Sunday, March 4th at 10AM

This is the second time this has happened.  How remarkable is it that once again a multitude is with Jesus, but nobody has brought food … and how much more remarkable the reaction of the disciples? How could they have not learned from the first time when Jesus fed the thousands with a few loaves of bread and a few fish? Were they just that dense? Or could it be that they thought they had it all figured out? It was probably a combination of those things. And we should be honest with ourselves. We cannot point fingers at the disciples without a few pointing back at us. Each of us has moments where we choose to rely on what we can understand and our understanding of a situation is usually based on our own abilities.

My wife handed me a jar of pickles that she wanted open. I wanted to prove my manhood by cracking that jar open with one quick twist of the lid. It didn’t happen that way.  In fact, after a few minutes of red-faced straining, I gave up and declared, “This jar will never open. It’s impossible.” Was that true? Of course not. Someone bigger and buffer, could have opened that jar.

Maybe an illustration using a jar of pickles falls short, but the point is this … those life situations where you feel it would take a miracle? It’s a good thing our God is bigger … right on?

Philippians 4:13 (NLT) For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

It’s so hard for us to, as the saying goes, “Let go and let God.” But the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Faith is like a muscle that becomes stronger the more you exercise it. The first time you take a step of faith, you might look over your shoulder and expect it all to crash. But God proves Himself strong. The next time you take a step of faith your not as tentative about it. Finally, after many times, it’s second nature.

I think of Moses and the first time he threw down his rod and it became a serpent. I’m sure he was thinking, okay God, I’m going to look pretty stupid here if You don’t make this happen. Then over and over he went before the Pharaoh talking about – not plagues that God had sent – but plagues that God would send. Those steps of faith finally culminated with Israel trapped between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army.

That’s when Moses said to the congregation of Israel:

Exodus 14:13 (NKJV) “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.

And God divided that sea so that Israel crossed on dry ground, but when Pharaoh and his armies pursued them, the sea fell in and destroyed them.

Over and over God had proven Himself faithful and so Moses had the faith to claim that God would do the impossible. But what if Moses had given in to his own understanding of how things work? Everyone knows that seas don’t divide themselves. Yet God works outside of what we consider possible and impossible … He’s not contained or constrained by the boundaries we set. Had Moses allowed his own understanding of how things work to trump what God told Him would happen, things would have turned out much differently. In our current study of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus has been doing a lot with the faith of people.

The thing is that if we think we have it all figured out, then when Jesus wants to stretch our faith … we’ll probably shrug it off and walk away. Remain teachable.

In the latter days of his life, Michelangelo scribbled this phrase into the margin of one of his drawings … Ancora Imparo, which means “I am still learning.” As creative and skillful as this man was, his art was so masterful because he remained open to learning.

There are Christians out there who have convinced themselves that they know how everything works, and they are not growing because their faith in what they understand and not what God can do. The inability to be taught or refusal to learn will become a weight that will drag you down and frustrate your Christian walk.

Remain teachable.

Over and over again, we are told that the plagues were not only in the land but were also in their homes. What happens when we turn away from God over and over again? Our houses become filled with plagues.

We are responsible for what comes in and out of our homes. Sometimes we might make some compromises. Maybe the kids are persistent and it’s just easier to give in to them. I know how it is … sometimes we like to give in to the desires of our kids … spoil them a little. Kids can be persistent …

The world is persistent, too. So is Satan. The lives of our kids are at stake and we must show ourselves strong as leaders within the home. Because whatever we allow into our homes is effecting the destination of our children. I remember reading a story about an old man that died in the Massachusetts State Prison. He was 76 years old when he died, and had spent the last 8 years of his life in a gloomy cell. His wife had also been a prisoner there for years, and so had his daughter, and his seven sons. 

We have a choice about what we fill our homes with … Frogs, lice, locusts … idolatry and the love of the world. Or God. When we value the things of the world above the things of the Lord our homes will be filled with plagues.

The world is already filled with plagues. Don’t open your house to those things.

What did this Lady mean by calling Jesus, “Lord, Son of David?” Well, she was declaring that He was the Messiah. Many teachers protest that because she was not Jewish, she had no right to approach Jesus based on His being the Messiah. It’s said that’s the reason Jesus didn’t initially respond to her cry. But wait, Jesus has come all the way from the Sea of Galilee to Phoenicia not for some time alone, but, I believe, because of this syro-phonecian woman. That would mean that He’s already responded to her cry. So, why does Jesus seemingly ignore her and push against her request? He’s stretching her faith. Faith is a lot like taffy … the more you stretch it, the more you get.

This is the second time in the book of Matthew that someone called Jesus the Son of David, but only the first time that it was used as a declaration of faith. The first time was in chapter 12 when the crowd questioned whether He could be the Messiah. They were reacting to His healing of a demon possessed man …

Matthew 12:23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” NKJV

Let me point something out to you. In chapter 12, the Jewish crowd questioned whether Jesus was the Messiah after seeing the healing. Here, in the middle of chapter 15, a Gentile woman proclaims Jesus as the Messiah … but she does so before the healing.

Does faith come before or after the miracle? I guess it can come on either side, but I would say that faith that comes before the miracle is much more stable than faith that comes after the miracle. The danger is that we begin to chase miracles. Israel would do that, becoming hungry for the miracles but missing the Messiah.

