Why the Church Matters: The Harvest

When church secretary Ms. Daisy answered the ringing phone, a man’s voice asked,

“Can I speak to the head hog at the trough?” The secretary thought she heard what he said, but asked,

“I’m sorry, who?”

The caller repeated, “Can I speak to the head hog at the trough?”

Daisy thought a moment and then answered, “If you mean the preacher, then you may refer to him as ‘Pastor,’ or ‘Brother,’ but I’d prefer that you not refer to him as the ‘head hog at the trough’!”

To this, the man replied, “Well, I was wanting to give one hundred thousand dollars to the building fund.”

Quick as a wink, Daisy responded,

“Hang on, sir, I believe I just heard his ‘oink.’ ”

We are going to spend some time in the coming days talking about the purpose of the church. We aren’t here to just build buildings, have a nice worship experience, or even to fellowship with like minded people. We exist to reach people with the truth of the Gospel.

The special person called to do missionary work is every person who is a member of the church of Christ. The call does not come to a chosen few, it is to every one of us.

Oswald Chambers (Lecturer and Missionary)

Theme: The Church exists to reach people with the truth of the Gospel.

Scripture: Matthew 9:37–38

Big Idea: The Church is God’s plan to reach the world. We’re not called to spectate, we’re called to go into the fields and bring in the harvest.

Tie-In to “Fishers of Men Campaign”: We’re here to reach people with the truth, that’s the first part of our vision. Every person matters, and the Church is how God reaches them.

Aim: To awaken the church to the urgency and responsibility of soul-winning, and to commission every person to become a laborer in the harvest field starting with “their one.” We will have a basket on the stage labeled “Harvest” and will provide index cards for people to write down the name of a person or family they are going to lift up in prayer, and invite to church in the coming days. We will pray over the names in the basket and over the next few weeks I will encourage people to find opportunities to reach out to “their one”

Kristen and had always wanted to go to an auction, so we gathered up some friends and went to a big one in Oklahoma. They had all sorts of things at the auction, cars, furniture, paintings, and even tractors. We got our bidding paddle and settled in, we wanted to bid on something. Well, it was really intimidating. And most everything immediately went above our price range.

Kristen saw a tea set that she wanted to bid on, but we didn’t know when it was going to come up, so we waited. And waited. It was midnight and it still hadn’t come up for auction. There were only a handful of people left and the auctioneer asked if there was anything left that the audience had been waiting for.

We spoke up and told him we wanted to bid on the tea set. Well, looking around the room, NO ONE wanted that tea set…except for Kristen. The auctioneer said, would anyone like to start the bidding, and Kris yelled $50!!! Now, she could have said $1 or $5 or $10 but she yelled $50!!!

Guess how many other people bid on that tea set? NONE. We won it for $50.

Kristen didn’t want to miss her moment!

I bring up that story because there are moments in life that are like being at an auction, we’ve got to be ready, and willing to act.

Have you ever looked back on a moment you missed and thought, If I had just acted when I had the chance…? Maybe it was a conversation you should have had, a door you should have walked through, or a decision you put off. Those moments sting because they can’t be relived.

In our scripture today we will see that Jesus talks about missing something, but He isn’t talking about missed opportunities for success… He’s talking about missed people. People who were right there, open to the Kingdom, but never reached because the Church was distracted or disengaged.

We are the church Jesus talks about, and in every believer there should be an urgency and responsibility of soul-winning. Jesus has commission every person to become a laborer in the harvest field.

Matthew 9:35–38 NLT

35 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

Matthew places this right after two chapters where Jesus has been performing miracles: healing the sick, raising the dead, opening blind eyes, casting out demons. He’s showing us what the Kingdom of God looks like in action.

Jesus’ ministry had three dimensions: teaching the truth, preaching the good news, and healing the broken. In other words, Jesus came to meet the whole need of the whole person.

This passage shows us His heart. When He saw the crowds, He didn’t get frustrated, He didn’t walk away. The Bible says He had compassion, that gut-wrenching feeling deep inside when you can’t just ignore what you’re seeing. He looked at them as sheep without a shepherd. Jesus was stepping in as the true Shepherd.

He sees people who have been missed.

And then, in the scripture, He changes the image. Instead of sheep, He talks about a harvest. The fields are ripe.

He tell us a truth: The problem isn’t the harvest. The problem is the lack of workers. This moment also sets up chapter 10, where Jesus sends out His disciples. When He tells them to pray for more workers, they become the very first answer to that prayer. That’s still true today.

I want to tell you: the Church is God’s plan to reach the world. We’re not called to spectate, we’re called to go into the fields and bring in the harvest. Do you feel that burden to reach the lost? I mean really? I wonder how things would change is we made the Harvest a priority.

