Elisha Series

And we're now gonna have our reading from Second Kings chapter 4 versus 38 to 44. Elisha returned to Gilgau, and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servants, put on the large pot and cook some stew for these prophets. 1 of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine and picked as many of its gourds as his garment could hold. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew.

Though no 1 knew what they were, the stew was poured out for the men. But as they began to eat it, they cried out Man of God. There is death in the pot, and they could not eat it. Elijah said, get some flour, He put it into the pot and said, serve it to the people to eat, and there was nothing harmful in the pot. A man came from Baal Shalisha, bringing the man of God, 20 loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain.

Along with some heads of new grain. Give it to the people to eat Elijah said. How can I set this before a hundred men his servant asked? But Elijah answered, give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says.

They will eat and have some leftover Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some leftover according to the Word of the Lord. Over to Tom. Thank you very much, Dean, and good morning. Good morning in the back hall as well. They sound distant, don't they?

They sound like they've moved back or something to the back of the room. Welcome to you. It's good to be with you. It's lovely to have so many children with us this morning and doing their various activities on their tables and have come here to take part in the service and to listen to the word of God. So it's lovely to have you children with us today.

And let's begin We should have anticipated that, really. So, let's let's begin with prayer, let's ask for God's help as we look back into his word. And if you've got a bible at home, do make sure that you keep that open so you can look into it. And if you do come here regularly as well, do remember to bring your bibles with you because although we do put the words up on the screen, It is a different thing actually having your nose in the pages of God's word and being able to see it in the bible for yourself. So if you've got a bible here as well, do do turn to that.

But let's pray. Heavenly father, we thank you for these amazing stories from the Old Testament. We thank you for this series that we've been doing in Elijah, in Elijah, and just seeing the way in which you prove yourself time and time again to be the 1, true living, holy, creating, sustaining, saving, God. You are God and there is no other. You are God and there is none like you.

You have no rivals and no competitors you are the true God. And we thank you, Lord, that as well as being high and holy, you are a God who loves to take care of the needs of your people and your children. You are a father who provides what we need. And we thank you most of all for Jesus that you have provided him for us. And we pray that as we look about look at these things this morning that you would bless us and that you would break bread for us this morning as we look at your word in Jesus' name.

Our men. Now I'm sure you will have heard things like this before, but the average life, the average life span, life inspectancy here in the West at least is about 79 years for the person, 79 years And of those 79 years, we spend 26 of them asleep, which is quite a long time to be unconscious, isn't it? 26 years, sleep. And apparently, we spent 7 years trying to get to sleep, which was quite surprising to me, because I tend to go out like a light. So I don't know who these people are.

It's taking them 7 years in that sort of not quite dropped off, trying to drop off phase. So that's 33 years in total in bed. We spend 13 years actually at work. Oh, here's the graph. 13 years actually at work, working away.

And what's left is mainly spent at home, eating, doing stuff around the house, In this generation, from now on, the average person will spend 11 years on screens. Just let that sink in 11 11 years looking at screens. Eating holidays, And right down at the bottom, surprisingly, is school. Now who here's got school at the moment? Who here goes to school?

School I'm not right now. I know about at school. At school. At school. It feels like a lot longer than that, doesn't it?

But in 79 years, you've only really spent a sort of day, you know, sort of not not that much time at school. Not that much time. And for those who are homeschooling, it probably definitely feels like a lot longer than that. But there we go. That's that's our lives.

That's the way in which our lives break down. And so what you can see there is that for most of us, life is not just a series of breathtaking experiences. Yeah? It's not a series of post card moments, you know, where we move from 1 exciting adventure to the next. Most of our lives are just the accumulation of very ordinary moments.

Most of our lives are just made up of ordinary daily things. That is where our years are spent. And therefore, it really matters what type of people we are in these moments, doesn't it? Given that our lives are made up of this, it really matters what sort of people we are in these moments. In most of the letters that Paul writes in the New Testament, you might know he tends to divide his letters up into 2.

