God's Invitation to Participation.

We are going to be diving into the Word today. We are continuing in our series Around the Table, where we're talking about the different meals that Jesus had with people, the people that he invited to eat with him, and what took place when that happened. So if you have your Bibles with you, we are going to be in Matthew chapter 14. I'm going to be reading today the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000.

And so Matthew chapter 14, starting in verse 13, it says this:

When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to his solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, this is a remote place and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away so that they can go to the village and buy themselves some food. 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. Bring them here to me, he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven. He gave thanks and broke the loaves and he gave them to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied. And the disciples picked up 12 baskets of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate were 5,000 men and the women and children.

Matthew 14:13-21

Let's pray again today. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your word that is alive and active. God, we thank you that we can come and we can sit here today and that we can experience your presence as a community. God, that we can even begin to dream of what it looks like for us to be your hands and your feet. And so we just pray, Lord, right now, we know that as we sit here today in the same way that you were feeding all of those people, like we need to be fed. We need you to come and to feed us and to sustain us and to just pour your spirit out upon us. And so would you do that through these moments as we dive deeper into your word, as we open up our hearts to receive from you, to hear what it is that you want to speak to us. God, would you just come. Would you meet us here again in this place. We love you, Lord. We ask all of this in your name. Amen.

The context of feeding

Okay. So I know we're in the time of year where everybody's kind of in the like, oh, which holiday do you celebrate. When. I know me and my roommate just had to have the conversation, the really hard conversation of, so when do we put up the Christmas tree. Like, what does that look like. And we didn't agree. So we'll see who gets to win that fight. It's fine. It might be our biggest conflict to date, but we're working through it. You can pray for us.

But there's always this like, when do you celebrate. What type of thing, right. Well, I don't know what it is this year. I think it's because we've been doing these table nights that it's getting me ready for Thanksgiving and it's getting me ready for Friendsgiving specifically. If you haven't been at a New Culture Friendsgiving, it's like the most epic feast of your life.

And so I've been ready for it. But I was thinking back to Thanksgiving a couple of years ago at the Sawczak family household. My mom is here today, guys. Mama Sawczak is in the house. I just happen to be talking about her. So thanks mom for being here for my story time.

But I was thinking back a couple of years ago. So I have three brothers and we're all pretty close in age. So it's at the point where, you know, we're all grown adults. None of us have lived at home for many years now. And our gracious mother, every Thanksgiving, it's going to make us sound super lazy. So I'll give a little bit of like excuse. We're always traveling in from out of town, right. So normally we're coming in late Wednesday. We're all tired. Some of people are flying. We don't have time to bring stuff. So our gracious mother usually cooks like everything for us on Thanksgiving and we just show up to feast. Like she just does all the work.

Well, a couple of years ago, all of a sudden, it's like, I don't know if it was the day before. And we just see she's really famous for her lists. Anybody else's mother give them lists growing up or just have like things. But it's like all of these lists when we were growing up. Like if she was going to be away or gone at work, we would have a list of like, here's what you're responsible for when I'm gone.

And this one Thanksgiving, the day before we look and there's all these detail lists and we all have our name on a piece of paper with the dishes that we are responsible for cooking for the next morning. And she has the ingredients ready. So she's like setting us up to thrive here, setting us up for success. But it's like, here's what you're responsible for today. It's like she had had it. She's like, it's time to delegate a little bit. Like it's time for you guys to get your hands dirty and to do this. And she has taught us to cook. She's done the thing. She has prepared us well for this moment.

I'm not going to say who, but some of us did it. Some of us made our dishes and then some of us just slept in and did not make their food. But that's for another time. I won't name names here today of which brothers did not cook.

But then there was another year where my gracious mother wanted to pass down like the tradition of basting the turkey. That was my job. Now, this year as well, Thanksgiving at the Sawczak household typically is like all of us and like my brothers come home, spouses, significant others. And then normally there's like a few random people that you're like, hey, we may have just met you yesterday, but like welcome to our house. Here's a bunk bed for you to sleep on. So there's always like somebody else there as well.

And this year I had brought back with me an international student who was here who had never had like a Thanksgiving dinner. And so not only is the pressure of like, I'm going to show you how to baste a turkey now, but it's also like her first ever American Thanksgiving. And we're like, look, this is what we do with turkey.

