Recap:

Church, today you picked the perfect Sunday, because you’re here for a world premiere. I’m not kidding. I don’t know of another series in the history of preaching quite like what we’re about to do for the next four weeks. We’re talking about tables.

And I promise, you will not be bored. You’re going to walk away saying, “Wow… I never knew that about tables.”

About ten years ago, Heather found this old farmhouse table at an antique shop in San Antonio. Solid wood. Ten or twelve feet long. Built in northwest France around the 1800s. And ever since we brought it home, every time our family sits around it, I find myself wondering: How many families gathered around this same table? How many meals? How many moments? How many conversations and arguments and games over 200 years?

Because a table is never just a table. It becomes the storytelling place of your life.

So as we head into Christmas, I want you to sit with a question about your own table, the one you gather around, or maybe wish you gathered around.

We prayed together, thanking God for what He’s doing in our church, for the missions giving, for the people He’s drawing. And then we opened Psalm 78.

It says Israel forgot what God had done. They walked through the Red Sea. They watched water come out of rocks. They witnessed miracle after miracle, but still, when things became difficult, they asked the question:
“Can God really spread a table in the wilderness?”

That question has echoed for thousands of years.

I shared a story from a mission trip deep in the desert of northern Mexico, no civilization, freezing nights, blistering days. A place of extremes. And I said: Some of you are in a wilderness just like that. Not literal deserts, but emotional ones. Financial ones. Addictions. Loneliness. Darkness. The place where you’re swinging between extremes, “I’m doing okay… I’m not doing okay.” “I have enough… I don’t have enough.” “God is close… where is God?”

Wilderness seasons always reveal what we really believe.

And then I told the story of George Müller, hundreds of orphans sitting at long, empty tables with no bread, and Müller praying because “If God’s provided before, He’ll provide again.” Moments later, bread shows up. Milk shows up. Provision shows up.

Because the question isn’t ancient.
It’s not theoretical.
It’s personal:
Can God provide a table in your wilderness?

Some of us ask that question with a little hope in our voice. Others ask it with cynicism.

But faith remembers.

After the Old Testament ends, there’s 400 years of silence, like the question is just hanging in the air. “Can God really provide?” And then the New Testament opens, and the first voice we hear is John the Baptist, in the wilderness, crying, “Prepare the way of the Lord.”

In other words,
God is setting the table.

And Christmas proves it.

Jesus is born in Bethlehem, the “house of bread.”
He’s placed in a manger, a feeding trough.
Hint after hint after hint: He is God’s provision.

Fast-forward to the feeding of the 5000, another wilderness. Not enough bread. Same old problem. But what does Jesus do? He blesses, breaks, and gives, and everyone eats until they’re satisfied. Not a little. Not barely enough. FULL. Overflowing.

Jesus says, “I am the Bread of Life.”
He is the One who satisfies the deep hunger inside of you.

I shared the story of Longfellow, devastated by grief, cynical, broken, and how his poem moves from despair to hope:
“God’s not dead, nor doth He sleep.”

Same journey many of us need today.

And then we prayed. We asked: Can God provide in my wilderness? Hands went up all over the room, because this message is real. Everyone either is in a wilderness, was in one, or will be in one.

And we prayed:
– That cynicism would turn to mustard-seed faith.
– That God would reveal His presence.
– That those at the full table would share with those at the empty one.
– That Jesus, the Bread of Life, would meet needs no one else can.

And then we ended with the Gospel itself.
Because Christmas means Jesus came to make a way for us, taking our sins, giving His life, offering us His presence forever. And hands went up to receive Him.

God is preparing a table in your wilderness.
 And Christmas proves it.

Group Questions:

Icebreakers (Choose 1–2)

  1. Table Memories:
     Share one memorable moment that happened around a table in your home growing up, funny, meaningful, or chaotic.
  2. Best Meal / Worst Meal:
     What’s the best meal you’ve ever had and what made it so good? What’s the worst meal, and why?
  3. If Your Table Could Talk…
     If your kitchen table could tell one story about your family, what story would it tell?
  4. The Desert Question:
     Just for fun, would you rather be stuck in a desert with extreme heat or freezing cold? Why?

Discussion Questions

Section 1: The Table as a Storytelling Place

  1. You said, “A table is never just a table, it becomes the storytelling place of your life.”
    What stories would your table tell about your family or your season of life right now?
  2. When you think about the old French farmhouse table from your sermon, what emotions or thoughts come up about legacy, history, or what gathers at the table?

Section 2: The Wilderness Question

  1. Psalm 78 shows the people asking, “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness?”
     In your own words, what does a “wilderness season” look like for you?
  2. Have you ever been in a wilderness season where God felt far? What helped you hold on, or what made it hard?
  3. Why do you think God often reveals Himself in the wilderness rather than helping us avoid it altogether?

Section 3: Provision and Faith

  1. The story of George Müller shows a faith that remembers past provision.
    What’s one moment where you can say, “If God did it then, He can do it again”?
  2. What tends to creep in more quickly for you, hope or cynicism? Why?
  3. Jesus feeding the 5000 shows God giving “until they were satisfied.”
     Where in your life do you need Jesus to satisfy, not just sustain, you right now?

Section 4: Christmas & The Table God Sets

  1. How does it hit you that Jesus was born in Bethlehem (house of bread) and laid in a manger (feeding trough)?
    What does that say about God’s heart for you?
  2. Longfellow’s line, “God’s not dead, nor doth He sleep”, comes from deep sorrow.
    Have you ever had a “Longfellow moment” where hope slowly returned?

Section 5: Personal Application

  1. You ended with this truth: “God is preparing a table in your wilderness.”
     What “table” do you need God to set for you right now? What would it look like?
  2. Who around you might be sitting at an empty table, and how could you share from your full one?
  3. What step of mustard-seed faith can you take this week in your wilderness?