Let Go and Let God
Diana Pham & Kevin Tran / Watering Our Seeds / Week 3 / Monday, July 20, 2009
Reading
John 6:1-15
After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (of Tiberias). A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?" He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little (bit).” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people recline." Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted." So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world." Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
Questions
Sacrifice
Thousands of people put their lives into Jesus’ hands by following Him, no matter the cost, since they believed that He would save them. Were there times when you felt you could sacrifice anything for God? If you were unable to, why not?
The Challenge
Jesus’ disciple, Philip, faced a challenge for his faith when Jesus asked him where they could buy enough food for the starving people, even though Jesus already had a plan. When was a time in your life in which your faith has been challenged? How did you deal with the situation?
Sustenance
After the people were fed, they rejoiced and proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah. In times when your faith had wavered, what events helped to restore or strengthen your faith? Who has helped you to grow in faith?
Give it a Try
When Jesus’ disciples were asked what to do, Phillip merely answered him without going out of his way and actually doing something. However, Andrew made an attempt and found the boy that had some fish and bread. Jesus wants us to try even if we may not succeed, to live out our faith through action. Describe an experience when you had done something that seemed insignificant at the time, but found that it was much more important than you had originally realized. How did you come to this realization? What did you learn from it?
Let Go
Feel free to let go of anything that is on your mind but please keep it within this meeting’s topic.