Jesus is the One

Pastor Mike speaking on Jesus is the One. He will be in John 6:1-15

I’m not asking you to be faithful to church because there’s nothing else to do or it’s just a ritual in your life. I’m asking you to be faithful in church because it sustains your spiritual life and that you would recognize that that bread that you receive corporately as a family and personally as you read your Bible and as you pray to Jesus Christ every day, that that bread has a sustaining effect upon you and continues to meet your life.

Jesus satisfies every desire in your heart. There is no problem that is too big for you to solve. There is no problem that is bigger than our God. This is Pastor Mike Sanders with Hope Worth Having. What an amazing statement when you think about it, that our God is such an awesome God that nothing is impossible with Him and that His plan is perfect and His will is the right way.

And so we encourage you to join us as we continue our study in John chapter 6, verses 1 -15. Jesus is the one who solves our problems. He is the one who satisfies our hearts. And we encourage you to join us as we’re learning about this great story where Jesus was in the midst of 5 ,000 hungry people and He fed them, multiplied the bread and provided in a miraculous way.

I don’t know what your desires are. I don’t know what your needs are. But I promise you this, God is going to provide. Let’s get our Bible. Let’s get into John chapter 6 and let’s learn together. And so they saw this happening.

They saw it all coming together and they warned Jesus. Jesus, it’s going to be too late to travel. You better or let them go because we’re gonna be stuck with trying to solve this problem. Now you’ll notice in your text that Philip, Philip is an interesting character in the Bible.

I like to call him the CPA of the disciples. Have you ever met a CPA? Have you ever met an accountant or a bookkeeper? I mean, it’s all about nickels and noses, right? And you know, they don’t see anything but what the numbers say.

And I’m not mad at you CPA because we need you, okay? I’m all in with you. But that’s kind of how Philip was. He was an accountant, if you will. And he said this, he’s like in verse five, when shall we buy bread that these may eat?

I mean, that’s what Jesus said to him. And he looked at him and he said, verse seven, he looked at the bank account and he said, hey, all we have is. 200 penny worth of bread, it’s not sufficient for them.

Simply what he was saying is that we only have about eight months worth of what an average person would make and he said this is not enough to pay for all the bread that we could need to feed these people that would certainly be more than 5 ,000.

So Philip is looking at the books, he is trying to figure out what’s going on and he’s trying to understand how are we going to meet this problem because there is not enough money. Have you ever come to a point in your life that when you looked at your budget and you looked at the need you said this is not going to work?

Yes we all have haven’t we? And sometimes we wonder how in the world is God going to meet this need? How are we going to pay those bills? I can remember when Terry and I were young and we just had Austin our oldest son with us and we lived and I was going to Bible college and working and she was doing everything she could do and taking care of Austin and working and here we were we couldn’t meet all the needs and one of the greatest things her parents ever did for us is not to pay our bills.

I know that just sent tremors through all young couples but let me tell you something parents don’t pay your kids as bills. You know what we learned to do? Terry and I learned to get into our living room we turned our couch into an altar and we prayed and we prayed that God would help us meet the need and we prayed that God would supply and friends over and over time he supplied sometimes it was Mike had to work over time sometimes God provided a gift sometimes God helped something to work out sometimes the insurance company made a check a mistake and sent us a check I don’t know but God was always providing and this is one thing I’ve learned is is that our deficiency is no crisis for Jesus’ adequacy,

and that he can meet every need in my life. And I want you to know this, that God is practical when it comes to providing. You know, we sometimes say, I don’t wanna bother God, but you know that he cares.

He cares about what you’re gonna eat. He cares about the details of your life. He cares about the practical things in your life. And you can bring those practical needs to Jesus Christ. You can bring them to him.

And it doesn’t matter how big the problem is, it doesn’t matter how small the problem is, Jesus Christ can meet that need. I remember when I was a young boy that I had borrowed the neighbor’s shovel.