So in the first half, he explains the gospel and the riches of the gospel and what it is to be blessed in Christ. And then in the second half of the letter, he will often apply it to the church and then where to husbands, and to wives, and to single people, and to moms, and to dads, and to workers and to employers. Because that's where our lives are. So, he takes these high gospel truths and he shows how they apply and work out in our ordinary lives, because that's where our lives are. The Lord's prayer is a similar pattern, isn't You know, it starts with these, you might say lofty requests, father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, and then the first sort of proper request, if you like, give us this day our daily bread. There's something earthy about the lord, isn't there? The way in which we hallow him is by depending on him each and every day in our ordinary lives to provide for us what we need day to day meal to meal. That is how we honor him. And so, as we've been seeing in this series and as we see throughout the bible, there is something very earthy about the Lord, something very earthy about him.

He loves to provide what his people need every day for their ordinary lives. In these 2 stories that we've just had read, the Hebrew word for eat is used 9 times used 9 times in about 7 sentences, eat. The Lord really cares about the daily provision of his people. We saw that right at the beginning of our series. Do you remember with Elijah when he went to King Ahab and he declared that a famine in a drought was gonna come upon the land and then he was told to withdraw to a little river or a brook, where the lord would provide for him what he needed, morning and evening every day.

We've seen this over and over again with the widows, the various widows in this series. How the Lord, the great I am, Yahweh, the God of Mount Carmel, takes care of these widows, giving them just enough oil, just enough flour, just what they need for the day. There is something very earthy about him and the way he takes care of his people. And that is what we see again in this little story, even shorter than last week, right at the end of chapter 4, we see Yairway stepping in again to provide what his people need to keep going in a difficult time. Last week, we saw that he did that by redeeming a poisoned pot.

Do you remember that stew which had poison in it? The Lord redeemed it. This week he does it by multiplying an inadequate pot. He takes that, which isn't enough, and he makes it enough for his people. And the first thing I want to see, we're just gonna follow the events of the story, really.

And we're going to have a look at the sacrificial servants. So this is the first point, the sacrificial servants. And at this first servant, we are introduced to in verse 42, and he comes from this exotic sounding place, and baal Shalishah. And, we don't know an awful lot about bale, Shalicia, except that this man is obviously able to get crops and a harvest there. So some people suggest that in this particular area, Although there was a 7 year famine in the region, that it may have enjoyed some respites.

There may have been some areas which weren't affected as badly as others. But as I say, we're not quite sure where exactly it was, but the focus is not on the where, but on the what, on the what that this man brings. And so have a look at verse 42. A man came from Baal Shalisha, bringing the man of God 20 loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe corn along with some ears of new corn. Now apparently barley bread was a very, very simple, basic kind of bread, a very simple meal.

And in normal times, in times of abundance, it would be the kind of thing you would just give to your animals. And so there's a there's a story that's told apparently in The Talmud, which is the Jewish book of oral traditions and commentaries. Where there's a conversation between 2 men and 1 of the men says, do you know we've got a fine crop of barley this year, and the other man replies, Tell it to the horses and the donkeys. In other words, that's not our food, you know, tell the cattle that you've got good barley. So this is a very simple kind of meal.

But nonetheless, it is generous, isn't it? It is a generous offering that he brings. You know, we're in the we're in the famine remember, and so this is in every little counts kind of season, and yet he brings the first and the best of his crops to Elijah, the man of God. Even though they're in this famine, he still brings it to the man of God. I've been reading a book about Hudson Taylor recently very slowly and it's called a man in Christ.

By a chap called Roger Steer. And in this book, he just talks about Hudson Taylor, The amazing way in which the Lord continued to provide for his ministry in China, as he wanted to expand and get the gospel into the inner regions of China, the Lord miraculously gave what they needed. And he talks about 1 story where he was provided for in a time of great need. And it says this, just a short paragraph from the book. In the opening months of 18 74, money was short, Hudson Taylor wrote to the honorary secretary Richard Hill of the Mission, I never was happier in the work or freer from care, though I have no funds.

PS, let me beg that no appeal be made for funds. There was no need. A letter arrived from George Mueller containing more than 300 pounds, a very substantial amount at that time. Oh, my dear brother, Taylor wrote to treasurer John Challis, the joy of knowing the living God, of resting on the living God. I am but his agent.

