Town on one day we had studied some species of animals so we were hoping we could go see them we got in a little safari car that they put you in with a very learned bubbly guide and so we would drive around and we'd see these species of animals he would tell us what they were he would tell us a little bit about them very interesting facts I had my cell phone out the entire time Dr Jazz because I've taken down all these this information that could be great illustrations when we came across the herd of zebra very interesting because there was a baby zebra next to its mother and there wasn't anything spectacular about this zebra we've all seen zebra before except that the god explained to us that this baby this was the first time he was seeing the baby back with the herd that since the baby uh zebra had been born the mother had taken the baby away for days that had turned into weeks and the two of them had not been with the herd any longer he explained to us that this was the first time he was seeing the baby back with the hurt he told us something that you cannot see really with just our natural eyes and inclinations he told us that the stripes of a zebra are very much like our fingerprints that all of their stripes are completely unique just like our fingerprints and while we might not be able to see it just looking at the side of the animal particularly on the forehead the unique construction of those um of those stripes are just as unique as the thumb prints that are in this room and so when a new baby zebra is Born the mom will take that baby zebra away for just a little while and in its most weakest fledgling state will sit down with that baby zebra apart from any distractions apart from anything that might keep it from zeroing in on that Mother's forehead because she wants that baby zebra to get a good look at the stripes on her forehead so that it will always be able to differentiate her Stripes from the stripes of anybody or anything else that it might be around yeah and when you're in your most fledgling vulnerable state the thing to do is to come aside with your savior so that you can get a good look at his stripes you need to know what he went through on your behalf you need to know the lashes that he took you need to know and re introduce yourself to the crown of thorns that was on his head because it's by his stripes that you are healed it's by his stripes that your emotions are able to stand steady it's by his Strife is that your fissured mind are brought back into um the positioning that they need to be in by his stripes you are healed so when you're most vulnerable when you're most exhausted that's not the time to go away from him that's the time to get close and study his stripes intimacy is the cure for your exhaustion the reason why the disciples go with Jesus to this little patch of Stony ground outside of bethsaida across the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee where they dock right there at bethsaida the reason why they went is because Jesus was taking the tired exhausted twelve on a retreat he was taking them there to be replenished he was taking the tired away with him so that they could get rejuvenated and get the satisfaction that they needed to be able to function fully in the next assignment that he would have for them he was honoring not ignoring honoring their exhaustion but his cure for their exhaustion was to Come Away with him to a place where he knew in advance there was going to be a multitude waiting on them now I don't know about y'all but if I'm going on a retreat I'm not trying to go nowhere where there's no multitude waiting on me anybody if Jerry and I need some rest we're trying to steal away we don't want a multitude of people or a multitude of problems we're trying to get away from the drama for just a little while but Jesus's economy is a little bit different from ours so when he's taking them away for their Retreat they're refreshing and they're replenishing they show up on a patch of ground where there are 5 000 people Mark chapter six tells us our Lair 5 000 people that are already waiting on them when they get there this is not 5 000 Placid casual people who hope to catch sight of Jesus these are people who even if they did not yet believe that Jesus was who he said he was even if they quite sure about this whole Messiah business what they did know was that when this Jesus showed up blind people could see that's what they knew what they knew was that when this guy showed up lame people started walking and the dead were being raised and deaf people could hear what they knew was that every single time Jesus Christ opened up his mouth his words were dripping with an authority they had never ever heard before they had heard the Pharisees they had heard the Sadducees but they ain't never heard nothing like this and so this wasn't a casual crowd y'all they were clamoring to get close to Jesus they wanted to be like the woman with the issue of blood who pressed her way through the crowd so that she could be the one close enough to Reach Out And Touch the Hem of His Garment so that power would leave him and come to her this was a clamoring chaotic group of people who wanted to get close to Jesus and this is where Jesus brought them to be refreshed come on I just wonder if there's anybody in the room and you have ever stepped into for example a decade of your life and you thought I have reached my 50s now the drama of