Imagine you are on a church hike. It’s a sunny afternoon and you’ve walked a bit further than you had planned. Everyone has been chatting and laughing, sharing stories and finding connections. As you reach a lovely grassy field overlooking a reservoir it occurs to you that now might be a good time for a sit down.
The group sits, looking up at you to tell them what’s going to happen next. You can see that the tinies are getting restless and the older ones are tired. What’s more, you are surprisingly hungry.
Somehow, in all the organising and chaos of getting everyone together, you had completely forgotten to suggest people bring a picnic. A picnic would have been ideal at this point. You summon a couple of the leadership team for a quiet word.
‘Have you brought food?’ you ask furtively, watching as your own horror is mirrored back to you in their faces. It occurs to you that there aren’t even any shops nearby.
‘Let’s ask around,’ says Andy, a keen young leader. They disperse and you watch as heads shake like a Mexican wave rolling through the crowd.
You close your eyes and look down to fire off a quick prayer, ‘Lord, we didn’t plan this fully, and I’m responsible, but if there’s any way we could feed everyone…’
You are interrupted by Andy, grinning, his young lad squinting by his side.
‘Tell him’ says Andy, and his son looks up at you.
‘I brought something to share,’ he says, ‘do you want my tuna sandwich?’
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Something far more remarkable happened when a young lad offered Jesus his two little fish and five crumbly barley loaves. Jesus took this humble offering and blessed it, multiplying something ordinary into a memorable and truly extraordinary event.
I’ve been inspired by that young, unnamed boy. Instead of ridicule, he saw his willing act bloom into something very special. His willing offering to Jesus was exactly what was needed.
So often Jesus recruits and makes time for those who are not the centre of attention or the winners in society. He makes a beeline for those others have rejected. This is something I want to help churches develop further, building on the great work of so many pioneers down the years and Christian organisations today working for and with those, for example, with additional needs.
As I am a Bible teacher, I felt a need to create something to bring a whole church community together – young and old, of all abilities – to tell the big story of the Bible in one hour. We trialled it at my home church in Cambridgeshire and have now prepared and published a resource book so that many other churches and other groups can do the same.
Telling the Big Story is now available from Kevin Mayhew and further resources can be found at www.lucymarfleet.com. The book gives all the information you need to prepare and run an all-inclusive event to tell the metanarrative of the Bible within 60 minutes, not forgetting food, props and displays. It is intentionally inclusive in scope and a great way to get everyone together doing something memorable.
In putting this resource together we were well aware of the need to work as a team and so people of all ages have contributed artwork and supported our work. What we found was that in bringing what we had – no matter how insignificant it first seemed – God was able to multiply and bless many others through it.
The resource would work in lots of contexts. Perhaps even a church hike, although you’d have to remember to bring food with you!
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Lucy Marfleet, biblical tutor for Spurgeon’s College on their ‘Equipped to Minister’ course is a writer in Histon, Cambridgeshire.
The story of the feeding of the 5000 is recorded in Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9 and John 6.
Telling the Big Story
An inclusive, all-age resource by Lucy Marfleet to help your church explore the Bible’s big story in just one hour. Packed with scripts, creative ideas, and practical tips for making the Bible accessible to everyone.