I sincerely want every member of SHBC to check out this story at the Western Recorder website and read it carefully and thoughtfully. Here’s the story: http://www.westernrecorder.org/wr/wrsite.nsf/stories/200941-Awakening
God is pouring out His Spirit in a magnificent way upon this church in Morehead. Clearly, they are in a season of revival for which they have longed, and now, with this outpouring of God’s Spirit, they will enter into a season of discipleship, deepening of the converted, and hopefully, prolonged harvest. I pray for this church and hope sincerely that they will continue to experience this great movement of God’s Spirit!
Even more exciting to me than reading the confirmation of this movement of God (I had heard about this earlier this week at a meeting), is the fact that this is the VERY SAME AGENDA that I have been promoting at our church for the past four weeks. I have been attempting to pass on to you all as a church what God has laid on my heart as a pastor, namely that it is time for us to labor in light of the harvest! As a church, we must wake up to the fact that if we do not begin to take part in God’s economy of sowing, cultivating, and harvesting, we will die within a few short years. I have been encouraging you all to “lift up your eyes” to see the lost and hurting people all around you. I continue to encourage you to specifically and diligently pray for 2-3 lost people that you have some contact with in your life. Tomorrow is a day of church-wide prayer and fasting for the lost and for our church. Will you participate?
Beyond looking and praying, I am challenging the folks of SHBC to share their faith with these 2-3 people for whom they are praying. A simple personal testimony is a good start. Have you shared yours lately? Finally, I am asking you all to invite your friend (or family member, etc…) to church with you on the morning of November 1st, bringing them to breakfast at 8:30, small groups at 9:30, and morning worship at 10:45, to hear the preaching of Dr. J.D. Payne, who is going to deliver the gospel to them in fuller, expositional form. All of this is geared toward making you a participant in the Lord’s harvest.
SHBC, it is far past the time for us to wake up to this reality. Unless we corporately begin to sow, cultivate, work, and pray for harvest, we will never experience the kind of great outpouring of God’s Spirit that we read about above. The irony for me is that I have been pressing on churches the need for almost the EXACT process that this pastor is describing in Morehead for many years now. I had “Harvest Days” for years in Grayson, but never with this kind of result. Now, I am seeking to create a culture at SHBC that is driven by a desire to see God’s harvest in our congregation.
Read Jesus’ words in John 4:35-38. Read his words in Matthew 9:35-38. There can be no question that we must begin to look upon the fields, specifically take note of individuals who are in need of salvation, and then compassionately go to them and tell them of Christ and invite them into His presence! I cannot see how this could even be questioned by any well-meaning, well-read Christian. The question is whether or not we will be obedient to the words of Christ.
The pastor in the above article admits that when he issued the challenge for his congregation to work to see 100 people saved in three weeks, that he and many others didn’t believe it was possible. But look what God did in that church much to everyone’s surprise! I believe with all my heart that the same and even more can happen at SHBC!
Do you?
If you believe in the potential for harvest, then you must also believe in the necessity of sowing. Join us in intentionally praying, inviting, serving, sharing, and presenting Christ to our community throughout the remainder of our Harvest Days 2009.