I don’t know what I was doing, but I just borrowed it, and then I lost it. I lost the shovel. And I prayed. It was like I was just a young, new Christian. just got saved but my pastor told me to pray and I prayed and I said, God, help me find this shovel.

I don’t know what happened. How did I lose a shovel? Who knows, man? Who knows? I’m not even sure where my socks are. But who knows? I lost my shovel. This shovel that I borrowed and so I went out after praying and it was one of the first experiences in my life where God answered prayer and there was the shovel on the front porch.

Hallelujah, God met my need. I don’t know. Maybe somebody saw it, picked it up and brought it over there. Maybe the person stole it and felt guilty. God put a great burden on them and they brought it back.

Who knows what happened but I’m telling you that was a great sense of relief in my life as a young boy and all I’m trying to say to you is that there is not anything that you can’t bring to God. Little or big, you can bring it all to God and many people sometimes are afraid to come to God with their problems but there is no problem that is too big or too small that God cannot solve in your life.

Now I want you to notice another guy. Not only do we see Philip here, he’s looking at the finances and he’s trying to say there’s no way we can do this. It’s not gonna happen but then I want you to notice Andrew, verse eight, one of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, there is a lad here which has five barley loaves and two small fishes but what are they among so many?

He’s like I don’t know what the answer is but here’s a little boy, he’s got a lunch, he’s got a lunch, he’s got a lunch. And see I like people who are at least trying to come up with a solution, aren’t you?

I mean sometimes have you ever been in a situation where people just bring one problem to you after another and they never ever ever try to help with the solution. And I think it’s important that we remember that our goal is not to.

to focus on our problems, but to focus on the power of God. What could God do with this little lunch? What could God do with what little I have? What could God do with my life? See, if you get your eyes on the problems, you’re gonna get scared, you’re gonna be afraid, and you’re gonna be paralyzed, and you’re not gonna be able to move forward for God.

I remember as I studied the scriptures in the book of Exodus, how they were planning to cross over the Caddis Barnia into the Promised Land, and they sent out the spies, and the spies came back, and 10 of them said, hey, it’s awesome, we gotta go.

It’s unbelievable what God’s given to us. I mean, I’m sorry, 10 of them said we can’t do it, and two of them said we can, and it’s awesome what God has provided. And the 10 looked at how big the grasshoppers were, and the 10 looked at all the problems, and all the reasons why we can’t, and two of them said Joshua and Caleb.

They said we can do this because. God has already given us a promise. And I wonder, who are you? Are you one of those people every time that somebody has a new plan, a new idea, that you’ve got 10 reasons why it won’t work?

You’ve got all the reasons why this is going to collapse? I remember when we started building our fellowship hall, how many people came to me and said it won’t work. I remember how some families were mad, and they left and they said, no, it’ll never work.

And today we have a fellowship hall. Hey man, God is awesome. He provides, there is no problem too big to solve. And I love what Corrie 10 Boom said. She said, there is no panic in heaven, only plans.

So why are you panicking? You got a problem in your life? It might be in your family, your marriage, your children. Might be your health. It might be your job. Some of you are really worried about your job situation.

Some of you are very concerned about your finances. I wanna remind you that our God is a great and mighty God. And I want you to get your eyes off of your problem. And I want you to get them on the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I want you to have hope in your heart. And I want it to be rooted in your relationship with Jesus Christ. And I want you to know that there’s no problem that is too big to solve in your life. I’m reminded of the story of a little boy who was trying to turn over a big rock.

His father was watching him and the little guy, he was grunting and straining and he was trying to turn over the rock. And his dad asked him with a smile, son, are you gonna use all your strength to get that rock over?

