Matthew 14:13-21
Lead in #1: The crowd that follows Jesus is a people oppressed by their foreign ruler, Rome. In many ways, they’ve lost heart. They are weary with no real hope. And now at the end of the day, they are exhausted and hungry with nothing to eat. Seeing their desperation and moved with compassion, Jesus feeds not only their physical hunger but their hunger for hope and meaning.
Prompt #1: When nothing seems to be going right in your life, what feeds your soul and gives hope and meaning for your life?
Lead in #2: Matthew 14 tells us that when Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, “he withdrew to a deserted place by himself.” Perhaps Jesus went there to grieve. Not only was John the Baptist Jesus’ cousin, he was his good friend and a mentor who inspired him.
Prompt #2: Who in your life has been that mentor who, although no longer with you, continues to be a strength who inspires you?
Lead in #3: The apostles are annoyed that the crowd won’t go away even though they’d been with him all day long. Jesus assures them, “There’s no need for them to go away. Give them some food yourselves.” But the disciples protest. “We don’t have enough here.” Jesus tells them, “Bring me what you have.” And then the miracle happened. There was enough food for everybody.
Prompt #3: Reflect on a time when it seemed that you weren’t sure you had what you needed, but in the end it all turned out okay. What role did you allow God to have as you faced the challenge of that situation? What lessons did you learn?
Lead in #4: Isaiah 55 reads, “Thus says the Lord, all you who are thirsty come to the water.” When we engage in physical exercise, we know how important it is to hydrate our bodies.
Prompt #4: Reflect on a time when you found yourself spiritually dehydrated. How did that spiritual dehydration happen? What did you do to spiritually rehydrate?
Lead in #5: In Romans 8 Paul asks the rhetorical question, “What will separate us from the love of Christ?” He then goes on to answer his own question. Neither “anguish, distress, or peril … in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loves us. For I am convinced nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God.”
Prompt #5: Paul’s words are powerful. What hope do they give for your life?