Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Good morning.
[00:00:04] You know, as I've been reflecting some on today, I realized that last month is actually 10 years since I came to this strange and foreign land called west county and a people that are even stranger and more alien.
[00:00:24] But it's amazing how God takes you places that you never thought you would go and meet people that you never thought you would meet and make friends with people that you never thought you'd make friends with. And I had to come all the way to west county to make some Hispanic friends.
[00:00:37] It's like, you guys are. You guys are awesome. Love you guys.
[00:00:41] So, yeah, it's kind of a bittersweet thing, but God's pretty cool in what he does when you're not expecting it.
[00:00:51] Now, our main scripture passage this morning is the same text that Pastor Brandon Hughes preached from last week.
[00:00:58] And when I saw him put that passage up on the screen, I got a little irritated.
[00:01:06] But then, you know, I figured that God, you know, we didn't know what we were going to preach on. And so God must have something in store for you to hear this back to back. But I thought, you know, if you were here last week, you're dismissed.
[00:01:22] You got it. You applied it to your life, I'm sure. So grab a late breakfast and come back for lunch.
[00:01:29] I thought somebody would get up and try to get out of here.
[00:01:33] I want to share from a text found in Matthew chapter nine that I believe is the basis for the vision and mission God has given to Redemption Hill Church. And the vision statement that was created was Redemption Hill Church's vision is to reach people who are far from God with the gospel of Jesus Christ, seeing their lives transformed by the radical love of Christ poured out through his followers.
[00:01:55] Before we go into our main text in chapter nine, I want to share with you a brief background that speaks to the journey that Jesus took with his disciples to prepare them for the ministry he had called them to in Matthew chapters one through three. After the early birth narrative and the movement of Mary, Joseph and Jesus to avoid Herod's attempt to kill the boy, John the Baptist is introduced and Jesus is baptized by John, who proclaims, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
[00:02:21] Jesus then led into the wilderness for 40 days to be tested by the devil. And this is all necessary preparation and kind of an inauguration for Jesus ministry.
[00:02:30] And Matthew chapter three and four, Jesus begins to preach, repent, for the kingdom of God is near.
[00:02:35] And he calls his first disciples Peter and his brother Andrew, in which he tells them, come, follow me. And I will make you fishers of men.
[00:02:43] So from the very beginning, following Jesus and fishing for people are intimately connected.
[00:02:50] And later, he also calls brothers James and John to follow him. And they immediately leave their fishing boats. Their father, in essence, they met. They left the family business to follow Jesus.
[00:03:00] And then Jesus starts healing the sick.
[00:03:03] And in Matthew 4, 23 and 25, it says Jesus went throughout Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
[00:03:12] News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering seizures and the paralyzed, and he healed them.
[00:03:22] Large crowds from all over the region followed him.
[00:03:26] Jesus fame is spreading mostly due to his miraculous healings. People were bringing to Jesus family members and friends and neighbors and their loved ones who were sick and suffering.
[00:03:36] Large crowds were coming from everywhere to see what this itinerant preacher and healer was all about.
[00:03:43] And In Matthew chapters 5, 7, Jesus slows down a bit and he sits down on a mountainside and he begins to teach his disciples. And he shares with them what has become known as the sermon on the mouth, probably the most significant and profound sermon ever given.
[00:03:56] And he's teaching his followers about the ethics of the kingdom, how to live, and the cost involved in following him.
[00:04:03] And then in Matthew chapters 8 and 9, Jesus come down from the mountain and continues his miraculous healing ministry. And he heals a man with leprosy and a servant of a centurion.
[00:04:13] He heals Peter's mother in law who is gravely ill. And many people are delivered who are demon possessed.
[00:04:20] And in the middle of all those healings, he just calms a storm, you know, no big thing for, you know, the Son of God, Jesus forgives and heals a paralyzed man. He raises a dead girl to life. And can you imagine being there with all those incredible miracles happening to be present when friends and family members and beloved servants and sons and daughters and husbands were giving back their health and their freedom in their very lives.
[00:04:46] Imagine loved ones, you know, instantly being healed before your eyes. I mean, the joy and excitement, it must have been palpable.
[00:04:54] Jesus miracles were evidence that the kingdom of God had entered into the world. And there's a great excitement building throughout the entire region.
[00:05:02] People come from everywhere and crowds are growing over the incredible and amazing things that this guy named Jesus was doing. I mean, wouldn't you want to follow this guy who wouldn't want to be close to the action, to be in the middle of all the excitement? Things were being done that had never been witnessed before.