the 30s and the 40s are not going to meet me here you got into that season of your life only to find out there was a brand new multitude of issues waiting on you when you got there I wonder if anybody has ever left that job to take this job because this one's just going to be a little bit easier to handle than all the drama of those people back there but you got to that job only to realize there was already a multitude of frustration waiting on you when you got there I wonder if any everybody has not gone into this ministry you chose this ministry because it was supposed to be just a little bit easier but you got into that Ministry only to find that all the people there are drama there's a multitude of issues that are meeting you in a season of life you got out of that neighborhood to move into this neighborhood but the neighbors next to you if they say one more thing to you you go knock them out you thought where you were now wasn't going to be as many issues as there are but the Lord has allowed you to be pressed upon by a multitude and you're trying to figure out how the weight of this multitude is helping you with your exhaustion from 2016 and why the loud Lord would allow this burden I think our answer is in the text because the Five Loaves and two fish y'all that is going to be the gift to the to the multitude but it's this multitude that's the gift to the disciples because without the multitude there is nothing pressing a demand on them there is nothing taxing them so that they have no choice but to open up their drawer pull out the treasure that they have been given and see what God's gonna do in multiplying it to feed these masses so Jesus allows them he allows us to come face to face with a multitude that so presses on us that we are so uncomfortable so no I'm not wanting this difficulty to be messing with us we are in our uncomfortable place stretch beyond what we think our capacity is and it is in that place where we start opening up the drawer where we start checking out the treasure that he has hidden in Earthen vessels where we start looking at our five and two differently that these gifts we thought were meager these talents we thought were insignificant this little bit of money that I had this little bit of time that I had this idea this passion that I thought was absolutely net worth nothing this gifting to the Lord has given me to edify the body of Christ I thought this was insignificant and couldn't do anything well it is the multitude that God has given you it is your gift because that multitude is gonna press on you and you'll get to see a multiplying Miracle of the most high God do you mind if I show you for just a moment what the disciples did what the disciples did When They Came Upon This multitude because look y'all the reality is they were shocked by this multitude just like you might be because you know when you got married to that person all this drama wasn't supposed to be a part of the deal when you signed up for this task you were expecting that it was going to take a weight off you but now there's a new multitude on you you replace the old one for a new one the disciples are just as surprised as you were but here's what will help us to be able to shoulder these seasons of Our Lives when we're surprised by new multitudes our God is Not you do know that God is Sovereign right sovereign it means that he knows the end from the beginning it means he's already been there and done that sovereignty means he was in the place before time began I'm talking about pre-genesis 1 1. the only time that the only reason there is a Genesis 1-1 is because there was already a God to say Let There Be and there was so he stood pre-genesis 1 1 he declared when time would began would begin he's seen all of eternity past he's seen the spectrum of time from Genesis 1 all the way to the end of time that you and I have not yet seen he has also seen into eternity future but sovereignty does not mean that he's just seen it sovereignty means he's got the whole thing in the palm of his hand sovereignty if you believe it if you believe it sovereignty is what lets you do what Psalm 46 10 says see striving be still relax chill out and know that I am God so the disciples were surprised by the multitude but Jesus wasn't the disciples though they want the same thing we want they want this multitude off their back and so look at the disciples solution for this multitude in verse 12 it says that they asked Jesus can we send the multitude away I don't know about you but when there's a multitude pressing on me when there are there's a demand that is placing too much pressure on me that I feel like I don't have the skill or the talent or the money or the time or the ideas or the passion to be able to handle I ask the Lord I mean I get down on my knees and pray Lord take this multitude away the only problem with that prayer is that it's just one verse earlier that we read that Jesus not only knew the multitude was there verse 11 says he welcomed them so here are the disciples wishing away what God has welcomed ((applause)) so as believers we get down on our knees and we pray and we ask God to remove the trial remove the circumstance remove the difficulty remove the burden that was weighing on me remove it and he says to you if I take it away she will never open up your chore if I take it away you will always look at five and the two that you have as meager resources that cannot account