The disciples return from their first ministry trip expecting to get some time away with Jesus. Instead, he performs the biggest miracle of his life - the only one recorded in all four gospels. By feeding the 5000, Jesus teaches his disciples three important lessons about ministry - ones they will never forget as they spend the rest of their lives feeding a hungry world. See discussion questions below.

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Mark 6:30-44 – Discussion questions

1. What is your reaction to this quote from Bill Lawrence’s book, Effective Pastoring:

Jesus was telling His men, in essence, “I will replace your inadequacy with My adequacy.” The message Jesus communicated to His disciples through this miracle was this: To minister for Me you will have to do what you can’t do with what you don’t have.[1]

2. One of the lessons here is that you need to “bring Jesus what you have.” What might keep a person from doing this?

3. What could it look like to “Keep coming back for more bread”?

4. What advice would you give to a young believer who was looking to get started serving God in ministry?

5. We argued that when a person begins to minister using Christ’s resources, there will be “leftovers” for them to enjoy. What these additional benefits look like in our lives?


[1] Bill Lawrence, Effective Pastoring (Word, 1999), p. 24