Comments on: Sermon: Moses And The Feeding Of The Five Thousand http://bigcircumstance.com/2009/07/25/sermon-moses-and-the-feeding-of-the-five-thousand/ Dave Faulkner. Husband. Dad. Methodist minister. Pseudo-geek. Music lover. Tue, 29 May 2012 04:13:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Dave Faulkner http://bigcircumstance.com/2009/07/25/sermon-moses-and-the-feeding-of-the-five-thousand/#comment-2481 Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:42:19 +0000 http://bigcircumstance.com/?p=2323#comment-2481 Thanks for your kind words, Will. I’ve been frustrated for so long about the tiny morsels we dish out at communion – ‘foretaste of the heavenly banquet’ indeed! But this familiar story helped me to think more positively!

]]> By: Will http://bigcircumstance.com/2009/07/25/sermon-moses-and-the-feeding-of-the-five-thousand/#comment-2476 Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:24:44 +0000 http://bigcircumstance.com/?p=2323#comment-2476 Hi Dave, great sermon and thanks for posting it. I was especially bowled over by your comment on the meagre amount we give at a communion service. That will mean some thinking about what it might mean to expect a miracle at the sacrament. That will be on my mind this week.

]]> By: Dave Faulkner http://bigcircumstance.com/2009/07/25/sermon-moses-and-the-feeding-of-the-five-thousand/#comment-2473 Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:40:36 +0000 http://bigcircumstance.com/?p=2323#comment-2473 Thanks, Owen. I owe the insight about the timing of the Ten Commandments to Christopher Wright’s commentary on Deuteronomy. I came across it in 1997 when I was a seminar speaker at a Christian conference called Spring Harvest. Our theme was the Ten Commandments, and one of my co-speakers mentioned at a preparation meeting that Wright had made this insight. I’ve found it invaluable ever since.

BTW, don’t worry about going on at length on my blog – I’m happy to provide hospitality! Or maybe this is a sign that you need your own blog! :)

]]> By: Owen http://bigcircumstance.com/2009/07/25/sermon-moses-and-the-feeding-of-the-five-thousand/#comment-2472 Sun, 26 Jul 2009 07:29:59 +0000 http://bigcircumstance.com/?p=2323#comment-2472 As always, Dave, very meaty soup in this sermon!

“But it’s important to remember something about the timing of the Ten Commandments. God gave them to Israel after he delivered them from Egypt. In other words, keeping the Ten Commandments was never going to earn salvation for Israel. Rather, keeping the Ten Commandments was a grateful response to God’s faithful covenant love in delivering them. They were to keep the commandments as a sign of gratitude.”

–I never realized that until you pointed it out, that he delivered the commandments AFTER they were delivered! The significance of that never hit me till now. And it reminds me of what we’ve been trying to teach our 11 yr old daughter about doing chores and helping out around the house – that she should be grateful to do them, given all we provide for her. ( I could go on about this topic, but it’s your blog, not mine!)

But God often points out to me that I’ve done my share of whining when it comes to doing things He asks of me, too.

“What is God looking for? He is searching for grateful obedient faith in response to all he has done for us in Christ. We may not think we have anything much to give, but the challenge then is not to reject God like the Israelites, nor to be faithless like Philip, but to offer even the meagre faith of an Andrew. Even a response like that is enough. It puts us in God’s hands, at God’s disposal. That’s what we need to do.”

(…and all I can say to this is, ouch!..)

“… known as the Department of Health and Social Security (or the Department of Stealth and Total Obscurity, as some frustrated wags called it)…”

..or over on my side of the pond, the Department of Health and Welfare has been referred to as the Department of Wealth and Hellfare..

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