He said, daddy, I’m already using all my strength to move this rock. And his father said, no, you’re not son. You haven’t asked me to help you. And I thought about, you know what? How true that is. You’re trying to solve…

your problems with your own strength and I know you’re using all your strength and I know you’re using all your wisdom but when’s the last time you got on your knees and said God would you help us God would you help us to deal with this situation to deal with this problem it’s the same thing with what’s going on down in Florida nobody’s looking to Jesus nobody’s crying out to God in the sense I’m talking about in general sense of what I’m seeing on church on the media and if we would just turn to God he can bring answers he can bring solutions he can help us move the big rocks in our life he can help us deal with the problems that we face he can give us the wisdom and the insight to help us navigate through these particular situations that we find ourselves in he can help us overcome those difficult people in our life those relationships that are draining us those people in our life that are trying to hurt us Jesus Christ is the answer,

and there is no problem that is too big to solve in your life. Listen to the promise of Jeremiah the prophet. Jeremiah 32, 17 says, Ah, Lord God, behold, you have made the heavens and the earth, and by your great power and outstretched arm, there is nothing too hard for you.

Do you believe that? If you believe that, I need you to live it out there every day. I need you to act upon it every day in your life when you encounter a problem. I want you to turn to Jesus for your satisfaction.

I want you to turn to Him, and some of you are saying, well, I tried that, Mike, and I went forward, and I prayed, and I went back, and nothing changed in my life. Have you ever thought that maybe God was testing you to see if your faith was real?

Did you go back to verse 5? Remember what he said unto Philip? He said, When shall we buy bread that these may eat? And verse 6 said, This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Jesus already knew what he was going to do, but he was testing Philip.

And some of you, you’re so emotional that when you don’t see immediate results, you give up. And what I need for you to do is to build your faith, not on your feelings, but on the promises and the truth of God’s Word.

And to stand on that promise, and to hold true to that promise, somehow, some way, God is going to meet the need. Somehow, some way, God is going to intervene. somehow, some way, but God is testing me, God is proving me, God is refining me, and God is doing a work in my heart, why?

Because he wants me to be a person of faith. And that’s what Philip had to learn, is that sometimes all the evidence proves just the opposite. Sometimes the finances aren’t there, but God has a plan, and He already knows what He’s gonna do, and He wants us to rely upon Him.

The second thing I want you to learn this morning is that there is no person who is too small that God cannot use. And so we’re introduced again to Andrew, in verses eight through 10, and this little boy.

And what is so amazing and wonderful is that I just love how Andrew is trying to find solutions. He’s trying to figure it out. And all he offers, he said, here’s this little boy. I don’t know. Here’s his little lunch.

I don’t know if this is enough, but here it is, Jesus. Philip goes to the books and says, there’s not enough money. Send him home. The disciples are like, Jesus, we can’t do this. Let him get home before it gets too dark.

But Andrew says, hey, here’s a little boy with his lunch. Here’s a little boy with his lunch. Are you always fretting over your problems instead of praying about your problems? You see, I want to teach you a great truth in your life.

I want you to take all your problems, and I want you to create a problem list. I just want you to do that, a worry list, whatever you want to call it, and just write them all down. And when you write them all down, I want you to go back to the top of your paper, and I want you to mark out problem list or worry list, and I want you to put prayer list.

And then I want you to start praying for every one of those problems that you wrote down. And then I want you to go back up top, and I want you to mark out prayer list, and I want you to put praise list.

Because I want you to watch God meet the need of every one of your prayer requests. I recently shared with someone that I got three big prayer requests. I can’t tell you, but I got three big prayer requests, and they said, how’s it going?

And I said, well, two of them have already been met, and I’ll know the next one here next week. I got three prayer requests, three problems that became prayer in my heart. And then now, two of them are already praised.

God already answered them. God already took care of it, because I went to him, and I said, Lord, I need your help. And now I’m just waiting for you. for the third one, the third one. Are you doing that?

Are you taking your problems and turning them into prayer? And then are you turning them into praises? Because you see friends, our solutions are rooted in Christ and our prayer time with the Lord. This is how God has chosen to work.