Today, people do the same thing. From a picture of Mary on their post toasties to Jesus in the potato chip to weeping statues it all becomes a very weak bridge to the next big thing … chasing after stuff … seeking out the spectacle. Some people witness a miracle and then spend their whole life chasing the miracles but missing Jesus and as soon as the spectacle is over, so is their faith.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ time had set aside their love of God for love of traditions. They were offended that Jesus would not regard their traditions to be as important as God’s commandments. Today, we can get awfully offended when other Christians don’t do the same things we do or adhere to the same traditions we do. Oh, yeah, we’ve all got our share of traditions … even at Calvary Chapel … The church that pioneered expositional (verse by verse) teaching as well as casual dress and contemporary worship. Calvary Chapel is not the answer. Jesus is the answer. I want to make sure we don’t get confused because we can start worshipping the church rather than worshipping God.

John 11:25 (NKJV) Jesus said to her,  “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

Teaching the Bible verse by verse, line upon line is very important to me. Calvary Chapel is very important to me. But Jesus, is most important to me and I want to make sure He is most important to you, too.

That’s why I teach verse by verse.

I find it interesting that over and again Moses and Aaron are able to gain access to Pharaoh. The Talmud records that even though the palace was well guarded, Moses and Aaron always were able to gain access. In fact, it goes so far as to suggest that this was not just access to Pharaoh in his courts but in his private chambers and there wasn’t anything the Pharaoh could do to prevent it.

Don’t grow discouraged if someone you have been sharing Jesus with keeps rejecting Him. Commit to reach out as long as God moves you to do so and commit to continue in prayer for that person. God is able to do amazing and miraculous things to reach people who seem to have their hearts shut off from Him.

2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV) The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

We know from the gospel of Matthew that Peter stepped into the boat out of the water with Jesus. Why? Because Jesus had invited Peter to meet Him out on the water. Peter had only a little faith, but it was enough to walk on water into the arms of Jesus.

Both Jesus and Peter stepped into the boat. Who was waiting for them there? Those who didn’t take the chance.  They watched the miracle from the shelter of the ship. Peter, however, he got to walk on water. He went for it and although it was but for a short time, he walked on the water.  But perhaps greatest of all, He found Himself in the grip of Jesus.

What became of Peter’s venture in faith? I mean, it was a failure, right? Wrong. Scripture says that those who remained in the boat but witnessed Peter and Jesus on the water worshipped Jesus.

Be a faith adventurer! Follow Jesus. Believers who never step out in faith don’t lead people to Jesus. They only watch as others do.

Peter could have stayed in the boat and claimed to have had faith. Instead, Peter stepped outside the boat and proved that he had faith. Peter took a step of faith and the power of God was revealed to all who remained in the boat. When we play it safe, we don’t show anyone Jesus. When we take steps of faith, we place people’s eyes on Jesus. Are you content to just stand in the crowd or are you willing to step out and point up?

I think when we read the scriptures we sometimes make assumptions. One of those assumptions might be that the gospels are  just a series of stories about the life of Jesus. But God has given something really awesome in the four gospels. We have a very complete, very detailed record of the life of Jesus from the beginning of His ministry to His ascension into heaven. We see here in Mark 6, verses 30-31 that Jesus and His disciples were very busy … so much so, in fact, that they hadn’t had time to even eat.

You know what this means? It means that Jesus and His disciples put other people ahead of themselves. It’s not something we see much of these days. In fact, much of what is deemed Christian literature and much of what comes from the pulpit these days is rooted in the idea of self … self-esteem, self reliance, self help. Self Help books have no business mixed up in Christian Literature. The answer is not us and never has been us. The answer is and will always be Jesus and the model Jesus gave us in His earthly ministry was one of self denial.

Philippians 2:3 (NKJV) Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

You know, it’s funny how when we talk about things like tithing or serving … things that teach us to put others before ourselves, we can turn it around by asking the question, “What will God give us if we do that?” God knows that we are motivated by rewards and so He tells us we will have rewards in heaven. Yet the mindset of, “Lord, if I do this, what’s in it for me?” in regards to earthly advancement and gain is so pervasive among Christians today. God does tell us in Malachi 3 to test Him in our giving … see if we can out give Him. We can’t. But let’s challenge ourselves to get beyond any “what’s in it for me” self seeking and be Kingdom minded instead.  Rewards in Heaven are ours … no doubt about it. So, why are we concerned about what we have on earth?

Luke 6:38 (NKJV) Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Even God’s promise of out-giving our giving calls us to others minded instead of self seeking. Once we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, life should no longer be about what we want. Instead, it should be about our concern for what others lack.

Jesus looked at the multitudes and had compassion for them … even though He and His disciples were hungry, what mattered the most to Him was seeing that the multitude was filled. Compassion is seeing others not for what they don’t have but for Who they need.

Jesus would have been very well known by the whole community of Nazareth, the place He grew up, and later, the same community that tried to throw Him off that cliff when He announced Himself as the Messiah. They said, “wait, isn’t this the kid that played games with our kids?” “Wasn’t this the carpenter from next door?” You know, the same thing happened to many of the prophets God sent to Israel. They didn’t look like the people God would use to deliver a message.

God has a way of using those things and those people that stretch our faith in order to deliver His messages. Perhaps that person is a combat boots, jeans wearing pastor or maybe it’s a friend, a coworker, your children or even your spouse. Maybe it’s a total stranger. The point is, don’t allow your opinions to get in the way of hearing from God. The people of Nazareth chose their own opinions over Jesus, and they missed out.