Preparing For The Flood

Prepare for the flood…

Video- Definition of a trader (Right Now Ministries)

Slide #1

What are your plans for this coming year?

Many of us are planning on spending the holidays throughout the year with your family and friends?

Some of you might be planning a vacation get away in the fun and sun?

Maybe you’re more concerned with the rising price of gas this year?

Or you’re busy working trying to save up for your retirement?

This summer I want challenge you… I want to challenge you to begin thinking about preparing for the harvest.

As a child growing up in central Illinois I still remember the harvest season well…the smell of fresh picked cornfields…

The combine’s busy cutting the soybean fields...as well as the endless lines of grain trucks waiting at the elevators to store their harvest from the past year.

As a result of living in a farming community I was also very busy during the spring…and summer months… working various side jobs for the farmers?

It takes hard work to have a successful harvest.

-Early spring delivering seeds

-Early summer walking (Weeding) beans

-Late summer bailing hay

A farmer’s year round focus was to do everything possible to prepare for the upcoming harvest. In reality a farmer’s work is never done.

How do we as a Church prepare for a successful harvest?

Just like every farmer does…We need to expect that the seeds we plant will grow.

Every farmer knows that there are three areas that are very important in raising a successful crop…

Slide #2

The first area that a farmer needs to be successful in is…

1) The Preparation Stage (delivering the seed)…(preparing the ground…spraying anhydrous ammonia) (planting the seed)

Slide #3

The second area that a farmer needs to be successful in is…

2) Pray for Rain (this is where God prepares the heart) (God allows the crop to mature) (the seed begins to grow)

Slide #4

And the third area that a farmer needs to be successful in is…

3) Harvesting (God brings in the crop) (growth of the church) (The seed fellowship together ) (and prepare for the next year’s harvest)

A farmer’s job is to work the ground, plant the seed, pray for rain, and then when the harvest is ready bring in the harvest.

Matthew 9:37-38 clearly explains for us the steps of raising a bumper crop… (read)

Prayer

Slide #5

There are several factors that every farmer realizes are involved behind the success… of having a bountiful harvest.

It doesn’t matter what part of the United States you live in…whether it’s Hobbs America or in Illinois where I grew up…

Healthy soil…temperature…moisture… and good work ethic…all play a major factor in raising a healthy crop.

How many of you here have ever been to Illinois?

It’s kinda like what’s found in New Mexico and Texas… the land itself is very flat and open…

But the soil and weather are where I see a big difference.

In Illinois the soil is black and rarely found dry.

In late March and early April when it’s not raining in Illinois…the farmers are seen out in the fields plowing…disking…and applying fertilizers to the ground making sure the land is ready for the seed to be planted in.

And when the time and temperature is right…the seed planting begins…

The farmer understands that even though he has to spend many hours in preparing for the planting season…the end result “the Harvest” is the only thing that matters.

This is why in verse 37…Jesus Himself says to His disciples… “The harvest is plentiful…but the laborers are few”

Just like farming…building the Church takes hard work…it takes many hours of your time.

It can be exhausting…overwhelming at times…but just like farming…in the end the only thing that matters is the harvest.

If you believe the Bible is truth…you need to think like Jesus did and be concerned for others more than yourself.

Before Jesus surrendered His life on the cross...The last three years of His life…He was consistently seen investing endless hours in the lives of the disciples.

This was done with one intention…to help prepare the disciples for the work that was desperately needed in reaching the world for Christ.

The first step of having a successful harvest is…

Slide #6 Preparing the Soil

Just like the farmers who spend countless hours in preparing their fields for harvest.

Christians must also spend countless hours in their mission fields preparing the lost for the harvest.

This is where we are able to deliver the needed seed to the searching.

The Christians mission fields that are found around us are…

-The Oil field -The Medical field -The Education field

-The Government field

-The Retail field

-The Nuclear field

-The Engineering field

It doesn’t matter which field you are called to work in…we need to think of it as a crop that Jesus is preparing to harvest.