And so my mom opens the oven and she shows me what to do. And I don't know what I basted, but it was not the turkey because in moments, the oven was in flames, like flames. So I set the oven on fire for Thanksgiving when it was my turn to baste the turkey. And so that moment was one of those where I'm like, no matter what, even though I was prepared, like it just did not go well. It did not go well.

So we ended up making the rest of Thanksgiving dinner in the toaster oven that year. Very slow, very long process. We did get it all figured out. But it was made in the toaster oven. So I remember that moment of being like, I should be ready for this. Like I'm a grown woman. I should be able to like help finish the turkey, but it just was. I was not ready for that moment.

And so when I read this story of Jesus and the disciples and he's having this moment with them where they're like, okay, come on, you can do it. You can do it. And Jesus is like, no, no, you go give them something to eat. It's your turn. I can feel the panic in them of like, even though you have prepared me so well, I don't know if I'm ready for this.

Participating in the kingdom

So we're reading this story here where Jesus is now starting to delegate things to his disciples. And so up until this point, he has called them. We read about that in the beginnings of the Gospels leading up to this point. Jesus has called his disciples. And not only has he called them, but he has empowered them. He's been like, you have power. You have authority. He has prepared them in every single way for this moment.

And now he's saying, it's your turn. To go. It's your turn to participate in what's about to happen, to feed these people. But you can hear it in their language when they're coming and they're telling Jesus. They're like, clearly the people had come to them and were like, we're hungry. And the disciples are like, Jesus, we're hungry too. And so when Jesus is like, give them something to eat, they still come back and they're like, no, no, no, no. Like go send them to the village. Like they can get their own food. They can cook their own meal.

And Jesus is like, no, you're ready for this. And I wonder how often we find ourselves in those places where we have been prepared, where we have everything that we need. And Jesus has been asking us, hey, will you do it. Will you do it. Will you start to participate. Will you start to let go of what's in your hands. Will you start to surrender and give me control. And we still just like well can they do it themselves. But he wants to use you. He wants to partner with each and every one of us to see his kingdom come. And we have to say yes to participating in that.

You know I think about last week we celebrated the church that we turned five. And I've just been, I don't know what it is most years. I don't think much about like the number and what it means and all of this, but I've just been wrapping my head around this idea of like, okay, what does it mean to be five. Like what happened when I was in kindergarten. All I can remember about kindergarten is I swear I was like, my knees were always scabbed up and bleeding because I fell all the time. Which later I found out that my legs were actually uneven a little bit. So that's why I fell flat on my face way more than the other children at the playground.

But you think about it, right. It's like you get to kindergarten, you're like, I'm ready. I know my letters. And it's like, actually, now you have to spell with those letters and you have to make words and you're so excited. You feel like you've conquered so much. And you're like, actually, you little five-year-old, you have so much to learn. But here's the thing is as we grow, change happens, right. We cannot grow without change and change can be hard.

But the beauty of Jesus is that there is so much grace as we grow. There is so much grace for you to have moments like the disciples did when Jesus is saying, hey, well, come on, give them something to eat. And they're like, I don't know if we're ready. Jesus has patience and he has grace for you in those moments. So even if you've already found yourself in a spot where you're like, I think I've already messed up because Jesus has asked me to do stuff and I said no, guess what. You still are not counted out. Jesus still has room for you to come and to participate in what he is doing.

But change is required for growth. And so the so what for today is we are talking about this idea that Jesus, he shares responsibility. He also shares the reward with his disciples. And so what do we do with that.

This is from Miss Frizzle from the Magic School Bus. Jesus says he shares responsibility and reward. Miss Frizzle says it's time to participate. We have to take chances, make mistakes and get messy. That's what we're talking about today. That we have to learn as followers of Jesus that part of the process of becoming his disciples is that we learn to do this. Participate with him. And that means we have to take chances. That means we're going to make mistakes. You're going to fall sometimes. You might have to take a minute where you sit there in the pain and you get up again. And it might get a little messy sometimes.

