Jesus Provides

August 2, 2026 10th Sunday After Pentecost Matthew 14:13-21 Jesus Provides Prelude Greeting Call to Worship As we gather and as we disperse, as we rise and as we sleep, as we eat and play and work, We offer God praise. As we wash our car, scrub the dishes, rinse the grime of the day from our hands, We offer God praise. As we feel the tips of the grass on our feet, the wind against our face, the sun on our backs, We offer God praise. Come, let us worship God who creates, redeems, and sustains us to live out our praise in all we do! We come as people formed by grace to offer God praise with our whole selves now and in all the ordinary moments of our lives! Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, May 2026. Opening Prayer Loving God, out of our fear, our anxiety and our discouragement, we come to you. In our energy, our excitement and our delight, we come to you. Help us recognize your presence in the midst of our own situations, even as we seek your blessing for our own lives, and for the life of ALL your creation. Walk with us in this hour and in each day as we limp and laugh with you. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Song Come Sinners to the Gospel Feast UMH 616 A Sermon for all Ages Children’s Sermon: “Jesus Makes a Little Enough” Scripture: Matthew 14:13–21 Suggested objects: A small piece of bread and a small cup Good morning, everyone! Today’s Bible story begins with a very large and hungry crowd. More than five thousand people had gathered to hear Jesus. When evening came, the disciples said, “Jesus, these people are hungry. Send them away so they can find something to eat.” But Jesus surprised them. He said, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” The disciples looked at what they had. It did not seem like much—only five loaves of bread and two fish. Can five loaves and two fish feed more than five thousand people? It sounds impossible! But Jesus did not ask the disciples to give what they did not have. He told them to use what they already had. They brought their small meal to Jesus. Jesus took the bread and fish, looked up to heaven, thanked God, broke the bread, and gave it to the disciples. The disciples shared it with the people. And something wonderful happened: everyone ate until they were full—and there were even leftovers! This story teaches us that something small can become enough when we place it in Jesus’ hands. A small gift can help someone. A few kind words can encourage someone. A little bit of food can be shared. One child’s loving action can make a big difference. We remember this every time we celebrate Holy Communion. Look at this small piece of bread and this small cup. They do not look like a large meal. Yet Jesus takes this small meal and uses it to feed many people—not just our bodies, but our hearts and souls. Christians around the world come to Christ’s table and receive the bread and the cup. Through this small meal, Jesus reminds us that we are loved, forgiven, and part of God’s family. At Communion, Jesus also tells us what he told the disciples: “Use what you have.” Bring your love, your kindness, your gifts, and even the small things you can do. When we place them in Jesus’ hands, he can use them to bless more people than we could ever imagine. Let us pray: Dear Jesus, thank you for taking small things and making them enough. Help us to use what we have and share it with others. Thank you for feeding us at your Communion table with your love and grace. Take our small gifts and use them to bless many people. Amen. (ChatGPT 6) Responsive Reading Psalm 17:1-7,15 UMH 749 Scripture Matthew 14:13-21 Sermon Jesus Provides Imagine….. We Know How the Disciples Feel You know how the disciples felt when the crowd showed up... The two of you haven't had a night out without the kids in weeks. You finally get away. The waiter has just brought your appetizer when the baby-sitter calls and tells you the youngest has a high fever and has started throwing up. You've been planning this vacation for six months. Your reservations are all made and three days before you are scheduled to go your mother calls and says your Dad is going to have a quadruple bypass as soon as the doctors can get his sugar stabilized. You haven't had a day off in three weeks. Friday morning your sister calls, says her father-in-law has died and wonders if you could take her kids for the weekend. It has been a very long day. You woke up before dawn because your arthritis hurt so much. You had to go to the grocery store and take your dog to the vet and on the way home your car started to act up and you had to leave it at the garage and get a taxi to take you home. All you want to do is go to bed when the phone rings and it's your friend who lost her husband last month and she just needs somebody to talk to. And always, when we think we have given all we have to give there is always more need: the starving people in the midst of a famine; refugees from war; the devastation of floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes; to say nothing of our neighbors who are hungry; the children who need someone to care about them; the youth in our community who have nowhere to go and nowhere to grow. We know how the disciples felt. Matthew doesn't have to tell us. Roger G. Talbott, Good News for the Hard of Hearing, CSS Publishing Company. Jesus takes time out of his personal grief to show compassion Jesus was grieving the death of his closest cousin. He needed