Speaker 1: Hello again and welcome back to kids' Bible stories. Today's
Speaker 1: story is called Jesus Feeds five thousand and This comes
Speaker 1: from Matthew chapter fourteen, verses thirteen through twenty one and
Speaker 1: John chapter six, verses one through fifteen. Let's begin our story.
Speaker 1: One day, Jesus received very sad news about John, a
Speaker 1: friend he loved dearly. When Jesus heard what happened to
Speaker 1: his friend, he grew sad, then climbed into a small
Speaker 1: wooden boat, pushed off from the grainy shore, and set
Speaker 1: off across the calm, blue water. Jesus wanted to be alone.
Speaker 1: I'm sure his heart was broken by the news of
Speaker 1: his friend, and Jesus wanted a moment to be by himself.
Speaker 1: The water breathed in and out, rocking gently back and
Speaker 1: forth across the wooden bow there as he gazed into
Speaker 1: the blue water, picturing his friend John, remembering the time
Speaker 1: they spent together, still and quiet. Soon, however, people heard
Speaker 1: that Jesus was nearby. People started searching for him, coming
Speaker 1: from nearby towns and villages. They followed him, hoping to
Speaker 1: hear him preach and perform miracles. They said, hey, Rick,
Speaker 1: come on, didn't you hear Jesus. Jesus is headed that way,
Speaker 1: she said, as she pointed. If we leave now, maybe
Speaker 1: we'll be able to see him.
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, Abby, just a moment. I gotta pack my lunch,
Speaker 2: you know. I get the rumby tumblies wh went a
Speaker 2: mountain near the lake. Maybe some crash apples and a couple.
Speaker 1: Come on, Rick, you're always thinking of food. We got
Speaker 1: it go. When Jesus finished his time on the water,
Speaker 1: he pulled the boat safely to shore, walked to the
Speaker 1: top of a hill and sat down with his disciples.
Speaker 1: While they were talking, Jesus looked out. He could see
Speaker 1: a large crowd starting to form. There were grandmas and grandpas,
Speaker 1: little children, moms and dads. So many people came to
Speaker 1: see Jesus. How many people do you think we're there?
Speaker 1: One hundred and ten, two hundred? Well, there were over
Speaker 1: five thousand people. How about that. Jesus, full of love
Speaker 1: and compassion, felt sorry for them and healed those who
Speaker 1: were sick. The sun was no longer directly overhead, shining
Speaker 1: its rays down upon them. Instead, it was slowly lowering
Speaker 1: further and further towards the horizon. As Jesus continued to work.
Speaker 1: Pinks and purples danced across the sky as Jesus made
Speaker 1: his way from person to person. Seeing as it was
Speaker 1: getting late, his disciples found Jesus.
Speaker 3: And Jesus, no one lives in this place, and it's
Speaker 3: already late. Send the people away so they can go
Speaker 3: to their towns and buy food for themselves.
Speaker 1: Remember listeners. Back then, they couldn't just hop in their
Speaker 1: car and quickly get to the store for food. There
Speaker 1: were no microwaves or refrigerators, nothing. The disciples knew if
Speaker 1: the people wanted to eat, they better go ahead and
Speaker 1: start walking. But Jesus had something else in mind. Jesus
Speaker 1: had it all under control.
Speaker 4: Jesus answered, they don't need to go away, you give
Speaker 4: them food to eat.
Speaker 1: Philip, somewhat confused, answered.
Speaker 2: What someone would have to work almost a year to
Speaker 2: buy enough bread so each person could have just a
Speaker 2: little peace.
Speaker 1: As they stood there and stared at each other, another
Speaker 1: follower Andrew, he was Simon Peter's brother.
Speaker 3: He said, here's a boy with five loaves of barley
Speaker 3: bread and two little fish. But that's not enough for
Speaker 3: all these people.
Speaker 1: Jesus said, tell the people to sit down. All the grandparents, children,
Speaker 1: moms and dads sat down in the grassy field.
Speaker 4: Jesus said, bring the bread and fish to me.
Speaker 1: He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish.