You think of any time you're cooking, and maybe it's just me, but I don't know that I ever cook and everything's spotless during the process, right. You clean it up after, but in the process of cooking, in the process of making the meal, things get a little messy. I have become the queen of the aprons now because otherwise I'm ruining everything I own. Things get messy in the process, but it doesn't mean it's bad. It also doesn't mean it's not working, right. You don't base the success on what you just cooked on how messy it was as you made it. When it's finished, it's the taste, it's the smell, it's the look, right. It's all of that. It's a substance. Did it fuel your body well. All of those things.

If we based it on what happened during the process, nothing would ever turn out. It's okay for us to take risks, to take those chances, and sometimes it's going to be a little messy.

The pattern Jesus teaches

So a few things that we're going to talk about today within this story is this idea that Jesus here with this meal, he's giving us this pattern that he references in other places in scripture. That there is a process that he's walking the disciples through that we can learn from and ultimately how he wants us to participate and what that looks like when we do.

So here's the pattern that we see is that Jesus starts by he gives thanks. Another place we see this in Matthew chapter six, when he's teaching them how to pray:

Our father who are in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, forgive us our debts.

Matthew 6:9-12

This prayer that Jesus is teaching his disciples to pray, he starts in the same way that he's looking up and giving thanks before he's feeding the people. He's giving this pattern of look up first and say, our father who in heaven hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done. Give us this day our daily bread.

We have to continue to remain and to follow this pattern of praise and thanksgiving and worship unto God. And that to be our starting point as we participate with him and seeing his kingdom come. We have to constantly remind our flesh who is on the throne and who is in control. We have to remember to look up time and time again. Jesus is giving them this pattern. And then he breaks the bread.

What a prophetic moment here. As Jesus soon would gather his disciples around the table, which was referred to as that moment of the Lord's Supper. And you can read about that in the gospels and in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26:

When he had given thanks he broke that bread and he said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he took the cup after the supper saying this is the cup of the new covenant of my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

1 Corinthians 11:24-25

We see this pattern of him showing them, hey, this bread here, the way that I'm feeding you physically in this moment, when he's feeding the 5,000, when he's breaking the bread for the disciples, is this prophetic moment of saying, this is just a taste. This is just a physical representation of how I'm going to feed you and sustain you for all of eternity. Because Jesus' body then was broken and his blood was poured out on the cross to pay the price for our sins.

And his resurrection made way for us to have relationship with him for all of eternity. And so Jesus is showing them. He's reminding them again the significance of that bread that was broken. And that as it was broken, that a miracle was happening. We see so much process that Jesus is laying out for them.

And I want you to continue to remember that. Process, process, process. Sometimes it's messy, but it doesn't mean it's not working. The disciples here, they're in this process of becoming like Jesus. They're learning. They're being his disciples. They're trying to become like Jesus as their teacher. And so in order for this miracle to happen, there's a few different steps of faith that had to take place.

In other gospels, it talks about that it was a boy's lunch that was brought forward. It doesn't mention that specifically in Matthew. But one of the acts of faith is that they had to put their faith, right. They had to let go of what was in their hands. And so the three things that we see here from the process is one that we may never feel ready. That's the first thing I want you to remember today. We may never feel ready.

The next is that we won't know unless we let it go. We will not know unless we let it go. And then finally, with God, little becomes much. That's what we see. With God, little becomes much in this process.

So we may never feel ready. The disciples clearly did not feel ready because when Jesus asked them to do something, they're like, nah, that's you. Like you should do that. But he's preparing them. And he told them this. He was saying there was going to come a time where physically I will not be with you. So you got to learn, right. You got to figure out how to do this because you are my strategic plan of helping all people learn to follow me for all of eternity. Like he was preparing them to be his hands and feet after he ascended into heaven and left with us his Holy Spirit. So he's like, you guys got to figure this out.

But we may never feel ready. This week, I participated in my first skills lab for my grad program. So I'm getting my master's in counseling, and we've taken a few classes up until this point. A few as in two, to be exact, okay. So I've completed two classes. So yes, I'm a master counselor. No, I'm just kidding. Far from it. Far from it.

But this is what happens in skills lab. You show up the first day. We get a two-hour lecture. After again, I have had two classes. And they say, okay, now pair up and you two come forward and go. You're the counselor. You're the client. Go. And we're all just sitting there like, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, wait, wait. What. I was not ready for that moment.

