Here for the Harvest | John 4:35

Kid’s Corner: Do you know what this is? It’s a cotton stalk. Here are the parts of the plant- this long part is the stem, these are the leaves, & this white thing is the cotton boll. Do you know what cotton is used for?

clothes, sheets, towels; rope, paper, oil, animal feed, even fuel. It’s also used to make money, e.g., dollar bills, but it’s also a cash crop.

The cotton harvest is just starting. Farmers will use big machines called strippers or pickers to remove the cotton from the stalk, then it is taken to a cotton gin to be cleaned & pressed into bales. Then it gets sold…

Did you know that Jesus wants us to be ready for harvest?Not a cotton harvest, but a people harvest. Like a cotton farmer gathers in his cotton, one day Jesus will come back & gather His people. We need to be ready for the harvest! We need to be ready for Jesus! How do we get ready? We need to believe in Jesus & help others believe in Jesus.

Today is the 50th anniversary of the first worship service of our church. 23 people assembled here for the very first time, 12 were members of Central Baptist Church. No public meeting place was found, so they bought a 1,200 square foot modular building dubbed by the community as the “Little House on the Prairie.” They gathered for the purpose of planting a new church in southwest Lubbock. The text for that very first sermon was John 4:35, which seemed appropriate for several reasons, among them the fact that the cotton field in which they were located was ready for harvest. Southwest Baptist Mission was born.

I want to commemorate this day by preaching from the very same text that our founding pastor, Burtis Williams, preached on November 24, 1974. John 4:35–38, Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! 36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.” I want us to consider Jesus’ words…

50 years ago today, Jesus planted us in this very field, before anyone else was here, to be in this very place, at this very time, to be here for this very harvest. To be here for the harvest means it’s time to-

1. Look UP and See the PEOPLE.

In case you don’t know or remember the story, let me set the context. Jesus is on His way to Galilee (north) from Judea (south) and He went through Samaria to get there. No self-respecting, law-abiding Jew went through Samaria. Samaria was in the central region of Palestine. After King David’s son Solomon died, Israel went through a civil war and the kingdom was divided into the northern kingdom Israel & the southern kingdom Judah. Samaria was once the heart of the northern kingdom.

Because of their continued disobedience to God, Israel was wiped out. The survivors were deported, foreign people occupied their land, the few remaining Israelites married the foreigners and lost their distinctive Israelite identity. Samaritans were typically hated by Jews (Judeans), but John 4:4 says that Jesus “needed to go through Samaria.” Why?

Jesus & His disciples stopped in Sychar, near Jacob’s Well, & Jesus sat down to rest. It was about noon & the disciples went into the city to buy food. A woman came to the well to draw water (the woman at the well). The normal time to draw water was morning or evening when it was cooler, but this woman was coming at midday when she would be alone. But Jesus knew she was going to be there, & this was why He had to be at that well at noon on that day. He had to be there for the harvest.

Jesus starts a conversation with the woman. He asks her for a drink. She is shocked because Jews do not talk to Samaritans. Jesus offers her living water. She is confusedbecause He has nothing to draw water with. Jesus says that the water He gives is a fountain “springing up into eternal life.” She is intriguedbecause she doesn’t want to go to the well anymore. It was hot, it was hard work, & she was helpless. She came when she didn’t have to see any of the other women. How do we know?

Jesus tells her (vs. 16), Go, call your husband, & come here. She responded that she had no husband, but Jesus already knew- she’d had 5 husbands & now was living with someone else. She sees that Jesus is a prophet, so she asks Him a religious question about worship (John 4:20).

Jesus answers with this well-known response- John 4:21-23, Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. She is expectant. She knows the Messiah is coming but doesn’t know Jesus is Him. In vs. 26, Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

At this moment the disciples returned, astonished that Jesus was talking with a woman, especially a Samaritan. The woman left her water to get the men of the city & said- John 4:29, Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” In the meantime, Jesus’ disciples are trying to feed Him but He said “I have food you don’t know about- to do the will of God & finish His work” (34).

