Message Notes
Bring What You Have
8/15/2026
John 6:2-7: A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do. Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”
You can embrace the pain, embrace the struggle, embrace the suffering, and start asking, “God, what are you trying to teach me or grow in me through this testing?”
You’re either in a storm in life right now, coming out of a storm, or headed into a storm at all times in life.
“Every single one of the struggles is like a test of your faith.”
John 6:9: “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”
Andrew looks at this boy’s meager offering and says what we’re all thinking, “What’s the point?”
John 6:10: “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.)
“There is no such thing as retroactive obedience, you cannot go back in time and re-write the sinful decisions of the past, but the way to honor God is to pursue obedience now and moving forward.”
Because Jesus tests our faith…but he expects our obedience even when our faith comes up short!
“You will never be more miserable than you will if you continue to live this lie…knowing full well what obedience to God looks like.”
John 6:11-13: Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.
Jesus did what only Jesus can do… “Jesus takes a little offering and turns into more than enough.”
John 6:14-15: When the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!” When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself.