The Need For a Laborer

Call and we've enjoyed our time with you and we've got our final service to get to. So, let's go ahead and take our songbooks and we'll get to it. We're gonna turn to 500, please. 500 in your red songbooks there If you can join us in standing, let's all stand. Those that can and we'll sing when the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

Singing out tonight, number 500. We're on 500. Let's sing that last now. Let us labor for the master. Amen.

Good evening. Amen. Brother brother David, would you open our service in prayer? Amen. Thank you, Joshua for playing.

That was awesome and great job at that and of course, that song was come now found of every blessing tune my heart to sing. I praise. What a great song and so thank you so much. Next time we come, you'll be 16, 17 if we come again in two or three years. So, he'll be even more advanced next time.

Maybe he'll play another instrument too. No? Okay. Don't push don't push the luck there. Okay.

Well, we got him to sing in choir this weekend. I got him play duet, so that's good. Great job. I appreciate it. And tonight, we have a we have a birthday tonight in the room and I don't think it's very fair that she has to play for her own birthday but it's Heather's birthday tonight.

Singing in minor. No, we're not there yet. That's 50. You're not there yet, okay? So, let's all sing good day to Heather.

Ready? Alright. Well, we've she's had a good day today. We've had a good day celebrating and and so, anyway, appreciate her and love her and all that she does and she can play and talk to somebody at the same time and probably do math in her head at the same time too. I don't know but very talented and anyway, happy birthday to Heather.

Let's take our songbooks and you can remain seated 498, 498 and be seated as we sing this great song. When we all get to heaven, we'll sing and shout the victory. 498, please. Amen. Well, I hope you're here to receive a blessing this evening.

We've been blessed many times over this week and I so much appreciate the ministry of the Pelletiers and the Murrays and we've known them. I think Mike said that Greg and Heather have been with you for nineteen years, so it must have been like the first or second year you were with him that you were at Hardison up in Georgia Rise, youth pastor the first time. So, so anyway, we've we've known them for almost almost twenty years and eighteen, nineteen years and it never gets old. The word of God never gets old. Preaching the word of God, singing praises to his name and it is so wonderful to have them back with us this week.

We've really enjoyed their company but we've also been blessed by the music and blessed by the preaching and I'm look forward to what God is going to do this evening and what he's going to continue to do. Revival isn't just in the services that you schedule. Revival is something God does in our heart and true revival doesn't end because the evangelist goes to the next church. So, if God is truly done a work in our lives this week and in our church, then, what he has started will continue and will continue to bring some more people in to to be to the Lord Jesus Christ and we will continue to grow and we'll continue to to mature and we will continue to be burdened for the lost and committed to our Lord Jesus. What a joy it is to have had that opportunity here in the last fourteen years to see growth and to see what God has already done but I'm looking forward to what God's going to do because he is not done yet.

So, I I know you've been praying. The Lord's been working. So, keep it up and keep it up after revival services are over, okay? We tonight's friend and neighbor night and I invited several friends and neighbors and they they all let me down. However, you didn't let me down.

You're here and I'm glad. Does anybody have a friend or neighbor? I think I recognize everybody that's here tonight and so we are all our own friends and neighbors this evening. So, it's good to have the kids back. Again, we've had them here Wednesday night, Thursday night.

I appreciate brother Ian for driving the van to pick up the kids each evening in Augusta with him. So, that has been a blessing to us. Greg, you didn't get an Email or a text today about tonight? You jumped the no, probably not, because you jumped the gun a little bit on me. I think maybe the person sending the Email or text were was afraid that, you know, it might bleed over onto somebody else's phone or or something but happy birthday, Heather.

You. Again, thank you. And I guess we sang happy birthday once. So, I guess we won't do it again. Anyway, this is a birthday card.

Thank you, Kath. From the church. Thank you so much. Nikki, that And and not that you're gonna eat a ton of it, but we have cake and ice cream and cake with your name on it. I don't know if it'll be whole by the time you get back there to see it.

I hope so. But happy birthday and everybody is welcome to join us to celebrate Heather's birthday after after the service in the fellowship hall. We have cake and ice cream, chocolate, vanilla. I mean, you know, that's standards. We should be able to handle that and and a cake back there with her name on it and so I hope everybody will stay for a few minutes and celebrate her birthday with us.

If we could, we mention this now with the kids, the kids that came on the van, if we could help them get through the line first, so that they can get on the van and get home, but I do want them to get a chance to get a little cake and ice cream so their parents will hate us when they get home, okay? They will love us, their parents will hate us, but anyway, so if you could help us out with that. In this particular case, we need to get them home, so we don't start getting calls from parents. Where are my kids? They're supposed to be home.

Anyway, but happy birthday and, glad y'all could come this evening to celebrate Heather's birthday but also I hope to hear the word of God. So, if I could have a couple of ushers at this time, come on down and we'll take up the last love offering of the week for the Murrays and the Pelletiers and I hope that you have been giving. If you haven't, tonight is the night. So, they have been a blessing to us. It is our privilege and opportunity to be a blessing to them by supporting their ministry which is resulted over the years in many lost souls coming to know Jesus Christ as savior all over this country and in other places in the world and and many Christians being challenged and encouraged in the faith.

So, they have been a blessing to us and and to so many. I'm I'm glad we can help them out this week as well. Brother Ian, would you lead us in prayer for the offer? Lord, thank you again that we can gather tonight because last night for the services Lord has blessed and touched us this week. Just help us Lord to don't let revival end here Lord but to continue to reach out to those we try to bring in the church Lord and to keep making changes in our lives or to walk closer to you.

Just use this offering to your honor, Lord, for through and fellow tears, Lord, and that they can be encouragement to others and we can be encouragement to them. Thank you again that we can celebrate this special night with Heather on her birthday, Lord, and and the fellowship after. Just thank you for all you'll do now in Christ's name, amen. Amen. Amen.

So we had a trumpet and a brass duet here with Josh Polar, and then now we've had a nice piano duet with missus Polar and then we're going to have a duet with pastor Polar and Greg. They're going to sing right before the message tonight. So, we're looking forward to that. So, you better get picking a song because and all people who want them to sing a duet. Amen.