And so sure enough I was like I'm just going to go grab like the fill. They told us this was going to happen. And so I was like I'm just going to go fill up my water real quick and like sneak in the back. And sure enough I sit down and the professor says, first one in the group looks right at me. Abbie, you're the counselor, she's the client, go. And I'm like, oh my gosh, like the whole class is watching me. I was like, I'm not ready for this moment. But as it was done and she's like, that was really good. And I was like, oh, okay, okay.

But it's that fear, right. Where we're like, we may never feel ready. But we have to go anyways. We have to do it anyways, because I don't know when we ever are going to feel ready. I don't know in my life when there's ever been something that I'm like, I'm a hundred percent prepared for this moment. Another thing I think about is like learning to drive. I was terrified to drive. I never wanted to do it on my own. But we're never going to be able to be independent and to do those things unless we learn some and try, even if we don't feel it.

Grieving and compassion

I want to take a moment back because the passage here in Matthew starts with saying when Jesus heard what had happened in verse 13. I want to talk about what had happened. So earlier in 14, it starts out by talking about the beheading of John the Baptist. It talks about. It says that in verse 10, John was beheaded in prison. His head was brought out on a platter and given to the girl who carried it to her mother. John's disciples came back, took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

Now this was John the Baptist. This was Jesus' cousin. So Jesus had just learned that someone close to him died. And it says then in verse 13, where we started, Jesus heard what had happened. He withdrew by boat privately to his solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.

We think about the disciples here. They're in this moment where they're like, Jesus, like, come on, we've been doing so much ministry. Like, we're hungry. Tell the people to go away. Give us a break. Jesus here is grieving. He is mourning the loss of his cousin, of his brother, of his friend. And he still in this moment was able to show compassion.

Now, I think it's important to say first, before this miracle happened, it says he went alone and he was in a place of just being alone with God. And here's what I think of so often. A lot of times we can get in this place where we're like, I don't know if I have anything more to give and I feel overwhelmed. And what I have found more often in my life is that it's not really what I'm carrying, but how I'm carrying it. It's not really what I'm carrying, but how I'm carrying it.

And this is what I mean by this is that Jesus sets an incredible example of what it looks like to have healthy, sustainable pace, right. We see in this moment, he took time to grieve. He took time to mourn. Now, if he would have just rushed from one thing to the next, I don't know what would have happened, right. But he didn't. He shows us what it looks like to say, I'm going to pause a minute. You guys go out. I don't know how the disciples got there, but it says he went off on a boat alone and he's like, I'm going to take a minute. I'm going to grieve.

And he's coming off. And I bet you there was still some hard things happening, but he was still able to be kind and loving and compassionate. And it shows me there that he had those healthy rhythms of rest, those healthy rhythms of grieving. Which is why if Jesus needs to do that, how much more do we need to take time to grieve the heavy things in our life. How much more do we need to take time to acknowledge the pain that we're walking through so that we can continue to be the hands and feet of Jesus. So that we can follow him in that type of way.

And so this is significant here though for that of like one, we see like Jesus went away to grieve. He went away to just like be on his own for a moment. But even in that, we know how grief works, right. We know how pain happens. It's not just like this one and done type of thing. I can imagine he was still grieving as this miracle was taking place.

I can't imagine what he was doing when the disciples are like, you give him something to eat. I'd be like, are you kidding me. Like, do you know what I'm walking through right now. But instead, he's compassionate on them and he's kind and he's loving even in his moment of pain and sorrow. Because that's how incredible and beautiful our Jesus is.

He did not neglect feeding the people in front of him, even though he was in a moment of pain. And I think this also shows us another significant thing is that few times in our life is it going to be, this is a season and a time of pain and grief. And this is a season of miracles and feeding people and serving. It's very rare that we have these like isolated seasons, quote unquote, in our lives. More times than not, it's going to be, I'm grieving, I'm walking through hard things, and I'm following Jesus. So that means I'm kind, I'm compassionate, I'm serving, I'm loving in the way that he demonstrated so well. It's not one or the other. Most of the time, it's both and.

So we may never feel ready. The disciples didn't feel ready. I don't know that Jesus was feeling his best in this moment, but there's never a moment that we don't have that invitation to share in the responsibility and then share in the reward of what it looks like to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Surrender and multiplication

The next thing that we see here is that we won't know unless we go. We won't know unless we let it go. What would have happened if that boy never brought forth his lunch. What would have happened if the disciples didn't say, okay, sure, we'll take it and now we're going to feed these people.