[00:05:21] But it's important for us to remember each person's healing really didn't guarantee anything.
[00:05:28] One person who was healed could have been run over by a horse drawn wagon three weeks later.
[00:05:33] Someone else could have fallen through their roof to their death three months later.
[00:05:37] A woman healed of her disease could have died three years later when she was murdered by a criminal. I mean, whether we're in our 30s or our 50s or our 80s, we all die.
[00:05:48] My point is that Jesus didn't come to heal sick bodies. He came to heal sick souls.
[00:05:55] He didn't come to prolong this life, but to give us eternal life through faith in him.
[00:06:02] Then Jesus has this verbal interaction with two men who are following him. In Matthew 8, 1820, when Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.
[00:06:13] Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.
[00:06:19] Jesus replied, foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of man has no place to lay his head.
[00:06:24] Another disciple said to him, lord, first let me go and bury my father. But Jesus told him, follow me and let the dead bury their own dead.
[00:06:33] Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.
[00:06:38] Let me ask you a question.
[00:06:41] Have you ever made a declaration or a vow to God?
[00:06:46] Maybe it was during a time of excitement, a mountaintop experience at a Christian conference or retreat.
[00:06:52] Maybe it was in response to a dynamic sermon.
[00:06:56] Other people around you were excited and passionate as well. You were kind of feeding off of one another's enthusiasm.
[00:07:02] Jesus, I'll go anywhere or do anything you want me to do.
[00:07:06] Jesus, I promise I'll never do that again. I choose to forsake everything that gets in the way of following you.
[00:07:14] Most of us can probably recall a time when we were feeling passion and excitement, and we've said something similar.
[00:07:21] Then those feelings of excitement and passion wear off and you realize that you didn't first consider the cost of the decision you were making to radically follow him.
[00:07:32] In essence, Jesus tells this teacher of the law, your comfort zone will be seriously disrupted if you decide to follow me.
[00:07:40] And comfort zone living is the one thing Americans love the most and hate it when it's disrupted.
[00:07:47] And we followers in the west are no different.
[00:07:52] Then another follower comes to Jesus says, lord, first let me go and bury my father.
[00:07:57] And that seems like a reasonable request, doesn't it? I mean, the guy had just lost his dad.
[00:08:03] The compassionate response would be, sure, I understand, take the time you need and then come find me.
[00:08:11] But Jesus responds, let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead.
[00:08:16] He's telling him, if you decide to follow Me, the person who stands before you and his mission is your priority.
[00:08:22] Other things that you perceive as utmost importance to you will have to become secondary or eliminated altogether if you desire to follow me.
[00:08:32] I think many of us want to follow Jesus on our terms, not his, but God. I have important things to tend to. I've got responsibilities I can't ignore things I must accomplish first in life. Let me have the time I need to finish up these important life priorities, get my life and career established for me and my family. Then when things clear up, I'll radically follow you.
[00:08:57] You know, the words of each of these two men revealed to Jesus the condition of their hearts, and we never hear from either of these two guys again.
[00:09:08] Following Jesus on His terms was too much to ask.
[00:09:13] And when you tell the Lord, not yet, Lord, but soon, your words are revealing the condition of your heart.
[00:09:21] Here's the big idea for this morning.
[00:09:24] When it comes to following Jesus, the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.
[00:09:30] Your commitment to follow Jesus whenever, wherever and in whatever he asks will depend on the condition of your heart.
[00:09:39] One thing I want you to understand is that all of these things that have happened up to this point have not been a matter of weeks or months.
[00:09:49] Jesus disciples have been on a more than two year journey with Him. They've been taught, invested in, befriended, loved and discipled. They've been experiencing Jesus life and his ministry and his teaching. They are being prepared for the mission Jesus has for them.
[00:10:04] It's the same mission he's commanded us to undertake as his followers.
[00:10:10] There's two times in the Scriptures where we see that after Jesus rose from the dead, he actually gives commands or instructions on what he wants his followers to do. In Acts 1:8, it's you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the other ends of the earth. But the one that we know the best, the great commission, Matthew 20:18 and 20. He says, all authority and power in heaven and earth has been given to me.
[00:10:33] Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I've commanded you, and I will be with you always to the end of the age.
[00:10:47] This is the mission that he's given his followers to do.
[00:10:52] And the awesome thing that I love probably the most in this Great Commission passage is he says, I will be with you always.
[00:11:02] This is only. This is the only specific command I can think of. Where. Jesus promised to you that when you go into your world with the Gospel, his presence, his power, his grace, his love will be with you. You will never be alone.