Speaker 1: Kneeling on the ground, he looked up to Heaven, thanking
Speaker 1: God for the food. Jesus then began dividing the loaves
Speaker 1: of bread. The Bible isn't clear what happened next, but
Speaker 1: maybe he held one in both hands, tearing the bread
Speaker 1: down the middle and pulled the loaf apart. Each time
Speaker 1: Jesus did this, the bread did not grow smaller. Each
Speaker 1: half became whole again. He kept tearing the bread over
Speaker 1: and over, and where there were only five loaves of bread,
Speaker 1: now there were ten, then twenty, then forty loaves. Jesus
Speaker 1: pulled and ripped the bread until there were thousands. The
Speaker 1: Bible tells us that next Jesus gave all of this
Speaker 1: to his disciples, who walked through the crowds of amazed
Speaker 1: boys and girls, handing each person food, some for you,
Speaker 1: and you, oh, and you too. All the people ate,
Speaker 1: and all were satisfied. After they finished their meal, the
Speaker 1: disciples filled twelve baskets with the pieces of food that
Speaker 1: were not eaten. Wow. Remember there were about five thousand
Speaker 1: men in the crowd. That number doesn't include any of
Speaker 1: the women and children who were there as well, and
Speaker 1: yet they had so much food there were leftovers. After
Speaker 1: seeing the miracle Jesus performed, the people marveled, saying, Wow,
Speaker 1: he must truly be the prophet who is coming into
Speaker 1: the world. Well, everyone, that is it for our story today.
Speaker 1: But before we go, let's think about what we just heard.
Speaker 1: When Jesus wants us to do something, he's already given
Speaker 1: us all that we need to do it to accomplish it.
Speaker 1: In our story, the disciples were told to look at
Speaker 1: what they did have and use that. Jesus said to.
Speaker 4: Them, they don't need to go away. You give them
Speaker 4: food to eat.
Speaker 1: Jesus knew the disciples didn't have a giant kitchen magically
Speaker 1: sitting out there on the lawn. Maybe Andrew didn't even
Speaker 1: know how to make a grilled cheese, and there's no
Speaker 1: way they could even afford to buy food for over
Speaker 1: five thousand people. Jesus knew all of this, and yet
Speaker 1: he said, you.
Speaker 4: Give them food to eat.
Speaker 1: What didn't make sense to them made sense with God.
Speaker 1: What didn't seem like enough, God could make it enough.
Speaker 1: How about in your life? Are there things Jesus wants
Speaker 1: you to do, like share, love, forgive, and you feel
Speaker 1: like you don't have all it takes to do this.
Speaker 1: Let's think about that. If your classmate trips over the
Speaker 1: tree root and tumbles to the ground, scraping their knee
Speaker 1: on the rocks, do you think God would want you
Speaker 1: to be a helper to them? Yes? Yes, But you
Speaker 1: think to yourself, well, I don't even have a band aid?
Speaker 1: But what do you have? What could you do? Answer
Speaker 1: out loud, I'll wait, thanks for sharing. You do have
Speaker 1: a hand to help them up, and then you could
Speaker 1: go get an adult to help. Those are things you
Speaker 1: could do and guess what. It may seem small to you,
Speaker 1: but that act of love and kindness is a big
Speaker 1: deal to Jesus. Or do you think there are boys
Speaker 1: and girls who need clothes and toys?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 1: Yes, not everyone has these things. Could you be the
Speaker 1: one to help? You? Sure? Could? What could you do?
Speaker 1: You could donate some of your toys or buy them
Speaker 1: some new clothes with your parents' help. When Jesus wants
Speaker 1: us to do something, He's already given us all we
Speaker 1: need to do it. That little boy only had five
Speaker 1: loaves of bread, and how many fish kill? That's right too,
Speaker 1: and that that was enough because of what God can do.
Speaker 1: When we bring what we have to him and ask
Speaker 1: him to help us use it. We ask him what
Speaker 1: would he like us to do with it? Our loving
Speaker 1: father is telling us, look around, what do you have
Speaker 1: that that will be enough? With me? You may not
Speaker 1: be able, but Jesus he is always able. Today's episode
Speaker 1: is made possible thanks to our newest Patreon members and supporters.
Speaker 1: A big thank you to Mike, Maria Zoe who listens
Speaker 1: on the way to school, Mike, Donovan, Casey, and Nikki
Speaker 1: from my family to yours. Thank you so much. If
Speaker 1: you would like to play a part in helping other
Speaker 1: families hear this podcast, simply go to kbspodcast dot com
Speaker 1: and click bonus Content as the thanks. You'll receive the
Speaker 1: library of bonus content for you to browse at your
Speaker 1: convenience and print whenever you wish. The bonus content goes
Speaker 1: along with these episodes. For example, you have a coloring
Speaker 1: page for today's and an activity sheet mini families color
Speaker 1: as they listen along to check it out. I'll also
Speaker 1: put the links in today's show notes. That is it
Speaker 1: for our story today. Thank you again so much for listening.
Speaker 1: Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode,
Speaker 1: and as always, by for now.