I'm not going to lie. I might have just seen that and been like, okay, there's only a few things here, just enough for the disciples. The rest of you go on your way. What would have happened if they saw the little and just said, we're going to keep it for ourselves because this might be all we get. But no, they let it go.

And that's when the miracle took place. When they let it go from their hand, they surrendered it to whatever was going to happen in that moment. Why don't we let things go. Why don't we want to give generously. Why don't we live freely saying, Lord, all that I have is yours. Because it's hard.

Some of the reasons that I think we don't let things go, that we don't live this life of just like overly generous with everything that we have is we're afraid it will run out. We're afraid that this might really be all that there is. And that's something for you to think about today and that I often have to think about is like, what is it about this that is making me hold on so tight. Is it that deep down inside of me, I might really believe that it's going to run out. And if so, what does that tell me about what my heart really believes about who God is. And those are places sometimes we don't want to go because we want to just be like yes God's going to provide. Yes I trust that he's always going to be there. But we have to acknowledge that like sometimes we don't sometimes we do have those fears and those worries that it might run out and that we're never going to see it again.

We have a fear of the unknown. So we hold tight because we think, okay, even though this is just a little bit and there could be more, at least if I hold on to this and where I'm at, it's comfortable and I know that I have it. And so I'm afraid of the unknown. We want to avoid failing. We want to avoid pain.

You think of that with the disciples too. That's a vulnerable thing to sit here and be like, multiply it. That's a scary thing to start feeding people not knowing, will I have enough for the next. Will I have enough for the next. But if you read the end of the story there, the baskets were running over. There was more than enough to go around because with God, little becomes much.

With God, little becomes much. Five loaves, two fish. Have you ever looked at what's in your hands and thought who I am, what I have to offer, my gifts, my skill sets, it's just too little. It's not enough. What would have happened if they stopped there with it's just a little, it's not enough. With God, little becomes much.

With God, because we're created in his image, we are enough. When we surrender our lives to Jesus, we become a child of God and we have more than enough. Jesus called his disciples to be with them before he asked anything else of them. What does that show us. He said you right here like you are enough. What you have is enough.

I love in the same way that God after Jesus baptism, before Jesus had done any miracles, he said, this is my son whom I love. With him I am well pleased. He didn't do anything in that moment. He was enough. What he had was enough. Here's the thing. When it comes to the kingdom, there is more than enough.

And we may feel sometimes like if we give anything else of ourselves, there's going to be nothing left. But the kingdom of heaven, like it's backwards than what we know in our present current reality. And there is more than enough. And with God, little becomes much. With God, little becomes much.

And what else is so beautiful about this is that we don't have to do it all on our own. Because we are a part of a body of Christ right here at New Culture. We're a part of a greater church, right, all over the world. And so we don't have to look at and say, maybe what you have, maybe it really isn't that much to you. Maybe it really isn't that much to other people. But the thing is, is that it's not about just you, right. Like we don't have to save the world because Jesus already did it.

And so now we just get to usher in his kingdom and he's using each and every single one of us. And he sees each and every single one of us with purpose and value and ways that he wants you specifically to impact people for the kingdom of heaven. Specifically that he wants you to make disciples. And you know, we talk about this all the time. How if we think about each and every single one of us here in this room and the different people that we're going to interact with this week, they're not going to be the same.

So what does that tell us. We need each and every one of us in our places and in our spaces to be loving, compassionate, living like Jesus, letting the miracles flow through our hands, letting go of what we have and trusting that with God, that little will become much. Even if that little is just holding the door open for someone. Even if that little is just, it's just sending that encouraging message or forgiving someone this week with God, little becomes much.

And Jesus is inviting us. The last thing we're going to talk about today that Jesus is inviting us. And I would say Jesus is longing for us to participate with him in this. He's longing for you to participate in this. But here's what happens when you participate. And I think it's important as Jesus, you know, when he called his disciples, he invited them to count the cost to say like, this is what it's going to look like.

