October 21, 2024 • 43 mins
Prepare for the Harvest -Updated
Text: Matthew 9:35-38
- Envision
- Empathize
- Evangelize
Podcast Info
PHSA Church (Potter's House Salmon Arm)
#201 231 Trans Canada Hwy.
Salmon Arm, BC, Canada
604-997-8446
Email: pottershousesa@icloud.com
Church Website: https://www.phsachurch.com/
Podcast Website: rss.com/podcasts/phsa
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@PottersHouseSA
Support/ Giving: https://www.phsachurch.com/give
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located
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in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship
Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism,
discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church
and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bickford and I will be
your host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages
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are a blessing to you and bring you closer to God.
Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. I am your host, Pastor
David Bickford. I'm up here living the dream in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, pursuing
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the Great Commission as I go out there and tell people about the gospel of Jesus Christ
and make a fool of myself for His sake playing the bass on the street. So if you see me around
town playing the bass, you'll know who I am now. I come up and talk to me. It was good.
I had some people come up and talk to me yesterday. It was a fun time. My hands were getting a
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little bit numb by the time because we're getting closer and closer to winter up here.
In fact, I've been told that Larch Hills has snow already, so it's definitely getting there.
Pray for me. I have to go down to the coast this week, down to Vancouver. That means I
got to travel through the passes, so I'll be able to come back and give you a report
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next week on how much snow I saw, if I remember. With that, I've got a message today called
Prepare for the Harvest. I've done one similar to this. It's this little bit of a revamp
of it, but I hope you enjoy it. If we're going to go ahead and jump in. The text is Matthew
9, 35 through 38. As we get into this, I want to consider first the book Ecclesiastes and
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the idea of the critic and just the fact that we tend to be quite harshly critical of the
life. Before we get to our primary text, I want to quote Ecclesiastes 1, 2 where it says
vanity of vanities says the preacher, vanity of vanity. The critic that is in Ecclesiastes
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or the presentation of the critic, this is one of the books of wisdom in the Word of
God. It's very interesting because we see this play that happens within Ecclesiastes.
It's a very important book because it shows us how we can really battle against the sadness
or the harshness of life in a very godly way in the sense that we can come and understand
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that God knows that this is a battle to fight for faith. As we jump into this, I just want
to touch on this illustration I found. It's been reported that after the Dallas Cowboys
won their first Super Bowl, their first Super Bowl, legendary football coach Tom Landry
observed the overwhelming emotion and a few days among the players was how empty that
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goal was. There must be something more. I've used that before as I said. This is a bit
of a revamping of a previous sermon, but I want to expand upon that idea with some personal
experiences today. You might have heard, you might remember that I was in the United States
Marine Corps and I remember the emotion, the elation of being up on top of the hill after
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the crucible event in boot camp when our drill instructors would give us our Eagle, Globe
and Anchor, that EGA that is a symbol of the United States Marine Corps. It's what is on
our logo. It's the badge that we wear with quite a bit of honor. I remember when they
were giving that to us, there was just this flood of emotions. You see grown men crying
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because all the labor, all the hardship from the three months of basic training and for
a lot of us, the months and months of preparation before we went to basic training has culminated
now in finally obtaining the title of a United States Marine. So you think that this would
carry us on for days and days and days and you know, but it is something that even amidst
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the elation you feel, you come to this realization that what's next. You've accomplished this
goal but you're still very, very new in the Marine Corps and there's this reality that
kind of hits you as you get closer and closer to the time where you're going to go back
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on boot leave and then have to come back for your next training cycle and you're still
going to be the new guy or a newb or you know, just I left basic training as a slick sleeve
private. What that means in the Marine Corps is you don't have any rank insignia because
you don't even rate a rank yet. You're a private, you know, without any designation. If you
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have one chevron in the Marine Corps, that means you're a private first class and one
chevron with the crossed rifles. That's a Lance Corporal and one guy in our unit, he
was our honor guard. He got to leave basic training as a Lance Corporal which gave him
about a year to a year and a half leg up on all the rest of us, lowly slick sleeve privates.
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So this portion of scripture and ecclesiasties, vanity of vanity says the preacher, vanity
of vanity is all vanity really does have some applicability to our day to day life because
we'll often times hit a goal only to have that goal be, you know, shown to be very lackluster
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within a short time. Within like the world of sales and selling you work off of a monthly
bonus, a quarterly bonus or a yearly bonus depending on how the company is structured
and you might hit that target but then the next month comes by and now they've upped
your target and you have to do what you've done plus more. It can seem like a harsh game
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if you allow it to control your mindset and that's what the critic is talking about in
Ecclesiastes. In Ecclesiastes 1 3 it says what do people gain from all their labors at which
they toil into the sun? So the Cowboys weren't the first to feel this kind of regret or loneliness
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like I mentioned we feel this all the time with our own personal goals and satisfaction.
