Mark 8 | Good, Good News
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A Pattern For Stewardship | Mark 8:8-9

A Pattern For Stewardship
By: O'Neill Trull


Mark 8:8 In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 

The feeding of the four thousand has many wonderful lessons for us, the one I want to touch on briefly is stewardship. In this passage Jesus teaches that stewardship is not about how much we have, but rather, what we bring to Him. The disciples found 7 loaves to feed thousands. However, Jesus was not concerned with the amount, He simply took what they brought to him.

We then see Him
give thanks, this is perhaps the most crucial element in stewardship. When is the last time we stopped to give thanks for the opportunity to give? Next we see Jesus breaking the bread and distributing it to His disciples. In the same way, every day Jesus entrusts resources to us, so that we can distribute to those around us. The final lesson we see in this passage is the miracle of multiplication. We give, and He makes it enough! This week, let us set in our hearts to give of our time, money, wisdom, love, joy and peace, and see what God does with it.

stewardship is not about how much we have, but rather, what we bring to Him.

The Bread Of Life | Mark 8:1-10

By: Pastor Raelene Frankland 

“In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.” Mark 8:1-10

There is so much of who God is in this passage.
Jesus’ compassion moved him, it put him into action- to feed us- to do, to serve. He was concerned for our well-being. He IS the Bread of Life and He longs to feed us. He knows what we need before we could even ask for it.

I imagine He gladly received what was given to Him, He didn’t turn it away or say that it wasn’t enough. Then He directed the crowd to sit down. I see this as a picture of just being still –waiting, which is such a crucial thing to do in our relationship with Jesus.

We then see Jesus giving thanks and giving the loaves to the disciples which they distributed to the people. He then blessed the fish, and gave it to the disciples who gave it to the people. He gave thanks and blessed what was to be given and it was multiplied.

He gave thanks and blessed what was to be given and it was multiplied. 


Jesus used what didn’t look like much and absolutely abundantly blessed them all, He filled them all. The multitude didn’t have to do anything but listen to Jesus, to sit and to be still. While Jesus broke the bread, I can’t help but be reminded of His body that was broken for us.

Jesus gave His bread to the disciples, His close followers who were with Him daily, then they gave it to the multitude. Is this not a picture of serving others, fellowship, discipleship, and the great commission? The multitude was satisfied, filled so much that there was more than enough, it far exceeded what it started as.

God is so generous and such a Good Father. Jesus then sent them away, and what did they do afterward? I think if I saw food multiply and feeding 4,000 people from almost nothing, it would be something I shared everywhere I went. These people were witnesses, I’d imagine they would testify everywhere they went for all of their lives.

Who is this Jesus?
What do we have to offer Jesus?
How many loaves do we have?
Are we willing to offer them to Jesus?
He can and will use our loaves we give him, no matter how small it may seem.

Jesus Clarifies(Sermon) Mark 8






Mark 8:14–21 (ESV) 14 
Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20 “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21 And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” 

Jesus is frustrated with the disciples:
1st, They were missing the point.
2nd ,They had enough bread. 

He expects the miraculous.” 

Mark 8:22–25 (ESV) 22 And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24 And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” 25 Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

The Mercy of multiple encounters.
“Jesus extends the mercy to accomplish his means.”

Peter has an encounter
Mark 8:27–38 (ESV)
27 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”…
31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” 34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Jesus gets intense: Identifies & rebukes the thoughts of men.
 Do you want to follow Christ or a caricature of him that culture has created? 
  •  Some rebuke the lord when he has a standard they don’t like
  • Every act of disobedience towards God is telling God we know better. 

Following Jesus, with clarity. 
1. Deny yourself. 
Following Jesus is not about you.

2. Pick up your cross. 
“We can’t follow Jesus without carrying a cross.”
It’s time we get off our thrones pick up our cross!"

3. Follow Him. For real though..
“He values you as you are but loves you enough to transform you into whom he intended you to be.”
The Gospel= Jesus is savior AND King.

4. For the sake of Jesus and His Gospel.

Colossians 3:3–10 (NIV) 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.