Okay. So, let's do burdens are lifted at Calvary or something. That would be great. Figure out something. Yeah, that would be fun.

So, anyway, see how that goes. See if it goes. Get on with your announcement. See. Alright.

Then I guess they're making an announcement. They're they're singing burdens are lifted at Calvary. No, it's very, very, very good job on both of those numbers. That was a blessing. Well, I don't have any announcements to make as far as we've already noticed that we've got a good attendance attendance here tonight.

We don't have the neighbors that came but we've got a good attendance here tonight and I think it's been a good attendance all the way through the whole week and we thank the Lord for that and then this is is this your second time being at the church, friend or have you been here many times before? This is my third. Third time. Okay. Well, we're glad that you're here.

So, this is your third time and we have a general rule that we do. If you come three times, you have to join the church. So, you're you're you're going to have to join now, okay? We're glad that you're here. Thanks for coming and then over here is a young lady, and I found out you come pretty regularly.

I just haven't gotten to see you this week yet but good to see you. Thank you for coming. Sophia over here, is that right? The other day, when she was going to come, they missus Polar, Kate, told her that you you need to come. It is going to be a a great preacher that you get to hear a great preacher and so she came and she was she thought you're going to see a great creature and so she was a little disappointed.

She was hoping to see an armadillo or something. And so I tried to find an armadillo for you, but we didn't. But she's been going out with a kids meeting, and she must have liked it because she keeps coming back. So it's good to see her back as well. All right.

So, I do want to just say how much we've enjoyed being here, and I also want to say thank you for your kindness to all of us. And I do want to remind you that there are some items available in the back. If you'd like some of those items, they'll be available and just wanna tell you how much I've appreciated the opportunity to be here again and being with you all and look forward to coming back in the future if the Lord leads. So, and we'll come if pastor will invite us. So, don't want to put any pressure on him but, tell him if he doesn't have us back, you won't tithe or something like that but no, we would love to be back in the future as Lord leads and thank you all for your for your having a sin.

Let's stand. We'll sing our chorus. Again, taken from second Chronicles seven teen. And if you know it, you can sing it out tonight. If my people.

If my people which I call by Thank you and you can be seated. Use me as I tell of Calvary. May thy spirit move within me bringing souls to thee I want to say happy birthday to Heather also and I hope she's had a good fiftieth. I mean, not fiftieth. I'm only kidding but if a great birthday and not even close to fiftieth, just I've been giving her a little trouble with that this week but anyway, I do hope she's had has a good birthday and that she really enjoys it.

Let's take our Bibles this evening and let's stand together and I'd like us to turn to John chapter six this evening and we'll stand out of respect for the word of God. John chapter six. My wife and I she she we talked a little bit earlier today and she she feels like in the last four, five days, she's had a little bit more energy and feeling a little bit better. So that's encouraging. And then so today she pushed herself a little too much and she just got wiped out again.

But at least she could push herself too much before she couldn't. So, that's a good sign that maybe she's going in the right direction and appreciate you continuing to pray for her. Well, I always hate coming to the end of revival meetings. I I know some of you may like it that we're coming to an end so you don't have to come out every night but I hope that it's been a blessing to you and that you've been built. Now, at this time, let's dismiss the children, third grade down to four years old.

They can go out for the kids meeting unless Sophia wants to stay in here and see if I pull out an armadillo. No? Okay, you go out for the kids meeting because I don't have an armadillo. Okay. You are an armadillo.

You catch one for her. Okay. None of you have any idea what we're talking about, do you, with the armadillo thing? Yeah. You got it.

Okay. Good. Alright. Before I preach, does anybody, have a brief word of testimony related to the meeting that you'd like to share? We could take two or three meeting, two or three little brief testimonies but just remember, I'm preaching and so that you remember that so that you don't preach too long.

So, there's time for the word but I love to hear from somebody. Anybody like to share briefly, brother Steve? Amen. Amen. It's another faithful person there.

Just I look out here and I see a lot of faithful people serve God for a long time and I'm seeing some others here that you're fairly new Christians but I got a feeling that fifty years from now, if the Lord tarries, you're still going to be serving the Lord because your nose is pointed that direction and your heart is there and that's exciting. Amen. Somebody else, a testimony, brief testimony. Yes, sir. Amen.

Good. Good. Get serving the Lord again. That's great. Good.

Amen. Good kidney, bad kidney, people still need to be saved, right? Amen. Good. Someone else.

Alright. Anybody else? Yes, sir. Then we had this one coming, oh Christ and even this afternoon, there was a profession made right out here on the step. Got to win a lady to Christ but we'll see if anything comes to that but God's done some good things.

If she got saved, something came of it. If she didn't, then, at least the seeds been planted. So, amen. Good someone else. Been a good week.

Alright. Well, I hope that you've been encouraged and I I have been and seeing you all folk and looking forward to this again and don't forget to stop by and take a look at my wife's Christmas cards. They hopefully be a blessing to you. Alright, John chapter six is where I want to go and I want to begin reading at verse five. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great company come unto him, He say it unto Philip, when shall we buy bread that these may eat?

And this he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, 200p worth of bread is not sufficient for them that everyone of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, say it through him, there is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, make the men sit down. So, the men sat down and number about 5,000 and Jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples and the disciples to them that were sat down and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be lost. Heavenly father, bless the preaching again. In Christ name, we pray. Amen. Thank you and you can be seated.

Everything that Jesus did when he was on the Earth, he did it for the purpose of reaching their soul. It was never done just to make men's situation better. It was never done just to make him more comfortable and it was never done just to impress people with his abilities but everything he did was for the purpose of reaching their eternal soul. When he was born, we know that he was born to die when he healed a blind man. It was so that it could show that he could want to get him to see the cross when he healed a lame man with palsy.

He said, from his own lips, which is easier to do? Forgive a man of sins or tell that man to walk. Only God could do either one and approve that I have the power to forgive peoples of sins. He said to the man, take up thy bed and walk and so the whole purpose of everything that he did was that eternal mission, the eternal mission, the eternal mission to save men from sin and that is his whole goal today. Now, in this passage in John chapter six, it is a literal story how Jesus took five loaves and two fish and he fed 5,000 people and we know that but he didn't even do this just because he wanted to show what he could do but yet, he did it because he wanted to save their souls.

