“Harvest”
January 8, 2006
Introduction: Today is a message of vision. What is your vision for Countryside in 2006? What is it that God has called us to do and how are we going to move forward to accomplish that task?
Our mission is set. We are a church that does not have many different visions and missions. We do not use slogans and catch phrases for the year. Instead, we focus on the overall vision and how we can play a part in Gods story.
The mission of Countryside:
“To passionately pursue God and express his love to others.”
That is what we are about. Today, we are going to focus on the second part of the phrase, because it is in that realm that we as a church are gong to be focusing much of our ministry in 2006.
How do we express God’s love to others? How are you, as part of Countryside moving forward in the plan to touch lives with the message of Jesus? We want to look today at a scripture that gives us some principles from the life of Jesus to use as a model for our relationship with our community.
“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Matthew 9:35-38 (NIV)
This passage fits within the framework of what Jesus has been doing and what he is preparing to do. He ha been traveling the area of Galilee teaching and preaching in the synagogues and healing people. Immediately after this passage he sets apart the twelve apostles to do the work of the ministry that he equips them to do. When Jesus passed on ministry to his disciples, it passed on as part of the revolution of Christ to us.
Let’s breakdown three key principles that we can learn and apply from this passage.
I. Jesus met the needs of people.
“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.” Matthew 9:35 (NIV)
Jesus met people at the point of their need.
Jesus put who he was and what he was about into practical use in the life of people. In the story that Matthew paints in chapter 9, we see Jesus heal six different people of various issues. He heals a man who could not walk, a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years, a girl who had died, two blind men and a man who was demon possessed. Jesus touched these people in very real and practical ways.
Our society had very real needs. Not to skip the point, but today I am not talking about the physical needs of people. We as a body of Christ just deal with issues of hunger, illness and tragedy. There is no question of that and this body has demonstrated a great willingness to help. Today, I want to talk about the spiritual and emotional needs of our community.
There are three areas of need that I believe the church is uniquely equipped to deal with in the lives of people. They are issues that we as a body must address in people’s lives in order to make an eternal and lasting difference.
A) People need connection.
Our society has lost the connectedness that once was the fabric of who we were. We have lost the sense of neighborhood and community that twenty-five years ago gave us an identity. Now, our neighborhood is defined more by homeowners associations than by shared connectedness.
We as the body of Christ need to provide a place for people to connect. We must be a safe harbor for people who are beat up by life. Today I want to challenge you to make a connection into the life of others.
The best place for connection is in small groups.
We cannot connect on a large scale. That is not connection but gathering. Small groups allow us to get past the superficial and into the heart with one another. If you are not in a small group at Countryside, you need to be.
B) People need truth.
We live in a society today that has for the most part has denied the existence of absolute truth. We live in a relative society. Our culture is shaped by people who claim a search for truth while often denying the existence of truth. The role of the church is to speak truth into the life of the culture.
Part of the problem is that we do not tend to speak the truth to the culture the way Christ calls us to. We often are shouting judgment and separation from our culture instead of speaking love and forgiveness into our culture. I am not talking about some all-inclusive, everyone gets a free pass gospel. I am talking about the real truth communicated in a loving way.
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:6 (NIV)
We should be a voice that adds flavor and preservation into our culture.
Our society is misguided in truth. We believe more in “Hallmark” truth than we do in eternal truth. And, in many ways, people inside the church are not much better. We must develop a Christian worldview that helps us to understand our culture, our society and the needs of people in the context of the life of Jesus.
An application: In February I will be teaching a series on Wednesday nights from Chuck Colson’s “Counter Cultural Christians.” This will help you develop a Godly worldview.
C) People need hope.
We live in a society that is desperate for good news. People are frustrated, tired, and hopeless. It is the role of the church to bring hope into the lives of those who despair.
“A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.”
Psalm 33:17-18 (NIV)
Our society hopes in things to deliver. They are looking for answers in all kinds of places and find heartache instead of deliverance. We as the body of Christ hold the key to hope for today and for eternity. It is our job to communicate that hope to those who live such desperate lives.