He will look after his own honor provide for his own servants, supply our need according to his own riches, you helping by your prayers and work of faith and labor of love. And that happened time and time again throughout his story, that just when they had next to nothing, the Lord stepped in to provide for them. And it's worth saying that people like George Mueller, you know, they were not they were not flowing in cash. You know, they did not have loads and loads of profits, He was a man who looked after lots of orphanages in Bristol, and there were times when he didn't have enough on that morning to take care of the orphans and yet the Lord stepped in for him, and so he is generously giving to the work in China in a time of personal need. And yet, he generously gives.

That's the principle, isn't it? That Jesus recommends in the story of the widow's might and the widow's offering. The reason that she is recommended as a disciple is not because she gives out of her plenty, that's what the teachers of the law do. They give out of their abundance and hardly notice it, but she puts in all she has to live on. She gives out of her poverty and therefore she is recommended as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that is what makes this servant sacrificial and generous. It may be just barley bread, but he brings it in a time of need. The first and the best to the man of God. But not only is this a generous offering, It's also a spiritual offering. Have a look at what we're told about it in verse 42.

The man of God, 20 loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe corn along with some ears of the new corn. Now, if you know anything about the old testament, who were the first fruits for? The first fruits of the harvest and of the cattle were for the lord. It was the priests share. And so, if you were living In God's kingdom, you were expected to bring the first and the best and to give it as a gift to the lord.

Now, this man had the opportunity to take it to the religious places. So he couldn't have gone to the temple which was in the southern kingdom, but there were 2 sanctuaries in the northern kingdom. There was 1 in the south in Bethel, and there was 1 in the north in Dan. There were places of worship where there were priests and he could have taken it to them, but he doesn't. He doesn't take the first fruits to those priests.

Why? We look what we're told about those places in 1 Kings 12. After seeking advice, the king, Geroboam, made 2 golden calves. He said to the people, it is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem, Here are your God's Israel who brought you out of Egypt, 1 he set up in Bethel and the other in Dan, and this thing became a sin. The people came to worship the 1 at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.

So we guess that that is the reason this servant didn't take it to the priests at Bethel and Dan because they were rank with idolatry. They were apostate priests. These have become snares and areas of sin for God's people. And so, he doesn't take it to them, instead, he brings it to elisha. This is a man we guess who is grieving what has happened to his nation, spiritually.

It's interesting I said at the beginning that although we don't know much about this place Shalisha. It is mentioned 1 other time in the old testament, and that's in 1 Samuel, and there the name of the place is only Shalisha. But at this point, it has become bail Shalisha. In other words, even the hometown that he lives in has become stamped with idolatry, stamped with the name of bail. The whole nation that he lives in has apostate and turned from the living God.

And so what does he do? He brings it to Elijah. Why? Because he recognizes that Elijah stands for the true priest, that Elijah is now Yahweh's covenant representative on earth. He is the 1 who represents the true worship of Yahweh.

He acts not just as a prophet, which we've seen, but as a priest. And this man brings the first fruits to him, as if to say, Elijah, you are the priest of God most high. You are the priest of Yahweh. This offering is for you. And so you can see he's like an undercover agent, isn't he?

He's like a double o 7 living in this apostate land bringing his first fruits to the true priest. I was reading another story about another champion athlete who became a missionary, Eric Liddle. And the story is told about him when he went to China, and he lived in a part of China that was occupied by Japan for a while, and the story the story goes that he was in this inn once with a few other Christians, and the Japanese military knocked at his door and Eric Little was in the house, and they wanted to go through all their luggage and their bags. And 1 of the Japanese soldiers opened the luggage, looked inside and his eyes fell on a new testament, on Eric Little's new testament. And the Japanese soldier looked him in the face and said to him, are you a Christian in Broken English?

And Eric Little said, I am. And then the Japanese soldier just put out his hand and shook his hand and then left. And he couldn't believe that even in that part of China, under Japanese occupation, the Lord had his servants in that army. And that's what this man is like. He lives in an apostate land with idolatrous priests, but he's generous, and he's bringing what he has to the true priest.

Elisha. So he's the first sacrificial servant we meet, but then think about Elijah as a sacrificial servant. Because who is this bread bought for? It's not actually bought for all the people who were there as well. It's taken just to him, isn't it?

