07/12/26: Pastor Greg Grigsby - "You Want Us To Do What?!

Devotional

Day 1: Compassion That Doesn’t Settle for Distant Pity

When Jesus saw crowds like sheep without a shepherd, he didn’t just ache – he acted. Sheep settle for stagnant puddles when no shepherd guides them to clean water. Jesus’ compassion meant teaching, feeding, and confronting hard places like the “gentleman’s club” across the street. His heart moves us beyond feeling bad about needs to doing something messy and costly. Real compassion risks awkward conversations, invests resources, and stays present even when crowds drain us. [01:06:32]

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” (Mark 6:34, NIV)

Reflection: Where have you been content to feel pity from a distance instead of letting Jesus’ compassion move your feet? What dirty puddle is someone near you drinking from that you’re called to address?

Day 2: Five Loaves in Hands Willing to Be Broken

Jesus didn’t multiply bread in midair – he broke what was given. The disciples’ meager lunch became a feast only after surrender. Like the glass offering bowls that shattered under too many coins, God uses fragile vessels. Being broken isn’t failure; it’s the prerequisite for multiplication. Your “not enough” becomes more than enough when placed in scarred hands that still bear nail marks. [01:22:51]

“Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. They all ate and were satisfied.” (Mark 6:41-42, NIV)

Reflection: What limitation are you clutching tightly that Jesus waits to break open? When has your emptiness become God’s starting line?

Day 3: Sheep Without a Shepherd Drink from Dirty Puddles

Lost sheep head south with no direction, settling for toxic water inches away. The Torch nightclub regulars kept coming not because they loved sin, but because no one showed them living water. Our job isn’t to judge thirst but to redirect it. Like the greeters at the brothel door, we stand where darkness pretends to satisfy and say, “There’s better water further up the road.” [01:03:36]

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you seen someone “drinking from puddles” this week? How can you redirect their thirst without shaming their hunger?

Day 4: Boots on the Ground in Nowhere Land

Council, Idaho (population 816) mattered because 70 kids showed up to Royal Rangers. Blackfoot isn’t flyover country to God. Your town’s “nowhere land” is heaven’s strategic outpost. Mission happens when we stop waiting for resources and start using what’s in hand – plastic offering buckets, hot dog stands, and hands calloused from daily work. Revival begins when we plant feet where we’re planted. [47:05]

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8, NIV)

Reflection: What makes your “nowhere” place uniquely ready for harvest? Which neighbor have you written off as “too far south” to reach?

Day 5: Aliens Who Can’t Feel at Home Here

Christians stick out like greeters at a brothel – we’re terrible at blending in. The adventure of faith means parking farther, giving more, and carrying Band-Aids for raw knees from praying. We’re built different: not better, but marked by a homesickness for heaven. Our strangeness draws thirsty people like the crowd that outran the disciples’ boat. [01:23:45]

“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.” (1 Peter 2:11, NIV)

Reflection: When did you last feel like an obvious alien? How does your holy awkwardness point others to their true home?

Sermon Summary

Mark 6 sets Jesus in front of tired disciples and hungry crowds, and the whole thing starts with people still wanting to be around him. The apostles report what they had done and taught, and Jesus calls them to a quiet place to rest. But the crowd runs ahead, and the only quiet place left is the middle of the lake. Jesus lands, sees the people, and does not turn the boat around. Jesus has compassion because they are like sheep without a shepherd.

That sheep picture says a lot. Sheep without a shepherd settle for less. Sheep will drink from dirty, stagnant puddles when clean water is not far away. Jesus sees people doing the same thing, settling for what cannot satisfy, looking for drink in places that only leave them thirsty. His compassion does not stay as a feeling. His compassion puts feet on it.

Mark shows that Jesus cares for the whole person. Jesus teaches the kingdom, deals with spiritual need, heals bodies, and feeds hungry stomachs. Spurgeon’s line fits the moment: if the gospel is given, wrap it in a sandwich; if a sandwich is given, wrap it in the gospel. Jesus does not split people into souls over here and bodies over there. Jesus sees the whole person and moves toward the need.

The disciples sound practical when they say to send the people away to buy food. Jesus answers with the line that keeps faith on its toes: “You give them something to eat.” The disciples do the math and see half a year’s wages. Jesus asks what is in their hands. Five loaves and two fish become enough when Jesus takes them, gives thanks, breaks them, and gives them out through the disciples.

That pattern does not stop with bread. Jesus takes his people, gives thanks, breaks them, and gives them to the world. The adventure of faith includes hard adjustments, greater giving, longer walking, deeper praying, and work that costs something. The world, the flesh, and the devil may pound away, but the Holy Spirit keeps blowing the whistle and calling God’s people back in bounds. Blackfoot is not an accident on the map. Jesus has placed a real church there, boots on the ground, to rise up, show its colors, and feed people in word and deed.