I remember when I got my bachelor's degree it was man I did this huge thing but within
weeks I was like I need to go back I need to get a master's I need to do something
else to differentiate myself because everybody has a bachelor's degree at least that's what
I thought. So the author of Ecclesiastes is reminding us of this ancient experience, this
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desire to achieve a goal and then the reality that once achieved there's always something
more. In Ecclesiastes 1 14 it says I have seen all the things that are done under the
sun all of them are meaningless and chasing after the wind. So we see that he has a conflicted
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soul as demonstrated by his way of his arguments and often within himself he's battling he's
arguing just like we do in our own personal lives and I believe that's the main reasons
why this is part of the canonized Bible is the reality that this is something God recognizes
as part of us in our creation and it's particularly acute when we're concerned with work. In Ecclesiastes
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2 11 he writes yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to
achieve everything was meaningless a chasing after the wind nothing was gained under the
sun and later in Ecclesiastes 3 12 through 13 I know that there is nothing better for
people than to be happy and to do good while they live that each of them may eat and drink
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and find satisfaction in all their toil this is the gift of God. See but that optimism
was short-lived because in Ecclesiastes 4 4 he says and I saw that all toil and all
achievement spring from one person's envy of another this too is meaningless and chasing
after wind is an interesting thought because there's an old movie about Gordon Gekko I've
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never even actually seen it but it's about Wall Street I think it's called Wall Street
and it talks about how greed is good is the idea in that movie and it's an interesting
idea because that's what drives a lot of people in business to pursue bigger and better things
is the greed or the covetousness and even in our society today with the certain political
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ideas of socialism where the idea of socialism is one of covetousness it is to desire what
others have in a desire in the bringing down of others so that you can be brought up it's
not a selfless idea it's an idea of covetousness at its core so I think it's an interesting
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an interesting you know piece of wisdom that we pull from Ecclesiastes many people resonate
with this cycle of enthusiasm and despair regarding their own labor I've seen this
with with colleagues when I when working in sales where they'll have they're having a
tremendous year and it's ramping up and there's nothing you could say to them to destroy that
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optimism only to see them on the next year when their target is much higher and they're
struggling to hit their target to be just down on the dumps and pessimistic and disappointed
and upset with their life and what the way that they've been treated I think it's an
interesting conundrum within the human heart that we battle with these ideas so often and
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I think it's more important that we look to the Word of God to see how the Bible tells
us to deal with these ups and downs and peaks and valleys in our life and in our emotions
the Bible teaches us that God hears our troubles that he acknowledges them and that he is not
indifferent to the small frictions that loom large in our lives how do we apply these this
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to our lives the phrase under the sun appears in the book 29 times and it's done in order
to reinforce the pointlessness of work with an image of the sun circling endlessly across
the sky while nothing ever changes or I can refer to how the world beyond the fall not
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under the sun where work would be done in vain keep this keep this you know question
in mind as you read Ecclesiastes now let's look at our primary text now which is Matthew
35 to 38 the harvest is plentiful the laborers are few and Jesus went through all the cities
and the villages teaching and their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom
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and healing every disease and every affliction when he saw the crowds he had compassion for
them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd then he said
to his disciples the harvest is plentiful but the labors are few therefore pray earnestly
to the lord of the harvest to send out labors into the harvest let's pray dear lord god
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I pray that we won't allow the peaks and valleys of our life that we won't allow the elation
of our emotions and the pessimism of our downtrodden times to impact us in a way that we lose sight
of the harvest field help us lord to focus in on your will and the call to go out and
to see people save because of the grace that you freely extend to them in Jesus name we
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pray amen the age we live in is an age of the critic you can't turn on the news right
now as we're approaching we just had elections here in British Columbia and there's elections
of fastly approaching in the United States you can't turn on any channel of tv or news
or podcast or anything without hearing about someone being critical of the situation we're
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in and how how bad the other person is and how good they are and vice versa so we live
in this period of cynicism where everyone is focused on earthly gain and individual
truth we have all heard the phrase common sense is no longer common why is it that we
view the world so harshly today is the world any better or worse than it has in the past
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and I know the answer that argument is no during times of of upheaval and travail like
in in in Israel there were periods where women were eating their children in order to survive
starvation what a horrendous and horrible thought that is in our day and age so no we're
not as bad as it was back then but we're fastly approaching periods of time where we could
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be in situations that are just as is evil and wicked as they were back in the times
when Israel was falling to the Assyrians an argument can be made that we live in one of
the most peaceful times in history if you look at the decadent nature of the western
world you'd have to accept this is true that doesn't mean that we're righteous that doesn't
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mean that we're holy in fact I think we're fastly going towards we're on a conveyor belt
that's just rocketing down towards a place of wickedness and I believe that to be undeniably
true that doesn't mean that we sit by and wait for this to happen that doesn't mean
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that we can sit by in our pride and sin and and sit in our sin and and say well we're
not we're not as bad as others that's why we have the wisdom books of the Bible this
group of three books gives us the compendium of biblical wisdom of knowledge Proverbs tells
us that by doing right you will be blessed Ecclesiastes counters that play and with as
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with the part of the cynic or the critic but ultimately the book agrees with the Proverbs
for a different reason life is fleeting so you should do right for the fear of the Lord
and then finally Job shows us a righteous man who is who is heavily tested and tempted
his story exemplifies the do's and don'ts when life doesn't go your way the critic first
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and of all acknowledges the perspective of Proverbs by saying it is really good a really
good idea to learn wisdom and to live in fear the Lord he says that since he can't control
your life you should stop trying learn to hold things with an open hand because you
really only have control over one thing and that's your attitude at the present moment
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stop worrying he says and choose to enjoy a good conversation with a friend or the sun
on your face or a good meal with people you care about but don't lose sight of the wisdom
of living for the Lord and living in fear of the Lord so that brings me my first point
which is in vision and with that I have an illustration this is called the right vision
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and in the year 1870 the Methodist in Indiana were having their annual conference at a point
the president of the college where they were meeting said I think we live in a very exciting
age the presiding bishop said what do you see he asked what do you see the college president
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responded I believe we are coming into a time of great invention I believe for example that
men will fly through the air like birds the bishop said this is hearsay the Bible says
that flight is reserved for the angels we will have no such talk here after the conference
the bishop whose name was Wright WRI GHT went home to his two small sons Wilbur and Orville
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and you know what they did to their father's vision they were the obviously Wilbur and
Orville first to fly in Kitty Hawk North Carolina we have to be aware of cynical attitudes that
hold back miracles and I believe flight is a miracle I was an aircraft I was an air crewman
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on CH 53 echoes it's a gigantic helicopter 70 feet 100 feet long 70 foot rotor arc tremendously
powerful piece of equipment six gearboxes three main engines and an auxiliary engine
what would that bishop of thought of that piece of mechanical magnificence if I can
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say it he was oblivious he was cynical he was wrapped up in his own critical nature
as laborers we must envision the harvest field this isn't some metaphysical crap this isn't
some you know you'll believe it and and and see it kind of crap no this is just the reality
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that it's vitally important that we see the needs around us and then we meet those needs
we must see what Jesus saw he saw sheep without a shepherd we must feel how Jesus felt he
had compassion on the multitude we must do what Jesus did he ministered to their needs
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evangelism doesn't have to be organized by a church program but evangelism must be intentional
we must see people for what they are lost souls in need of a savior we must comprehend
the consequences of them dying without Jesus they are destined for the lake of fire we
must realize that we are to have the information that they need to be rescued from that fate