[00:11:19] As you'll soon see, Jesus expects his followers to take the knowledge that they've gained over the two years that he's been. They've been with him for a specific reason, and that is for his mission to seek and save lost people.
[00:11:34] The problem is, is we often don't take God's word literally.
[00:11:38] We don't see his words as commands.
[00:11:41] We act as if the Bible is filled with a lot of suggestions that we can pick and choose from. You know, our personal preferences.
[00:11:49] I'll do this, I ain't gonna do that.
[00:11:54] We hear His Word on Sunday. We study it, we memorize it, we discuss it in our groups. We just have a tendency not to obey it.
[00:12:02] As James writes, we tend to be hearers of the Word only, not doers.
[00:12:07] Let me see if I can illustrate this for you.
[00:12:11] When I told one of my sons, steve, go clean your room, he wouldn't come back two hours later and say, dad, I memorized what you said. Let me recite it for you. Steve, go clean your room.
[00:12:23] My response wouldn't, certainly wouldn't have been, well done, son. You're amazing.
[00:12:30] Or, dad, I've learned your instruction in both the Greek and Hebrew language.
[00:12:34] Man, you're rocking it, son.
[00:12:37] All my friends are going to come over tonight. We're going to have a study in the various methods of cleaning my room.
[00:12:46] Believe me, all three of my sons would know better than to come back with those kinds of answers.
[00:12:51] They would know they needed to obey and do what I asked them to do.
[00:12:57] It's no different for us as children of our Heavenly Father.
[00:13:01] He expects us to follow through on what he has asked us to do to make his mission the main priority of our life.
[00:13:11] Well, it's finally time to read our main text this morning.
[00:13:15] Matthew 9, 35, 37. It'll be up on the screen.
[00:13:22] Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
[00:13:29] When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.
[00:13:34] And he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
[00:13:38] Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.
[00:13:43] Everything that has happened between Jesus and His disciples has culminated in this moment.
[00:13:49] I Believe there are four important things that Jesus reveals to us that can serve as indicators on whether or not we have the heart of Jesus.
[00:13:58] The first thing, the heart of Jesus is always connected to the mission of Jesus.
[00:14:03] Verse 35 Jesus proclaimed the good news of the kingdom everywhere he went to all the towns and villages.
[00:14:09] In Matthew 8 Jesus is accused by the religious elite of being a friend of sinners. And he responds, it's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.
[00:14:20] Jesus knew that everywhere he went there were people who were sick with sin and separated from God and that the good news of the kingdom was their only remedy. It was their only hope.
[00:14:33] The second thing in this passage that's revealed about Jesus's heart is the heart of Jesus sees the hopeless condition of those who are far from God.
[00:14:41] In the first part of verse 36 it says when he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them.
[00:14:47] Jesus mission of redemption the Scriptures declare his face was set like flint towards the mission. He had a dogged determination, a steely eyed resolve to do the will of the Father to accomplish the mission for which he was sent, which was to die for our sins.
[00:15:01] And yet he often allowed his life to be interrupted by people who were in need.
[00:15:07] It says he saw the crowds.
[00:15:11] Jesus didn't live with his head down, barreling forward to the cross. He lived with his head up, looking for divine opportunities given by the Father to administer to the brokenness of individuals lives.
[00:15:22] It wasn't just a group of people he saw, it was individual people and their pain that he saw. And his heart broke over those who were hurting and separated from God.
[00:15:34] One of the core values of the new church states we will live each day with our heads up, looking for divine appointments everywhere we go so we can see the hurts and needs of others and respond with true compassion.
[00:15:48] I didn't live this way for most of my Christian life.
[00:15:52] In my world I lived on mission, but it wasn't the gospel mission.
[00:15:57] If I was shopping, my intent was seek and destroy. I knew what I needed and I was there to get it in and out.
[00:16:05] And honestly, even before we had kids, it used to drive me crazy because mine was. I know we got a list. I know what we're getting. We're going to the store and it's like, that's what we're here for. And Lisa would go to this, oh, look at this.
[00:16:18] And then we go a little further and she said, oh, isn't this cute honey?
[00:16:22] And it would drive me crazy.
[00:16:25] And the boys would tell me, sometimes I was taking the boys out shopping, sometimes she was taking out the boys shopping. And the boys would always tell me, dad, we love it when you're shopping. You're so fast.
[00:16:35] Mom just takes so much time.
[00:16:38] And I saw that as a badge of honor.
