Hi, friends. I am Annie F. Downs. Let's read the Gospels. The Gospels are the first four books of the New Testament in the Bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

These are the stories of Jesus Christ's life on earth, the friendships, the parables, the sacrifices, the meals, the miracles.

Each month we read all four books, so go ahead and subscribe today. Join us as we read the Gospels.

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Here's how it works. I'll read three chapters to you today. You can listen or read along in your own Bible, and then I'll pray, and that's it.

So today is August 13th, day 13, and I'll be reading Mark, chapters 8 through 10, and this month I'm reading from the message.

Mark 8. At about the same time, he again found himself with a hungry crowd on his hands. He called his disciples together and said,

this crowd is breaking my heart. They have stuck with me for three days, and now they have nothing to eat.

If I send them home hungry, they'll faint along the way. Some of them have come a long distance. His disciples responded,

what do you expect us to do about it by food out here in the desert? He asked, how much bread do you have?

Seven loaves, they said. So Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. After giving thanks, he took the seven bread loaves, broke them into pieces, and gave them to his disciples so they could hand them out to the crowd.

They also had a few fish. He pronounced a blessing over the fish, and told his disciples to hand them out as well.

The crowd ate its fill. Seven sacks of leftovers were collected. They were well over 4,000 at the meal. Then he sent them home.

He himself went straight to the boat with his disciples and set out for down Manuta.

When they arrived, the Pharisees came out and started in on him, badgering him to prove himself pushing him up against the wall.

Provoked, he said, why does this generation clamor for miraculous guarantees? If I have anything to say about it, you'll not get so much as a hint of a guarantee.

He then left them, got back in the boat and headed for the other side. But the disciples forgot to pack a lunch. Except for a single loaf of bread, there wasn't a crumb in the boat.

Jesus warned, be very careful, keep a sharp eye out for the contaminating yeast of Pharisees and the followers of Herod.

Meanwhile, the disciples were finding fault with each other because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus overheard and said, why are you fussing because you forgot bread?

Don't you see the point of all this? Don't you get it at all? Remember the five loaves I broke for the 5,000? How many baskets of leftovers did you pick up? They said 12.

And the seven loaves for the 4,000. How many bags full of leftovers did you get? Seven. He said, do you still not get it?

They arrived at Bethesda. Some people brought a sightless man and begged Jesus to give him a healing touch. Taking him by the hand, he led him out of the village.

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