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if we are going to reap a harvest of souls then we as a church as Christians as believers
as individuals we must envision that's their salvation we must envision the mission field
we must envision the message and we must envision the ministry the mission field which is in
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the first part of Matthew 935 we read then Jesus went about all the cities in the villages
when we think about a mission field many times we want to think about something other than
where we're at and you know what if you feel called to be a missionary then what are you
still doing here you should be in the missions right that's if you're in our fellowship
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listening this you're a couple in a church and you feel compelled to preach then you
should be sent out to preach obviously there's logistics involved but that's the whole point
is you shouldn't be sitting idly by you can be out there preaching on the street today
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we like to think of places that are far away Nicaragua Uganda Ecuador all these kind of
places Africa Asia and that's the only place where the gospel mission field needs to be
but the first doesn't say that Jesus only went to foreign countries to minister in fact
he stayed in Israel or Judah Judea and he went about all the little cities and villages
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so that means that here salmon arm is a mission field enter be as a mission field Armstrong
tap and sycamus these are all places we should be out there preaching the gospel of Jesus
Christ our jobs when it when capable so they're not getting fired I'm not calling you to to
be fired but there are ways where you can share your gospel by living a godly life when
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you're at the bowling alley or in a grocery store you could definitely kick up a conversation
you'd be amazed how often you'll be able to share your message your your testimony and
that's a powerful powerful evangelistic tool where wherever you go it's a mission field
there's lost people everywhere and the church is built on individuals and we must begin
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to envision we must look around to see the lost people and not just wait cynically and
do nothing we are allowing condemnation of hundreds maybe thousands of people in our
life because we're too afraid to envision their salvation we have to share the gospel
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which brings me to the message in the second half of Matthew 935 we read teaching in their
synagogues preaching the gospel of the kingdom we find the latter part of this verse that
there always there was always a crowd near him looking for a miracle but the fact that
Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom that is much more important we know that Jesus
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healed the sick he made the blind see the deaf to hear the mute to speak and the lame
to walk and we're Pentecostal we believe in the prayer to heal the sick we believe that
the blind can see the deaf can hear the mute can speak the lame to walk we believe that
we even know that people have been raised from the dead but those were only temporary
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fixes at the time even when Jesus was doing it all of those people who received miracles
would still die and face eternity even those who were raised from the dead like Lazarus
would have to once again die a natural death but through the preaching of the gospel they
received a miracle that would last throughout eternity they received the miracle of salvation
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and that is our message and that is what we're envisioning is the spreading of the gospel
of Jesus Christ for the sake of salvation through grace in his name alone there are
people today who are looking for miracles some are looking for a solution to their financial
problems some are in desperate need of a solution in their marital problems some are facing
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terminal diagnosis are looking for healing and Jesus can solve every one of those issues
but it's of no benefit if being happy healthy wealthy in this life still leads you to dying
and going to hell some people are only looking for this crutch when they truly need a message
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of this a miracle miraculous gospel of Jesus Christ in Romans 10 13 through 14 whoever
calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved how then shall they call on him in whom they
have not believed and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how
shall they hear without a preacher without a preacher without the gospel there's no
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evangelism without the gospel there is no mission work without the gospel there is no
help for those in the mission field we must share the gospel in Romans 1 16 Paul said
that the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes
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so let us envision the mission field and share with them the message of the gospel of Jesus
Christ Jesus first shared the gospel but he also served them and performed those miracles
which brings us to the next part of the next area of envisionment the ministry this word
comes from the Greek word to serve as a slave and not to jump off on a tangent but the word
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slave is a Roman for like what they considered slaves from Slavic lands it comes from the
Slavs just an interesting tidbit of history for you but anyway to serve as a slave so
throughout the New Testament ministry is seen as service to God and other people in his
name ministry involves more than just sharing it involves serving according to this passage
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Jesus healed many sicknesses and diseases not only did he feel heal physical infirmities
he cast out demons as well on a couple occasions he fed thousands of people miraculously and
he did that to illustrate the importance of service Jesus Christ was the ultimate service
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and mark 1045 for even the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give
his life as a ransom for many so this morning when I preached in service I preached about
the hardships that we might involve then if you're not catching my sermons I do those
I do live stream those on our Instagram page all those notes are in the show notes but
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it was talking about the hardships that we come across in life and how we need to embrace
that if we're going to win for Jesus name because our Savior who came to earth he came
and he lived a hard life ultimately being crucified for our sins he lived a life of
hardness and service for us the entire life of our Savior was a life of service you remember
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when he washed the feet of disciples that was a job for a common slave as well yet Jesus
humbled himself and served others may we never look at a job in the ministry and think that
it's below us service is vitally important in reaching others for Jesus Christ why because
serving others is the point and it points people to Jesus in Matthew 516 in the same
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way let your light shine before others so that they may see your good your good works
and give glory to your father who is in heaven so on the job let your light shine so that
others may see your good works because they'll see that and if they know you're a Christian
because he said yeah I'm a Christian he goes in passing and conversation they're gonna
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say why are you such a different Christian than what I see from others open door for
a testimony so then moving from vanity to purpose to joy we see in Ecclesiastes 12 13
through 14 the end of the matter all has been heard fear God and keep his commandments for
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this is the whole duty of man for God will bring every deed into judgment with every
secret thing whether good or evil and this brings me to my next point which is empathize
a small boy went to the movies with his still smaller brother and after they seated themselves
asked can you see Willie nope was the reply well said the older brother just laugh when
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I laugh how many of us act this way we're not interested in actually helping we might
ask a question that makes it sound like we want to help but oftentimes it's just we thought
we needed to ask the question and we're not actually going to do anything to help this
is what it you know what we see in our society today you know we see a lot of politicians
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and I won't get political I know my wife doesn't like it if I get political yet you can call
me and I'm happy to tell you whatever you want to hear about my political leanings but
the reality is as politicians will oftentimes say I will work for you I will do this tell
me what you need and then when you tell them they don't do anything why is that because
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they don't really empathize with your plight they're usually lofty and lifted off away
from it as laborers though we must empathize in Matthew 936 it says when we saw the crowds
he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a
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shepherd the purpose of the critic in Ecclesiastes and tying it to this portion of Matthew is
to tie the emotion we all tend to feel at times when we deal with them head-on we can
all be cynical or despondent we can all make excuses to do little or nothing we tell ourselves
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that it doesn't matter nobody cares or that there is always tomorrow but it's not always
tomorrow for everybody the difficulty is having and maintaining and acting with a mind of
God that is why the scripture is so important Jesus saw the multitudes he was intensely
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moved with compassion or empathy because of their condition they were described as being
sheep with no shepherd this was this was a multitude of people who are utterly neglected
concerning the interests of their souls there was no shortage of people there was no shortage
of problems Jesus looked up upon their hurting faces and he had great compassion to their
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situation today there is no shortage of people and there's no shortage of people with problems
it is not up to us to judge those people it is not up to us to condemn those people we
must realize that we were once as lost as they are now we must realize that God does
not measure in sin as we do and rather than looking at the people around us for their
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sin it is time that we see them as Jesus sees them lost souls that need him our Lord a savior