Look what we're told, a man came from Bail Shelicia, bringing the man of God 20 loaves of barley bread. And yet, what is Elijah's first thought? He doesn't say, right, I'm gonna be like a hamster, fill my cheek with this and then go and eat it privately in a cave. His first instinct is, I need to break this for the people in front of me. I need to share it with them.

And so as we saw last week, Elijah is occupying this twin role He is both a teacher of the people who are the prophets we think from last week as well, but also he wants to care for them physically. And to take care of their physical needs, he's generous in that way. The only problem with this offering is that it's just not enough. Look at what we find out about it in verse 43. The man says, how can I set this before a hundred men?

It was plenty enough for Elijah, but now that we've got to feed these hundred with it, how is it going to stretch so far? And so as I said, last week, we saw that the provision was dangerous. This week, we're seeing that the provision is just inadequate. It's just not enough. It's not enough to sustain the Lord's people.

So those are the sacrificial servants. But now we're going to have a look at the multiplied loaves. This is the second point, the multiplied loaves. Have a look at verse 43 to 44. How can I set this before a hundred men his servant asked?

But Elijah answered, give it to the people to eat For this is what the Lord says, they will eat and have some leftover. Then he set it before them and they ate and they had some leftover according to the word of the Lord. So you see, in some ways, This story is very similar to the 1 we looked at last week. It's a short feeding miracle. But in other ways, it's very different.

And what is the difference do you think between this story and last week? Well, last week, there was a sign to go with the miracle, wasn't there? Just like in the waters of Gerico, there was a new bowl of salt Last week, there was a handful of flour. Here, there is no sign. There is no sign to go with it, The thing that is stressed is that it happens according to the Word of Yahweh.

It is Yahweh's word that multiplies this bread. It's no magic trick. It's no sleight of hand. It is the word of yahweh, which breaks the bread for his people. And again, this is something that we have seen in our series.

1 king 17 verse 16 for the widow, Her jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, why? According to the Word of the Lord. It was the Lord's Word, which multiplied this food for his people. And so we can see here that it is not just what they need, it is more than what they need. The lord provides an abundance.

That the thing that's stressed, isn't it? There's leftovers, there's take homes. It is an abundant provision for the people of God. And what we're seeing time and time again then, as we said at the beginning, is that Yahweh, he is the heavenly and the holy and the great God, but he is so committed to the earthy to be to the earthiness as well. To provide what his people need for each day.

And with that, the story is pretty much wrapped up that's the end of the story. They have leftovers according to the word of the Lord, and then we move on to something else in chapter 5. Now, so what are we to learn then? From this little feeding miracle tucked away in the middle of the old testament. What are we to learn about it?

Well, that's the third point, feeding on the truth, feeding on the truth. And the truth is that we are just not going to understand this miracle properly until we see it through the lens of Jesus Christ. And if you know the Bible, you may have already been wondering, when are we getting to the feeding of the 5000? Because here is like the feeding of the 5000, isn't it? So let's turn then to John chapter 6.

If you've got a Bible, turn to John chapter 6, and the reading is gonna be on the screen, and we're just gonna read this. And as we read it, just think in your mind what are the similarities, what are the differences what is being picked up on here and it's an amazing story. So John John 6, first 1, to 15. Sometime after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galileilee, that is the Sea of Tiberias. And a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs that he had performed by healing the sick.

Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover festival was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to fill it Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? He asked this only to test him for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, it would take more than half a year's wages to buy enough bread for each 1 to have a bite.

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother spoke up, Here is a boy with 5 small barley loaves and 2 small fish, but how far will they go among so many. Jesus said, have the people sit down. There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down. About 5000 men were there. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted, and he did the same with the fish.

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, gather the pieces that are left over, let nothing be wasted. So they gathered them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces of the 5 barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, surely, this is the prophet who has come into the world. Jesus knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force withdrew again to a mountain by himself. So do you see some of the similarities there?

We're in a type of wilderness. There is a lot of people. They need to be fed. There is not enough There is a problem statement. How are we going to feed so many?