to much in the kingdom of God but if I keep that pressure on you you're gonna finally see this little resource that you have as the treasure that it really is you're gonna take it out you're gonna place it in my hands and finally I'm gonna get to multiply it in a way that's gonna blow your mind and y'all y'all know that's how we pray right that's how we pray we say Lord I want to see a miracle and then on the next breath we pray Lord Keep keep me out of any situation in which a miracle will actually be required pray and say Lord I want to see you but please Lord don't allow me to be in any situation in which I actually need you to come through on my behalf everybody wants to see the Red Sea divided but nobody wants to be face to face with our Red Sea ((applause)) oh the Jericho come tumbling down no one wants to be the one who has to walk around those walls in obedience to God trusting that they are not too thick nor too wide nor too impenetrable that our God can't cause them to come tumbling down we want to see God but we don't want to be in any position where we have to and most of the time when we pray and say Lord I want to see you he answers with a multitude he answers by allowing you to have a retreat where a multitude shows up because he knows there is no refreshing like seeing God multiply your resources that the best refreshing will not come from a good nap occasion of your dreams that might be fun but the holy refreshing that comes from The Well of the Holy Spirit on the inside of you is when you get to see God take your little bit and make it a lot when the circumstance you never thought you'd be good enough for you had the resources all along and now God gets to show you because y'all I believe he's sitting up in the heavens waiting to show somebody second chronicles 16 2 he says that I am longing to show my strong favor that my eyes are searching the Earth waiting for somebody to pull out their five and two so that I can expand it and bring glory to myself and help them to see the Beauty and the Bounty of what I have given them access to so when Jesus didn't go for it because you know he didn't go for it we're not sending this multitude away well the disciples they had another solution in verse 13 they said we can go and buy food for all these people you won't let us send the multitude away would you just let us send ourselves away so that we can go and accumulate more and have more and be something more than what we are right now because as it currently stands we don't have what it takes to take care of these masses so we've got to go away from here and get better before we can handle this multitude it is the deception of the enemy for you to think that as you are tonight is not good enough that who you are and where you've come from and what you have and the gifts and resources that have already been given to you by the Holy Spirit are not good enough he wants to suspend our time going somewhere else trying to be something else wanting her giftings and her talents and his abilities and his assignment instead of just stepping up to the plate and being who God has called us to be so Jesus didn't go for either one of those he wouldn't let them send the multitude away and he wouldn't let themselves send themselves away and by the way did you notice that the implication of what the disciples are suggesting the implication is they is that they think the neighboring towns and communities actually have what the multitude needs they're making the assumption that what the crowd really needs is found over there and listen they could go over there and they could fill their bellies up for a little while but how long is that going to last because the people don't really need food what they need is an encounter with Jesus what they need is an experience with the bread of life that will leave them hungering no more what they need is to have an encounter with Jesus that causes their faith to be sparked at the idea that this man really is who he says that he is that causes them to come to repentance and be in relationship with him if they go to the neighboring towns and if they eat they will be satisfied for an hour or two or three but then they're coming back for another meal but if get to see the multiplying Miracle of Jesus Christ they will be like the woman at the well who thirst it no more after she met with this man named Jesus who told her all about herself the miracle that God wants to do for your multitude yeah you could send it away it would be satisfied temporarily but what it really needs can only come through your five and two the miracle that it really needs can only come through what's already in your hands otherwise that problem is coming back again and so this multitude is a gift he doesn't let them send the multitude away he doesn't let them send themselves away instead Jesus Christ said to them on this night a couple Millennia ago the very same thing that the holy spirit says to us this night on the cusp of a brand new year he says you give it something to eat the solution your multitude needs in your hands the Five Loaves and the two fish it is enough it's the treasure that you've been praying for it's the answer you've been asking for it is everything that you need the disciples you see in verse 13 they said we have no more than Five Loaves and two fish do you hear that the words of lack do you hear the tone of negativity do you hear the tone of deficiency