The next day, these people came back to him and they wanted to make him king. Is this man could feed them forever they thought but he told them, labor not for meat which perishes but for that which endureth under everlasting life. In verse 27 and then in verse 33, he said, the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and give it life into the world and verse 35, I am the bread of life. So, he want to reach these people with spiritual food. He wanted to see them saved.

Now, today, if we were to ask Jesus what his greatest desire is and he were to stand behind the pulpit and tell us, he would not say, I want to see the church get bigger. That in itself, he would not say. Though it would be important for that to happen in order for what he wants to be done to happen. But he would not say, I want to see these hungry people fed. Though it's good to feed them and God says that we should care for people but he again would say, the number one objective is I am not about their physical condition right now.

I wanna see their eternal soul in heaven and everything that he did was to get people to heaven to the cross and that's what he wants us to be focused on today and if he was standing up here, he would say that I want to reach the multitudes today with the message of salvation but in order for him to do that, obviously, he needs us today to do that. Now, this passage of scripture is a literal story how Jesus took five loaves and two fish and he fed the multitudes and I know that but yet, I'm going to take a little liberty with it yet not be unbiblical with it. I'm going to look at some thoughts from this that we could tie to his real vision and real desire and direct us at the end of this meeting in this way. Now, the first thing that I want to look at is in order for Jesus to reach the multitudes, he is going to need lads. Lads represent labors.

Now, when I was a boy, I remember reading this passage and this verse popped up in my mind. There is a lad here. There is a lad here. And then I went on and I kept reading but that verse kept popping up again. There is a lad.

There is a lad. Now, when a verse keeps popping up in my mind, I think, hey, God's trying to tell me something. So, I say, God, what are you trying to tell me and the only thing that I could think of is God was trying to tell me that in order for me to reach people, I'm going to need lads. Now, as simple as that is, it is so true that today, God has limited himself to using people to reach people. Now, obviously, there's the word of God.

Obviously, there's creation but God wants to use people like you and like me. Now, as you look at this, lads represent labors. There are two issues that we need to address. One, is the lack of labors and then number two is the location labors. Let me just hit that first, the lack of labors.

Now, every preacher preaches, try if you're fighting sleep, try to wake up. Now, every preacher preaches on a lack of labors and so when we preach about a lack of labors, here's what happens. We have a lack of listeners because people will say, oh God's got so many laborers. He really is doing fine. And so they usually turn off their minds and there is a lack of listeners when a preacher will address the lack of labors.

But does the Bible really teach that there is a lack of labors? Matthew nine thirty seven, then said he unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous but the labors are what? Few. They are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest that he'll send forth labors into his harvest.

Luke ten two, the harvest truly is plenteous but the labors are few and again, tells us to pray that God would send labors into the harvest. Now, obviously, we have a lack of labors when it comes to the Lord's full time ministry work. Now, when I was first in the ministry, I remember going to a preacher named Doctor Stenholm and I said, doc, when you got started fifty years ago in evangelism, how many evangelists were there? And he said, Mike, I can remember when there were a thousand evangelists that would meet together every year at a conference in Winona Lake and he said, I'll guarantee you, we had 2,000 independent fundamental evangelist. Now, then I asked my father-in-law at that time when I was starting in evangelism thirty years ago, I said, how many evangelists do you think there are now?

And he said, I'll guarantee you there are less than 200. Now, in fifty years, going from 2,000 evangelists to less than 200 and though I'm not saying that I'm an authority on it, I believe that if I were to count up how many independent baptist evangelists there are now, I believe there'd be less than 100. Now, we're dying when it comes to this kind of thing we don't even know it. Now, World War two, all these people saw their friends killed in the foxholes. People came out of that war back then and they thought the only thing that is important is eternity because life is brief.

And so we had 2,000 preacher boys at one Bible College by itself if I understand it correctly, Bob Jones University. Now then, since 1950, we've been slowly declining and then in my generation, our generation, we began to snowball down the hill. And so, now, we go from 2,000 in seventy years to less than 100 and we're dying and we're dying and we don't even know it. I have a missions chart and this chart talked about 11 mission boards of independent churches and it said, how many missionaries we sent out in 1983 and then how many in 1987 and it was in in in a terrible state. It said in those four years, we dropped 28% of our missionaries and it dropped down twenty eight percent four years.

If we kept that up in a few years, there would be no missionaries. Now, somebody said, well, it'll never happen where America will stop being a lighthouse for the Lord. The fact is, we are dying and we're not sending out missionaries anymore. Now, most of the people that are on the mission field are older and going to be retiring in the next ten years and we've gotta have some of these young people start thinking about what they're going to do with their life. And some of you need to consider maybe putting your life into something that is eternal.

Now, God says, there is a lad here and lad represents labors and there really is a lack of labors but let me challenge this about something. There also is a lack of labors in local churches. Listen, I was going to a church with two fifty people and with two fifty people in it, do you know how many people went out soul winning when we had soul winning days? Three. It was the pastor, the pastor's wife, and the young man me who was studying to be an evangelist at the time.

Now, as an illustration and I may have mentioned that before, it is an illustration that we are just not getting the labors. Now, not only is there a lack of labors but there is a problem with the location I mentioned. Now, there is a lad here just an application. This boy not only had to be willing to give his food but he had to be willing to be where he was supposed to be. Now, that's spiritualizing it but it's not unbiblical.

We need to be willing not only to serve God but where he wants us to. Now, listen, if you will say, I will serve God here but I will not serve God there. I won't do it. I will not open my mouth. I will not share a witness.

I will not talk to people about Jesus. I will help in this area but I will not help in that area. I'm telling you, that's convenient Christianity. Now, the missions chart that I had showed the places in the world that lost missionaries and the places in the world that gained and I'll just say this quickly, of all the continents in the world, all of them lost missionaries. Ethiopia went from three down to one.

Ghana went from 41 down to 29 in just four years. And in the only place in the globe that gained missionaries. Asia lost two nineteen. Africa lost three zero three in just four years and the only place that got more missionaries in this globe. Are you ready?