[00:16:45] When I went to work out at Club Fitness, I knew what I wanted to accomplish in the time I needed to do it. My face was set like flint to accomplish my goal.
[00:16:52] I didn't see hurting people in that gym. They were just interruptions and in the way of a task that I wanted to get done for me that day.
[00:17:02] Everything I did and everywhere I went outside of the church was done this way until the last seven years of my life.
[00:17:09] And I'm going to share more about that with you in a moment.
[00:17:12] The third thing we learn about the heart of Jesus in this passage is in the second part of verse 36.
[00:17:19] He had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. The heart of Jesus has compassion for people who are far from God.
[00:17:29] Jesus didn't only see their lostness, he felt it deeply inside that word. Compassion in the Greek means a gut wrenching feeling. It's love and empathy and sympathy that is felt from the depths of one's heart.
[00:17:41] It results in an inner drive and a compulsion to act on behalf of those in need, those who are lost and dying, separated from God.
[00:17:52] I don't believe Jesus is making a blanket statement about a crowd of people without seeing and understanding the plight of each individual person represented in that crowd.
[00:18:00] He knew that no matter what that person was showing or saying on the outside, if they were far from God, they were hurting inside.
[00:18:08] Most people from West county and St. Charles county on the outside appear to have it all.
[00:18:13] Life is smooth sailing. There's very little they need materially, and yet so many of them are far from God.
[00:18:23] You know, we did a demographic study in St. Charles county, and it showed that 114,000 people have no church affiliation.
[00:18:32] And yet you see them driving and you see them walking through the stores and you think, man, they just look like they have it all together.
[00:18:39] Jesus says if someone is far from God, they're harassed. In the Greek, the word is scala, which means mangled, fleeced, or violently troubled. It paints a picture of being worn out, weary and burdened under the weight, pressures and stresses of life, emotionally beaten down. And researchers say that we are the most connected society that the world has ever seen, and yet at the same time, we're the most Lonely, anxious and drug taking culture the world has ever seen.
[00:19:06] Apart from God, there is something wrong that can't be mended, that can't be filled, except apart from the gospel, he also says they're helpless. In the Greek word it's, it's ripto. It implies being thrown down, cast aside, lame, prostate, unable to get up.
[00:19:24] And they're like sheep without a shepherd. In the life of sheep, a shepherd is needed for provision and protection and be led to their destination.
[00:19:31] Without a shepherd, life is vulnerable to predators and without direction and needed guidance.
[00:19:37] And people living with Christ, they do the best they can, but on the most important things are often lost and without answers to life's greatest problems and are easily led to destructive choices.
[00:19:52] The fourth thing in this passage revealed about the heart of Jesus is that followers who have the heart of Jesus become the solution to the problem.
[00:20:00] In verse 37 it says and Jesus said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
[00:20:07] Jesus indicates to his 12 disciples that the harvest is always plentiful. There will never be a shortage of hurt people who are lost in our world. We will always be surrounded by people who are far from God. The problem is that the workers are few.
[00:20:22] Jesus reveals that God the Father has a harvest of lost people ready to be had. But very few followers want to get messy working to glean that harvest.
[00:20:32] We don't have the heart to see our lives get messy. Dealing with other people's mess, investing and hurting people's lives is messy.
[00:20:42] What we want is a nice, respectable, comfortable Christianity. It doesn't demand too much from us. You know, it's got to fit nicely into our agenda and fit in the way we want to live.
[00:20:55] I want to tell you my story because I believe there will be several things that you can relate to and it's all going to tie this all together.
[00:21:04] So in 1982, I was 23 year old and I was attending Clemson University and after trusting Christ, I started attending the campus church. There I met two guys named Chris and Mike who were part of the Navigator Christian ministry on campus and they invited me to study the Bible with them.
[00:21:20] We met weekly going through a booklet called your new life in Christ. And I was only there for another four months, but I remember a few weeks in, Chris and Mike decided it was time for me to share my faith and set up a time for me to go to the student quadrangle. Al hung out to share my testimony and I didn't show up.
[00:21:42] They didn't shame me or lay a guilt Trip on me for not being there, but consider, but continue to meet with me, teaching me and investing in my life. And over those four months, I grew in my faith.
[00:21:53] I left there, went back to St. Louis, never having experienced a Protestant or event evangelical church. And because at the age of 15, I left my only church experience, which was the Catholic Church.
[00:22:04] So I figured that what Chris and Mike did with me, I was supposed to do with others.
