Matthew 14:13-21

13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” 16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” 17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. 18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Supplies: a seed (dried kernel) of corn, a fresh ear of corn, can of corn--in a sack so that you can take them out one at a time.

Good Morning. How are you today?
This morning in our Bible lesson, there is a big crowd gathered around Jesus and they are hungry. Do you know what Jesus does? He feeds that crowd with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. That's a miracle isn't it. Is that something you and I could do? You know I think you're right--we couldn't do that. I don't even have bread and fish --all I have is this. [hold out seed]. Does anyone know what this is? (let the children guess). It is a dried up kernel of corn--it is a seed. What would happen if I planted this seed? That's right! It would grow and then it would make a plant with one of these. [take out the ear of corn]. Now look at all of these kernels--that's all more seed. So if we planted each of these, we would get a lot more plants wouldn't we? And when a lot of corn is planted and harvested, sometimes we can it. [bring out can of corn]. So from one little seed, we could get lots of corn. And if we kept doing that, we could feed a lot of people.

do any of you grocery shop with your Moms or Dads or grandmas or someone else? Do you ever ask to have something extra put in the basket? Well, this week when you go to the grocery store, I want you to remember this can of corn. And maybe you can ask the adult with you to put something extra in the basket for the food pantry. If we all did that, we could make our own miracle and feed a lot of hungry people.

Let's say a prayer about that. Repeat after me:
Dear God,
Thank you for seeds and plants that grow. Thank you for reminding us to help others.
Amen