the only way we will ever see a harvest of souls is if we come to a place of intense
burden and if we empathize with those lost souls we will not see a harvest of souls until
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we finally grasp the fact that hell is real and people are going there we must realize
that we are the body of Christ we are his hands and his feet we need to start living
out what we say we believe to get ready for the harvest as laborers we must division we
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must empathize and then finally evangelize a woman criticized DL Moody for his methods
of evangelism and attempting to win people to the Lord Moody replied I agree with you
I don't like the way I do it either tell me how do you do it the woman replied I don't
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do it Moody retorted then I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing
it as laborers we must evangelize and Matthew in our text Matthew 9 37 38 then he said to
his disciples the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few therefore pray earnestly
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to the Lord of the harvest and send out laborers into the harvest so at the crux of a cleaver
of Ecclesiastes we see the highlighting of the absurdities of life we're guided by the
words of the teacher or preacher we read everything is meaningless and in verses 1 to 2 of chapter
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1 of Ecclesiastes says the words of the teacher son of David king in Jerusalem meaningless
meaningless says the teacher utterly meaningless everything is meaningless the word translated
as meaningless is the Hebrew word have L it translates into vapor or breath which in the
context of this book indicates the idea of something leading Ecclesiastes is simultaneously
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a book about life and death extending beyond the emotional experience death is posed as
an inevitable part of life there are two sides of the same coin the book reflects on death
and how that should inform our time in life it is a book of optimism and pessimism it
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is a book of both and this contrast to the great commission and the harvest field pushes
us to judge our own actions in the light in the blazing light of Jesus's words and his
call to us if we are to follow him he is a servant king and he calls us to be servants
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as well evangelism is defined as the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ by publicly
preaching or personal witness so that means everybody can do it right publicly preaching
or personal witness how do you witness tell someone how you got saved and what it and
how that how big of a change that was in your life please notice that evangelism is necessary
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work Jesus told his disciples the harvest is truly plentiful he says look guys there
are plenty of people out there who need to hear this message there are plenty of people
who need to be served this is like you know my life and sales as well look guys there's
lots of people who need to buy stuff you need to get out there and sell stuff so I don't
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I don't say that lightly this is the reality there is a lot of people who need Jesus why
are we so afraid to share the gospel and I'm not throwing stones it's hard for me to you
come back you have to combat this idea of you know I don't know wanna I don't think
they're gonna respond well all this stuff but the reality is we don't have an excuse
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it is a command it is a command from our King from our Lord because the harvest is truly
plentiful plentiful the mission field is ripe and ready to harvest Jesus wants these men
to know that there was a great work to be done he wants us to know that there's a great
work to be done there are many many more people in the field than there were in Jesus time
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and these people are in great need one of the most interesting things right now with
demographics is there's I'm not exactly sure off the top of my head but there's like over
eight billion people on the planet but we're seeing a demographic demographic collapse
so there will be declining birth rates they're gonna be less people the global population
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is expected to contract this should be seen as something that's terrifying if you're a
Christian believer because how many of those people are going to be gone and didn't get
the gospel preached to them they're in great need they're sheep without a shepherd these
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people are on a path that leads to destruction they need to hear the word of God they need
the chance to accept the grace that comes at the feet of Jesus more than any other time
in history evangelism is the necessary work not only isn't necessary it's neglected it's
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neglected we know that we're told that the harvest is plenty but the labors are few that's
a rebuke from our Lord Jesus makes it clear that not enough of us are doing the job people
need to be reached and I think that that's a call to the church that's a call to those
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who believe in Jesus Christ when they read this and Matthew it should make you feel a
little lazy it should make you feel a little bit critical of what am I doing with my time
because people need to be reached for the sake of the gospel he declares that there
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was a great problem that the labor is being too few in the field and that problem is even
more present today are you willing to do the work the tragedy of life and of the world
is not that men do not know God the tragedy is that knowing him they still insist on going
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their own way that's a quote from William Barclay a powerful quote so in closing as
followers of Christ Jesus we have a lot to do and we have very little time to do it yeah
I'm fairly young still I like to think but I have my daughter would disagree 43 but that
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means that there's fleeting time left to serve and to bring the gospel for this demands urgent
action the gospel is not only good news if it arrives to the last but it has to arrive
in time Ecclesiastes says that the wisdom has limits that the message of Proverbs is
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this is how you should live your life the message of Ecclesiastes is a response saying
I did that and it didn't work there's a split for a lot of people in interpreting this book
is this a positive outlook on life or a negative one you can make a claim for both but regardless
Ecclesiastes has a message stop worrying about the future stop chasing after perfection be
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content with where you are in life and follow God you can't you can't be a good witness
you can't be a good preacher you can't be whatever doesn't matter follow God do what
you can do ultimately Ecclesiastes shows us that everything is fleeting and much of life
is out of our control yet we are you know given this quiet invitation to do our best
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in everything to be wise to find enjoyment in the small things even as Hevel is part
of our natural human experience even as we are a vapor we have a choice to choose and
embrace contentment in the present to release the anxious energies and worries that we have
about the future and trust in God so here's some questions for you to ponder when you're
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listening do you see the potential harvest are you willing to do what it takes to work
in the field will you see what Jesus saw will you feel what Jesus felt will you do what
Jesus did well we here at the Potter's house church are we going to come together and envision
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empathize and evangelize as a larger fellowship are we going to continue to envision empathize
and evangelize as a larger Christian body are we going to envision empathize and evangelize
when we do these things then we will be ready for the harvest so I want to leave you with
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this prayer found Lord help us live out what we say we believe give us direction on where
you would go you would have us to go give us strength to do what you'd have us to do
help us to envision the ministry you have called us to help us to empathize with lost
and help us to evangelize the world starting right here in our homes in salmon arm or wherever
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you are with your gospel help us to be ready for the harvest amen so if you could have
every about every eye closed as I just bring this to an end I want to give a quick invitation
that if this message is impacted you and you are not saved and this is for you I want you
to signify that with an uplift wherever you are because God sees and with that I want
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you to if you if you raise your hand and you meant that I want you to repeat after me dear
Lord I know that I'm a sinner but I know that you sent your son Jesus Christ and that he
died for my sins and I accept him as my Lord and my Savior and I repent of my sin in Jesus
name amen with that you have entered into the kingdom of God and you are saved now you
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need to get out to church do not forsake the gathering of the bread and the Bible tells
us that there's a reason for that it's because iron sharpens iron so if you're in salmon
arm please come and join us we're a small church but I have a vision for God in this
town and beyond and I'd love for you to be a part of that you need to get into the word
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get download the u-version app get a Bible go get a printed Bible if you need one call
me and start praying just cry out to God for those of us that are saved that have been
around for a while you need to be reading your Bible you need to be praying and you
need to be sharing your testimony so that people can receive the the good news of Jesus
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Christ we don't get it up you know we don't get a gimme on this well this is something
that was the last commandment of our Lord and Savior the Great Commission so find ways
however small to start exercising that muscle and presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ
in in your life to your family to your friends to those you bump into so that Jesus Christ
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can do the work of salvation through his grace so with that I want to thank you for listening
today I just pray that you have a great work great rest of your week and I can't wait for
you to come back and listen to me again next time God bless.
Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located
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in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship
Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism,
discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church
and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bickford and I will be
your host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages
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are a blessing to you and bring you closer to God.
Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. I am your host, Pastor
David Bickford. I'm up here living the dream in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, pursuing
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the Great Commission as I go out there and tell people about the gospel of Jesus Christ
and make a fool of myself for His sake playing the bass on the street. So if you see me around
town playing the bass, you'll know who I am now. I come up and talk to me. It was good.
I had some people come up and talk to me yesterday. It was a fun time. My hands were getting a
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little bit numb by the time because we're getting closer and closer to winter up here.
In fact, I've been told that Larch Hills has snow already, so it's definitely getting there.
Pray for me. I have to go down to the coast this week, down to Vancouver. That means I
got to travel through the passes, so I'll be able to come back and give you a report
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next week on how much snow I saw, if I remember. With that, I've got a message today called
Prepare for the Harvest. I've done one similar to this. It's this little bit of a revamp
of it, but I hope you enjoy it. If we're going to go ahead and jump in. The text is Matthew
9, 35 through 38. As we get into this, I want to consider first the book Ecclesiastes and
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the idea of the critic and just the fact that we tend to be quite harshly critical of the
life. Before we get to our primary text, I want to quote Ecclesiastes 1, 2 where it says
vanity of vanities says the preacher, vanity of vanity. The critic that is in Ecclesiastes
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or the presentation of the critic, this is one of the books of wisdom in the Word of
God. It's very interesting because we see this play that happens within Ecclesiastes.
It's a very important book because it shows us how we can really battle against the sadness
or the harshness of life in a very godly way in the sense that we can come and understand
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that God knows that this is a battle to fight for faith. As we jump into this, I just want
to touch on this illustration I found. It's been reported that after the Dallas Cowboys
won their first Super Bowl, their first Super Bowl, legendary football coach Tom Landry
observed the overwhelming emotion and a few days among the players was how empty that
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goal was. There must be something more. I've used that before as I said. This is a bit
of a revamping of a previous sermon, but I want to expand upon that idea with some personal
experiences today. You might have heard, you might remember that I was in the United States
Marine Corps and I remember the emotion, the elation of being up on top of the hill after
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the crucible event in boot camp when our drill instructors would give us our Eagle, Globe
and Anchor, that EGA that is a symbol of the United States Marine Corps. It's what is on
our logo. It's the badge that we wear with quite a bit of honor. I remember when they
were giving that to us, there was just this flood of emotions. You see grown men crying
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because all the labor, all the hardship from the three months of basic training and for
a lot of us, the months and months of preparation before we went to basic training has culminated
now in finally obtaining the title of a United States Marine. So you think that this would
carry us on for days and days and days and you know, but it is something that even amidst
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the elation you feel, you come to this realization that what's next. You've accomplished this
goal but you're still very, very new in the Marine Corps and there's this reality that
kind of hits you as you get closer and closer to the time where you're going to go back
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on boot leave and then have to come back for your next training cycle and you're still
going to be the new guy or a newb or you know, just I left basic training as a slick sleeve
private. What that means in the Marine Corps is you don't have any rank insignia because
you don't even rate a rank yet. You're a private, you know, without any designation. If you
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have one chevron in the Marine Corps, that means you're a private first class and one
chevron with the crossed rifles. That's a Lance Corporal and one guy in our unit, he
was our honor guard. He got to leave basic training as a Lance Corporal which gave him
about a year to a year and a half leg up on all the rest of us, lowly slick sleeve privates.
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So this portion of scripture and ecclesiasties, vanity of vanity says the preacher, vanity
of vanity is all vanity really does have some applicability to our day to day life because
we'll often times hit a goal only to have that goal be, you know, shown to be very lackluster
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within a short time. Within like the world of sales and selling you work off of a monthly
bonus, a quarterly bonus or a yearly bonus depending on how the company is structured
and you might hit that target but then the next month comes by and now they've upped
your target and you have to do what you've done plus more. It can seem like a harsh game
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if you allow it to control your mindset and that's what the critic is talking about in
Ecclesiastes. In Ecclesiastes 1 3 it says what do people gain from all their labors at which
they toil into the sun? So the Cowboys weren't the first to feel this kind of regret or loneliness
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like I mentioned we feel this all the time with our own personal goals and satisfaction.
I remember when I got my bachelor's degree it was man I did this huge thing but within
weeks I was like I need to go back I need to get a master's I need to do something
else to differentiate myself because everybody has a bachelor's degree at least that's what
I thought. So the author of Ecclesiastes is reminding us of this ancient experience, this
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desire to achieve a goal and then the reality that once achieved there's always something
more. In Ecclesiastes 1 14 it says I have seen all the things that are done under the
sun all of them are meaningless and chasing after the wind. So we see that he has a conflicted
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soul as demonstrated by his way of his arguments and often within himself he's battling he's
arguing just like we do in our own personal lives and I believe that's the main reasons
why this is part of the canonized Bible is the reality that this is something God recognizes
as part of us in our creation and it's particularly acute when we're concerned with work. In Ecclesiastes
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2 11 he writes yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to
achieve everything was meaningless a chasing after the wind nothing was gained under the
sun and later in Ecclesiastes 3 12 through 13 I know that there is nothing better for
people than to be happy and to do good while they live that each of them may eat and drink
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and find satisfaction in all their toil this is the gift of God. See but that optimism
was short-lived because in Ecclesiastes 4 4 he says and I saw that all toil and all
achievement spring from one person's envy of another this too is meaningless and chasing
after wind is an interesting thought because there's an old movie about Gordon Gekko I've
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never even actually seen it but it's about Wall Street I think it's called Wall Street
and it talks about how greed is good is the idea in that movie and it's an interesting
idea because that's what drives a lot of people in business to pursue bigger and better things
is the greed or the covetousness and even in our society today with the certain political
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ideas of socialism where the idea of socialism is one of covetousness it is to desire what
others have in a desire in the bringing down of others so that you can be brought up it's
not a selfless idea it's an idea of covetousness at its core so I think it's an interesting
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an interesting you know piece of wisdom that we pull from Ecclesiastes many people resonate
with this cycle of enthusiasm and despair regarding their own labor I've seen this
with with colleagues when I when working in sales where they'll have they're having a
tremendous year and it's ramping up and there's nothing you could say to them to destroy that
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optimism only to see them on the next year when their target is much higher and they're
struggling to hit their target to be just down on the dumps and pessimistic and disappointed
