READ | SERMON NOTES
Summary l What happens when biblical stewardship is observed? God can work through people who trust in him. Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle recorded in all the four gospels. After hearing of the execution of John the Baptist, Jesus withdrew to a solitary place. Jesus had faced rejection in his hometown, but large crowds of people continued to follow him. When Jesus saw the large crowd gathered, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
In human stewardship, the approach to dealing with the problem of a large hungry crowd, in a remote location, was to dismiss them to find food in nearby villages. This would have been practical and, after all, it was the crowd’s responsibility to find food. However, Jesus’ approach to stewardship is radically different. Jesus placed the responsibility of this challenge on the disciples and instructed the disciples to give them something to eat! The disciples protested that they only had five small barley loaves and two small fish, but these meagre resources were used miraculously.
Biblical Stewardship
A key principle is to get our stewardship perspectives right, otherwise our service will lead to discontentment and even burn out. The perspective of biblical stewardship is that, ultimately, the ownership of all problems lay with God, but we as disciples need to take responsibility. When we take responsibility, the reward is a transformation. Jesus gave thanks, broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, for them to give to the people. God owns everything, and we need to partner God in faith and obedience. When God owns our family, work, time, finances and service; and when we serve God in obedience, steward according to Godly principles and in Christian love, we will experience miracles and transformation. That’s how it works.
M.O.S.T.
Jesus taught his disciples about how God expects stewardship to be:
Make God the owner of your resources (v16)
Obey God’s call as a responsible disciple (v17)
Submit our resources to God (v18)
Trust God for transformation and rewards (v19)
God used the boy’s small loaves of bread and two small fishes to miraculously feed the multitudes. We too may think that our resources and talents are too small for God to use, but the problem is not the smallness of the resources, but our perspective of God. We must not forget who God is and God can do. When we surrender our five loaves and two fishes to God, we will experience miracles and transformation. God always uses people who surrender and trust in God to bring about miracles and transformation. It is through obedient hearts that Jesus multiplies our modest gifts and talents to bless the nations.
(Sermon notes by Denis Koh)
PONDER | REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- Recall a time/incident where you would agree that it was a genuine need, but you walked away cos you felt helpless / unable to meet that need. How did you feel before and after walking away? Reflecting back on that incident, how would you have made that possible?
- Read Matthew 14:13-15 – Would you agree or disagree with the disciples about this request? Describe if this is similar with your situation in question 1.
- Read Matthew 14:16 – How do you think the disciples felt when Jesus told them so. Describe how you felt if you were one of the disciples.
- Read Mark 14:17 and then the same account in Mark 6:37 and John 6:8-10. How is this response similar to your response in Q1? Did you feel conviction to do so? What are the issues raised – faith? Money? Time? Resources? Trust? Willing hearts?
- Read Matthew 14:18-21 – Put yourself into the shoes of the disciples, describe what you would have witnessed and how you felt. What’s the difference between how Jesus saw the situation differing from the disciples? What do you think Jesus is trying to teach His disciples here, especially about stewardship?
- Read John 6:8 and reflect on the boy with 5 loaves & 2 small fish. What do you think he learnt about Stewardship that day?
- Biblical Stewardship involves a few key steps found in Matt 14:16-19. Can you work out what are they? (See sermon – MOST) How does this process differ from modern viewpoints of stewardship.
- Which areas of your life (your 5 loaves & 2 small fish)- time, finance, resources, service, outreach, mission is God asking you to exercise Biblical Stewardship? What “Kingdom need” is God speaking to you about – for you to exercise your faith of in? How can you respond like the small boy?
- Commit your responses to God in prayer and go do it!