The United States Of America. Now, is this God's design or are we falling into convenient Christianity where not too many people feel that they want to serve God in a famine place or in a destitute place but they do want to serve God in a place that's more convenient. Now, it shows that we may be falling into convenient versus inconvenient Christianity. Now, it plays out as well in a local church. You've got convenient versus inconvenient Christianity.

Now, I'm talking to people who've been coming out every night to revive Bible meetings. I'm talking to people who have been out here even though it hasn't been convenient. I'm talking to some of you. You might have missed a night or two because you had to. I'm not saying anything negative there but here's what I am saying.

I'm saying we are not fully serving God when we put conditions on what we'll do. And we are slumping in the convenient Christianity instead of committed Christianity. And there are many people that are shutting down visitation programs now. Why? Nobody will do it.

There are many people shutting down Sunday night services now. Why? It's not so convenient for people to come out on Sunday night. And then, Wednesday night, they're not doing it anymore. Why?

People have lost from being committed Christians to becoming convenient Christians. Now, we've got to become people that are committed and not only willing to serve God but they're willing to serve God where he wants us to. Now, I'm not telling you to do something that I'm not willing to do. I am trying to serve God wherever God would have me. I'm not the example anyway.

I go on mission trips and things like this are not always easy but we need people that have the burden if it's not convenient, if it is convenient, if something needs to be done, count me in. Here are my five loaves and my two fish. Now, these days, we're slumping into convenient Christianity. Now, there used to be men that we need back, these kind of men, David Brainerd, missionary to the American Indian said, I don't care where I live. I don't care what I eat.

I don't care what I wear as long as I reach souls for Jesus. And he proved it. As he reached the American Indian, as he was ministering to them, they said that they would see him coughing up blood, coughing up phlegm because he was dying of tuberculosis and sometimes, he would be on his knees in a snowstorms praying for the American Indian with no socks on because he had given his own socks to an American Indian because he cared for these people so much and didn't want that one to be cold. There's Charles Spurgeon. He was offered $50,000 if he would go to America and preach 50 times a thousand dollars a sermon and he wrote back and he said you can keep your $50,000.

I'm not in it for the money. I'm gonna be where God wants me to be and I'm gonna preach behind my pulpit and I'd rather see 50 souls saved. And then there was DL Moody who said that somebody had to be willing to be bullet meat for $13 a month to stop slavery. And I am saying some of us are going to have to be willing to be bullet meat for Jesus if this generation's gonna get back to serving God again. And we seriously have a problem with us being convenient Christianity kind of people.

Now, I went to Liberia. There was no electricity. There were only a few days from a generator, but there were people and those people needed the Lord. My wife got sick and as soon as she got sick, she said, let's go back. I said, we can't go back but she says, I wanna go back.

I'm not missing The Philippines. I said, well, we'll see And her attitude is and I think means from the bottom of her heart. I don't care how sick I am. Let's get out there. Those people need us to go.

I remember when I went to Antigua, it was no electricity, no warm, water, there was water pressure but you could get water in coming down but it was all cold and if you took a shower you had to go and you get through it and then the roads were like you were riding a jackhammer just beating you up but what they did have was a lot of people that were looking for the word of God. We had a tent, filled the tent, people were outside of the tent looking in and when we got there to go to preach they ended up just getting TV sets and so we were thinking, these TV sets are gonna kill this campaign. But you know what? The president of the Island Of Antica did? He said it's more important than our people's souls are on their way to heaven than that they are watching TV.

So he shut down the entire network of the television televising while we were there and instead he aired our campaign over the entire island of Antigua. And people out there are in need but we're sometimes not willing to be inconvenienced. When I went to Haiti right after the earthquake, it wasn't very convenient. We had to travel. We had to use the restroom outside.

Sorry. But we had no conveniences. And it was just just not easy. But there were souls that were hurting with two hundred and thirty thousand people just got killed and there were Christians that needed somebody to be there for them and what I'm saying is, I'm not saying that I am a hero but I'm saying we've got to get out of this convenient Christianity versus inconvenient and when our attitude is, I will serve you Lord but come on, you're asking too much of me. I don't know that God could ever ask too much of us and so we've got to have laborers.

Now God's work is always limited by laborers. But then in this passage it says there is a lad here which hath five barley loaves. Now what do the loaves represent? The loaves can represent maybe what we give to God. Now when we're thinking about what we give to God immediately people are thinking finances and at this point, I'm very glad that our offerings are over so you don't think I'm trying to preach for my offering but God's work is always limited financially.

Now, one of the basic things that Christianity is is giving not taking and what has to start happening is we've gotta quit trying to hang on to all of our lows and many of you do give and God bless you but every Christian ought to be concerned about putting their treasure in heaven and if we had this heart, we could see so much more done. Now, an obvious loaf that we have would be our finances. I was preaching over in Antigua, suffering for the Lord in Antigua and actually this is Aruba. I get confused sometimes. In Aruba had 20 people that had gotten saved when I was there one year and then they had a church problem because the pastor went into sin and so I went back to him the next year.

Tried to help him through when they didn't have a pastor and I was able to go over there and help those poor people through and so while we were there, I was the only one there. I was having bible studies with some of these new Christians and this one woman said to me, brother Pelletier, I got a question for you. What's this thing about tithe? Now, she was a new Christian and she said, what's this thing about tithe? I said, okay.

The bible seems to indicate that we have every blessing we have because God's been good to us. I said and the bible seems to indicate that the way that the work of God gets done is we give a tithe of what he gives us. He already gave it all to us anyway and we give a tithe and generally it's 10% but the bible doesn't say it has to be 10%. It might be 5%. I think it's probably better to go with 10% as the basic idea.

But I said at least do something on a consistent basis. And then she said, well, don't you think that that's a lot of money and it's not being a very good steward of what God gives you. So I said to her, well, let me tell you a story and it's not true by the way and I told her it's not true. I said, there was a man who made $5 a week, dollars 5 a month. No, 5 a week.

Yeah. So, he tithed on it. He gave 10%. He gave 50¢ to God. So, God blessed him and then he started to make $50 a week.