time to pay his respects. He went away to be alone, but the people and their needs followed him. He put his own needs aside to listen and to talk. He was motivated by compassion. They say that misery plus mercy equals compassion. And compassion leads us to health and healing. Compassion can take us to unexpected places. But compassion always makes a difference. Dr. Jake find compassion in helping others The doctor has never been to Kenya before and to say he was overwhelmed didn’t begin to hint at his inner turmoil. Five chiorpractors from four corners of the united states had volunteered their time, all costs, and expertise for two weeks. They had been sponsored by a church organization fo the Jake it seemed a little too churchy. They stayed in a colonial era hotel that separated them from the locals. But each day they went to the tent. A white tend, open on all sides, welcomed in all of Africa’s ailing. At least it seemed that way to Jake. There are at least 2000 of them, he stated incredulously to one of the other doctors and he was correct. Outside in the sun, beneath the pepper trees, an army had appeared. They had heard the news – free medical care by American doctors. So they stood in the burnt brown grass waiting for their turn at the benches. Jake used a simple wooden bench and under the head of each patient he placed two books to lift their necks. The bible and Margaret Meades coming of age. Jake, like the other doctors did quick assessments of the patient before him. Then he began his adjustments. But a few thoughts lingered – These people are really ill. Some of them suffer from more than one ailment. Some are HIV positive and I am giving them adjustments. But maybe, I’ll help just one. What else can I do? Each day he and the others worked for hours. Once a fight broke out. Too many needed care. This went on for seven days. On the last day, Jake hammered physically, and emotionally let off some steam by wandering in the street market. Soon he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to face a man. Doctor, doctor please look at me. Jake turned – oh no, I cant do anymore. A muscular Kenyan man faced him. Look what you did, his face radiated a smile. I don’t need my cane. I can stand up straight. Jake thought that he recognized him, but there had been so many. Doctor I have something for you. I have looked for you all over this town. He unfolded a piece of paper and handed it to Jake. It was an old newspaper article. That was me. I ran in the Olympics for Kenya. I couldn’t stand for twenty years. Now I don’t need a cane. Here, you keep this article. I signed it for you. Jake accepted the gift and he didn’t know what to say. But he did know what to think. Maybe it wasn’t too churchy. I asked for one and you gave me one. – thanks. Jake came back from his mission trip a changed man. I was so proud to see so many people volunteering for sharefest yesterday. I am interested in hearing your stories – of the people you helped and the difference it made in our life. Compassion certainly made a difference in Jesus life and mission. He wanted to tell everyone about the value of compassion. He invited everyone, including us to follow his example. The lesson that Jesus teaches us – to compare God’s abundance with the world’s scarcity. We know what scarcity feels like. But we should also know that in the toughest situations, God provides – we know what it means to have enough. The Churches favorite story Our scripture for today is the churches favorite story – the story of enough – the feeding of the 5000. This is the only story in the new testament that is told in all four gospels. Each gospel has a slightly difference version, but the story is the same. Our scripture in Matthew is the only one that is associated with John the Baptist’s death. This is the beginning of Jesus ministry – that takes place in the desert. This is also the comparison of two very different feast. First we have the feast of Herod. It is a gathering of the rich, there is lots of food being served. People are fed, but it is not enough to fill them. John D. Rockefeller was asked at the height of his career by a reporter, "Mr. Rockefeller, how much is enough?" And he responded, "Just a little more than I have." Dan Matthews, "Our Mentality of Scarcity Among God’s Abundance" That was before he became a disciple of Jesus – and he learned that enough is what you give to help others. The feast of Herod leads to death – literally the death of John the Baptist. But also death to all of those who attend – looking for more and never finding it. In his grief, Jesus decides to have his own feast. This is a gathering of poor people, barely making it. They are looking for hope in the word of God. Jesus feeds them the word, but he also feeds them 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. When they are ready to leave, they have enough. Their spirits and their bellies are full. This is s feast that leads to life. God’s abundance is also enough. They understand compassion and generosity. The Loaves and Fishes Still Work Educator Parker J. Palmer was en route to a conference when the plane he was on made an unexpectedly long layover at an airport. A truck that was supposed to deliver the refreshments for the next leg of the journey broke down. Finally the pilot decided that it was more important to get his passengers on their way than to wait for the snacks to arrive, so he took off. As soon as they were in the air the passengers started