[00:22:09] And I started meeting with old grade school and high school friends, hanging out and talking about my new life in Christ.
[00:22:15] And one of those guys was named Greg. And we'd go out to the bar occasionally. He'd have a beer and I'd drink a Coke, and we'd listen to the band. And in between sets, I'd talk about my faith, not very well or competently.
[00:22:30] I asked him if he had any interest in studying the Bible together, and he said yes. So we started meeting weekly, going through a Navigator study booklet. And Greg eventually trusted Christ as his savior. And after more than 50 years, he remains one of my dearest friends and will be joining us as part of a core team to plant Redemption Hill Church. That person is Greg Yeager.
[00:22:54] Greg recently led his longtime friend Mike Wilson to Christ. And Mike is on fire spiritually. And Greg now meets with Mike studying the Bible together.
[00:23:05] One day he said to Greg, why didn't you tell me this before?
[00:23:09] And Greg thought he had.
[00:23:11] Mike may not have wanted to hear him or wasn't ready to hear him, but either way, those words should be sobering for us all. Why didn't you tell me this before?
[00:23:24] Well, now I'm home in St. Louis, and I was looking for a church, and a friend invited me to North County Community Church, and I was befriended by a pastor there. And we connected first over sports, indoor soccer and later softball. And then we started meeting a discipleship group together. And Greg was part of that.
[00:23:43] And I was given opportunities to serve, then to leave ministry to occasionally preach and teach. And the pastors began studying systematic theology with me. I came on staff in 1990 and was ordained as a pastor in 1992, 10 years after I was saved.
[00:23:57] There's a natural pattern that was happening in my life before I became a pastor. Mike and Chris invited me to study the Bible with them.
[00:24:04] Greg started meeting with me weekly, going through a Navigator study guide. We started meeting with Pastor Mark in a discipleship group. Greg now meets with his friend Mike studying the Bible together.
[00:24:13] See, there's a pattern there, kind of a natural pattern that was developing, and all with the Purpose of sharing what we were learning with others who were separated from Christ. The Great Commission.
[00:24:25] You lead somebody to Christ, you bring them into the church, you see him baptized, and then you disciple them, teaching them to obey everything that you've learned. That's what discipleship is.
[00:24:37] In 1992, ten years after I was saved, I became a pastor. I threw my life into church ministry.
[00:24:43] Three nights a week I was at the church and I was teaching and I was leading and I was running and facilitating ministries and administrating programs for a whole lot of people. And I was faithfully doing what I thought pastors were supposed to do. And it was all good stuff, it was my job.
[00:24:57] But in the process, I had forgotten something important. Somehow something was lost from those foundational lessons I had learned on the campus. From Chris and Mike, I'd lost sight of Jesus. Mission to be a friend of sinners, to join him in seeking and saving the lost. I miss my true calling, to be a worker in God's harvest field. I miss my responsibility as God's shepherd in the church, to lead his sheep by example into the harvest field. And if the pastor isn't doing it, the people who he's shepherding aren't going to be doing it either.
[00:25:27] I believe it's a similar pattern I see in many Christians lives today.
[00:25:32] They trust Christ as their savior. They have initial excitement. Man, I need to share with others this precious gift I've received from Christ.
[00:25:39] They find a church. They seek to grow and learn and be part of the church community, to serve in ministry in the church. And years go by and some for some decades pass.
[00:25:50] They try to be faithful in the church for that initial evangelistic fervor has gone and so have the relationships they once had with Christians in the world.
[00:25:58] It just hasn't been time for that.
[00:26:01] And honestly, the desire has kind of faded.
[00:26:05] And all my discretionary time is spent with my biological and church families. I really don't have time for that.
[00:26:12] Thus, the words of Jesus ring true. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
[00:26:20] The big idea when it comes to following Jesus, the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.
[00:26:27] Personally, I needed a wake up call and it happened seven years ago.
[00:26:33] I turned 60 years old and I, if I can use a football analogy, I kind of divided my life into four quarters.
[00:26:39] If each quarter is represented by 20 years, I thought, well, turning 60, I maybe had one quarter left. I had another 20 years.
[00:26:47] But then shortly after that turning 60, I was diagnosed with cancer.
[00:26:51] And I thought well, maybe I'm really in overtime.
[00:26:56] I started to question myself. What have I been doing with my life, Lord, what does it look like to finish strong? The race you've given me to run, God, what do you want of me with the time I have left, I want to go all in for you.
[00:27:10] He revealed that what I needed the most was a change of heart.