So, he tithed and he gave $5 a week. So, God blessed him. He started to make $500 a week. So, he tithed and he gave $50 a week to God's work. So, God blessed him and it's not true but just an illustration and then he made $5.00 a week.

So, he started to get $500 a week to God. So, God blessed him and he started to make $50.00 a week and he began to calculate. Boy that 10%, that'd be $5,000 a week and he said, God, I don't think it'd be a good steward for me to give $5,000 a week. I should be a better steward of that money than just give away 5,000 a week and God said, okay, no problem, you don't have to and he gave him back his job making $5 a week so he only had to give 50¢ a week. Now everybody understands, it's a percentage, It's just the idea that God's work has to be supported somehow and listen, when we're constantly guarding, guarding, guarding, and we're accusing every preacher and every minister and every missionary that comes along with some financial need of being wanting to get into our pockets.

God said that the way this thing gets done is the people of God. And so God's work is limited because we're not willing to give of our loaves. And God's work is limited by this thing. So we want to be people that say God, I'm not going to be an inconvenient versus convenient Christian. I'm gonna serve you when it's not convenient.

And then we also wanna be people that'll say, God, the work of God is so important. I'm gonna give you my loaves. Now loaves don't only represent finances. I'm doing some spiritualizing here but our talents, our time, just whatever we can give to God. Now, some guys feel like they just don't have what it takes to serve God.

But God does not need very much. He just needs what we've got. One day God looked down and he saw a man named a man named Moses. And he says, Moses, what is that in thine hand? He said, a rod.

Just an old stick. He said, go show my power to pharaoh. And he dropped it on this ground and it turned into a snake. He picked it up by the tail and it turned back into rot. Now, what did God use?

Just an old beat up stick. God looked down. He saw another and he said, what is that on hand? And it was Gideon. 300 candles, clay pitchers, trumpets, go defeat the Midianites.

Not much but he defeated the Midianites and another illustration, there was David, five stones, and a sling. Go defeat Goliath and in another passage here in John, a boy, five loaves and two fish. Now, I was in a mission trip in Antigua again suffering for the Lord there and they brought in a man in a wheelchair in a withered up body and his hands were flat like cardboard and his legs flat like cardboard across his chest and the only way that he could sit in the pew was in his wheelchair. They strapped him across the waist, across the chest, put a pillow behind his head, propped his head upon the pillow. And the only thing he could do is move his eyes and he could talk with a very faint voice.

But from the neck down, paralyzed. And I looked at him and I thought how horrible that guy can't do anything. And then the preacher said, did anybody bring a visitor and somebody said, Tom brought a visitor. Tom was the guy in the wheelchair. So, then, the preacher knowing that Tom could not stand and come could not speak very loudly.

He said, if you come for Tom, we want to introduce you and we're so glad that you came for Tom. What a blessing. Would you just stand up and we want to introduce you? So, I was looking for who this visitor was who came for Tom. I looked next to him and the guy stood up.

Then, I looked on the other side. Another one stood up. I saw something over here. Someone stood up. I saw something back there.

Someone and over here and over there and I counted 19 people that Tom in that withered up body got to the revival meeting and you know what I realized? If a guy like Tom could do big things for God, anybody in a healthy body could too. And sometimes, we just don't feel like we could. Now here's what God says, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm one thirty nine.

Marvelous are thy works. When I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest part of the earth. Curiously wrought is the idea of needlework and what that is saying is God took his needle and he stitched in the color of your skin. He stitched in your eyes. He stitched in your IQ or your lack of it.

Some of you stitched in the ability to do music. Some of you the athleticism. Some of you, your lack of athleticism. Some people he put in the ability to make people laugh and other people maybe the ability to just show you care when someone's hurting and we're all different but he made us because he has a purpose for us. Now, in a local church, we've gotta have people in mission work.

We've gotta have people and a local church. We've gotta have talents in the foreign field. We've gotta have talented people that'll serve the Lord and we've gotta have finances in all of these places. But we have to see the multitudes. Now, When we look at our lives, how many of you want your life to count?

And I know that's setting you up but I think there's not a person who wouldn't want their life to count but when we think about this, let's say that you give your life to psychiatry and you straighten somebody's thinking out but you don't tell em about Jesus and they die and go to hell. Did you do them any lasting good? What if you give your life to music and you entertain people and people say, that was beautiful but you didn't point them to Christ. Did you do them any lasting good? What if you build a lot of houses and people paid you money and you build good homes and everybody says, wow, good job.

I love my home but you don't point em to Jesus, you die and it's done and it doesn't do any lasting good. Now, it doesn't mean that God wants everybody to be on the mission field but what I'm saying is God does want everyone to be a lad or a woman who is serving. Now, if you want your life to count, you can't do anything about the past. Good things have maybe been done but maybe not so many good things have been accomplished. You cannot do a thing about the past.

All you can do is do something about the present and the future. And the challenge is, let's do something for God. Let's not just sit on the pews. Let's be doing something. Let's not just make the place look nice even.

Let's be reaching souls because Jesus number one objective would not even be to give him food. Wouldn't even be to make something look nicer. It wouldn't be to make the crowd bigger. It's to reach the soul with salvation. And if you cannot think of an area where you're actively engaged in church work to the salvation and the discipleship of the souls of men, change and get involved in this thing.

Now, if you go to somebody and they're hungry and you say, come here. What if this boy would have done this? I've got five loaves and two fish. What if he would have said, come here. I've got food for you.

He would have broken it off and after about 10 people, he would have completely run out of food. And so, the only way that this thing really makes a difference is when we put our hands into our lives and loans into the hands of Jesus and only he can make them enough. Now, everywhere I go, there are needs. There was in Liberia, a need. They brought me to a little village somewhere and the people brought me inside the village with a little orphanage and they're at the village they send.

Mister Pelletier, would you pray with us that God would supply a church building for us? We cannot fit in this church building. I said, how much do you need? $7.00. We can do this.

I don't have $7.00. But $7.00 is not all that much. American money. I was in Romania, in a village, and they don't have anything. And they need a building.

I said, what about this one? It's abandoned. How much would it cost? $2.00. Well, I don't have $2.00.

