A Time of Thanksgiving
Notes
Transcript
Thanksgiving Feast
Thanksgiving Feast
35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.
36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for 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 laborers are few;
38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
First Thanksgiving
First Thanksgiving
According to history.com, over 100 people, many of them fleeing persecution sought religious freedom in the New World, set sail from England on the Mayflower in September 1620. That November, the ship landed on the shores of Cape Cod, in present-day Massachusetts, and then onward to Plymouth Harbor in December. The purpose of the settlement was to not to become wealthy entrepreneurs like the Jamestown colonists, but to worship God freely and without governmental interference.
The first year of their existence was not easy, and without the assistance of the Wampanoag Tribe, could have been disastrous. At the end of one year, only 22 men, 4 women, and 27 children/teens had survived - nearly half of the settlement had died. By the time the year rolled around, the settlement had learned how to farm and when they harvested the fall crops a celebration was planned. Originally, the celebration was for the settlement, and however it transpired, the natives joined in the celebration for three days.
But, how would this story had changed had the natives not have looked upon these new settlers and had compassion for them? What would have happened if they had adopted the attitude “It’s not our problem, let them figure it out”? What would have happened if they had just said “they’re not like us, we can’t help them”? But instead, there was compassion for human life, there was the drive to see others succeed, and there was the desire to work together for the good of all mankind.
In these verses, Christ was seeing the struggling of those who were lost. He knew He had the ability to save those who were struggling. But it meant that He, like the natives, had work ahead of them. Because of that, Jesus went out, He went everywhere, He worked hard at spreading the good news, and everywhere He went He proclaimed salvation.
Jesus Went Out and Everywhere
Jesus Went Out and Everywhere
35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.
Jesus had a master plan - to minister to all He came in contact with. To come in contact with people though, He had to go out from where He was.
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
He did not wait for others to come to Him, even though they would soon be flocking Him. Jesus knew that it was important to go out and SEEK those in need of salvation.
Just as Christ went out to seek out the lost, the church today should be doing the same thing. We cannot stay in the church structure, waiting for the lost to come to us. As a matter of fact, as lost - they don’t know they need to be in church and it is our mission to go out and bring them in. We are taught this in
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We have been given the mandate, as Christians, to “GO”. Where is it we are to go? To all nations! Just as Christ travelled everywhere to take the Good News, He expects that of us also. But we are not only to just go and tell them of Jesus, we are to disciple those who are saved as we go. The term “disciple” originally means a pupil (of a teacher) or an apprentice (to a master craftsman). The ultimate goal is for all of us to become more like Christ. In the mean time, the seasoned Christians should be mentoring new Christians in how to do that. The first step? Following through in believers baptism. Second is to teach them scripture. And third, is to remind them that Jesus is with each of us, for all time.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
We must remember that we have been given the power from the Holy Spirit for this task. But like Jesus, we are required to work.
Jesus Worked
Jesus Worked
Jesus taught, preached, and healed wherever He went. Why?
36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Christ had compassion on those He saw and came in contact with. Just as the natives had compassion on the settlers, knowing their survival depended on their help, Christ saw the same desperate condition of the lost everywhere He went. Instead of showing them how to plant crops for physical sustenance, He showed them the recipe for eternal sustenance. He preached and proclaimed the message of salvation and the redemption to man. Not only did He preach, but He taught everywhere He went. We are called to teach believers in the same manner.
20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus.
21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
22 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
People hearing the good news were being saved, and new converts need to be taught.
Because of the helplessness Christ has seen, He also healed as He went. There were twenty eight examples in scripture where Christ healed physical, mental, and emotions of those He came in contact with. From the first healing of the Capernaum officers ill son, to the last healing of the guards ear as He was taken into custody.
Each of us as believers are to proclaim, teach, and heal. Jesus never intended for the preacher to do this job alone. As stated in the Great Commission, each believer is expected to be about the business of reaching and teaching others. This involves the teaching of each and every detail of the gospel message and how it applies to their lives. It involves all these processes preaching, teaching, healing, to create the Christ-like person. By hearing preaching only, the Christian will not know how to apply the will of God, which is why teaching is important. Teaching alone may take a person into the teaching of God’s Word, but it misses out on the overview of the Bible delivered through preaching. Healing only leads to the reliance on physical needs and not the reliance of the Holy Spirit. It requires proclaiming (preaching) and discussion (teaching) of the Word and the seeing (healing) that integrates all the intended parameters of taking and emphasizing salvation to the world. So what art of the Word are we to take everywhere? Salvation.
Jesus Proclaimed Salvation
Jesus Proclaimed Salvation
Jesus’ message was simple. Repent of your sins, and receive forgiveness of your sins, and rely on the Lord for salvation.
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
There are three things we see in these words of Christ, urgency, persistence, and perseverance. Christ knew that the helpless He was seeing needed an urgent need for salvation. As He saw this condition, He passed it on to the disciples.
37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Jesus saw the desperation around Him. He saw that life was hard and at times cruel, and often felt hopeless and worthless. Religion was becoming burdensome, placing demands that were not able to be met. Sin was weighing them down, and they were dead in their sins, weakening their assurance and making their future seem uncertain. Christ saw the hopelessness, helplessness, and uncertainty and knew there was an urgency for the Gospel message to be delivered immediately, often, and with fervency.
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Christ knew He had the answer for their problems.
18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
But He knew He could not do it alone. He knew His time on earth would be limited and He could only personally impact a few compared to the impact of many witnesses. Because of this, He had a vision for others to share in the vision of a world desperately in need. If the natives had not shown the settlers hCow to grow corn, there would have been no bountiful harvest to celebrate. Christ knew that by showing other Christians how to identify the depravity of the world, and how to show them the solution, there could be a great celebration in Heaven. Christ envisioned every human being on this earth should know about the free gift of salvation by proclaiming the Gospel. To do this, though, it takes many workers. Each generation will need laborers, and if WE fail to do our job, have we ever thought there might not be enough workers to complete the harvest God desires. We cannot be complacent, many laborers are needed, and they are needed now. If not, the crop may not be harvested and will die. We can never forget there in an unlimited amount of work to be done, and few laborers to carry it out.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Why are there not more laborers?
(1) Some reject the call of God.
(2) Some postpone the call of God.
(3) Some deny the call of God; they close their minds entirely.
(4) Some seek a profession, a position, or a livelihood instead of really reaching out and ministering to people.
(5) Some preach false gospels. They seek to propogate their own rationale and ideas instead of the truth of God.
(6) Some just lack enough commitment to reach out and minister.
(7) Some are satisfied with the traditional ritual and approaches of religion.
(8) Some are more concerned with the bureaucracy than with laboring, more concerned with carrying things on as they have always been.
c. The vision of a great need for prayer. Laborers are needed, but they must be the laborers of God, for the harvest is God’s. It is totally inadequate to humanly select the laborers, lay human plans, and send laborers forth in human strength. Such human action will not get the job done. God’s call and God’s appointment are needed. Christ is saying, “Pray that God will raise up enough laborers to reach your generation, the generation for which you are immediately responsible.”
Christ Himself prayed all night before choosing the first laborers and before sending them out on their first missionary journey
12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:
The number of laborers for any generation depends upon the prayers of God’s people in that generation. If God’s people are concerned for their generation, they pray for laborers to reach and minister to it. Christ first of all gives this charge to His apostles and ministers. They are to take the lead and to teach the absolute necessity of praying for laborers. But we must never forget, the harvest is the Lord’s.