And you may be against prayer, but prayer is the most powerful ministry at the Open Door Church. It’s the most powerful ministry in your personal life. And God works through prayer. He has chosen to work through prayer.

And I want to challenge you to become people of great faith through prayer. Now here’s this little boy. And he gives Jesus his lunch. And you know the story, Jesus takes the lunch, he prays, he gives thanks to God for this lunch, and then he multiplies it.

And here’s what I want you to know, that Jesus uses people to solve problems. Did you know that? I know you’re waiting for the skies to split. And I know you’re waiting for that person that annoys you.

You’re waiting for an earthquake to swallow them up. But that’s not how God works. Oh, not that God can’t, okay? But let me tell you something. God uses people to solve problems. He used a baby’s cry to move the heart of Pharaoh’s daughter.

He used a shepherd’s staff to work mighty miracles in Egypt. He used a boy and his slingshot to slay a giant. He used a widow to sustain the prophet Elijah. And God uses people, and he specializes in using little people to do great things.

And you might think, man, all I got is this. My life is insignificant. But there is no person who is too small that God cannot use in their life. How many times have you and I said, out of the mouth of babes, and here your child reminds you that you need to get right with God?

Your child reminds you you need to get back in church. Your child reminds you you need to keep your perspective. Because you know what? That’s how God does. He uses even little children to get our attention, doesn’t he?

And we need to be alert to those things. We need to realize that God is doing a powerful work through our children to even speak great truth into our life. Now, we live in a world where bigger is better, don’t we?

I mean, you think about Walmart has a super center, and now McDonald’s, they’ll super size your meal. And I saw the other day that you… You can get a junior Big Mac, you can get a regular Big Mac, and you can get a super -sized Big Mac.

I mean, I’m just like, why weren’t those things around when I was skinny and younger, and I could handle it? Buddy, the Big Mac takes me down. I had to give up the Big Mac. And then I heard they’re getting rid of their little cheeseburger.

And that’s all I needed. I just need the cheeseburger. But we want things that are bigger, but God says, I just want the little things in your life. I just want to use a few loaves of bread and fishes in your life.

I just want to take the little things in your life and use them for my glory. Don’t underestimate the power of small things in your life. What I want to encourage you this morning to do is to give everything to Christ, to give your whole life to Jesus.

Jesus said, for whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel will save it. Have you surrendered your heart to Christ? Because I am convinced that when we are faithful to God, that he can take anything in our life and our life and he can do great things for his glory.

If it is fully surrendered to him. So there are two questions you need to write down. If you’re a note taker, write these two questions down. Because if you want God to use your life like this little boy, I think you have to answer two questions.

Number one, what do I have? What do I have and what am I doing with it? What do I have and what am I doing with it? When you evaluate or take inventory of your life, what do you have? You have time, you have talents, you have resources that God’s blessed you with, you have abilities, you have, if you’re a believer, you have spiritual gifts that God has given you.

And the question is, what are you doing with those things that God has given to you? Everything that you have is to be used of God. I hate to keep telling you these stories of Mike in Bible College, but I remember when I got my second vehicle, I got my first vehicle when I turned 18 and my mother worked so hard to get me a little truck.

And I had that truck and I can see it’s a nice blue truck. And anyways, but when I left, I couldn’t take it with me because that truck could barely make it across town. Okay, much less going from Oklahoma to Raleigh, North Carolina.

And so when I got to Bible college, I had to get a job and I had to get a car. And I said, Lord, if you’ll give me a car, I’ll use it for you. I’ll use it for you. But you know what? I did it. I used it for Mike.

And I crashed that car. I crashed it. I’m OK. Don’t worry. I ran over a guy’s mailbox and the guy was horrified. And just to even tell you more details that the policeman came and he’s like, do you know your license is expired?

And so then I gave him the sad story of being a college student. And so anyways, but you know what? God reminded me immediately, immediately I remembered. I said, I gave this car to God and I haven’t been using it for him.

