Physical food is a blessing from God without which we would literally wither away and die. That is why Jesus lovingly and miraculously fed thousands of followers with only five loaves of bread and two fish. Yet, while physical food is a good thing, it is far from the greatest thing God provides us. The greatest blessing God provides is spiritual food. The best thing God gives us is his Son, the Bread of Life. Without that spiritual food, we wither and die in a much worse way.

This week we see the multitudes coming to Jesus looking for two things: ever more temporal blessings—full bellies, healthy bodies—and an explanation of how to gain them. Jesus explains the greater need for spiritual food. He assures us that there is nothing we do to earn it. Our Father urges us to come to him for our daily bread, asking him to provide for our temporal needs. But may we hunger most for our greatest need: spiritual food that Christ freely gives.

Shortly before He ascended, Jesus told His followers they were to engage in meaningful ministry—to work their way through the world, sharing the good news of salvation. Our loving Lord knew that was a big and often intimidating task. So, His next words were a promise. “Surely I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). God’s people still need to hear that promise.

For several weeks we have been discussing the reality that the Lord of the Church has called all believers to meaningful ministry. Ministry will come with challenges. It can cause fears to arise: the fear of rejection, the fear of inadequacy, the fear of persecution. So, listen again to your Savior. “I am with you always.” We conclude our series on meaningful ministry empowered by that gracious promise.

King David explains, “The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1). That word “everything” doesn’t leave any wiggle room, does it? That word “everything” means that your home and all its furnishings, your vehicle and all that’s in the trunk, your bank account, the twenty-eight dollars in your wallet, the wallet itself, and the pocket in which you carry your wallet all belong to God. Everything you have was given to you by your good and gracious Father. We need to understand that.

But it is just as important that we understand why God provides for our physical needs. As we have seen throughout this worship series, God has called us to ministry. He asks us to reflect his love in meeting the physical and spiritual needs of others. Believers want to serve others in those ways. By providing for us, God meets our need to meet others’ needs. This week Jesus promises that he will provide the resources necessary to conduct meaningful ministry.

In the ancient Middle East, a shepherd needed certain skills to do his job well: knowledge of edible grasses, ability to trim hooves, capacity to fend off predators, competency to birth lambs. However, the greatest qualification of a shepherd is much simpler. A good shepherd needed to care for his sheep. Without that, none of those other skills would be fully utilized.

In Scripture, meaningful ministry is often pictured as a compassionate shepherd caring for his sheep: Jesus’ care for us; a spiritual leader’s care for his “flock.” Certainly, gospel ministry requires specific skills: ability to actively listen to people, aptitude for applying the gospel to someone’s situation, etc. But ultimately, meaningful ministry requires a compassionate heart—a profound caring for others. An individual might know God’s Word backwards and forwards. But if they lack compassion, they will not fully perform meaningful ministry. Today, we ask the Spirit to see how Jesus models a compassionate shepherd’s heart so that we might be filled with that same compassion.

When a child asks a sibling to do something, there isn’t much certainty as to the results. The sibling might simply ignore the request. However, if that same child goes to a brother or sister with “Dad said so,” it’s a very different story! Now the father’s authority is behind the child’s request.

As believers carry out gospel ministry, encouraging others to turn to Christ in repentance, people might push back. “What gives you the right?” Maybe we ask that question ourselves. “I’m far from perfect. So, what gives me the right to talk about things like sin?” This week we are given the answer to that question. “Dad said so.” When our God calls us to do ministry, he also gives us authority. In calling us to ministry, God isn’t asking us to share our advice or our opinion or even our values. We are sharing God’s own authoritative Word. Gospel ministry is conducted by believers but with God’s own authority behind the effort.

If ministry involves serving others with love and compassion, you would think that people would respond only with glee and gratitude for the help they received. Sometimes, but not always. If you offer to help a family member who is having trouble paying his bills, he might be offended, wondering if you are implying that he is not a good provider. Likewise, if you try and share the gospel with someone, he might resent the message that he is a sinner in need of salvation. You are trying to minister to this man’s greatest need. Your intentions are loving. Yet he responds with rejection and resentment.

When our ministry efforts are met not with glee and gratitude but rejection and resentment, we are in good company. The prophets, apostles, and even Jesus himself all had those who responded negatively to their ministries. When that happens to us, it doesn’t mean our ministry is no longer meaningful. For if others do not appreciate our efforts to serve them, God still appreciates our efforts to serve him.

Most people fear death to some degree. Some fear death because they assume it is the end. Others fear death because they assume it isn’t the end at all, but that there is some sort of reckoning after death which might not go well for them. And have you seen what happens to a dead body? It is far from pretty. So, it is understandable that most people would fear death.

Not so for those to whom God has given a top-down faith. Christianity teaches that for God’s children, death is not discipline but deliverance. The living Lord gives Christians such a radically different view of death that they can have confidence to face death in their effort to give Christ glory. They understand that death does not cut us down, but only raises us up. Finally, the Christian has been given the top-down faith that believes Jesus can wake us from death as easily as we can wake a sleeping child from his nap.

A powerful tornado rolls through your neighborhood. A massive hurricane heads straight for your city. A bolt of lightning sends 300 million volts to earth. The raw power and unpredictability of storms can inspire both awe and terror. We cannot stop storms from coming. We can only hope to survive them. However, we know the Almighty God can stop storms. He can calm literal storms. He could remove metaphorical storms, other types of troubles and trials. So, if He can, why doesn’t He?

Well, would you rather have a God who was distant from you but removed all the storms of life? Or would you rather have a God who allowed some storms to come but promised to be right there by your side within them, holding you close? May God give us the top-down faith that sees that the latter is by far the better option. God promises to be with us through all the storms of life. Sometimes He removes them. But when He doesn’t, it’s only because He has plans to use even storms for our eternal good.

Usually, a kingdom advances and is secured through things like military might or political force or worldly wealth. It can be tempting to believe the same holds true in the kingdom of God. Perhaps we think churches would flourish if we had the right rulers passing and enforcing the right laws. Or we believe that for a church to do good requires a robust budget. Political force. Worldly wealth. This way of thinking is breathtakingly wrong.

We need God to give us the top-down faith that grasps the fact that the kingdom of God advances in ways that are imperceptible. Through something that seems insignificant to most—the gospel—the King of kings establishes his reign in human hearts. Even Jesus himself taught that the gospel seems unimpressive, for He often compared the gospel to a tiny seed. Yet within a seed is hidden life. As the seed of the gospel is planted, the largest of all kingdoms grows.