There is a miracle, there is the distribution, there is the leftovers, there is so much that is the same, but there is also lots that is different. So Jesus was facing a bigger crowd He had to feed more people up to 5, 10, 15000 perhaps, with less and he makes more. That is the amazing thing. What Jesus has here, 5 loaves and 2 fish is significantly less than the 20 loaves. And what we learn about these fishes, you know, we have to understand that these were not great slabs of Atlantic salmon, which could be passed round and everyone could dip their fork in.

The the sea of Galile was teeming with these tiny little fish that would often just be caught and pickled and exported throughout the empire. This was packed lunch food. They were like white bait. If you've ever had white bait with Aioli, it's a delicious snack. That that sort of thing.

And yet Jesus multiplies it and feeds the masses and there's leftovers from 2 white baits. I mean, that is an incredible miracle, isn't it? So there are things that are the same, but there are things that are different. And then in verse 14, the people respond and they say, well, They began to say, surely, this is the prophet who has come into the world. Maybe they were thinking that Jesus is just like another Moses.

Just another prophet who fed the people in the wilderness. Maybe they're thinking he's just like another elisha, another great prophet. Who did that as well. But Christ is so much more than just another Elijah. He belongs in the how much more category.

And that's what I love most of all about this story. This doesn't just say, here's a prophet who fed people. Jesus was a great man who fed people. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of every aspect of this story. Jesus Christ is the generous servant, isn't he?

Who takes what he has and he breaks it and gives it for the life of the world. He is such a generous king. Rich in mercy and yet a giver. Jesus Christ is more than just a prophet. He is the Lord who multiplies.

He is the eternal son of the living God who breaks the bread for his people. Jesus Christ is the high priest. He is the great high priest, the covenant representative, the 1 who brings us to the father and makes us right with the father. And above all of that, Jesus himself is the bread of life. He doesn't just provide it.

He is it. He is the satisfaction that our souls need. At the last supper, he took that bread, didn't he? And he said, this is my body given for you. He himself would be the offering for our sin to meet our deepest need.

I just love the way he fulfills. Every aspect, generous servant, lord who multiplies, great high priests, and he is himself the bread. And so this story is pointing us to our great Lord Jesus. And I think we can be very encouraged by that. Because although we don't live in a famine, we do live in a physically difficult time.

In the middle of a pandemic, and yet hear the Lord Jesus promises that he will be our portion and that he will be our bread and that our job and our main battle in these times is to keep coming to Christ and to say, Lord, feed me today, I feel empty today. Feed me today with your words and your presence so that I can keep going. As an enormous bumblebee, but just flown in the room here. Must have heard all that talk about food and he's he's come in there. So maybe he'll fly out.

We have to do your best to ignore him. Unless, of course, he lands on you, in which case, you'll have to do you'd have to do a bit more than that. But so Jesus Christ, we see is the fulfillment of this story. And the other thing that we learn here is that Jesus multiplies our efforts. And that is a wonderful thing, isn't it?

Jesus multiplies our efforts. You see, last week, we had this well intentioned servant who tried to do what he could for the people of God and yet he poisoned them. This servant brings what he has, but it's just not enough, and yet the Lord multiplies And that is what Christ promises to do with our weak efforts as well. We bring them to him and he can do more than we could ever ask or imagine with them. Isn't that the testimony of you and me here as Christians?

We have our gifts and our resources, and they look so weak, but the lord multiplies them for the sake of his people. And so it might be that you're here and you think, well, you know, I want to serve, I want to give what I've got, but I just feel like I've got nothing. I've got barley low I can't do anything. How can what I have feed so many? But isn't that the best place to be?

Charles spurgeon said, our weakness is a better weapon in the hands of God than our strength, and that is right, isn't it? We bring what little we have. And he multiplies it for the sake of his people. It might be that you're at school here, and you know, you are of school age and you you want to follow Jesus and you want to listen to Jesus and you're at school and you think, oh, you know, seeing my friends, you know, how am I ever? You know, none of them seem to be interested in church.

How am I supposed to help other people in my Sunday school? How can I do that? Well, this story says to us, hey, look, bring what you have, and the lord can multiply it, and the lord can bless people through what we have. It was a great joy teaching on the membership course this week. And during the membership course, we heard interviews from a number of elders and their wives, And there was 1 of the elders' wives who was saying that when she first came to church, she really didn't know what she could do.

