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Key Text: “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming 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.’”  Mt.9:35-38

Week #1:   “The Harvest is Plentiful”

BIG IDEA:  Just how urgent is the need?  3 INDICATORS

 

INDICATOR #1) It is Urgent because of the Biblical Mandate

Jesus said the Harvest is “plentiful” in v.37= The Greek word Polus: “many, numerous, great”

Jn.4:35  “Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”  Lk.19:10  “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Mt.28:19,20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

God uses some of the most unlikely candidates to be his “harvesters”-  Moses stuttered. (Ex.3); Amos, was not a prophet or a prophet’s son, but a fig-picker.  (Amos 7:14,15); Jeremiah was a developing baby when God placed a call upon his life (Jer.1:5,6); Samuel was a child when God called him (I Sam.3:10); The 12 were unschooled, ordinary men. (Acts 4:13) Paul was bi-vocational, a tent maker. God expects each of us to respond to His call-  no excuses!

INDICATOR #2) It is Urgent because of the Overwhelming Need

There are more than 200 million non-believing people amongst the more than 300 million people in the USA.   Approximately 65% of the people in the USA do not attend church regularly.

There are more than 4 billion non-believing people amongst the more than 6 billion people in the world who need to believe in Jesus Christ.  Africa has 41.2% of their population under 15 yrs of age. North America has 20.6% of their population under 15 yrs of age. Latin America has 29.7% of their population under 15 yrs of age. Asia has 27.8% of their population under 15 yrs of age. Europe has 15.6% of their population under 15 yrs of age. In Asia there are 254 cities of over 1 million people, 11 of which are over 10 million people. 28 of the world’s largest cities are in Asia.  (Stats taken from Operation World 2010)

INDICATOR #3) It is Urgent because of their Eternal Destiny                                                                                     “Harvest” that is left in the field ultimately rots.  Apart from Christ we have no hope. 

Charles Haddon Spurgeon said: “Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.”

Mark Cahill writes: “If I threw a birthday party for you where every guest would receive $100,000 in cash & a Mercedes Convertible, and I gave you 50 tickets to your party, how many people would you have at your party? No doubt you’d have 50. In fact, if on the way to your party you realized that you had a ticket remaining in your pocket, and you saw a homeless man, you would probably give him your extra ticket. Isn’t that similar to what God has done for us. He has given us a pocketful of tickets, and it’s our job to hand out ticket after ticket to a place called heaven. Do you realize how many Christians are going to die & stand in front of God with a pocket full of tickets to heaven? You had all these tickets to heaven. You could have given them away to anyone you wanted to. But you died with your pocket filled with tickets to heaven. Our goal should be that as we’re about to die, we hand our last ticket to a police officer or an ambulance driver or an emergency room doctor; & then we’ll stand in front of the throne of God with no tickets left in our pockets.”   

APPLICATION:  Ask God to begin to break your heart and give you eyes for the plentiful harvest.