and upset with their life and what the way that they've been treated I think it's an
interesting conundrum within the human heart that we battle with these ideas so often and
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I think it's more important that we look to the Word of God to see how the Bible tells
us to deal with these ups and downs and peaks and valleys in our life and in our emotions
the Bible teaches us that God hears our troubles that he acknowledges them and that he is not
indifferent to the small frictions that loom large in our lives how do we apply these this
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to our lives the phrase under the sun appears in the book 29 times and it's done in order
to reinforce the pointlessness of work with an image of the sun circling endlessly across
the sky while nothing ever changes or I can refer to how the world beyond the fall not
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under the sun where work would be done in vain keep this keep this you know question
in mind as you read Ecclesiastes now let's look at our primary text now which is Matthew
35 to 38 the harvest is plentiful the laborers are few and Jesus went through all the cities
and the villages teaching and their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom
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and healing every disease and every affliction when he saw the crowds he had compassion for
them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd then he said
to his disciples the harvest is plentiful but the labors are few therefore pray earnestly
to the lord of the harvest to send out labors into the harvest let's pray dear lord god
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I pray that we won't allow the peaks and valleys of our life that we won't allow the elation
of our emotions and the pessimism of our downtrodden times to impact us in a way that we lose sight
of the harvest field help us lord to focus in on your will and the call to go out and
to see people save because of the grace that you freely extend to them in Jesus name we
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pray amen the age we live in is an age of the critic you can't turn on the news right
now as we're approaching we just had elections here in British Columbia and there's elections
of fastly approaching in the United States you can't turn on any channel of tv or news
or podcast or anything without hearing about someone being critical of the situation we're
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in and how how bad the other person is and how good they are and vice versa so we live
in this period of cynicism where everyone is focused on earthly gain and individual
truth we have all heard the phrase common sense is no longer common why is it that we
view the world so harshly today is the world any better or worse than it has in the past
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and I know the answer that argument is no during times of of upheaval and travail like
in in in Israel there were periods where women were eating their children in order to survive
starvation what a horrendous and horrible thought that is in our day and age so no we're
not as bad as it was back then but we're fastly approaching periods of time where we could
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be in situations that are just as is evil and wicked as they were back in the times
when Israel was falling to the Assyrians an argument can be made that we live in one of
the most peaceful times in history if you look at the decadent nature of the western
world you'd have to accept this is true that doesn't mean that we're righteous that doesn't
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mean that we're holy in fact I think we're fastly going towards we're on a conveyor belt
that's just rocketing down towards a place of wickedness and I believe that to be undeniably
true that doesn't mean that we sit by and wait for this to happen that doesn't mean
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that we can sit by in our pride and sin and and sit in our sin and and say well we're
not we're not as bad as others that's why we have the wisdom books of the Bible this
group of three books gives us the compendium of biblical wisdom of knowledge Proverbs tells
us that by doing right you will be blessed Ecclesiastes counters that play and with as
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with the part of the cynic or the critic but ultimately the book agrees with the Proverbs
for a different reason life is fleeting so you should do right for the fear of the Lord
and then finally Job shows us a righteous man who is who is heavily tested and tempted
his story exemplifies the do's and don'ts when life doesn't go your way the critic first
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and of all acknowledges the perspective of Proverbs by saying it is really good a really
good idea to learn wisdom and to live in fear the Lord he says that since he can't control
your life you should stop trying learn to hold things with an open hand because you
really only have control over one thing and that's your attitude at the present moment
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stop worrying he says and choose to enjoy a good conversation with a friend or the sun
on your face or a good meal with people you care about but don't lose sight of the wisdom
of living for the Lord and living in fear of the Lord so that brings me my first point
which is in vision and with that I have an illustration this is called the right vision
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and in the year 1870 the Methodist in Indiana were having their annual conference at a point
the president of the college where they were meeting said I think we live in a very exciting
age the presiding bishop said what do you see he asked what do you see the college president
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responded I believe we are coming into a time of great invention I believe for example that
men will fly through the air like birds the bishop said this is hearsay the Bible says
that flight is reserved for the angels we will have no such talk here after the conference
the bishop whose name was Wright WRI GHT went home to his two small sons Wilbur and Orville
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and you know what they did to their father's vision they were the obviously Wilbur and
Orville first to fly in Kitty Hawk North Carolina we have to be aware of cynical attitudes that
hold back miracles and I believe flight is a miracle I was an aircraft I was an air crewman
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on CH 53 echoes it's a gigantic helicopter 70 feet 100 feet long 70 foot rotor arc tremendously
powerful piece of equipment six gearboxes three main engines and an auxiliary engine
what would that bishop of thought of that piece of mechanical magnificence if I can
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say it he was oblivious he was cynical he was wrapped up in his own critical nature
as laborers we must envision the harvest field this isn't some metaphysical crap this isn't
some you know you'll believe it and and and see it kind of crap no this is just the reality
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that it's vitally important that we see the needs around us and then we meet those needs
we must see what Jesus saw he saw sheep without a shepherd we must feel how Jesus felt he
had compassion on the multitude we must do what Jesus did he ministered to their needs
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evangelism doesn't have to be organized by a church program but evangelism must be intentional
we must see people for what they are lost souls in need of a savior we must comprehend
the consequences of them dying without Jesus they are destined for the lake of fire we
must realize that we are to have the information that they need to be rescued from that fate
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if we are going to reap a harvest of souls then we as a church as Christians as believers
as individuals we must envision that's their salvation we must envision the mission field
we must envision the message and we must envision the ministry the mission field which is in
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the first part of Matthew 935 we read then Jesus went about all the cities in the villages
when we think about a mission field many times we want to think about something other than
where we're at and you know what if you feel called to be a missionary then what are you
still doing here you should be in the missions right that's if you're in our fellowship
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listening this you're a couple in a church and you feel compelled to preach then you
should be sent out to preach obviously there's logistics involved but that's the whole point
is you shouldn't be sitting idly by you can be out there preaching on the street today
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we like to think of places that are far away Nicaragua Uganda Ecuador all these kind of
places Africa Asia and that's the only place where the gospel mission field needs to be
but the first doesn't say that Jesus only went to foreign countries to minister in fact
he stayed in Israel or Judah Judea and he went about all the little cities and villages
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so that means that here salmon arm is a mission field enter be as a mission field Armstrong
tap and sycamus these are all places we should be out there preaching the gospel of Jesus
Christ our jobs when it when capable so they're not getting fired I'm not calling you to to
be fired but there are ways where you can share your gospel by living a godly life when