[00:27:14] I needed to repent of my lack of love, a concern for people who were far from God.
[00:27:19] No one was going to be able to guilt me or shame me into renewed evangelistic zeal.
[00:27:24] I needed heart surgery and that is what God has done in me.
[00:27:30] For the last six years I've tried to live with my head up before I leave to go somewhere. I ask God to help me see for him to provide divine appointments with people far from God.
[00:27:41] Redemption Hill Mission statement says Our mission is to encourage and equip people to be the church where they live, work and play, sharing their life, love and truth about Jesus with the people around them.
[00:27:53] You see, what we do on Sunday mornings was never intended to be the focal point or the strategic place for gospel mission.
[00:28:00] We come together in worship, preaching, communion and prayer and fellowship on Sundays to be encouraged, equipped and empowered for Gospel mission the rest of the week until we come back again the next Sunday. Get refueled for the coming week as we return to the harvest field.
[00:28:16] Your Gospel mission, your harvest field is where you live. You may be the only Christian influence on your street or your neighborhood. It's where you work. You may be the only Christian influence amongst your co workers or your classmates. It's where you play. You may be the only Christian influence on your team in your golf foursome, where you work out, where your kids take lessons are, where your grandkids play on the playground.
[00:28:39] In our text, what Jesus is trying to get through to us is everywhere you go is the harvest field.
[00:28:45] So everywhere you go you're to live with your head up. Looking for opportunities, I've intentionally sought to engage people at Club Fitness and because of that I've probably made a dozen friends.
[00:28:58] Many I've had spiritual conversations with and several have come to church.
[00:29:04] Most recently, my friend Scott, who I met at Club Fitness three years ago, has placed his faith in Christ as his Savior through us meeting together weekly, studying the Bible.
[00:29:15] He's proclaimed Jesus to be his Savior and Lord. He wants to make Jesus first priority in his life. He said that I'm his pastor. He tends to come to the church and is going to tell everyone about the church.
[00:29:28] And this is just four months after he attempted suicide by swallowing 23 Xanax pills.
[00:29:36] This is the kind of work that Jesus can do and he wants to do it through you.
[00:29:45] I've renewed several relationships with grade school friends and we play pickleball maybe three times a month. And I've been able to share my testimony and the truth of the gospel. And they and their wives have visited the church and two of them are planning on attending Redemption Hill Church.
[00:29:58] God has given me the privilege to lead five people to Christ in the last three years, often using the evangel cube as eyewitness to what we use on the mission field in Columbia and shared Christ maybe with probably 15 to 20 more people.
[00:30:12] I'll be going with Greg on my seventh mission trip in four years where God has allowed me to lead. I don't know, we don't really count, but maybe 50 people or more to Christ and I get to see many of them when I return attending church.
[00:30:26] I work part time now that I've been on part time here at a agency called First Step back Home where they try to help people avoid homelessness or when they are homeless, we try to get them back on their feet. And there was a woman named Bridget who prayed with me to trust Christ. She was a former heroin addict who spent some time in prison who lost all eight of her kids from multiple deadbeat dads and she had nothing. She had absolutely nothing when I met her.
[00:30:51] And with Dave Bonnie's help and the network of resources he has through broken and Beautiful, she's now in a sober living house. She's going to church every week. She has someone leading her in discipleship. She goes to celebrate recovery, has recently received her parenting class graduation certificate that is hopeful of one day getting her two year old baby girl back and is being united with some of her kids. I wish I had a before and after picture that I could show on the screen because the countenance of her has drastically changed and that's because Jesus is in her life.
[00:31:24] This isn't all glory to Jim stuff, this is glory to God stuff.
[00:31:30] I have regrets that I spent so many years with my eyes closed to the harvest field and living life with my head down, not even realizing that I needed God to do a heart surgery on me.
[00:31:42] But I'm also really excited about the new things God has done and has planned for gospel ministry through me and the people of Redemption hill Church.
[00:31:52] Verse 38 of our text Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore to send out workers into his harvest field.
[00:32:00] And prayer is such a Vital part of Gospel ministry.
[00:32:04] Prayer is the key to a changed heart. Prayer is the key to a tender heart towards God. Prayer is the key to a tenderized heart for lost and hurting people. Prayer is the place of intimacy with God where your heart gets inflamed by the things of God. And prayer is the place where someone else's heart becomes open to receive the gospel because you've been diligently praying for them.
[00:32:26] We've known for some time that we should develop a list of our non Christian family and friends and co workers and neighbors and those people who we love and care for the most and pull out that list daily, bringing those people to God in prayer.
