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.
It is very obvious from reading the local paper and watching the evening news that we live in an area where the “harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few” Just as the Bible says…
We must be aware that the soil that we will be planting in is very unnourished…and unfamiliar with the seed were planting.
If the farmer (which is you) that’s working the ground has not first properly prepared his or her own life…the seed that’s being planted will more than likely not take root and grow.
How many of you here this morning have a testimony that you are prepared to share with the un-churched? (Sharing your salvation experience)
The people who know that you are Christian…are the ones who are watching you in your missions fields…
There watching you to see if you are living the lifestyle you are telling them about.
To be a successful farmer…you cannot be a Christian on Sunday morning and go out telling people the rest of the week of how you would do things different.
When you first plant the seed in fertile ground…great things are going to happen to your harvest...if you have properly prepared the soil.
Working out in the fields not only allows you the opportunity to prepare the field for the harvest…but it also allows you the opportunity to be a participant of the Great Commission.
Slide #7
Matthew 28:19-20…
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The second area that is very important in raising a successful crop is…
Slide #8 Praying for Rain
Verse 38 “therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest”
This step is just as important as the preparation the soil.
When you faithfully take all your requests and concerns to God in prayer…He responds.
I’ve said it Sunday after Sunday here at VP…we need to be prepared for the flood that is beginning to arrive.
There is nothing that pleases God more…than a church that is being obedient to His word…
We have already seen the growth of our efforts in new the families joining…and the dozens of lives that are being transformed into His image.
Last Wednesday night we had a record number attend the VBS planning meeting.
The Bible study hour at 6:30 was at an all-time high.
One student ministries’ had their biggest attendance in over a year.
The Children’s church was overflowing with growth…and an answer to prayer…God has provided a leader to oversee that very important ministry on Wednesday nights.
Its true…… when you pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest… just as verse 38 says…God will send out laborers into His harvest. (Wow)
Prayer is a lot like a farmer cultivating the field.
When the farmer cultivates around the new plant…it opens up the ground around it allowing the plant the opportunity to receive all the necessary nutrients it needs to achieve full growth.
The third area that is very important in raising a successful crop is…
Slide #9 Be Prepared for the Harvest
For those of us here today that claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior…the harvest for us is truly a wonderful thing.
At one time or another in your life you personally made the decision to ask Christ to come into your life and change you.
Ever since that day…you have done your best to faithfully serve Him.
When a person asks Christ into their life…they begin the transformation of daily seeking to become like Christ.
You’re not sinless (because there was only one sinless person in life…)…but when you do sin…you understand that its wrong and you do your best to avoid returning to it.
Slide #10
But the reason that the Lord is looking for laborers to work in the harvest fields is because of what we read in Revelation 14:15
Here when John shares that the “harvest of the earth is fully ripe”
He is referring to the ungodly people of the world…who are ready to be gathered up and judged.
To date…God has allowed the seeds of iniquity (the wicked) to grow until they become ripe.
After these seeds have ripened…He judges each of them for the fruits of their labor.
This is why for the saved…those of us who claim to be Christians…
We understand the importance behind working for Christ and building up His Kingdom.
This is why there cannot be Any division in the church for it to be effective in reaching the lost.
God is going to Judge each one of us individually and I think that many of the Christians are going to get their eyes opened wide up…on judgment day.
God is excited about what is happening here at VP…but He also knows who is a team player or not.
My prayer as your pastor is that…You want to work in the field…that you want to help cultivate …and that you want to bring in a great harvest…
Please Stand
Every one of us here has different mission fields that we are allowed to work in.
And each of us has seeds to help harvest.
But until you personally are growing yourself…the work is less effective.
Accepted Christ…Baptized…Join the church…Rededicate your life…
Come today…