I was in Venezuela and in Venezuela, they needed a building. They were paying rent. It was running sky high and kept going up. I couldn't give them what they needed. You know what they needed?

$7.00 but that is pennies compared to our buildings in The United States. And the opportunity is there, but we're all thinking about our things. I put a little thing out on Facebook about this little church in Venezuela in January and praise God. One person sent a thousand dollars, another person 500, another 100, another 150, another 2,000, another 500 and before that thing was done, we were able to get him $7,500 and he got their building and it's exciting when you look at the needs and if you look at the prospect of us putting our loaves in the things of God. First time I was with that church in Venezuela, they had 20 people.

We had 20 more people saved and then that went back the next year. They had 120 people and now they needed a building and God provided that. But it's exciting to put your loaves into the things of God. Now, sacrifice sacrifice it talents. You got a talent.

Don't sit on it. What did one guy do with the one loaf? He bear, well, one talent. He buried it in the ground. You've got a talent.

Don't sit on it. You got a voice. Use it. You got time. Ask the pastor, what can I do with it?

I got some time and wouldn't it be great if we were all looking for what we could do to reach a soul and really really do this thing and we can't change anything about the past but we have to change the future and we don't neglect to praise God for the past but somehow, I I think that we've got convenient Christianity. We're not all in. We're not all in like we could be. So, give your loaves to the Lord because only Jesus can make em enough. Now, the last thing I'm going look at labs, loaves, but then, I want to look at the listeners here, okay?

Let's turn back to John chapter six and John chapter six and I want you to notice verse five. It says, when Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great company. Now, you never will see a great company until you lift up your eyes and you look. 7,000,000,000 people in the world, 7,000,000,000 people, maybe more now, half of these people have never heard the name Christ, we're told. If they haven't heard the name Christ, then certainly, they can't be on their way to heaven.

Inside America, from what I read and I'm trusting stats from what I've read, For every 555 people, we've got one preacher. Now, that's that's an old stat. And now, it's a lot worse than that but put this in perspective. For every five fifty five people in America, we've got one preacher and we've really don't even have enough. Just think about this, five fifty five people, one preacher, and outside of America for every four eighty, zero people, one missionary.

Now, there there is a huge, great company and there are many people that are out there and it's just huge. Somebody said, if you take unsaved people and you put em back to back in a line, they'll go around the circumference of the earth. 600 times. 600 times around the earth and it grows by 40 miles at every day that we're falling behind And we cannot seem to be getting people excited about this thing, a soul winning. Now, the situation is in verse thirty three and thirty five.

Let's look at John chapter six thirty three. It says, the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life into the world and it says in verse 35, I am the bread of life. He that cometh down from heaven and giveth life in the world. If you take me, you believe on me, you'll never thirst again and the people said, verse 34, Lord, evermore, give us this bread. Meaning, they were interested and they wanted to hear about everlasting life.

Now, sometimes we get the idea that nobody wants to hear it. But people do want to hear it. I was out here today sitting there talking to these two people. They listened. We were in a restaurant earlier today gave a girl a gospel track.

She started crying. Because she has been through some things. Talk to a woman today, gave her gospel track. She said, this is a sign from God. And she began to read it.

It was your track. It was John 14. Let not your heart be troubled. And you know what? She had a lot of trouble this morning.

And now she got that let not your heart be troubled. And do you know what happens? We look at people, we think, oh, nobody wants to hear it. That's a lie from the pit of hell. Now, when we think that nobody wants to hear it, then we don't talk to anybody.

We think our neighbors don't want to hear it. So, don't talk to em about it. I don't think it's that people don't want to hear it. I think that they just don't know if we're really really sincere. I don't know if they think we really care about them or know what we're talking about but once they see that we genuinely love em, they want to hear it.

I went to a park and I was in dress clothes, tie like this shirt, dress pants, dress shoes, and there were some teenagers there. So, I thought, why don't you give some gospel tracks out? So, I give a gospel track to teenager and he starts making fun of me right away. He says, hey, man. You want to play baseball?

And then he turns around and he says to his buddy, I asked that preacher if he wanted to play baseball and was making fun of it. So, I heard him and I said, is that an invitation? Sure, I'd love to play. And I said, if that's alright, so you asked, I'll play. So, I took off my tie and I'm sure they were thinking, oh man, that old guy out there and I took off my time and played nine innings of baseball with him.

In my dress clothes. Now when it was done, I said, guys, obviously I didn't come out here to play baseball. Can I talk to you guys? And they all came together. Why do you think they came together?

Because I played nine innings of baseball with them. They saw I was a pretty okay guy. And then, after that, I remember saying to him, okay guys, I know that I can't force you but I came not to play baseball. I was wondering if you might want to know how to go to heaven when you die. I won't make you but would you guys just give me ten minutes here?

Sit down here in the bleacher. Give me five or ten minutes. Can you do that? And they all sat down. Why?

Because they saw, I cared about them, played ball with them and then, I give them the gospel and halfway through, somebody else drives up with a carload of teens. Honk, honk, honk. Come on, let's go. And I thought, great, I'm going to lose him. But one of them turned around and told the guys in the car, you go on without us.

We're listening to this guy. So, I gave the gospel and that day, two of them did get saved. Now, then I said, guys, if you want to know more about it, come back and we'll do something next week and the next week and we turned it into a little every Saturday thing and we had over 40 teenagers get saved from that activity alone. Now, what is it? People are looking for answers.

Venezuela, 20 people saved. Next year, 120 people there. Why? People are hungry. And they're looking for answers.

Now, their size, it's a great number and folks, we gotta see these people as we talked about earlier in their need. See em. Not just as pests. Pastor called me up today. He said, you got some people on the front porch.

He said, would you do me a favor? And I'm thinking, okay, he's going ask me to go knock em off. Punch em in the face. Kick em off. He said, yeah, this guy's over there and he smokes in the front porch and he burns the carpet and would you do me a favor?

And I'm thinking, okay, once we go just get em off, get em out of here, but on. You know, he says, would you witness to them? Would you share the gospel with them? That did my heart good. Cares about their heart more than he cares about cigarette smoke in the carpet.