She wanted to serve but didn't know what she could do. And so she started just putting out the chairs. And then after putting out the chairs, she joined the coffee rota. Then after joining the coffee wrote her, she thought, oh, you know, then joined the youth and then was part of the students and is now an elder's wife. And that's not I'm not saying that's a progression and those are a hierarchy of jobs.

You know, each is as important as the other, but the point is, it's amazing how the lord multiplies our efforts, isn't it? He multiplies what we have and he uses us to bless to bless his people. And that is the story not just in our church, but all over the place. John Stevens, who's the director of the FIA, a network to which we belong, I was reading an article of his the other day, and a survey had been done amongst the evangelical alliance, which is another society. And On in that survey, 90 percent of churches, 90 percent of churches said that their services had reached people, they'd never reached before in in lockdown, local people, their services had reached.

90 percent of them said that. 10 percent of churches said we've seen more converts in the last year than we have in any other year, more converts in the last year than any other year. The universal testimony from Christians in churches was that this year, they'd had more opportunities to talk to their neighbors and their friends about Jesus. Than they had in any before. And so isn't that encouraging?

In difficult times, we have very little and yet the lord multiplies what we've got in order to feed his people and to reach the world. Another story from the membership course. It was so good teaching that course this week. There was a student girl there who's wanting to become a member and she was saying that she she became a Christian, just September this year, became a Christian through the witness of 1 of her housemates who would sort of patiently and lovingly share the for with her. And I'm sure in those conversations her efforts might have felt weak.

She may have thought that she could have put things better, but the lord the lord bless and the Lord multiplied the efforts and the Lord broke it for the sake of his people and this girl has come to Christ. And so this is an encouragement for us to bring what little we have to the lord because he can do amazing things with it. He always has hasn't he? I mean, you think about the early church. Okay.

We don't know an awful lot about who was in the early church, you know, in the book of Romans, we find a few names, and But broadly speaking, it was a collection of fishermen and unknown people, and yet Yahweh shook the world with them. Why? Because they were ordinary, and they were weak, and they bought what they had, and the lord multiplied, the lord multiplied He doesn't need us. He didn't need this generous servant, but he chooses to use us to be about his work. So whatever we have, let's bring it to God and let him multiply it.

And lastly, let's be disciples who trust in him every day. Remember how our lives are made up? We saw this this graph at the beginning. That's that's largely how your life looks. And so we need to depend upon Yairway, don't we?

In these ordinary moments. If he is an earthy God, we need to be earthy disciples. We need to be those who trust in him every day to provide what we need, praying, give us this day our daily bread. And watching him come through for us time and time again. All of that is contained in this little story.

It's all about Jesus. Jesus multiplies our weak efforts, and Jesus sustains his people day to day. Let's be disciples who trust in him. Let's pray together. Again, I'll just give you a moment just to pray in the quiet of your own heart.

You can use this opportunity just to worship the Lord Jesus, to, say, sorry, for anything, to ask for his help and to use you. And even the youngest ones here can pray, lord, I don't know what I can do for you, but use me, father. I want to be useful in your kingdom. And Jesus will honor that prayer. And so even the youngest ones can pray that, let's pray together.

Lord God, we thank you so much that you are a father and that you take upon your own shoulders, the burden of our provision. Thank you that you feed us and that you sustain us, and you look after us, and you give us what we need each and every day. We thank you lord that you have met our greatest need in Jesus Christ that he is the bread who came down from heaven, that he is the bread given for us at the cross, that he satisfies our deepest longings. And Lord, in some ways, just that the the main battle of every Christian is to keep looking to Jesus. And feeding upon him.

We thank you lord that you take our efforts as weak as they are and as frail as they and that you multiply them, and you do incredible things through the gifts of your people. And lord, rather than stepping back and thinking, oh, well, I can't do that and I'll just leave that to somebody else and they're better at that than I am. So there's nothing that I can do I will just stay on the edges, Lord, that we would bring what we have to you and say, Lord, multiply Use it, help me to be a blessing to your people and a blessing to the lost. And we thank you that you do just love to use weak people like us. And thank you for this story, which reveals all of that about you in Jesus' name, amen.