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you're at the bowling alley or in a grocery store you could definitely kick up a conversation
you'd be amazed how often you'll be able to share your message your your testimony and
that's a powerful powerful evangelistic tool where wherever you go it's a mission field
there's lost people everywhere and the church is built on individuals and we must begin
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to envision we must look around to see the lost people and not just wait cynically and
do nothing we are allowing condemnation of hundreds maybe thousands of people in our
life because we're too afraid to envision their salvation we have to share the gospel
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which brings me to the message in the second half of Matthew 935 we read teaching in their
synagogues preaching the gospel of the kingdom we find the latter part of this verse that
there always there was always a crowd near him looking for a miracle but the fact that
Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom that is much more important we know that Jesus
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healed the sick he made the blind see the deaf to hear the mute to speak and the lame
to walk and we're Pentecostal we believe in the prayer to heal the sick we believe that
the blind can see the deaf can hear the mute can speak the lame to walk we believe that
we even know that people have been raised from the dead but those were only temporary
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fixes at the time even when Jesus was doing it all of those people who received miracles
would still die and face eternity even those who were raised from the dead like Lazarus
would have to once again die a natural death but through the preaching of the gospel they
received a miracle that would last throughout eternity they received the miracle of salvation
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and that is our message and that is what we're envisioning is the spreading of the gospel
of Jesus Christ for the sake of salvation through grace in his name alone there are
people today who are looking for miracles some are looking for a solution to their financial
problems some are in desperate need of a solution in their marital problems some are facing
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terminal diagnosis are looking for healing and Jesus can solve every one of those issues
but it's of no benefit if being happy healthy wealthy in this life still leads you to dying
and going to hell some people are only looking for this crutch when they truly need a message
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of this a miracle miraculous gospel of Jesus Christ in Romans 10 13 through 14 whoever
calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved how then shall they call on him in whom they
have not believed and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how
shall they hear without a preacher without a preacher without the gospel there's no
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evangelism without the gospel there is no mission work without the gospel there is no
help for those in the mission field we must share the gospel in Romans 1 16 Paul said
that the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes
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so let us envision the mission field and share with them the message of the gospel of Jesus
Christ Jesus first shared the gospel but he also served them and performed those miracles
which brings us to the next part of the next area of envisionment the ministry this word
comes from the Greek word to serve as a slave and not to jump off on a tangent but the word
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slave is a Roman for like what they considered slaves from Slavic lands it comes from the
Slavs just an interesting tidbit of history for you but anyway to serve as a slave so
throughout the New Testament ministry is seen as service to God and other people in his
name ministry involves more than just sharing it involves serving according to this passage
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Jesus healed many sicknesses and diseases not only did he feel heal physical infirmities
he cast out demons as well on a couple occasions he fed thousands of people miraculously and
he did that to illustrate the importance of service Jesus Christ was the ultimate service
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and mark 1045 for even the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give
his life as a ransom for many so this morning when I preached in service I preached about
the hardships that we might involve then if you're not catching my sermons I do those
I do live stream those on our Instagram page all those notes are in the show notes but
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it was talking about the hardships that we come across in life and how we need to embrace
that if we're going to win for Jesus name because our Savior who came to earth he came
and he lived a hard life ultimately being crucified for our sins he lived a life of
hardness and service for us the entire life of our Savior was a life of service you remember
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when he washed the feet of disciples that was a job for a common slave as well yet Jesus
humbled himself and served others may we never look at a job in the ministry and think that
it's below us service is vitally important in reaching others for Jesus Christ why because
serving others is the point and it points people to Jesus in Matthew 516 in the same
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way let your light shine before others so that they may see your good your good works
and give glory to your father who is in heaven so on the job let your light shine so that
others may see your good works because they'll see that and if they know you're a Christian
because he said yeah I'm a Christian he goes in passing and conversation they're gonna
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say why are you such a different Christian than what I see from others open door for
a testimony so then moving from vanity to purpose to joy we see in Ecclesiastes 12 13
through 14 the end of the matter all has been heard fear God and keep his commandments for
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this is the whole duty of man for God will bring every deed into judgment with every
secret thing whether good or evil and this brings me to my next point which is empathize
a small boy went to the movies with his still smaller brother and after they seated themselves
asked can you see Willie nope was the reply well said the older brother just laugh when
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I laugh how many of us act this way we're not interested in actually helping we might
ask a question that makes it sound like we want to help but oftentimes it's just we thought
we needed to ask the question and we're not actually going to do anything to help this
is what it you know what we see in our society today you know we see a lot of politicians
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and I won't get political I know my wife doesn't like it if I get political yet you can call
me and I'm happy to tell you whatever you want to hear about my political leanings but
the reality is as politicians will oftentimes say I will work for you I will do this tell
me what you need and then when you tell them they don't do anything why is that because
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they don't really empathize with your plight they're usually lofty and lifted off away
from it as laborers though we must empathize in Matthew 936 it says when we saw the crowds
he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a
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shepherd the purpose of the critic in Ecclesiastes and tying it to this portion of Matthew is
to tie the emotion we all tend to feel at times when we deal with them head-on we can
all be cynical or despondent we can all make excuses to do little or nothing we tell ourselves
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that it doesn't matter nobody cares or that there is always tomorrow but it's not always
tomorrow for everybody the difficulty is having and maintaining and acting with a mind of
God that is why the scripture is so important Jesus saw the multitudes he was intensely
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moved with compassion or empathy because of their condition they were described as being
sheep with no shepherd this was this was a multitude of people who are utterly neglected
concerning the interests of their souls there was no shortage of people there was no shortage
of problems Jesus looked up upon their hurting faces and he had great compassion to their
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situation today there is no shortage of people and there's no shortage of people with problems
it is not up to us to judge those people it is not up to us to condemn those people we
must realize that we were once as lost as they are now we must realize that God does
not measure in sin as we do and rather than looking at the people around us for their
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sin it is time that we see them as Jesus sees them lost souls that need him our Lord a savior
the only way we will ever see a harvest of souls is if we come to a place of intense
burden and if we empathize with those lost souls we will not see a harvest of souls until
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we finally grasp the fact that hell is real and people are going there we must realize
that we are the body of Christ we are his hands and his feet we need to start living