that they're speaking over the treasure that their God has given them I wonder how God feels when he sits back and hears us speaking lack and deficiency and negativity about the gifts that he has given us by his Spirit to use to edify the body of Christ and to feed our multitudes the disciples say this all we got Jesus this can't accomplish months it is a a message of negativity that they are speaking over what they have in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 29 says let no one wholesome word proceed out of your mouth only such a word that is good for edification according to the need of the moment so that it may give Grace to those who hear including you watch how you speak over your five and two ((applause)) don't speak to it as it is speak to it as it will be when it reaches the hands of Jesus Christ to the expectation that we have in accordance with the promises of God and his word to us do you know what y'all I speak to my boys not as they are I speak to them as they will be every single morning I fill them with the promises of God they despise it they put their hands over their ears because they know what mama's gonna say I say uh-uh take those hands down you look me squarely in my eyes and I say to them you will be a man of integrity and character and honesty I say to them you will bless the Lord today at all times and his Praises will continually be in your mouth you will put on the full armor of God so that you can stand firm against the schemes of the devil I tell them you are the head you are not the tail you are above you are not beneath you are a leader you are not a follower and when you grow up you will be a warrior man for the kingdom of God or I will spank you ((applause)) so we speak to our Treasures not as they are but as they will be ((applause)) operation for the multiplying miracle that our God is going to do for us do you know in Mark chapter six I'm almost done in this layer that we have on top of Luke chapter nine we find out that in this exact portion of the story Jesus actually asked them a question it's in red letters in Mark chapter six he said to them what do you have then after the question he does not give them a chance to answer he says go and look it's kind of like your kids you know it's January they just finished Christmas and if they say to you if they if they look at you and have the nerve the gall to say to you I don't have anything to do today Mom dad I don't have anything to play with to do play with today and if you look at them back and you say to them in their ungratefulness in their unwillingness to look and clearly see and appreciate the treasury if you look at them and you say to them what do you have and then you see the look the expression on their face you can tell that they're getting ready to give you an answer that you do not want to hear and you don't want them to suffer the consequences of I wonder if the disciples face were etched with ingratitude at as Jesus asked or made asked that first question when he said to them what do you have I could see that possibly the disciples were getting ready to say something they would regret so Jesus didn't even give them a chance he went straight to the question go and look I want to ask you if you've taken time to go and look if you're just complaining about what you don't have in comparison to what that person has but you have not even taken all that energy you're using to complain to go and look and see the gifts and the talents that the Lord has given you to see the relationships and connections he has given you to see what he's put right before you to use for his glory go and look for yourself Moses you will see that you are not going in your own strength and power and the reason why Moses they're going to believe you is because of that Rod you got sitting beside you go and look Moses it is not just a regular rod that Rod when you hold it out over the Red Sea if Uncle cause that Red Sea to divide David I know there's a giant standing right there but if you'll just go and look you'll find that in the Stream there are five smooth rocks and with that slingshot and my power behind you we gonna take that giant down ((applause)) find out what you need is already at your disposal and when they look they find Five Loaves and they find two fish and then they give it over to Jesus and Jesus he takes the Five Loaves and two fish oh I wish I had more time y'all because just the fact that Jesus did not look down upon their resources he did not send them away to get more and come back with better before he would receive them they handed to them him the little bit that he had and it says that our God took the meager Gifts of man and looking up to heaven he blessed it ((applause)) five blows and two fish but now it carries the blessing and the favor of God everything changes when God's favor is on your five and two because as they used to say Fair ((applause)) s that no man can shut faith that will give you opportunity that no one can take away from you favors what will send you to play ever thought you'd go say from having to Market yourself because you will already be marked by the holy spirit of God hands the five and two over to Jesus Jesus looks up to heaven He blesses it and then he breaks it he takes what they already thought was so meager and small and he makes it even smaller they can't believe that this is getting smaller it was already small Jesus and now you're making