The Harvest is Ripe…Right Now

Jesus doesn’t say the harvest might be ready someday. He says it is ready. Right now.

People are more open than we think. Some are hurting, some are lonely, some are tired of pretending everything’s okay. What they’re waiting for isn’t someone to argue them into the Kingdom but someone to invite them into it.

I think about the Samaritan woman in John 4. Jesus meets her at the well, speaks truth with compassion, and what happens? She leaves her water jar, runs back to town, and says, “Come and see the man who told me everything I ever did.” 

And the Bible says many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of her TESTIMONY. She didn’t have a theology degree. She didn’t even fully understand everything about Jesus yet. But she knew that Jesus changed her heart, and she invited her whole town to meet the Savior.

That’s the picture. People aren’t waiting for perfect arguments or polished presentations. They’re waiting for someone who will simply say, “Come and see.”

Here’s the questions that I want you to start thinking about today: Who around you is already ripe but waiting for an invitation? A coworker? A neighbor? A family member? Are you praying for God to open your eyes to see them the way Jesus sees them confused and helpless, sheep without a shepherd?

This is why church exists: to reach people with the truth of the Gospel. That’s not just our mission statement. That’s our heartbeat.

The Workers are Few…But You’re One of Them

Notice Jesus’ first prayer request. It wasn’t for the lost. It was for the Church. He said, “Pray for more workers.”

We often cry out, “Lord, send revival!” And that’s good. But Jesus says, “Pray for laborers.” Because revival doesn’t come without workers. The harvest doesn’t gather itself.

Think about Isaiah in chapter 6. He sees the Lord high and lifted up, the angels crying “Holy, holy, holy,” and in that holy moment he’s undone by his sin. God cleanses him, and then comes the question: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah doesn’t hesitate. He says, “Here am I. Send me.”

God’s heart was already burning for His people. What He needed was a willing worker to go. Isaiah became the answer to the very need he had just witnessed.

Here’s the truth: we are the answer to the prayer we’ve been praying.

The Church doesn’t have a mission. God’s mission has a Church.

That means you’re not just here to spectate or soak in spiritual moments. You’re part of the plan.

Tie-In: This is why we’re launching Fishers of Men. It’s not a campaign. It’s a calling. We’re stepping into what Jesus prayed for: more laborers. My goal is to get you to see your part. I want you to be empowered to be part of God’s mission.

There is no plan B - YOU’RE it for right now.

The Assignment is Personal…Who’s Your One?

Do you have a burning desire for the lost people around you?

Let’s think about one of the greatest missionaries of all time, Paul. He was actually just a regular person who saw opportunity to reach the lost because he WANTED them to be saved. Even if that meant death and personal pain.

Romans 10:1 NLT

1 Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved.

Paul didn’t just have a desire to preach to them, He wanted them to be saved. To me, preaching is the least important position in this church. The most important position in this church is the person on their knees, the person witnessing, the person serving.

Paul knew this, so what did he do? He prayed for people to be saved. His prayer wasn’t casual either, earlier in Romans 9 he said he had “great sorrow and unceasing anguish” for their souls. That’s intercession. That’s what it looks like to stand in the gap for the lost.

I can imagine Paul had individual people in mind. Who comes to your mind? What would you do for them to come to Christ? Would you pray with unceasingly?

And after you pray would you take the next step?

You see, Paul didn’t just pray, he went. He traveled, he preached, he got beaten, shipwrecked, and imprisoned. Why? All so people could be saved. His prayers drove his actions. He became part of the answer to the very prayer he was praying.

That’s the pattern for us. We pray for the lost, and then we step into the harvest field ourselves.

We can’t reach everyone. But we can reach someone.

Every single one of us has a circle of influence: coworkers, family, neighbors, classmates. And while I may never meet your neighbor or your cousin, God put you in their path for a reason.

So here’s the challenge: ask God, Who is my one? Who’s the person I’m supposed to carry in prayer, invite to church, follow up with, and believe God to save?

This is not about adding names to a list. It’s about saying, “Lord, send me. I’ll be one of the workers.”

—-

Today we’re going to make this personal. There’s a basket on the stage labeled “The Harvest.” I want you to take an index card, write down the name of your one, and bring it to the altar. Drop it in the basket as a way of saying, I’m stepping into the field. I won’t miss the moment. I’ll be a worker in the harvest.

While we do this, the worship team will play. Then we’ll pray together:

“God, open our eyes to the harvest around us. Give us hearts of compassion like Yours. Send us…not someday, but today. Use us to reach our one.”

Declaration

Jesus, the harvest is ready and I see the great need. I say yes to being a laborer. I commit to pursue my one. Use me to reach the lost for Your glory.