[00:32:41] I love a quote that I found in a in a book on prayer decades ago and it says in God's kingdom economy, things happen when we pray that do not happen when we don't.
[00:32:54] God doesn't need our prayers.
[00:32:57] God chooses to use our prayers.
[00:33:03] In our text, Jesus is revealing something else important about prayer. He says, pray for Christians to commit to being workers in the harvest field.
[00:33:10] You and I are the only answers to the problem.
[00:33:15] It's not just, hey God, I'm praying for Pastor Jim or Pastor Sam or Pastor Craig or Pastor Jesse or Pastor Alvin to be used by you to reach people. Or God, use my spouse and my kids. God use the members of IFC and Redemption Hill Church and Iglesias Emmanuel in your harvest field. Yes, God, use all of them. But God, use me.
[00:33:36] That should be your first and foremost prayer. God, use me to be a worker in your harvest field.
[00:33:42] It's not his suggestion, it's his command.
[00:33:49] You must be willing to be an answer to your prayers.
[00:33:54] And this begins with you having a change of heart and results in compassion, love and action on behalf of people who are far from God.
[00:34:05] Let's finish up by looking in the first few verses in Matthew 10. And I paraphrased it, it's going to be up on the screen.
[00:34:13] Jesus called his 12 disciples to him and gave them authority.
[00:34:16] These are the names of the twelve apostles. First, Peter and his brother Andrew, James and his brother John, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew. The tax collector, James and Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas Iscariot. These 12 Jesus sent out with instructions.
[00:34:33] So what we see here is Jesus is calling his 12 disciples to himself.
[00:34:37] He gives them authority for kingdom ministry and then he sends them out two by two.
[00:34:42] In the last verse of chapter nine, he tells them to pray for workers. And then immediately in chapter 10, the 12 are sent into the harvest field, they became workers. They were praying for God to send in my study. Some commentators suggest that at most, maybe a couple days passed between when they were told to pray and they went.
[00:35:05] But why list each name of the disciple being sent?
[00:35:10] Is there something important that the writer wanted to convey by listing each name?
[00:35:17] Is there an important insight that we're to glean?
[00:35:21] I think there is.
[00:35:23] God wants us to stop just for a moment and look at these guys credentials.
[00:35:29] Simon, called Peter, was a fisherman. He was outspoken and impulsive and was a massive failure in denying Jesus. James and John were called sons of Thunder because they asked Jesus if he wanted them to call down fire from heaven to consume lost people who rejected him.
[00:35:42] Matthew was a hated, despised tax collector working for the Romans. Simon was a political zealot, part of a violent group wanting to overthrow Rome. Thomas was a serious skeptic and doubter, refusing to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. And Judas was greedy and eventually betrayed Jesus.
[00:35:59] These guys were often confused about spiritual things. Most of them were not educated at the time. They were not theological giants. They abandoned Jesus in his gravest moments before his arrest.
[00:36:08] They hid after he was crucified, believing they were destined for the same fate. One denied him, another betrayed him. And after he rose, one seriously doubted that that was even possible.
[00:36:18] And when they were sent, they were not trained apologists of the faith. They still had a hard time understanding some of the basic things Jesus taught them.
[00:36:25] And yet they were men who changed the world and advanced the gospel throughout the known world. Are you getting it?
[00:36:32] You see, their credentials are no better than yours.
[00:36:35] And yet they were used by God in the harvest field to change the world for Christ.
[00:36:43] How can this be explained?
[00:36:47] Well, we know in part it was because of the resurrection of Christ.
[00:36:51] But I want to give you three other reasons that I see that can be applicable for us.
[00:36:56] The first thing is, is that Jesus promises he will be with those who are faithful to share the Gospel. His presence and power will be with you. You have the inner Holy Spirit, you can trust in him.
[00:37:08] Secondly, the pressure's off because only God can save.
[00:37:13] In 1 Corinthians 3, 6, Paul says, you can plant some seeds and you can come around and water some seeds that other people has planted, but only I can make them grow. You can't save anyone, so the pressure's off.
[00:37:25] But God wants to save others through you.
[00:37:32] Number three. All God is looking for is a willing heart.
[00:37:35] When you place your trust in him, you can relax and move out into the world with the Gospel because he's with you all the way.
[00:37:45] Listen, I don't have the gift of evangelism.
[00:37:48] I don't even have the gift of gab.
[00:37:51] I'm an introvert by nature.