it more meager more paltry more small I don't understand your math here Jesus your arithmetic ain't working out for me but they don't understand that the multiplying is in the dividing that as we are broken before the throne of grace as we are broken before our God as we yield everything to him lay it at our feet and let him break us with grace and mercy poured over that breaking then we are setting ourselves up for the multiplication process he blessed it he broke it and then he kept giving it back to the disciples to give to the multitude ((applause)) one more thing you okay Jesus told the people sit down to receive it but if you look carefully Mark chapter six here's another layer for us he told them not just to sit he told them to recline in the green grass let that just called Barren and devoid of Life they had just looked at this patch of ground and said that there was absolutely nothing there that showed any potential at all and when we look at our seasons and our circumstances that are filled with multitude we are prone to say there ain't nothing good about this place that I am in Jesus said to them sit yourself down in the green grass so that you can see there is always proof of my grace and my Mercy it is brimming with life and brimming with possibility and brimming with the potential of what I can do for you in the Jewish culture they sat down to eat their meal but y'all when the Greco-Roman culture began to take over they changed their posture they didn't sit anymore for a nice little delicate meal the Greeks ate so lavishly the banquet Feast was so filled that they went ahead and went to their meal in a reclining position to already prepare themselves to to receive the full abundance of this banquet that was getting ready to come to them Jesus said to them don't you dare dare sit down you go ahead and posture yourself for abundance you go ahead and tell yourself that you served the god of God he's in Street 20 and 21. who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above and beyond anything that you can ask or think you lay down in that green grass and get ready to receive from your God and so we don't pray like this we pray like this already stretched out ready to receive what your God has for you it is not getting ready to be some meager mediocre uh average meal uh-uh cause that's not the kind of God I serve I'm gonna already pray as if a banquet Beast is on the way I'm gonna believe that he's about to give to me more than I can handle and then I'm gonna have to be reclined in order to receive it so now we pray with people that have our eyes open to the green grass that's all around us the potential of God's grace and mercy that is brimming all around us and Jesus Calls the five and two to be stretched out all over so that the multitude of 15 000 was fed but y'all after everybody ate and was satisfied listen satisfied I'm talking about Sunday afternoon kind of full after they all ate and they were satisfied there were leftovers not just any old amount of leftovers there were 12 baskets ((applause)) one for each disciple so these disciples went home refreshed satisfied refueled in the best kind of way there ain't no kind of retreat like a retreat with the multiplying Jesus I want to pray for you if you were in a position where you feel like your resources are to meager to accomplish the multitude that is before you you were in 2017 and the marriage difficulties big the financial difficulty is Big the struggle on your job is big and your ministry as big this multitude has been pressing in on you you are tired and you need a multiplying miracle if you are in the room tonight I'm not even gonna carry here a long time and you need a multiplying miracle of God I'm just asking you to just race down to this altar so that I can pray for you so that we as the body of Christ can surround you and encourage you and if you're in this room today and you have never placed faith in Jesus Christ this is your moment because the multiplication takes place to the extent that we are in relationship with Jesus Christ if you are moving in the room and you're not coming forward but I ask you to just stand still for a few moments y'all this is the holy moment of Revival this is where Revival takes place right here in this moment come on y'all come forward we're gonna pray together this is Revival right here this is what it's all about I believe he's gonna multiply somebody's resources tonight I'm asking him to multiply mine we're gonna give him our five and two we're gonna stop acting like we don't have good treasure we're going to give it back to him and we're gonna watch him blessed in 2017. that's what we're gonna do We're not gonna get scared when he starts breaking it we're gonna know that that's just the setup the division is just the setup for the multiplication everybody here come on down if you need to get on on this prayer we're gonna pray together ((music playing)) Lord Jesus I ask you right now to come and Reign down upon these who have gathered Lord I'm asking you in the matchless name of Jesus Christ that you would do a multiplying miracle in our midst Lord our resources aren't too meager they're too poultry we can't handle this multitude the tears fall from our eyes the sweat beats bubble up on our brow cause Lord we're tired we can't figure out a solution there's no way we can handle this on our own so Lord we admit that to you but we also ask you to forgive