My sister Caroline and her family have been apart of their churches on-going ministry to southern Mississippi that was so devastated by Hurricane Katrina. They have been going to Bay St. Louis, MS every week since the hurricane to help people rebuild their lives. They simply go in and clean out mud and mold from what is left of the houses.
She told me the story of going to a home where a single lady lived by herself. There were items from her home in the branches of trees, the walls were covered in mold and the floor was nothing but mud. When their group arrived, the owner of the home was simply standing and looking at the property. By the time the group left, she told my sister, “I now have hope that things are going to be alright.”
Whether it is physical, emotional or spiritual, everyone in our community is looking for hope. We as the body of Christ must be prepared to be a resource for hope in the lives of those around us.
Application: Will you make a commitment in 2006 to share connection, truth and hope with those around you?
II. Jesus hurt for the people.
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:36 (NIV)
Jesus had a deep sense of caring for the needs of the people. It moved him in the deepest areas of his heart to see people hurting and without direction. His compassion moved him at emotional levels.
As followers of Christ, we should have a compassionate heart for those who are hurting.
Jesus looks on a culture and sees people who are hurting and oppressed and it motivates him to action. Unfortunately we look at our culture that is hurting and harassed and we feel judgment and condemnation. We need to begin to see with the eyes of Jesus.
Our society has been captivated by the Father of lies. Satan has blinded the hearts of man so that they cannot discern truth.
“Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe, so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that is shining upon them. They don’t understand the message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”
2 Corinthians 4:4 (NLT)
One of the reasons for the blindness of the human heart is the ineffectiveness of the church to engage the culture.
The church has long believed that people should listen to our message no matter what. However, we have not had compassion on the hurting in our community to the point to give them a reason to listen.
“We’re not making a difference outside our walls, and we haven’t done anything to gain the right to be heard.” Bishop Harry Jackson, Pastor Hope Christian Church Bowie, MD
People will listen to our message when we communicate compassion.
We as a church must engage our culture outside the church walls and off the church property. You must begin to be a part fo the community so that you can compassionately share the message of Jesus with those who are hurting.
We cannot influence our culture if we never engage our culture.
Application: In 2006, how will you be a part of engaging your culture?
III. Jesus challenged his followers.
Jesus placed the role of the workers of the harvest directly on the shoulders of those who followed him closest. He gave them the burden for bringing in the harvest of peoples lives.
“Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV)
There are three things that Jesus pointed out to his followers that we must understand to make this a reality in our lives.
A) People are open to the message.
Jesus notes that the harvest is plentiful. In other words, there are plenty of opportunities to touch people with eh message of the gospel. People have needs and they are looking for answers. Our job is to communicate the truth in a manner that will lead them to the good news.
B) God is the one who changes people.
Notice how he refers to God as the “Lord of the Harvest.” It is an indication for us that God is the one who does the eternal work. Our role is to simply be his spokespeople here in our culture.
We do not make people followers of God. That is his job. Our job is to communicate the message.
“You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do my work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End.” John 6:44 (The Message)
We do not change the lives of people, God does.
C) Our role is to gather the harvest.
As followers of Christ, we must embrace our role as communicators of the eternal truth of God.
It is our job to gather together the lives of people that God has drawn to himself. Our job is to be the representative for Christ in our culture that would help those who are hurting and without hope to find healing through Jesus.
Paul asked people to pray for him so that he would be able to effectively communicate the gospel of Jesus.
“Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” Ephesians 6:19-20 (NIV)
“One who receives this Word, and by it salvation, receives along with it the duty of passing this Word on…Where there is no mission there is no Church, and where there is neither Church nor mission, there is no faith.” Emile Brunner
Conclusion: Will you make a commitment today to meet the needs of those who are hurting in our community? Will you commit to hurt for those that hurt as Jesus did? Will you commit to be a worker in the harvest that God has prepared in the hearts of man?
Application Point: In your bulletin is a note card. Would you write down one name of a person that you want to express God’s love to in 2006? Would you commit to pray that God would use you as his ambassador into that person’s life this year?