Key Takeaways

1. Compassion must put on boots Jesus’ compassion did not stay across the street, looking sad and doing nothing. Compassion became action, risk, conversation, food, invitation, and the willingness to stand where thirsty people were drinking from the wrong place. Real mercy does not need to be harsh, but it does need to move. [66:32]
2. Sheep settle for dirty puddles The sheep image exposes how easily people accept what is near instead of what is clean. Sin does not always look dramatic; sometimes it looks like settling for the puddle because it is right in front of the face. Jesus sees that kind of lostness with compassion, not disgust, and shepherds people toward living water. [63:36]
3. Jesus feeds the whole person Jesus taught the crowd and fed the crowd, and Mark refuses to let those two works be pulled apart. The gospel is not less spiritual when it comes with bread, and bread is not less holy when it is wrapped in the gospel. Jesus’ kingdom reaches stomachs, minds, bodies, homes, and souls. [70:22]
4. God ordains ends and means The salvation of people belongs to God, but God also appoints witnesses, workers, givers, and senders. William Carey’s answer cuts through passive theology: God ordains the end and the preaching that carries the gospel there. Faith does not use sovereignty as an excuse to sit down. [73:41]
5. Broken bread becomes given lives Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it, and that pattern reveals how mission often works in his people. The breaking is not wasted when it places a life into his hands for others. The world may call God’s people small, but Jesus gives broken vessels as gifts. [81:15]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[46:41] - Honor for Blackfoot Harvest
[48:05] - Placed for the Community
[50:48] - You Want Them To Do What?
[51:33] - The Feeding Miracle in Mark
[53:28] - Rest Interrupted by the Crowd
[54:02] - Jesus Says Feed Them
[56:00] - Disciples Report Back to Jesus
[61:21] - Sheep Without a Shepherd
[64:34] - Greeters at the Torch
[68:16] - Compassion Moves Into Action
[70:22] - Gospel Wrapped in a Sandwich
[72:37] - William Carey and the Nations
[80:00] - Taken, Blessed, Broken, Given
[84:40] - A Mission Gift for Blackfoot
[87:29] - Prayer and Sending

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Mark 6:30-44 (ESV)
30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. 35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Observation Questions

What practical problem did the disciples identify when the crowd stayed late (Mark 6:35-36)? How did Jesus respond to their suggestion?
What does the metaphor of “sheep without a shepherd” reveal about the crowd’s spiritual condition (Mark 6:34)? [01:03:36]
How did Jesus use the disciples in the process of feeding the 5,000, even though they doubted their resources (Mark 6:37-41)?

Interpretation Questions

Why do you think Jesus told the disciples, “You give them something to eat,” instead of immediately performing the miracle Himself? What does this reveal about His purpose for His followers?
The sermon mentioned that “sheep settle for dirty puddles” when clean water is nearby. How does this analogy apply to the ways people seek fulfillment apart from Christ today? [01:03:36]
What does the breaking of the bread (Mark 6:41) symbolize about how God uses His people in their weaknesses or hardships?

Application Questions

Where in your life or community do you see people “settling for dirty puddles” (e.g., pursuing temporary fixes for deeper needs)? How could you compassionately point them to Christ’s living water? [01:06:32]
Jesus asked the disciples, “What do you have in your hands?” What small resources, skills, or opportunities has God already given you that He might multiply for His purposes?
The sermon shared an example of meeting practical needs (e.g., hotdogs, music) to open doors for gospel conversations. What tangible act of service could your group do this week to “wrap the gospel in a sandwich” for someone? [01:10:22]
When have you felt “broken” or inadequate, like the loaves Jesus broke? How might God be inviting you to trust Him with those areas to bless others?
The disciples initially saw the crowd as a problem to dismiss. Who in your life feels overwhelming to love or serve? What step could you take to see them through Jesus’ eyes of compassion?

Sermon Clips

64s

#ShowYourColorsForJesus

“``He'll take you to the most difficult of places at times in this thing called faith, this adventure of faith that you will rise up and show your colors, your colors that the Holy Spirit has painted you and colored you, your colors, not your fleshly colors, that you will still call on Jesus when your knees are raw from praying and wondering, is he ever gonna come through? Oh, he's gonna come through because he came through right here. He says, how much bread do you have? They came back and said, this isn't much bread. This is how much fish. I didn't ask you how much fish. Jesus didn't say that. I just wonder how much bread you got. But since you got the fish, we'll break that up too. Jesus takes us. He gives thanks. He breaks us. And what's the last part? He gay he gives us to this world.”

45s

#HolySpiritReferee

“What does he do? He he allows the Holy Spirit to work with us, and he walks with us, and he he's with us, and he's whispers to us. And the Holy Spirit's our referee. Right? He's blowing the whistle when we get too out of bounds. He get close to the bounds. Beep. You better get back over. Beep beep, man. He better you know, he keeps us in our bounds. Jesus takes us too, and when he gives thanks, which he did on the cross, Lord, forgive them. These people, they don't know what they're doing. What does he do? He breaks us at times. He breaks us so he can do something with us.”

43s

#YouAreGodsGift

“You're a greater gift than than the world tells you that you are. You're a greater gift than the flesh tells you that you are, and you're a greater gift than the devil tells you that you are. And then you say, and then the Holy Spirit comes around, and he's working me over in areas I need to grow in. That's right. Well, man, it feels a lot better to be over here with the world, the flesh, and the devil. Come on, somebody. You guys with me on this? Rise up and show your colors. We're gonna be this way for Jesus.”

46s

#ShepherdProvides

“So here's Jesus. It says, without a that that he had compassion on them, and here's why. There's something said about sheep without a shepherd. It says, what happens is namely, the shepherd says this, the sheep will settle for less. He says they're known to drink from dirty, stagnant puddles right in front of them rather than seeking clean water and just a short distance away. Says they'll drink from there. We're not gonna let them drink from that. The guy says, we're not gonna let them drink from these bad puddles. And, no, don't let them do it. And the presence of a shepherd ensures they receive proper nourishment and do not consume things that will harm them.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Harvest Foursquare Church This sermon · AI assistant

What prompted Jesus to feed the five thousand?

How does compassion lead to practical action?

What does bread breaking symbolize in discipleship?