Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. – Matthew 14:16-17
Sitting on the hillside by Tabgha, the traditional site of the feeding of the 5000, I was struck by how ordinary it looked. It didn’t seem like the kind of place to have the only miracle to appear in all four gospels (aside from the resurrection). There is a church there again, built over the site of one destroyed in 614 AD. The modern church preserves the remains of the ancient church’s mosaic of five loaves and two fish. It was all the food the disciples had available, so they wanted to send the crowd away. Instead, Jesus invited everyone to be seated for dinner, and he fed the multitude. What a powerful savior we have.
Jesus is still doing amazing things in ordinary places. And he is still taking what we have to offer and multiplying it to benefit the multitudes. On Sunday, September 15, we will be offering our worship to the Lord outside in a very ordinary place, Pioneer Park (next to the church) at 10:00 am. We will also be sharing what we have with the community with a free meal. It will be a hamburger and hotdog picnic rather than one of fish and bread, but all will be fed. And instead of being seated in the grass on a hillside, we will be seated in lawn chairs—but still, Jesus will be with us. (The picnic immediately follows the service.)
I hope you can join us, and I hope you’ll invite family and friends to join you as well. It’s a great time to introduce people to Resurrection Church and to our Savior. That day I will be starting our fall message series, Predicting A Winner, to hear what Romans 12 has to say about living a victorious life in Christ.
See you at the park.
Pastor Mark
Note: There will be no 8:30 in-person service this Sunday morning. Instead, a streamed version of the message will be available online at both 8:30 and 10:00 am.