Now, folks, this is where it's at. People, their situation, they're hungry for help, not just financial, not just food, but they're they're trying to change their life. This one woman just wept out there. She said, I want my life to change. I want my life to change and I showed her Bible verses.

If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. You can change. Don't know how she'll change quickly. She'll change. I know she can change.

Now, there's situation is hungry for the truth but let let us not forget their sentence. Alright, please look at verse 49 in verse 49. Here's what Jesus said to them. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness but are what? Dead.

Dead. Now, you know what that means? Everyone that Jesus was looking to at this day and he saw a great multitude and the great multitude heard what he was saying. And they came. They want to make him king.

This great multitude and what are they thinking about? Food. What was Jesus thinking about? Their souls and he said this, your fathers did eat man in the wilderness but they're dead. And you know what he was also realizing?

Every one of you in this great multitude will soon be dead too. Now listen, not trying to pour salt in anybody's wounds here but if you're like I am, I'm over 50 years old, you can do math. Everybody who was alive a hundred years ago is now dead. I know for sure everybody was alive a hundred and fifty years ago is now dead. Everybody was alive two hundred years ago is now dead.

Is this anything to be afraid of? No. Everybody dies. It's a plun in the man wants to die but after this a judgment and frankly I'm not afraid of it. Why?

Absorb from the body present with the Lord. And when we die, do we die? No, we still live. But everybody in this room within one hundred years will be dead. Aren't you glad you came to church tonight?

For that great encouragement? But the fact is, so will everybody out there. The great multitude here in John six, they're all dead and this great multitude here is also going to be all dead. And the only way that this church really makes any difference at all for even being here in the existence and this place keeping lights on is if this place is used to get more of these people out here up there. And we've got to be people that understand that sacrifice commitment is important and we've got to live it.

Even if we've got two years left, I wouldn't want my two years with a bad kidney to be sitting there saying, man, I got a bad kidney. I can't do anything. I'd want my two years with a bad kidney to be two years I serve the Lord. Or twenty years whatever he gives you. And I wouldn't want to say, well, I'm already 70 years old and plus, I've done my time.

I want to do what I do till the day God takes me home. My goal in life is to be an old evangelist. You say, well you met your goal. Alright? I want to be an older evangelist.

He just keeps preaching. My brother Paul went to heaven four years ago and the last thing he did on the final service Sunday before he died with eight years of cancer, he said put me in the pulpit. Guys picked him up, carried him in the pulpit, he preached his sermon, and on Wednesday, he went to heaven. And I'm telling you, we've gotta be people with some some commitment and we don't have all of the commitment. I remember the first time I went to Haiti, I was excited about it and then I told missionary I was going to Haiti pastor and he says, what?

You're not going to Haiti, are you? I said, oh yeah. He says, what? You don't want to go there. It's nasty.

I said, well, can handle a little dirt. I don't care. He said, no, it's nasty. I mean, you don't want to take your family there. You're not taking your wife, are you?

I said, yeah, she's gone. Kids are gone. She said, oh, you don't want to go there. It's horrible. I said, what do you mean?

He said, it's dangerous. Don't take your wife there and your kids. So, I said, okay, well, what do you mean it's dangerous? He said, they're kidnapping Americans and they hold them for money. If they don't give money, they kill em.

So, that got my attention. So, I check it out and sure enough, it's true that this is happening and so I call up Rosie Voigt who is the lady who asked me to go to Haiti. Her husband was running for president of Haiti and she said, would you come and preach to our people? I said, I'd love to. What an honor.

Preach for them and so anyway, I said, Rosie, we can't come. We have to cancel. What? Why, brother Mike? Why?

You've got to come. You've got to preach to my people. I said, Rosie, we can't come right now. She said, why? I said, it's too dangerous for us from what I understand.

My government has told us that we're not supposed to go to Haiti as Americans. It's too dangerous. So, I said, I just can't go right now. She says, you've got to come. You got to trust God.

And I said, Rosie, God gave me government, their umbrella, my protection, and I've got to trust my government that God gave over me too. I said, I trust God but God gave me government to protect me. She says, brother, you got to come. You got to trust God. So, I pull out my big argument.

I said, Rosie, they're kidnapping Americans. Rosie goes, all my friends been kidnapped. You got to come and preach. You got to trust God and I couldn't get out of it. So then, I call my brother Paul up and I say, hey, Paul, you want to go with me to Haiti?

And the reason I wanted my brother to go because he could speak French and I could run faster than him. So, we went to Haiti and then, sure enough, we had some some tense times that I don't need to tell you but they were tense. There were tires burning in the street. We had to run from gunfire and we had to run from rocks being flown and we we had some intense times but then we saw some people saved. So, then, we went back again and we tried to be cautious but we went back again and we tried to be cautious and we bit back a third time and a fourth time and a fifth time and I can remember one time, Rosie calling me up and she says, brother Mike, you can't come this time and I said, why, Rosie?

We've gotta come. She said, it's too dangerous. Now, here's the one who told me I have to trust God and all my friends been kidnapped. She's telling me it's too dangerous and I got to that time have the privilege of saying back to her, Rosie, you got to trust God. I said, I'm coming and I'm not dead yet.

But let's say that I were to die on a mission field. You know what? You gotta go somehow and what a way to go. Look, this thing called life. It's really only life when we live it.

Know what I'm saying? No life sitting here eating cupcakes, watching a 60 inch screen TV. It all has its place. It all is an enjoyable thing that God gives us. But we've got to be people that live our lives for something of value.

And you can live your life for value and own a 16 TV. But live your life for something of value. How many lives we have? One. How many years you got left?

I don't know. But I don't want one year of my life to be one that I look back and say, I could have done but I didn't. We want our lives to count. Now, folks, as I mentioned, we've got a group of people. Man, I can't think anybody have been more faithful than Harry over here with cutting things over here.

Brother Al over here and my hat goes off and I have an honor in my heart that I feel is due good godly men but I am saying this, we can't overlook the souls any of us. We all need to be faithful. You've got people who have set the standard but we all need to be faithful and no matter what we've done or they've done, we all need to be going after souls. Souls, That's where it's at. Let's bow our heads.

Now, remember, God doesn't need much. He just needs what you've got and remember, he gave you what you've got. I have only got one kidney. Yep. God only gave me one.

