There’s a Great Harvest?

There’s a Great Harvest?

I was recently talking with the students on a Sunday morning, and this verse came up, “[Jesus] said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest’” (Luke 10:2, ESV).  After reading this verse, I began to feel personally challenged and convicted.  Later in the study, we looked at a parallel passage in Matthew 9:35-38.  We noticed that Jesus tells His disciples to do this after he sees the helpless condition of the people:  “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (ESV).  After talking about this verse with the students, and pondering its implications, I was left feeling a little uneasy.  I don’t often pray for God to send out workers to preach the gospel of the kingdom with lost people.  To be honest, and to my shame, I rarely think of people in other parts of the world who do not know Jesus.  I am more often more consumed with what is right in front of my face.  And even when I encounter people at the grocery store or in the line at Wendy’s, I rarely find myself thinking of them as “the Harvest.” 

As I thought about this more throughout the week, I was really bothered by the conflict between my beliefs and my actions.  I believe that God is the ultimate source of all joy and the great God who deserves all praise and Honor from all of creation, but I infrequently think about sharing the wonderful message of Him with people outside of my immediate influence.  I also believe that Jesus is the only source of eternal life for all mankind.  And because of this, any person who does not trust in Jesus, through the gospel, will be eternally separated from God and will have to bear the just wrath of God (Rom. 1:16-20; Matt. 25:46).  This is why, after reading these verses, I was left feeling a little disturbed.  I know the truth, but I often don’t allow it to affect and change me.  In one sense it was painful to be convicted by God, nonetheless, I have found it to be such a refreshing experience to be personally corrected and guided by God’s Word to change my thinking and my living!

How about you? How often do you think about those who are currently helpless and don’t know Christ? How often do you ask God to send out laborers to bring in the harvest?  Personally, this passage has begun to motivate me to analyze my life, asking these questions, 1. Do I care about the harvest? 2. Do I ask God to send workers into the harvest? 3. Am I using my gifts, experiences, and abilities to most effectively bring in the harvest?  I think these are all questions for those of us who follow Jesus and care about Him to consider.  This week let us consider how to think correctly about the true reality of life (God, heaven, hell, eternity), love people consistently with the message of Jesus, and begin to pray fervently that God would raise up laborers to preach the good news of the kingdom of God! 

Here are some passages to ponder in regards to the great harvest, and here is a great website that can act as a guide when praying for the nations of the world,  www.operationworld.org.  

Romans 10:14-15

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” (ESV) 

Psalm 67

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him! (ESV)

The State of the Youth

The State of the Youth 

This fall and winter, in my opinion, has been a great, fruitful and an extremely fun time for the youth ministry.  I have seen many students change, grow, and continue to deepen their roots in Christ.  Students have realized areas of bondage, un-forgiveness and other areas of personal sin and have surrendered them to Jesus.  We have had many new faces come, some of whom have stayed and some we hope will come back again.  And we have had a core group that has become strong, consistent and who has also demonstrated selfless leadership.  It is my prayer, for all of them, that the seeds that have been sown by Sunday school teachers, VBS volunteers, pastors, youth leaders, and especially parents, would take root in their hearts, would grow and bear fruit, so that they can go out and plant seeds of Gospel truth in the lives of their peers.

As a parent or other caring adult in our congregation you might have wondered what our young people are studying.  I wanted to take this opportunity to give a bit of a ministry report and let you all know what we've been learning.  Last fall, the senior high students did a study on Wednesday nights from Dare to Share.  This study walked us through the foundation and substance of the gospel and helped us become more comfortable telling our friends about the hope we have in Christ.  In Nov. and Dec. we talked about how to honor God in our relationships.  At Sunday Night Live (Jr. High youth group) we studied about the overarching themes of the Bible - from Creation, to Kingdom, to Captivity, to the Cross, and the Church, and we recently finished up a Francis Chan study about surrendering all aspects of our lives - our "stuff", relationships, plans, and even our very lives to Jesus.    For Sunday Morning Discipleship we are studying the parables of Jesus.  The senior highers just started a new series for Wednesday nights.  It's called Not a Fan and contrasts just being a fan of Jesus with actually picking up our cross daily and following Jesus.  And the junior highers just started a study about friendships.  Overall, I think God is doing a wonderful work in the lives of our young people.

The other day, as I was analyzing my ministry, I was thinking to myself, “What could I teach or impart to my students that will have the biggest and most lasting impact upon their lives?”  As I pondered this question, I began to look back upon my own life.  What impacted me?  What was the biggest influence in my own relationship with Jesus?  Looking back, I think what has continually had the biggest and most lasting impact on my life is what I saw modeled in the lives of a few of my Christian adults in my life.  As a child, I noticed my dad, getting up early and reading the Bible daily. I saw that my mom’s Bible worn from lots of reading, and its words had an impact on her daily life.  I heard my youth pastor repeat over and over how we need to habitually feed upon Gods Word, and I saw that he "practiced what he preached."  I also listened as the lead pastor of my church preached verse by verse through the Bible as if it had the final word regarding life and action.  I saw people striving to live like Jesus.  Through this, as well as other influences, God drew me into His Word - caused me to hunger for it and read it for myself.  I began to look at Jesus through the Gospels, particularly the Gospel of John.  It is then that God began to disturb me, to shake me up, and to awaken me to realize that I desperately needed Him.  Not only did feeding upon God’s Word start a change in my life, it has continually, through life’s ups and downs, challenged me, convicted me, and deepened my love for Jesus. 

It occurred to me that I knew what I needed to try to impart to the students - something big and powerful that would have a lasting impact on their lives.  I want to show them how to feed upon the scripture, listen to what God has to say through His Word and then allow His Spirit to conform their lives to that of Jesus Christ.  You know what’s cool?  It doesn't take a degree, or extensive Bible training, or super spirituality to impart this to our young people.  Just pick up a Bible read it, and let them know how important it is for them to do the same.  Paul encourages young Timothy in his second letter, “ You… know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,  persecutions, sufferings….  …Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.   All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:10-11a - 3:14-17, NIV 1984).”     

~Trev 

• If you are looking for a Bible app for your computer or mobile device check out  https://www.youversion.com/ or the YouVersion Bible app on your device.  There you can find a ton of Bibles, Bible reading plans, devotions, video devotions and other great resources for free!
• If you want to learn more about how to read the Bible I would recommend a very easy to read and practical book called, Living By The Book  by Howard and William Hendricks.