The Harvest is Plentiful

Lakeview Baptist Church

10/24/2021

Luke 10:1-3 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.

2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

Introduction

When Baptists talk about “Missions,” what exactly does that mean? “Missions” is one of those “churchy” terms that we throw around expecting that everyone within hearing range understands what we are saying. As I look out at this congregation this morning, I see people that were here before I became your pastor. However, there is a large percentage of those in the audience today that have joined or are visiting after since COVID hit in 2020.

Therefore, today, I want to settle the question, “What exactly does Missions mean at Lakeview Baptist Church?

I want to give you an example for you to consider this morning.

Everybody but Sam had signed up for a new company pension plan that called for a small employee contribution. The company was paying the rest. Unfortunately, 100% employee participation was needed; otherwise, the plan was off. Sam’s boss and his fellow workers pleaded w/him to sign the new pension plan, but he wouldn’t do it. Finally, the company president called Sam into his office and said, “Sam, here’ s a copy of the new pension plan and here’s a pen. I want you to sign the papers. I’m sorry, but if you don’t sign, you’re fired. As of right now.” Sam quickly grabbed the pen and signed the papers. The boss looked at him and said, “Would you mind telling me why you didn’t sign up earlier?” He simply replied, “Well, sir, nobody explained it to me quite so clearly before.” My dad was a heavy Camel’s smoker, unfiltered. His testimony included the day he stopped smoking, cold turkey. He was sitting in his favorite chair on a Saturday morning, studying the Bible for his men’s Sunday school class the next day. I was reading the “funny papers” as the comics were known then, when he stubbed out his cigarette, got up and threw away his opened pack of Camel’s, went to the cuppord and threw away several carton’s. I asked why he had done that and he simply said, “The smoke was getting in the way of him clearly seeing the Word of God.” That was it…40 years of habit dropped in a matter of minutes.” His motivation was “clearly seeing the Word of God.”

Motivation’s a powerful tool!

Today I want to share with you that missions is one of our “Core Values:” Evangelism, Discipleship, Fellowship, and Ministry.

“What exactly is missions?”

When you think of “missions,” what comes to mind? I had the great privilege to grow up in an Independent Baptist church. I say privileged because I got to meet missionaries that were serving in far-away places…Egypt, Africa, Philippines, England, France, and Mexico. We got to see their “slides”, there I dated myself. We got to hear their passion for the work that God had called them to do. They would hand out “prayer cards” with their pictures on it. I would put those pictures on my chest of drawers and in a way I was there with them in my prayers and concern.

“Missions” therefore has been near and dear to my heart since those early days in my spiritual growth. I read the biographies of missionaries. The following six made such an impact of me:

John and Charles Wesley. John Wesley is considered to be the father of Methodism. His brother, Charles, became one of the most prolific English-speaking poets, composing more than 6,500 hymns. With no intention of separating from the Anglican Church, the brothers were founding members of a small Oxford University reform group that eventually spawned the second-largest Protestant denomination in America.

William Carey: (1761-1834) was an English Baptist missionary and known as the "father of modern Protestant missions.” Carey was one of the founders of the Baptist Missionary Society. As a missionary in the Danish colony, Serampore, India, he translated the Bible into Bengali, Sanskrit, and numerous other languages.

David Livingstone: (1813–1873) was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. Protestant missionary martyr, working-class "rags to riches" inspirational story, scientific investigator and explorer, imperial reformer, anti-slavery crusader.

Adoniram Judson: (1788–1850) An American Baptist missionary, who served in Burma for almost forty years. Translated the whole Bible into Burmese and established a number of churches.

J. Hudson Taylor: (1832–1905) A British Protestant Christian missionary to China, and founder of the China Inland Mission (now OMF International). Taylor spent 51 years in China. The society that he began was responsible for bringing over 800 missionaries to the country who began 125 schools and directly resulted in 18,000 Christian conversions, as well as the establishment of more than 300 stations of work with more than 500 local helpers in all eighteen provinces.

The Christian’s Charge

Missions can simply be broken down to the following statement:

“The act and purpose of missions is the spreading of the Gospel Message, no matter the location, people, or situation.” Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.”

When we think of missions, perhaps you mind’s eye sees missionaries to Africa, India, or any other place where people live in dirt and grass huts. Some do.

However, through local, North America, and the world, missionaries are ministering in areas just like where we live today: towns, suburbs, farmlands, cattle ranches, and major metropolitan cities.

According to my definition, missions on a personal level means sharing your life and faith w/your next door neighbor, co-worker, or family member.

Mission work takes place here at Lakeview, new churches plants, Good New Bible Clubs, Awana, Sunday school, and worship services.

Go

Make Disciples

Baptize the converts

Teach about our Savior

Motivating the Church

Luke 10:2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

For background of this passage, Jesus is sending out seventy-two “missionaries.” He was giving them a “Pep Talk” before they were sent out, Jesus gave them a “check list” for the ministry.

The Checklist (Luke 10:3-12)

Go!

Trust! Carry no moneybag, knapsack, sandals

Greet no one on the road – there is no time for “idle chatter.”

Stay with people who have peace – no reservations were made in their names.

Fellowship with those you are ministering to

Stay in one place

Eat with what is set before you

Heal the sick

Preach “The Kingdom of God is near.”

Lakeview, we have the same calling on our lives and ministries.

