Fish and Loaves

Have you ever planned an event with a certain group in mind and then soon realized that the attendance would be different than you thought and much, much larger? That happened for me this summer. Last year, Deacon Wes and I hosted a small Pride event for our youth and young adults. It was a hit! Some of our youth had some ideas about what more could be offered the next year, so when it came time to plan for this year, we reached out to that group to see if they•d like to plan it. Our small team of youth and young adults got to work planning Pride in the Parking lot for our congregation - at least that's who we thought would attend. Word began to spread and it became apparent that we were definitely going to have more people than I assumed.

This was a good "problem," but I was anxious! Would we have enough materials? Would those in attendance understand this was to be a casual event with a tiny budget? What if we ran out of tie-dye? I think of all these worries that were running through my head as I read the story of fish and loaves in John 6:1-21. I can feel Philip's heart racing as he imagines the cost of feeding the crowd and the potential fear of what will happen if they can't feed all the people. Join us this Sunday as we explore this popular story in scripture and think about fish and loaves in our lives today.