Pray: To open your time together.
Read: John 6:1-14
Consider: Some thoughts for your group
A young boy with his loaves and fishes set the stage for one of Jesus greatest miracles: taking a little and making much. Jesus uses the young boy’s meager meal to feed a crowd of thousands, and in the process challenge His disciples to have faith for all that God can do with the smallest offering.
As we have discussed often in this teaching series, the heroes who often get our attention in the bible are revered as mighty people of faith, courage, and determination. In this story, our young hero is not really any of those things, but instead is a model of giving God what we have (great or small) and trusting in God’s ability to multiply our offering into great things.
Pastor Evan said on Sunday, “Maybe because he was too young to know better, maybe because he hadn’t experienced the loss of hope. This boy believed his offering might just make a difference. To give up your lunch and risk hunger is no small thing. In the uncertainty, the boy chooses generosity. That’s the sign that hope is alive, that cynicism hasn’t taken over and it’s also the way to set the stage for a miracle: Respond to uncertainty with generosity.”
Group Questions:
- Put yourselves in the shoes of the young boy. What would it be like to have Jesus asks for your meal to give to others? How do you think you would respond?
- Put yourselves in the shoes of the disciples. How would you respond to Jesus saying to share a small meal with thousands of people? What must it have been like to see all those people fed and still food left over?
- What might God be asking of you? Do you have a sense for any part of your life that God is calling toward generosity?
Closing Prayer:
Spend some time praying for one another. Ask if anyone has prayer requests for the week ahead and pray for a strengthening of faith, even amid uncertainty.