Motivational Point #1 – The Harvest

My first church I pastored was in a small farming community. And every spring we’d watch the farmers go out and start tilling up the land and planting their crops. They would plant anything that would grow.

This city boy learned many life lessons there.

For one thing, once they planted, they were not finished. They worked their fields and waited patiently for the crops to be ready for the harvest.

We have centered our mission’s emphasis Sunday on one simple and yet wondrous premise…planting the seed, in this case presenting the Gospel by word and deed is vitally important, however the harvest of souls is where the greatest satisfaction comes…The Harvest.

Even though we contribute to a variety of mission ministries through work or contributions, it is always the harvest that is the most exciting.

For a farmer, the harvest is the reason he goes out and works in the field. The harvest is the future reward he’s looking forward to.

Before I go any further w/that thought, what exactly is the harvest for Lakeview? What crop are we going after? We’re going after people! We desire to invest our time and efforts in sharing w/people the power of God and His forgiveness and His grace, and the life He offers for those who follow Him.

That is why we have classes and training on how to present the Gospel in a clear, concise, and meaningful way. We are looking towards the Harvest.

For the fisherman in the crowd today, aren’t you motivated to fish again each time you catch a fish?

For the golfer, what motivates you to continue playing the game, it is that perfect shot on the 17th green.

For the baker in the crowd, nothing motivates you to cook more than when someone eats one of your creations and proclaims how delicious it is.

For the basketball player in all of us, what motivates you to continue to play? Well it is sinking that three-pointer from “way out.”

In each of these hobbies, failure happens

The fish “got away.”

You shank your next shot on an easy par four

The cake falls in the oven.

The beautiful shot falls like a brick.

However, the fisherman, golfer, baker, and basketball player do not quit when failure raises its head. No, we buckle down and visualize the next cast, birdie, cake and three-pointer.

The Harvest is Plentiful

Jesus is describing to the 72 that they are being sent where the “harvest is plentiful.”

“The harvest is abundant!” This simple message is confirming in the minds of the 72 that there will be people who are ready to be harvested!

For Lakeview that means there will be people who are hungry for the Word of God and to come to a relationship with the Creator. We serve in a community that is growing every day. People are moving into our community as quickly as the builder’s finish pounding the last nail.

Plant and Wait

Our focus for Lakeview should be on seeing the Belton/Temple area the way Jesus was explaining to the 72…to rescue the most people as possible for Jesus Christ.

We have the best, most proven seed…the Word of God.

Therefore, we should plant the seed as much as possible, in every location, type of soil, and time of our life, expected that the Lord of the Harvest has already declared…”The Harvest is Plentiful.”

The Laborers Are Few (v. 2)

Here at Lakeview we have classes that will help you develop a plan to present the Gospel. We have training in how to disciple those that make decisions. However, as in the time of Christ, the need for workers is huge…the crop is ready, we just people to harvest for the Lord.

Jesus could have done all the harvesting, but he put the scythe in the hands of the 72

Romans 10:14-15 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

I’m afraid most American churches have lost sight of the harvest of people that are all around us.

Southern Baptist Church Planting Up in 2020, But Baptisms Plunge by Half, the lowest since 1919. (123,160)

This can only mean that the church has lost sight of the objective of why we are here…the Good News of Jesus Christ needs “workers in the field.” Perhaps we have lost our motivation?

However, even if the church seems to have lost sight,

the harvest is still out there.

People are still out there searching and looking for something to fill the void in their lives.

Yet w/a loss of our mission, we walk by these people every day not realizing the potential that God can bring into their lives.

ILLUS: Gene Weingarten decided to do an experiment to see if people recognized musical greatness when it was before them. So he got a musician named Joshua Bell to go to the Metro in Washington, DC where he began to play classical music @ 7:51 a.m. in the middle of morning rush hour. For the next 43 minutes he played 6 classical pieces while 1,097 people passed by. Weingarten wrote, “No one knew it, but the fiddler standing against a bare wall outside the Metro in an indoor arcade at the top of the escalators was one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made.” But on that day, Bell, playing a violin made in the 1600s valued at over $3.5 million was just another noisemaker competing for the attention of busy people on their way to work. He ended up collecting $32, when he normally makes over $1,000 a minute for his performances.

Perhaps the workers are few because way too many of us have something else vying for our attention that we no longer see the harvest that is right before our eyes.

For example, when people go to see a football game, their attention is on the players on the field, the 80,000 people packed in the stands are secondary.

A Point of Honesty I want to declare before you today that I have very little confidence that the Southern Baptists and other denominations are going to wake up and see the harvest before them. Every year the annual report becomes more and more bleak. However, I do have great faith in this congregation, Lakeview. We are seeing people saved, baptized, and discipled consistently.

We must not rest on our successes, but let us together, today see the Harvest today. Let us also see that the “workers” are few. Each one of us can answer the Master today…Here am I, send me.”

Conclusion

We have great fields of harvest surround us at Lakeview.

Let us embrace that truth

Let us view the neighborhood as people needing a savior rather than homes

Let us answer the call of being a worker.

I ask each of you today to take this time to commit yourself to the mission that God has given His people; His mission to win people for Christ.

Take this time to pray and ask God to lay people on your heart; to give you a passion to serve others and a passion to bring people to hear the good news of Jesus.

The Gospel is the Centerpiece of the Great Commission