grumbling. “A ticket is a contract,” one said loudly, “and snacks are part of the contract.” “I ought to sue,” another muttered. A man stood up and said, “I’m a lawyer. How many are willing to join in a class action suit?” A minor mutiny was in the works. Then something interesting happened. A flight attendant came on the public address system. She began with the familiar information on such flights: “Ladies and gentlemen, the captain has turned off the seatbelt lights. We have now attained a cruising altitude of 30,000 feet.” Then she said something quite extraordinary: “Having served many of you on the first leg of this flight, I know some of you still have your bags of peanuts, which you stuffed in your pocket. How many do we have? Five? Please open them and share them with the people around you. I’m sure some of you have mints. Would you pass these around, also? Those of you with newspapers, you can only read one section at a time. Spread the other sections around for others to read. Some of you are parents or grandparents. Take out the pictures of your children or grandchildren and show them to others.” With that brief announcement she changed the emotional climate of that flight. Later, when the flight attendant came near Parker Palmer’s seat he asked her, “What’s your name? What’s the name of your supervisor? I want to write a letter of commendation. That was the best example of group leadership I’ve ever seen.” To which, she replied, “The loaves and fishes still work.” King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com The loaves and fishes still work today. We too have a chance to learn compassion and generosity. The beginning of faith is in the wilderness In the story, one feast takes place in a palace. Another takes place in the wilderness. Jesus spends a lot of time in the wilderness. Just like the Isrealites who came to know God in the wilderness. The wilderness in the bible is desolate, deserted, a place with no words only silence. But it is always the place to go to find faith. Where are the wilderness spots in your life? Where are the places in your life where you are searching for the meaning of enough? Where are the places where you have found the riches of God in the midst of the sparseness of life? One of the places where Christ finds us in the wilderness if communion. Communion is intended to be our wilderness meal. We come together in the brokenness of the world. The meal does not fill us up- but the sip of grape juice and the cube of bread is enough to feed out spirits. And our spirits feed our mind and out body. The scripture says that Jesus blessed the bread, broke the bread and shared the bread with us. When we have enough, there is enough in us to share with others. Sometimes in life we are the members of the crowd – hungry and willing to be fed. Sometimes we are the disciples feeding others, and sometimes we are the body of Christ – inviting people to come to the feast and experience enough. As a matter of fact, Christ words to us in the scripture is you feed them with what you have. In the hands of Christ, what you share is always enough. Jesus does provide. You Feed Them – Generosity A man was packing a shipment of food for the poor people of Appalachia. He was separating beans from powdered milk, and canned vegetables from canned meats. Reaching into a box filled with various cans, he pulled out a little brown paper sack. Apparently one of the pupils had brought something different from the items on the suggested list. Out of the paper bag fell a peanut butter sandwich, an apple, and a cookie. Crayoned in large letters was a little girl's name, "˜Christy -- Room 104.' She had given up her lunch for some hungry person. Jesus says to us, "You feed them!" This is an incredibly rich world. We are rich people and we serve a rich God. "You feed them!" King Duncan, You Feed Them! She gave what she had and it was enough – we are encouraged to do the same. Let us pray…… Song One Bread One Body UMH 620 Pastoral Prayer Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Perhaps some of you can sympathize with Jesus. He’d been working non-stop, healing, teaching, and responding to the demands of the crowds. When he heard of the murder of John the Baptist, he tried to break away for some time alone. Yet when he looked up from the boat he’d taken across to what he hoped would be a deserted place, a crowd had already gathered! Instead of turning around, or simply dropping anchor out on the water, Jesus came ashore, and “had compassion for them.” Even when we are exhausted, discouraged, uncertain, or downtrodden, we have the model of Jesus standing before us. Jesus engaged, once more, with people who needed food in that deserted place. So he took what was available, gave thanks to God for the bread and fish, and gave the food to his disciples to pass to the crowds. Today, can demonstrate our compassion – our “pity with” others. Not the only way, but one way to respond to the needs of others comes by sharing our morning offering. Will you put compassion to the forefront for this moment? Will you respond, knowing a portion of our offering goes to ____________________ (support the food pantry, provide new underwear for those coming to our free clothing shop, pay our minister as he/she/they counsels with disconsolate folks)? Let us present our gifts as signs and symbols of the compassion we know most clearly from the life of Jesus, the Christ. Prayer of Thanksgiving* As one family we sing while these, our gifts, to God we bring; who in love has made us one in the church of Christ, God’s Son. Use us and use our gifts, good Lord, for holy service in the world. Hope to all your people give as to your glory we now live. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Invitation to Communion Each time we come to this Table, we hear an invitation extended to all who will come. Here there are no tests to pass, no threshold of giving to exceed, no affirmation from some authority to present. Here we find the gifts of God for the people of God, presented in simple bread and juice. Counting on the compassion of Jesus Christ, we recognize our hunger and our thirst may be assuaged here even as we remember in a deserted place, long ago, Jesus took simple foods, blessed them, broke the bread and gave the bread and fish. So, today, knowing these gifts will not fill our stomachs, but can satisfy our soul hunger, we remember Jesus taking bread, blessing it, breaking it, giving it. With gratitude, come to receive the bread of life and the cup of salvation. *Adapted from Gifts of Many Cultures, Maren C. Tirabasi and Kathy Wonson Eddy, 1995, Pilgrim Press, p. 126. (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Communion Announcements Closing Prayer for YouTube Go into a world of abundance, with eyes open for the miraculous workings of our God, and as you go, may the blessing of our triune God, creator, redeemer and sustainer, be with you always. (Presbyterian Outlook, Baron Mullis) Community Time Benediction Beloved, may God bless you with the discernment to stop and notice God at work all around you, the inspiration to offer up praise in the middle of the busyness of life, and the peace that comes from beholding the face of God and knowing deep in your bones that we are not alone—God is with us. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, May 2026. Additional Illustrations It Don't Add Up Perhaps you have heard the story of the football coach who had two quarterbacks. The first team quarterback was gifted, aggressive, and a born leader. The second string quarterback was, let us say, limited. Oh, he was athletic enough but unfortunately, he lacked a mind for strategy. The championship game was in progress, the score was tied, the home team had the ball, and the clock was ticking down. An opposing player broke through the line of scrimmage and slammed the star quarterback to the ground with such force that the signal-caller had to leave the game. Time was running out. The coach had no choice but to put in the back-up. The substitute trotted onto the field, huddled the team, and strode up to the line of scrimmage. Surveying the opposing team, and much to everyone's surprise, he changed the play at the line. The ball was snapped, the quarterback handed it off to the half-back who busted up the middle and sped all the way into the end zone with the winning touchdown! An amazing play. Moments later, in the ecstatic dressing room, the coach grabbed his second-team quarterback by the shoulder pads and said, "Son, that was great! How did you know to call that play?" The boy said, "Uh, well coach, it weren't easy. I got up to the line and looked across at two of the biggest players I've ever seen and I seen their numbers. One of 'em was wearing a six and the other one was wearing a seven, so I just added them numbers together and got fourteen and called number fourteen." The coach hesitated a moment and said, "But son, six and seven make 13." The boy, quite unmoved by the correction, said, "You know what coach? If I was as smart as you, we would have lost the game." Things do not always add up the way they are supposed to, do they? Traditional Stories, www.eSermons.com How Much Is Enough? The Wall Street Journal ran an article some time ago describing the fastest growing business in America today: the development and the construction of mini warehouses, these small storage facilities that you see in every town and in every city. We first fill the closets and the attic and the basement and the garage and then we go across town and rent some space to store our stuff. The reality is that in the midst of all this abundance of stuff, we have a mentality of scarcity. We think we need a little more. We are yearning to buy, if the price is right. In short, we can't get enough of what we don't need. Imagine our present day culture in any historical perspective. We have more possessions than any culture in the history of the world. We think of ourselves and our own personal value in terms of how much stuff we have. And our basic way of seeing the world is by virtue of scarcity. And if we are honest, almost no one of us is free of that yearning to have a little bit more. Oh, we don't want to be accused of being greedy. We simply don't quite have enough. "Maybe other people do," we say to ourselves, “but I don't. I need just a little bit more.” Moving Fences Many years ago, there was a woman who lived in a small village in France. Trained as a nurse, she devoted her life to caring for the sick and needy. After many years of kind and selfless service to the village’s families, the woman died. She had no family of her own, so the townsfolk planned a beautiful funeral for her, a fitting tribute to the woman to whom so many owed their lives. The parish priest, however, pointed out that, because she was a Protestant, she could not be buried in the town’s Catholic cemetery. The villagers protested, but the priest held firm. It