Preparing to serve in 2008
Every Christian is to serve God
Matthew 9:35-38
Dec 30, 2008
Introduction:
I know there is a debate about whether we should make new year resolutions anymore. We make them and then break them usually in the same month. It seems pointless. However, I am still a strong advocate for making new year resolutions. The trick is not to make resolutions that are based on a fad or a current trend. They must be something real, something that you are passionate about. Then you have to make sure they are realistic. My family and I are going to read on book in the Bible together each night. That would be ridiculous. Ben cannot read. I am going to encourage you today to make a resolution.
Matthew 9:35-38
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Body:
We are to be a Herald
A herald is someone that has a message from the King: Jesus was a herald:
Teaching in the Synagogues – Exposit OT
In Luke 4:18-19 Jesus goes to his hometown of Nazareth and read from Isaiah 61:1,2
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Preaching the Good News of the Kingdom – He preached the New Covenant he was offering
We are to proclaim Romans 3:23 and then Romans 6:23 and then tell how this happened using John 3:16.
We also need to be heralds not just in words but in actions. It says that Jesus healed people. In chapters 8 & 9 of Matthew there are 10 miracles recorded, Jesus healed the sick, blind, mute, demon-possessed, calmed a storm, raised the dead, and the handicapped.
"We teach Christianity, not by talking about it, but by living it."
How are you going to live in 2008 that others are going to be drawn closer to God? The way you live your Christian life will either draw people to God or push them farther away.
Matthew 16:23
But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
If Peter who was an apostle of Jesus was able to be a stumbling block then I know that can be also. When I am self-centered and not God-centered I become a stumbling block.
We are to have Compassion for the lost
Illustration:
In High School there was a fellow student of mine that had down syndrome. Because of this handicap he talked differently and walked differently. His life was very different than mine and most of yours also. I know that I treated him differently because he was different. I always felt uncomfortable around him, like I did not know how to act because he wasn’t like me. Somehow I had the notion in my head that I was perfectly normal and if you were not like me there was something wrong with you.
Verse 36 says, When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
The word compassion that is used in this verse has great meaning. It actually refers to the intestines and bowels. Have you ever felt so bad because of something that you did or an injustice you witnessed that you literally ached inside to a point that it makes you bend over in pain? That is the way Jesus felt towards these people, towards you and me.
Matthew 8:2-3 tell of Jesus healing a leper.
2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.
Leprosy in biblical times was in incurable disease that could horribly disfigure you. If you became a leper you were out casted kicked out of society destined to live a lonely life until you died. All contact was severed.
It says Jesus reached out and touched him. Why did he not just say you are healed? Why would Jesus reach out and touch someone that was considered unclean. Jesus had compassion for him and wanted to show him the type of love that he was offering. It was a different kind of love than what the world was offering.
I wish I could go back to High School and hug Sydney, show him the unconditional love that Jesus offers.
There are some people that come to this church that have special needs. They are a little different. I pray that in 2008 we really begin to reach out to them. How is it you can show God’s compassion in your family life, your work environment, your personal life? We must open ourselves up to God’s transforming love so that we begin to ache for the lost and show his compassion to all.
We are to Pray for more workers
Verse 38 says for us to ask God to send out workers into the harvest. We are to fervently pray for more workers. That sounds easy enough. I am to pray for others to go out and spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Heck, I can do that from my bed in the morning, that’s easy.
Well, that is not actually what God is asking us to do. Let’s break down the meaning of this verse.
1. God presents the disciples with a problem: there are not enough workers. The solution, pray for more workers. When faced with a problem we need to pray.
2. By praying for more workers I am including myself. No longer am I praying, “God I pray my neighbor come to know you.” I am now saying, “God send someone to my neighbor that will help show them your word and your love and lead them to salvation. If that person be me or anyone else I pray we are willing.”
3. I am praying that Christians become more committed to Christ and began serving Him in a larger capacity. Give us opportunities to lead others unto salvation.
4. By praying for more workers I am also praying for others to come to know Christ and then go out into the harvest field also.
Illustration:
Martin Luther one of the greatest evangelists and a very instrumental person in bringing about the Great Reformation had a friend who felt about the Christian faith as he did. The friend was also a monk. They came to an agreement. Luther would go down into the dust and heat of the battle for the Reformation in the world; the friend would stay in the monastery and uphold Luther’s hands in prayer. So they began that way. Then, one night, the friend had a dream. He saw a vast field of corn as big as the world; and one solitary man was seeking to reap it-an impossible and heart-breaking task. Then he caught a glimpse of the reaper’s face; and the reaper was Martin Luther; and Luther’s friend saw the truth in a flash. “I must leave my prayers,” he said, “and get to the work.” And so he left his pious solitude, and went down to the world to labor in the harvest.
We cannot just pray for the coming of Christ’s kingdom and not be willing to help bring it about. It is the dream of Christ that every man should be a missionary and a reaper.
Conclusion:
I am going to give you a resolution that I believe you should all adopt for 2008. I want you to pick one person that you know that is not a Christian. Just one, not two, three, or ten. I want you to pray for them every day that God sends someone to them to show them God’s love and that they come to know Christ. Whether that person is you or someone else I am just asking you to be willing to go and do as God directs. I pray that you begin to ache for that person, that you become deeply concerned for their spiritual life. I promise you, if you make this resolution for 2008 not only will you experience God’s riches and blessings but so will someone else. Don’t just talk about Christianity but live it.
PREPARE TO SERVE IN 2008