I’ve been using it for self. And so what I’m saying to you is this. What do you have, whatever it is, and what are you doing with it? What are you doing with what you have to use it for God? Because God always starts with what I have.

He starts with what I have when he wants to do a miracle. And some of you have time on your hands, and some of you have some skills on your hands, and some of you have some great wisdom on your hands.

What are you doing with it? God wants to stretch your faith. He wants to stretch your faith. And some of you are saying, well, I don’t know how to. That’s why I keep telling you, go through the next step classes, we’ll get you engaged, and if you still feel like we’re failing you, then you keep screaming, hollering, kicking until we get you involved.

Because when we give Jesus everything, He will use it to meet not only our needs, but the needs of others. Because little is much when God is in it. Whenever I give to God, what I’ve learned through the years is that He always gets more back to Mike.

And so some of you are waiting. You’re waiting for God to do this, and you’re waiting for God to do that. And here’s what you need to do. You need to say, Lord, here I am. I surrender my life to you.

And I’m gonna use what I have for you. I’m gonna use what I have for you. It may be not, maybe it’s not much, but it’s something I’m gonna do. Now my final point, I’m gonna just fast track it, is there is no hunger that is too deep to satisfy in your life.

We read this story, and they’re picking up fragments, but the Bible says they… were filled. They were filled. They were filled. Remember what Jesus told the woman at the well? You keep drinking from this water, you’re gonna keep getting thirsty.

And it’s the same principle is that if you keep drinking or eating from the world’s bread, you will always be hungry. But when you eat from the bread of life, Jesus Christ, He will fulfill every hunger in your heart.

And what I’m challenging you to do is to recognize that Jesus is the spiritual bread that you need. He is the supernatural bread. He is the satisfying bread. And He is the sustaining bread in your life.

And that’s why church, you cannot, you cannot just say I made a decision for Christ and I’m done. But you must recognize that you need to keep coming to Christ. He is the bread of life. and He is the one who fills you and sustains you and feeds you and nurtures you and pours out grace upon you and you must keep coming to the well and you must keep coming to the Lord’s table and you must keep coming to the house of Christ and you must continue to eat from the bread of life that you might be satisfied.

Why? Because out there you’re going to be hungry. I’m not asking you to be faithful to church because there’s nothing else to do or it’s just a ritual in your life. I’m asking you to be faithful in church because it sustains your spiritual life and that you would recognize that that bread that you receive corporately as a family and personally as you read your Bible and as you pray to Jesus Christ every day that that bread has a sustaining effect upon you and continues to meet your life.

Jesus satisfies every desire in your heart. Our God is a great and mighty God, isn’t He? And when we witness and we see one of these great miracles unfold before us that we read about in the scriptures, certainly our hearts are filled with faith and we are inspired to trust the Lord more and this is what we hope that as you and I are studying the word of God together that you and I can be drawn to Him and that we can be more determined to trust Him knowing that somehow some way God will make a way and so we believe that God satisfies the heart.

He satisfies the hungry heart and wherever you’re at and whatever you’re going through in your life remember that Jesus is the answer. He is the one who washes away our sin. He is the one who brings forgiveness in our life.

He is the one that’s sets our feet on a solid rock. And so pray today and acknowledge that you’re a sinner to God and be open to receiving Him into your heart and asking Him to change your life and to be the Lord of your life.

Friends, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And I pray that that is true in your life today and that you will make that effort to reach out to us and let us know that God is working mightily in your life.

We encourage you to go and check out our YouTube channel. We have a YouTube channel where we have more of our sermons and more interviews and more things about our ministry. And we want you to access all this.

If you’ll go to the YouTube channel or YouTube website and just type in, hope worth having, it’ll pop up our channel, become a subscriber and take advantage of all the opportunities that we have there.

And I know your faith will be enriched and you will continue to grow. in your faith as a believer in Jesus Christ. Well, this is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ there is hope worth having.