That brings us to our main text- John 4:35, Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” The harvest imagery is a metaphor for the people that are coming to Jesus. Many of the Samaritans believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony. Then many more of them believed in Jesus because of what He taught them (41-42). Here is the point:

We don’t see people like Jesus sees people! He sees people that others will go out of their way to go around. He sees people that others ignore. He sees people that others use. He sees people that others won’t give the time of day to, but He gives them more than enough of His time! Jesus sent us here before others so that we would be here for others. We are here for the harvest! It’s time to look up and see the people.

2. Look BACK and See the PAST.

I’ve been looking back at some of the church’s historical records to learn about our church’s past, because I believe it informs us of the present and can shape our future. We are here because some people from Central Baptist Church in downtown Lubbock had the vision to see that the city was expanding to the southwest & it needed a church.

We are here today because of some good Christian people who had a heart for their church & were planning for its future. We are here for the harvest because those same good Christian people decided that it was better to start a new church than save their own. We are here for the harvest today because of their emphasis on City Missions.

Their first worship service was on November 24, 1974. They opened and dedicated their first building on November 23, 1975. The mission was organized into a regular Baptist church on November 14, 1976. From the start this church held a Bible Institute on Sunday nights. Along the way this church has always been well-organized in its administration, e.g., a Church Council. As the community grew up around this church, the church grew into the community, and in 1996, the name changed from Southwest to LakeRidge to better reflect the new community.

I feel very strongly that our way forward is to look back at our past. By God’s grace the 1,200 sq. ft. “Little House on the Prairie” is now a 280-seat sanctuary. Just down the hall is our main office- with 5 offices & a conference room, classrooms, other assorted rooms. Across the hall is our family room & kitchen. On the other side of that is our atrium, the main entrance, the Family Life Center (gym/fellowship hall), a library, 6 classrooms, & storage areas. Just past the Family Life Center is our youth center, which looks pretty cool. Just past the youth center is our Kid’s Wing(aka B Wing). It’s big, it’s bright, it’s beautiful. After the service, I’ll lead a tour through our building. We’re ready for the harvest!

Just outside is our playground. Beyond that is the Taj Mahal. Behind that we have 2 baseball fields, w/ room for a lot more. Our ?????? sq. ft. building sits on a beautifully well-maintained 10 acres. Guess what, it is all paid for! We are debt free! God has been so good to us!

Now that we’ve looked back to see our past, we can look forward, and outward, to see the promise that lies ahead.

3. Look OUTWARD and See the PROMISE.

I want to start a Countdown to 50. Today marks the 50th anniversary of our 1st worship service, next November (2025) marks the 50th anniversary of our 1st building, the next November (2026) marks the 50th anniversary of our church organization. 50 years is a big deal!

I believe the next two years could be our best two years! And there are three things I think we can do to make that happen.

1st, REFRESH the building God has so graciously given us. It’s in good shape but needs some updating. Thank the Lord we have no major issues, but with a 50-year-old building we better start preparing for it. One way is to start a deferred maintenance plan and fund it.

Our first major project is to replace all the VCT tile flooring in the main building. That is C Hall- the kitchen, the hallway just past the family room, all the way down that hallway, & the cross halls. It will be replaced by a luxury vinyl plank with a real wood finish. It is beautiful, it is durable, & it will make a big difference.

This project was initiated by our decorating team, it has been approved by our building & grounds committee and brought to our trustees to present at our December business meeting. I’m telling you now so that you can be praying about it & planning for it. The cost of this project is about $15,000. You can make an end-of-year donation to it, just mark your gift “flooring.”

2nd, RESTART the Sunday night Bible Institute. This year we’ve been talking about our doctrine, our fellowship, our discipleship. In January we’re going to start some discipleship training and after that some small group Bible reading and studying groups. This was the method of Jesus, and we need to get back to it.

3rd, RENEW an emphasis on City Missions- outreach and evangelism. We need to see the people that God puts around us. We need to create a culture of inviting people. We need to do some outreach. We need to be equipped for evangelism, & start ministries that meet needs- sports ministry, recovery ministry, grief share & divorce care ministries.

There are people all around us who don’t know the Lord. Our campus is in a beautiful, affluent golf course neighborhood, but there are still people in need. There are people who are isolated. There are people who are used and abused. There are people who maybe have 2 million in the bank, but they don’t feel like they are worth 2 cents. There are people who don’t know how much they mean to Jesus!

We were sent here before them to be here for them! We are here for the harvest! We need to tell them- We are Here for You!