out what we say we believe to get ready for the harvest as laborers we must division we
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must empathize and then finally evangelize a woman criticized DL Moody for his methods
of evangelism and attempting to win people to the Lord Moody replied I agree with you
I don't like the way I do it either tell me how do you do it the woman replied I don't
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do it Moody retorted then I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing
it as laborers we must evangelize and Matthew in our text Matthew 9 37 38 then he said to
his disciples the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few therefore pray earnestly
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to the Lord of the harvest and send out laborers into the harvest so at the crux of a cleaver
of Ecclesiastes we see the highlighting of the absurdities of life we're guided by the
words of the teacher or preacher we read everything is meaningless and in verses 1 to 2 of chapter
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1 of Ecclesiastes says the words of the teacher son of David king in Jerusalem meaningless
meaningless says the teacher utterly meaningless everything is meaningless the word translated
as meaningless is the Hebrew word have L it translates into vapor or breath which in the
context of this book indicates the idea of something leading Ecclesiastes is simultaneously
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a book about life and death extending beyond the emotional experience death is posed as
an inevitable part of life there are two sides of the same coin the book reflects on death
and how that should inform our time in life it is a book of optimism and pessimism it
(33:21):
is a book of both and this contrast to the great commission and the harvest field pushes
us to judge our own actions in the light in the blazing light of Jesus's words and his
call to us if we are to follow him he is a servant king and he calls us to be servants
(33:45):
as well evangelism is defined as the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ by publicly
preaching or personal witness so that means everybody can do it right publicly preaching
or personal witness how do you witness tell someone how you got saved and what it and
how that how big of a change that was in your life please notice that evangelism is necessary
(34:10):
work Jesus told his disciples the harvest is truly plentiful he says look guys there
are plenty of people out there who need to hear this message there are plenty of people
who need to be served this is like you know my life and sales as well look guys there's
lots of people who need to buy stuff you need to get out there and sell stuff so I don't
(34:33):
I don't say that lightly this is the reality there is a lot of people who need Jesus why
are we so afraid to share the gospel and I'm not throwing stones it's hard for me to you
come back you have to combat this idea of you know I don't know wanna I don't think
they're gonna respond well all this stuff but the reality is we don't have an excuse
(35:01):
it is a command it is a command from our King from our Lord because the harvest is truly
plentiful plentiful the mission field is ripe and ready to harvest Jesus wants these men
to know that there was a great work to be done he wants us to know that there's a great
work to be done there are many many more people in the field than there were in Jesus time
(35:24):
and these people are in great need one of the most interesting things right now with
demographics is there's I'm not exactly sure off the top of my head but there's like over
eight billion people on the planet but we're seeing a demographic demographic collapse
so there will be declining birth rates they're gonna be less people the global population
(35:45):
is expected to contract this should be seen as something that's terrifying if you're a
Christian believer because how many of those people are going to be gone and didn't get
the gospel preached to them they're in great need they're sheep without a shepherd these
(36:05):
people are on a path that leads to destruction they need to hear the word of God they need
the chance to accept the grace that comes at the feet of Jesus more than any other time
in history evangelism is the necessary work not only isn't necessary it's neglected it's
(36:29):
neglected we know that we're told that the harvest is plenty but the labors are few that's
a rebuke from our Lord Jesus makes it clear that not enough of us are doing the job people
need to be reached and I think that that's a call to the church that's a call to those
(36:50):
who believe in Jesus Christ when they read this and Matthew it should make you feel a
little lazy it should make you feel a little bit critical of what am I doing with my time
because people need to be reached for the sake of the gospel he declares that there
(37:10):
was a great problem that the labor is being too few in the field and that problem is even
more present today are you willing to do the work the tragedy of life and of the world
is not that men do not know God the tragedy is that knowing him they still insist on going
(37:31):
their own way that's a quote from William Barclay a powerful quote so in closing as
followers of Christ Jesus we have a lot to do and we have very little time to do it yeah
I'm fairly young still I like to think but I have my daughter would disagree 43 but that
(37:55):
means that there's fleeting time left to serve and to bring the gospel for this demands urgent
action the gospel is not only good news if it arrives to the last but it has to arrive
in time Ecclesiastes says that the wisdom has limits that the message of Proverbs is
(38:16):
this is how you should live your life the message of Ecclesiastes is a response saying
I did that and it didn't work there's a split for a lot of people in interpreting this book
is this a positive outlook on life or a negative one you can make a claim for both but regardless
Ecclesiastes has a message stop worrying about the future stop chasing after perfection be
(38:40):
content with where you are in life and follow God you can't you can't be a good witness
you can't be a good preacher you can't be whatever doesn't matter follow God do what
you can do ultimately Ecclesiastes shows us that everything is fleeting and much of life
is out of our control yet we are you know given this quiet invitation to do our best
(39:04):
in everything to be wise to find enjoyment in the small things even as Hevel is part
of our natural human experience even as we are a vapor we have a choice to choose and
embrace contentment in the present to release the anxious energies and worries that we have
about the future and trust in God so here's some questions for you to ponder when you're
(39:30):
listening do you see the potential harvest are you willing to do what it takes to work
in the field will you see what Jesus saw will you feel what Jesus felt will you do what
Jesus did well we here at the Potter's house church are we going to come together and envision
(39:54):
empathize and evangelize as a larger fellowship are we going to continue to envision empathize
and evangelize as a larger Christian body are we going to envision empathize and evangelize
when we do these things then we will be ready for the harvest so I want to leave you with
(40:15):
this prayer found Lord help us live out what we say we believe give us direction on where
you would go you would have us to go give us strength to do what you'd have us to do
help us to envision the ministry you have called us to help us to empathize with lost
and help us to evangelize the world starting right here in our homes in salmon arm or wherever
(40:39):
you are with your gospel help us to be ready for the harvest amen so if you could have
every about every eye closed as I just bring this to an end I want to give a quick invitation
that if this message is impacted you and you are not saved and this is for you I want you
to signify that with an uplift wherever you are because God sees and with that I want
(41:03):
you to if you if you raise your hand and you meant that I want you to repeat after me dear
Lord I know that I'm a sinner but I know that you sent your son Jesus Christ and that he
died for my sins and I accept him as my Lord and my Savior and I repent of my sin in Jesus
name amen with that you have entered into the kingdom of God and you are saved now you
(41:26):
need to get out to church do not forsake the gathering of the bread and the Bible tells
us that there's a reason for that it's because iron sharpens iron so if you're in salmon
arm please come and join us we're a small church but I have a vision for God in this
town and beyond and I'd love for you to be a part of that you need to get into the word
(41:46):
get download the u-version app get a Bible go get a printed Bible if you need one call
me and start praying just cry out to God for those of us that are saved that have been
around for a while you need to be reading your Bible you need to be praying and you
need to be sharing your testimony so that people can receive the the good news of Jesus
(42:07):
Christ we don't get it up you know we don't get a gimme on this well this is something
that was the last commandment of our Lord and Savior the Great Commission so find ways
however small to start exercising that muscle and presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ
in in your life to your family to your friends to those you bump into so that Jesus Christ
(42:34):
can do the work of salvation through his grace so with that I want to thank you for listening
today I just pray that you have a great work great rest of your week and I can't wait for
you to come back and listen to me again next time God bless.
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