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The story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with 5 loaves and 5 fish is probably one of the most recognizable stories in Scripture. In the days of Jesus feeding your family was the most important task. Hours per day were spent in the fields preparing the crop for harvest, and if the harvest failed it would be disastrous. There wasn't any government safety net for the common citizen to turn to. So we could imagine the excitement that arose when Jesus performed this miracle! Here is a King that can multiply bread; talk about prosperity! He must be the Messiah. As the story unfolds, we learn how the masses tried to make Jesus king by force and Jesus' response to the crowds eventually drove most of them away as we read in John Chapter 6.
I think that the real point of the miracle points more to the giver than the crowd that received. Think of the little boy who came to Andrew and offered his 5 loaves and 5 fish. Possibly the little boy had the extra to sell to the crowd? Whenever you travel to many parts of India, you will see thousands of people on the sidewalks selling just about anything so they can make enough money to survive. But I believe what we can take from the miracle is the fact that God can take our gifts or donations and multiply them! That is the exciting thing about partnering with native pastors in church planting. For $35 per month or the cost of a dinner out, we can help reach 5 villages with the Gospel and in turn bring the bread of life to thousands of villages. One could even say 5000 people would be witnessed to and a church planted among them.
I know that God has and will always prosper His people when they follow His principle, but have we ever stopped to think about how much God will multiply our gifts? 2 Corinthians 9:10-12 says
Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;
Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.
For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;
We can safely say that when we give with the right motives according to God's will, God will multiply our giving and make it do much, much more than if we spend it on ourselves. Our commitment to you as you give to our ministry is to do all that we can to multiply your gift to touch thousands with the message of the Gospel. That is how God's economy works!
We love you; Michael, Jane and Benjamin Erwin; Serve India Ministries
I think that the real point of the miracle points more to the giver than the crowd that received. Think of the little boy who came to Andrew and offered his 5 loaves and 5 fish. Possibly the little boy had the extra to sell to the crowd? Whenever you travel to many parts of India, you will see thousands of people on the sidewalks selling just about anything so they can make enough money to survive. But I believe what we can take from the miracle is the fact that God can take our gifts or donations and multiply them! That is the exciting thing about partnering with native pastors in church planting. For $35 per month or the cost of a dinner out, we can help reach 5 villages with the Gospel and in turn bring the bread of life to thousands of villages. One could even say 5000 people would be witnessed to and a church planted among them.
I know that God has and will always prosper His people when they follow His principle, but have we ever stopped to think about how much God will multiply our gifts? 2 Corinthians 9:10-12 says
Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;
Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.
For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;
We can safely say that when we give with the right motives according to God's will, God will multiply our giving and make it do much, much more than if we spend it on ourselves. Our commitment to you as you give to our ministry is to do all that we can to multiply your gift to touch thousands with the message of the Gospel. That is how God's economy works!
We love you; Michael, Jane and Benjamin Erwin; Serve India Ministries
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