Serve Like Jesus
Pete Stearns | February 6, 2022
This week, we are reflecting on our value of serving like Jesus by focusing on the feeding of the five thousand in Mark 6:30-44. Though the disciples are tired, Jesus instructs them to feed the crowds. Fearing scarcity, they initially resist, but Jesus teaches his disciples—and us—an important lesson about operating from the abundance of God.
Key Notes and Scripture
Mark 6:30-35; Mark 6:37
Jesus doesn’t want us to serve from OUR abundance, in service Jesus invites us to experience HIS!
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
When we serve from a place of abundance rather than scarcity, we are blind to God’s abundance.
Mark 6:38-39
When we serve from our abundance rather than our scarcity, we are blind to what the “crowd” has to offer.
Mark 6:41-42; Mark 6:43
Jesus had been using the spiritual act of service to meet the disciples’ needs all along!
Going Deeper: Praying the Scriptures
This week, spend some time alone with God reflecting on this passage.
But he [the Lord] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Read: In a quiet place, read the passage slowly. Pause to pay attention to any words or phrases that jump out.
Listen: Re-read the passage, listening for what God may be trying to say to you specifically. If nothing comes to mind, that’s ok. You may want to pause here, asking God’s help in becoming aware of anything He may be trying to communicate.
Invitation: As you read the passage again, what invitation or challenge do you feel called to respond to? What are some weaknesses or hardships in your life that God may be seeking to work through?
Rest: Rest in the promise of God through scripture: God’s power is made perfect in our weakness. We serve not from our own strength or abundance, but from the abundance of God, who is with us always.