When you're a part of something bigger than yourself, there's a little bit of a cost to that. And the first thing is, is that you're no longer in control, right. If you've ever played any sort of sport, you've been on a team, you know this. Like it's not just you out there making decisions for yourself. You got to think about everybody else. And oftentimes it's the coach that's calling the shots. You might not always be in control, but we have to be ready to participate whatever way that the Lord is asking us to in that moment.

The next thing is that it's not mess free. And we've talked about this a little bit already, but there might be some crumbs that go around, right. When they were feeding the 5,000, I'm sure there was a little bit of mess that was happening as they're trying to make it all happen. When we participate in seeing God's kingdom come, it's not always going to be clean. It's not always going to be easy. It might be a little messy.

But then ultimately that you're not alone. You are not alone. Jesus fed everyone. It wasn't just his disciples. It wasn't a select few, everyone.

Now what I love about the significance of the end is with saying that there was 12 baskets overflowing. And a lot of people will look at this and they'll say, okay, this represents like the 12 tribes of Israel that Jesus came for. And he was going to make sure they were fed.

And I want to talk about this. But in the story of Jesus feeding the 4,000, there's seven baskets left over. There's another story where he's feeding the 4,000, there's seven baskets left over. What's significant about that is there would have been seven Gentile nations at that time. And the Jews and the Gentiles, they wouldn't have been in like unity, right. That would have been like this big thing of like, oh, he's going to feed even them. But that's who Jesus was. He was showing us that I came for all people. I came to feed all people, not just the ones that are expected for me to feed, but all people.

He is inviting us to do the same. That might take us taking chances, getting a little messy, making mistakes. But that's part of us participating and seeing God's kingdom come.

Closing invitation

And so if the worship team wants to get ready to come as we get ready to close today. If you notice when I'm talking about like what's in your hands and this idea of like we have to give over control, I'm not being super specific here and that's kind of intentional. Because for each and every one of us here today, when I talk about we're not alone in this, we're not alone, but I also believe there's unique ways that God wants to speak to you. That when I'm talking about this, there might be different things that come to your mind, and that's a way that God's speaking to you in this moment.

Or maybe for some of you, you're thinking and you're like, yeah, there's ways that I need to be generous with my finances. Maybe that's a way that God's speaking to you. For others, it might be like with my serving, with my time. It might be thinking of people in your life that you need to invest in, or even just that awareness. Maybe it's having that awareness when you're out and when you're about, just that God wants to use you.

All I know is this, is that Jesus, he gives us a pattern. He has this moment of thanksgiving of reminding us to look up, to keep our eyes on Jesus. He gives us this process of what that looks like for us to let go and to give him control. And he invites us to participate.

So I want to invite you to stand tonight, and we're going to go into time of worship as we close. But I want you to think about and process. What is in your hands. And then I want you to dream a little bit and talk to Jesus and pray about, what does it look like if I let it go.

If they would have held tight to what was in their hands, this miracle never would have happened. It was through this act of surrender that this significant miracle took place. And so I want you to take a minute and to just close your eyes and I want you to just be reminded today that you are created in the image of a beautiful God and that God has invited you to sit at the table and commune with him.

You see, God has placed specific, specific things in your hands. Things that he wants you to contribute to the kingdom of heaven. And it might feel small in this moment. But what he's placed in your hands, it's significant to him. Because with God, little becomes much.

I want you to think about what's in your hands. And to know that what you see as little, what you might see as lack, God is already looking at how he can turn that into leftovers and who he can feed through that. You're few today. What you think is little, what you think is lack, that fear, that few has the power to feed thousands. There's miracles in your hands.

What does it look like to take chances, to not be afraid of making mistakes, to maybe even get a little messy. Be reminded today that God, he's not setting you up to fail, but he's setting you up to feast and to be sustained. You have what it takes with your surrender. The miracle today, it is in your hands. What is in your hands and what does it look like if you surrender it and you let it go today.

So God, this is our prayer that you would come, that you would show us what's in our hands, that you would show us what it could look like if we laid it down at your feet, if we surrender to you, Lord. And so we just ask that for these next few moments, that as we worship, that as we sing, that as we fix our eyes, as we follow that pattern of fixing our eyes on you, that you will come and meet us in this process of becoming your disciple, and that you will show us the ways that you're inviting us to participate. So Holy Spirit, would you come. We ask this in your name. We're going to take a few minutes now to just worship.