Bible Text: Luke 9:10-17 | Preacher: Pastor Steve | Series: Stewardship
Do we TRUST God to provide the resources, solution, answer to the problems of our life?
Everything we have comes from the Lord and is owned by the Lord!
Luke 9:12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.
Luke 9:13 But He said to them, you give them something to eat…
John 6:9 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, there is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?
If we offer nothing to God, if we do not give then He has nothing to work with and therefore He cannot bless us.
What is amazing is that the Lord can take the little we have and turn it into something amazing!
…Then He said to His disciples, make them sit down in groups of fifty…
Luke 9:15 And they did so, and made them all sit down…
Luke 9:16 Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.
2 Kings 4:42-44
Can you see the faith required by the disciples?
The bread did not miraculously multiply in the baskets BEFORE they handed out the bread; they multiplied as they GAVE the loaves away;
…blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude
We make the mistake by waiting for multiplication BEFORE we give and the Lord is saying to us that multiplication will happen AFTER we give!
Jesus blessed them
Jesus broke them
Jesus gave them
and the disciples gave away to the multitude
 
Commit our resource(s) to Jesus
Wait for Him to bless it
Then He gives it back so we can
Give it away!
Remember there will always be more than enough of whatever the Lord blesses
Luke 9:17 So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.
If we give our time, talent and treasures to the Lord, first, He will bless them, break them, He will give them back to us so we can give them away and have the joy of watching them multiply.
In God’s economy He doesn’t just add (+) blessings; He multiplies (X) His blessings.
We will not see our time, talent or finances multiply until we give them away.
Remember that the miracle happened when the resources were being given away
In Luke there are 12 baskets left over and in Mark there are 7 baskets left over.
Jesus communicated to the people of His time that He has come for the 12 tribes of Israel and the 7 Gentile nations
Luke 2:32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel.
Mark 8:5-10
God is asking us to trust Him, to have faith in Him and give it away.
If the disciples had not given to the Lord first, then it would not have been blessed.
If they had just eaten it and not given it away, then it would have not multiplied
Luke 12:16-21
We have a choice, to keep God’s entire blessing or give it away so it can multiply.
We need to give to the Lord
We need to trust in the Lord
We need to have faith in the Lord