[00:37:54] I'm not a great biblical apologist who can readily speak to every objection.
[00:38:00] God uses me for the simple reason that I have a willing heart.
[00:38:06] I want to close with this story.
[00:38:09] A longtime pastor named Steve reflected on how he was saved by Christ.
[00:38:14] He says, when I was in college, I hung out with a bunch of guys who loved to party. But one friend of mine named Dave seemed to have changed.
[00:38:21] Dave and I made it a ritual to get coffee on Mondays prior to class.
[00:38:25] And after a weekend of partying, most of the guys needed a pick me up.
[00:38:29] A conversation each Monday gradually shifted from manly banter to spiritual things.
[00:38:34] Dave would nervously try to tell me about his new faith in Jesus. He would stammer, his voice would quiver, and I would try to politely listen.
[00:38:43] This happened several Mondays in a row.
[00:38:46] I didn't want to be rude to Dave or cut him off.
[00:38:50] On the fourth Monday, his presentation didn't change.
[00:38:53] But that morning the light turned on in me.
[00:38:56] I understood what he was trying to tell me all this time, and I prayed at the table with Dave to crush Christ as my savior.
[00:39:09] Matthew 10:19 Just before Jesus releases his disciples into the world with the gospel, he tells them this. Do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the spirit of your Father speaking through you.
[00:39:26] Steve's now a pastor of over 30 years.
[00:39:29] He's influenced so many people to faith in Christ, all because of one college kid in his nervousness, loved his friend Sam more than he loved himself, more than his comfort and security, more than his friendship with the guys.
[00:39:43] I'm 67 years old right now. The majority of Redemption Hills core team is probably 55 to 70 years old.
[00:39:52] The only reason we're leaving IFC to go to St. Charles county to launch a new church in this season of our lives is in obedience to God's command to work in his harvest field.
[00:40:02] How about you, band? You can come back up.
[00:40:14] Many of us here today have been believers in Christ for 10, 20, 30 years or more.
[00:40:19] And over that time, I'd say that we probably heard 50 to 100 messages on being a witness, on doing the work of evangelism, on sharing the gospel with people, on being in the harvest field, Sharing the gospel with our friends and our family and our neighbors, and Our co workers. And yet here we are.
[00:40:44] God decided we needed to hear back to back messages about the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Why? Why do you think that is?
[00:40:52] Because we weren't getting it.
[00:40:55] We weren't allowing it to fill our hearts.
[00:41:01] Don't you think that all the rationalizations and justifications and excuses you've used for why you aren't a worker in the harvest field just really doesn't cut it? When your Savior saved you and now has commanded you to go, can you actually remember what your life was like without Jesus?
[00:41:22] When I remember what my life was like without Christ, love wells up in my heart for those who far from God.
[00:41:28] While I was an accomplished athlete and I had my degree and always had plenty of friends and a girlfriend, my life was plagued by anxiety. I had an empty society that nothing could fill. I was enslaved by my lustful desires and questioned life, if it even had a purpose.
[00:41:47] And that's you're surrounded by those people who on the outside you think have it all together, but inside they have no hope.
[00:41:58] The big idea this morning is when following Jesus, the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart to review. The heart of Jesus is always connected to the mission of Jesus. The heart of Jesus sees the hopeless condition of those who are far from God. The heart of Jesus has compassion for people who are far from God and followers who have the heart of Jesus become the solution to the problem.
[00:42:20] So my question to close is, where is your heart today?
[00:42:26] Are you convicted that you need to obey and be a worker in the harvest field of God?
[00:42:32] Maybe you need to submit to the great physician as I did, who wants to do spiritual heart surgery on you.
[00:42:39] And there's two steps I see.
[00:42:42] You have to start here by pursuing a heart change.
[00:42:46] You got to be honest where your heart's been.
[00:42:48] And you got to ask God to forgive you for your indifference and lack of compassion for lost people.
[00:42:55] You need to cry out to him, God, forgive me for all the excuses I've made and the fear I've accepted as a way of life. Change my heart. Give me a heart of compassion for lost people.
[00:43:06] And secondly, I would suggest telling one of your pastors or a close friend about it.
[00:43:12] I want to be a worker in God's harvest field. Will you help me? You see, because nothing really ever becomes real until we tell somebody else about what God's doing in our heart.
[00:43:24] I want you to spend some time in prayer right now talking things over with God.
[00:43:28] Then I'm going to come back up and lead us in a prayer.
[00:43:32] So go ahead and spend time with the Lord right now.