But he can use it. And so we have to ask ourself, are we using the five loaves and two fish? And some of us maybe 50 loaves and 20 fish. And some of us might have 500 loaves and 200 fish. And some of us may only have a loaf and a fish.

But we use what we have. It's not what we give to God. It's what we keep for ourselves. In our time, in our talents, in our emotions, in all of our abilities. Now, if you would say, brother Mike, God is reminding me tonight the importance of using my talents for the work of God and I want to rededicate myself to be at the work of God.

Would you slip up your hand and just say, I just want to rededicate myself to be at the work of God and stay at it with a fervor. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God Good.

God bless you. And in that, don't forget in the work of God. It is our finances. And in the work of God, it is our time. And we've got to carve out time and direct our finances into the bank of heaven.

Then, I wonder, is there anybody here who might be considering full time Christian service, being a missionary, being a pastor, being an evangelist, evangelist wife, a missionary's wife, something in the way of full time ministry. I want to tell you this, if you feel like you just can't do it, you don't have what it takes to serve God. God does not need much. He just needs you to be willing and if there's a tug on your heart, I'm going to tell you, I'm not enduring the Lord's work. I'm enjoying it and you would too and if God tugs on your heart like that, I'm going to encourage you.

You talk to pastor or pastor's wife or someone you respect and say, I need to consider this thing. Would you pray with me about full time ministry? I'll put that in your in your responsibility if you want to talk to somebody but let's stand to our feet and here's what we're going to do. As we stand to our feet, we're going to have a brief invitation. Heavenly father, we pray now for you to bless our time together.

We thank you God for every person here. We thank you God for the dedication of every person here. We thank you Lord for those who continue to do things that nobody even knows they're doing but you. I pray Lord you would let them know in their heart how how proud you are of them. Encourage them.

Encourage everyone who serves you. But Lord, even those of us who are serving you, we pray Lord you help us to not limit ourselves to where we will serve you and where we won't serve you. But Lord, we give you everything, all of our loaves, all of our fishes. And then Lord, for those who have been here and haven't even felt like they could do much for God, help them understand that you can use them and help every new Christian to know that you want them to serve you. And that they would enjoy serving you, be used by you.

I pray that you'll touch people's finances that they would give to the work of God. At least the tithe. And maybe more. But Lord, I pray that the work of God would continue strongly through these good people and Lord, if there's anyone that you want full time ministry that you'll just let them know. It's time to take that step.

Now, with our heads bowed and our eyes closed, we're going to end the meeting. If you even have somebody you can think of who's not saved, and you realize that within one hundred years from now, they're going to be dead. You need to get at trying to win that person to Jesus while you can and maybe you want to just come and pray for that person. Maybe you want to come and pray about your own service to Lord but as the pianist softly plays, if you want to come and pray about anything this final service and dedicating your life to the Lord way, just slip out and come as she's playing even right now. If you want to come and pray.

You want to pray about something where you're standing? Pray. Chorus. I was in high school and I went to camp and they had a service and it was something similar to this and they asked if anybody felt the Lord calling them into full time service and I I didn't didn't have a clue what I wanted to do or what God wanted me to do but I knew that God wanted me to do something. So I went forward.

I was a junior in high school. I went through another year of high school and two years of college as a physics major. I argued with the Lord quite often about how I was going to use physics to be in full time ministry. I couldn't do it, I told him. I can't get up in front of people.

I have stage fright. Guess what? I still have stage fright. But I get up in front of some of you two or three times a week. Five loaves and two fish.

If you're willing, God can use you. Brother Steve Altman down here. Brother Steve Altman, when he mentioned, gave his testimony, he was talking about Lexington Club. And when I met Steve six, seven, eight, I don't remember how long ago now. When I met brother Steve, he wanted to have a Bible study up at Lexington Club and so, he got everything set up and we had a Bible study.

He played organ up there so we could sing and I played guitar and he helped get people there and we had a group that came for Bible study. We taught the word of God and a few of em got saved and it was exciting. Amen. And this was while Steve was on dialysis. He didn't have any kidneys.

And he died a little more in a way every day physically but the Lord sustained him. The Lord used him and then the Lord gave him a kidney. And so he's still here today. And he wants to serve the Lord again. Brother Steve Morris has been up here every night just about.

Praying and asking for God to use him. He hands out tracks and he witnesses to people that he runs into on the street that you won't, that he runs into in the bus that you won't because he rides his wheelchair down the street and he sits at the bus stop and he gets on the bus and he wants God to use him. Amen. God is using him. He can use you and he can use me.

So, let's pray that he'll do that. Amen. Let's pray that this week, we'll have the opportunity to hand a track to somebody and tell em about Jesus. Maybe two or three or four or 10. Pray that God will make a way so that some of us can get together and and go hand out some tracks or go put some things on doorknobs and talk to people in their yards or do something.

To get the gospel out. So, more people can hear about Jesus. So, I'm going ask her again if she'll just play another chorus and just bow your head and think of that person once again and ask God how he can use you this week to reach them. Dear heavenly father, I thank you Lord for the privilege of being here this week and being under the preaching of your word and the conviction that it brings, the encouragement that it brings, the help and grace Lord that you have given to us. I I pray that as you burden us, to use the time, the finances, the talents, whatever it is that may it even if it be little, we may let you use it.

We may see lost souls that we might be that lad who comes to the Lord with two, five loaves, and two fish in which 5,000 people are fed. Or five souls are saved. Lord, thank you for one who came to Christ during these meetings this week. I pray for Derek, my neighbor, and others, Lord, that are on our hearts and minds and I pray Lord this week and the weeks to follow that we would find ways to share Christ with them, that we would find ways to get them in the church, that we would go on the highways and byways and compel them to come in and we wouldn't forget and we wouldn't lose our zeal. And Lord that we work together for Jesus Christ and for lost souls.

Amen. Lord, help us to be Steve Oltman and help us to be a Steve Morris and help us to draw strength from their example. And then be there to encourage and pray for them. Thank you, Lord. Bless the Pelletiers and Murray's.

Bless our fellowship to follow. In Jesus name, amen. Amen. If you are came on