was not easy for the priest either, because he too had been cared for by the woman during a serious illness. But the canons of the Church were very clear; she would have to buried outside the fence of the cemetery. The day of the funeral arrived, and the whole village accompanied the woman’ s casket to the cemetery, where she was buried--outside the fence. But that night, a group of villagers, armed with shovels, sneaked into the cemetery. They then quietly set to work--moving the fence. More astounding than Jesus’ feeding of the crowds with a few pieces of bread and fish is Jesus’ transforming the crowd into a community, a community united in their need for one another, in the bread they share, in the love of Christ who has brought them together. Christ empowers each one of us to perform our own miracles of creating community when we "move the fences" to include outsiders, when we welcome the rejected and forgotten to our tables, when we give of what little we have, joyfully and gratefully, for the sake of others, when we welcome one another as we would welcome Jesus. Jerry Fuller, Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes We Have Nothing But . . . Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest and college professor, tells the story of nine teenagers from Vermont who went to a Navajo reservation out west for a week-long mission work project. When they arrived, the Navajos pretty much ignored their presence. They didn’t give them much of a welcome, nor did they offer to help them with any of the work. It wasn’t that the Navajos were hostile or rude. They just didn’t believe that the kids would actually show up. And even when they did, they doubted that they could accomplish much of anything in one week. Besides, they had been promised all kinds of things before by previous work crews, but had seen only meager results at best. They had good reason to be skeptical. However, these kids from Vermont and their adult sponsors were different. They didn’t know how to do much -- they didn’t know how to build a sheep pen or put a new roof on a house -- but they were determined to give it their best shot. And they did. About halfway through the week, a funny thing happened. The Navajos, who up to that point had been watching from the sidelines, now began to pitch in. A group of Navajo teenagers decided to help fix up Annie Begay’s hogan. Apparently they figured that, if these kids could come all the way from Vermont to work, they could help, too. At the end of the week, the youth from Vermont, their sponsors, and the Navajos who had joined the effort -- all of them working together had completed forty-two of the forty-six projects they had set out to do. Taylor concludes: "We went into the week skinny, with only five loaves and two fish; but we came out fat, with twelve baskets to spare. That’s because God made good to match our gifts . . . . It’s something to remember when our own resources look too meager. How many loaves have you?" Story told by Barbara Brown Taylor, quoted by Richard Donovan in SermonWriter The Miracle Everyone Was Waiting On Only one miracle made it into all four gospels. It transpired on the grassy hills by the shores of the Sea of Galilee at a time when Jesus' popularity--and also his vulnerability--was cresting. Wherever he went, a throng that included many deranged and afflicted trailed behind. The day before the big miracle, Jesus crossed the lake to elude the masses. Herod had just executed John the Baptist, Jesus' relative, his forerunner and friend, and Jesus needed time alone to grieve. Doubtless, John's death provoked somber thoughts of the fate awaiting him. Alas, there would be no secluded retreat. A huge swarm of yesterday's multitude made the ten-mile journey around the lake and soon hundreds, even thousands of people clamored around Jesus. "He had compassion on them," says Mark, "because they were like sheep without a shepherd." Instead of spending the day renewing his spirit, Jesus spent it healing the sick, always an energy drain, and speaking to a crowd large enough to fill a modern basketball arena. The issue of food came up. What to do? There are at least five thousand men, not to mention the women and children! Send them away, suggested one disciple. Buy them dinner, said Jesus. What? Is he kidding? We're talking eight months' wages! Then Jesus took command in a way none of them had seen before. Have the people sit down in groups of fifty, he said. It was like a political rally--festive, orderly, hierarchical -- exactly what one might expect from a Messiah figure. Unavoidably, we moderns read Jesus' life backwards, knowing how it turns out. That day, no one but Jesus had a clue. Murmurs rustled through the group on the packed hillside. Is he the one? Could it be? In the wilderness, Satan had dangled before Jesus the prospects of a crowd-pleasing miracle. Now, not to please a crowd but merely to settle their stomachs, Jesus took two salted fish and five small loaves of bread and performed the miracle everyone was waiting for. Three of the Gospels leave it at that. "They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish," reports Mark with masterful understatement. Only John tells what happened next. Jesus got his time alone, at last. As the disciples rowed back across the lake, fighting a storm all the way, Jesus spent the night on a mount, alone in prayer. Later that night he rejoined them by walking across the water. Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, Zondervan, 1995, 175-176. Many Kinds of Bread In the English language, in some contexts, the word "bread" is synonymous with food. In other parts of the world, that's not true. For example, in Eastern Asia, when you say "food," people automatically think of rice. In Malaysia, the same applies to sweet potatoes. For every culture there is a "staff of life." For most it's bread. It's the basic thing you need to stay alive. But all these words - bread, rice, and sweet potatoes - can also refer to the emotional and spiritual basics that keep us alive. There are a few people without whose love and presence in my life, I would find it difficult, if not impossible, to survive. There's one or two I wouldn't mind getting away from a while, just to see how I would do without them, but I need most all of them. And without a faith that receives regular nourishment from the Word of God, all of the Word of God, and all of the people of God, I could not survive. Bread is the biblical metaphor because that was the staple, basic, bottom-line food source of Jesus' day. If Jesus had been from Malaysia, it would have been sweet potatoes, and communion could get a little messy. Johnny Dean, How Much Is Enough? Give Them Something to Eat One billion of the world's richest people consume 80 percent of the earth's resources. The other five billion make do on the other 20 percent. The world has 840 million chronically malnourished people, most of them women and children. Seven million children in the world under the age of five die each year from malnutrition. The Department of Agriculture in our own country, estimates there are 3.8 million families who experience hunger and up to 12 million families concerned about having enough food to feed their families. Hunger is real. The disciples say send them away. Do we not offer similar suggestions? Let the government feed them, let social services take care of them, let the unemployment office help them, let the homeless shelters take them in. Meanwhile, the government is knocking on the door of faith-based communities saying, "When are you going to help?" Leaping from the pages of scripture Jesus exclaims, "Do not send them away. Give them something to eat." J. Howard Olds, Faith Breaks, www.Sermons.com God Lets Us Help Ethan Allen was a big, voluble, rather flamboyant Vermonter, Colonial patriot, a somewhat controversial hero of the American Revolution. He organized a rag-tag army of freedom-lovers known as the Green Mountain Boys. On May 10, 1775, Allen and his "Boys" captured from the British the strategic Fort Ticonderoga. Having returned from this successful venture, Allen did something which he was wont to do sometimes as the mood suited: on Sunday morning he attended church. During the service the pastor offered a long prayer, a great deal of which was an offering of praise to God for the liberation of Fort Ticonderoga. How great was God, and how good, to have wrested that fort from the enemy! Ethan Allen, having sat through as much of this as he could endure, interrupted the pastor, saying, "Parson Dewey ... Parson Dewey, please mention to the Lord that I and the Green Mountain Boys were there!" The plain fact is, of course, that wherever God has done things in the world somebody has been there helping him do them. Yes, perhaps Jesus could have fed that multitude without the five loaves and two fish which the disciples brought to him, but he didn't. He let his disciples help, and he used what they brought. Leonard W. Mann, Life-Size Living, CSS Publishing Company Contrary to What We KNOW The chief objection that modernists have with the story of the Feeding of the 5,000 was answered by St. Augustine over 1500 years ago. Augustine said, “Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we KNOW about nature.” The miracle here was that a weary but compassionate Jesus understood the true power of the Creator God – the Father of the universe. And He acted in accordance with that knowledge: with miraculous results. John Bedingfield, Do You Believe in Miracles? ________________________________________ At Least One Dollar Dr. H. King Oehmig tells a story of the time that a church congregation from Cartersville, Georgia wanted to begin a Habitat for Humanity group. It was in the early days of Habitat, so the group went to Americus, Georgia to meet with Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity. The group toured the Habitat facilities and saw a presentation on how groups operate. Then Mr. Fuller took time from his busy schedule to go and talk to this group. During the course of their conversation, one of the folks from Cartersville said, “Mr. Fuller, we think this is what God’s calling us to do. But before we begin, how much money do you think we should have in the bank to get us off the ground?” Fuller leaned toward the man and in a very low and serious voice told him, “It would be wholly irresponsible, completely negligent, totally feather-brained if you started an affiliate without at least one dollar.But you have to have one dollar. Don’t dare make a move without it!” King Oehmig says that that day, the Cartersville group learned, “as the disciples discovered with Jesus that evening, when He told them to feed the masses themselves – that faced with the Gospel imperative, we were searching for a reasonable alternative to faith.” Just like modern America searches for a reasonable alternative to a miracle. John Bedingfield, Do You Believe in Miracles?