us for calling meager what you intend to multiply we ask you to forgive us for seeing our Five Loaves and two fish as something insignificant and not worthy of your hands so today we agree to be men and women who will place in your hands back in your hands the treasure that you have already given to us and then God I'm praying that you would multiply it in a way that will blow our minds I'm praying Ephesians 3 20 and 21 I'm asking you not to just do Little Miracles Lord would you do exceedingly abundantly above and beyond anything that we can ask or think would you restore Lord would you heal would you bind up the Brokenhearted would you lift burdens over people's lives Lord I'm praying for somebody's marriage that is standing right here at the front of this room I'm asking right now in Jesus name that you would snatch them back from the brink of divorce Lord I'm asking it right now in Jesus name would you bring a wayward husband back home to his wife would you bring a wayward wife back home to her husband Lord I'm praying that you would multiply the resources of the woman the man in Ministry who don't feel like they have enough for the need at hand Lord multiply their reserves Lord I'm asking for the one who does not have enough money I'm asking to in Jesus name that as they are responsible stewards to the resources you have already given them that you would continue to open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that is too much to receive for someone Lord who has been given a promotion on their job and they do not think they have the skill or the talent they're intimidated they are fearful I'm asking right now that that cloak of fear would run off of their shoulders Lord that you would replace it with encouragement and courage in Jesus name and that by your spirit they would find their competency in you Lord I pray right now that you would break every shackle off of anybody's life that is so Bound by the enemy's discouragement that they can't see clearly the the Bounty of what you have given them I pray against every assignment that the enemy has for these men and women under the sound of my voice Lord I pray that it right now every assignment that the enemy has will be canceled in the name of Jesus and by his blood that has been shed on Calvary he has no place in any of these homes in any of these marriages Lord I pray for every teenager every University student that they would be the light in the midst of Darkness Lord multiply their resources Lord I pray for businesses to be birthed I pray for Ministries to be birth Lord I pray for abundance of ideas and creativity to fall out of the Living Well that is within us Lord I pray that you would do what we cannot even imagine that you will do so that when we meet back here in 2018 we just have testimony after testimony after testimony after testimony thank you if you're up here this morning you'll keep her this evening you'll keep your heads about if you're up here you have never received Jesus Christ a savior oh this is going to be a good day for you because the multiplication starts with intimacy you got to be in relationship with Jesus Christ if you are in this room you have never placed faith in Jesus I don't mean you were in the choir growing up I mean you made your own decision to receive Jesus Christ as your savior if you can't put your finger on the time and the holy spirit's convicting you feel a burning in your heart right now that's because it's you if that's you would you please just lift your hand if you're in this room anywhere throughout this room would you please lift your hand this is the opportunity for us to pray together for you to receive Jesus Christ as Savior anybody come on y'all raise your hand if it's you yes ma'am I see you I see you it's okay it's okay I see you who else anybody else even in the balcony raise your hand yes ma'am I see you I see you anybody else come on y'all anybody up here at the front just wave at me if I don't see you yes I see you in the back anybody else ma'am I see you anybody else I got about 10 seconds or so come on y'all anybody need to receive Jesus do not leave here without knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are on your way to heaven I'm gonna pray I'm going to pray and I'm going to ask the Lord that he would enter into the lives of those people who have raised their hands or even if you didn't you pray this prayer with me and you will be a part of the family of God he has done all of the hard work for you he did all the heavy lifting he's giving you a gift all you have to do is receive it y'all can we pray this all together actually so that we can build an atmosphere of faith for those who are praying it for the very first time let's pray together Lord Jesus I am a sinner in need of a savior and I believe that you are that savior so today I place faith alone in Christ alone to remove my sins take up residence in me in the person of the Holy Spirit right now in Jesus name in Jesus name Come On Everybody celebrate today ((music playing)) I love you so much ((music playing)) ((applause)) Hallelujah who feels a refreshing coming on you tonight ((applause)) praise the Lord Give the Lord a shout of thanks for your refreshment you're going back to your seats recognizing you've got some things in your hands that God's going to use hallelujah praise the Lord excellent amen praise the Lord thank the Lord for Priscilla Shia sharing the word of life