The Harvest Needs Laborers

Well, I was going to be a bit aggressive and try to preach through Matthew 10 today,

but we're going to stick to Matthew 9, verses 35-38.

Matthew 9:35–38

And so if you would open up your Bibles to Matthew 9, verses 35-38,

Matthew 9:35–38

I would just delight in reading them to you.

And as we're reading, take note of Jesus' heart.

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.

When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them,

because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

Then He said to His disciples,

the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest

to send out laborers into His, His, His harvest.

Let's go for a drive together.

Let's say you meet me down at K9 Corner.

Do you know where that is?

Down on 22nd Avenue on the south side,

right next to Anderson Pool.

Let's say we're going to meet there.

We're going to meet in my pickup truck.

I'm going to take you on a tour of sorts of Kenosha,

and we're just going to make a kind of a beeline north on 22nd Avenue.

And so we get into my pickup truck,

and as we're pulling out,

I start telling you about the different demographics

that we see going north.

Oh, this neighborhood over here,

oh, those are ranches built in the 50s and 60s.

Mixed neighborhoods, mixed income.

We have owner occupiers.

We have renters there.

Oh, this neighborhood over here,

those apartment complexes,

primarily people with lower incomes,

ethnically very diverse.

And as we're driving,

we hear this,

from the back seat.

My pickup truck's got this back bench

you can squeeze people in on,

and it's Jesus.

And Jesus says something to the extent of this.

Those things, Mike, you may be saying are true,

but every person in that neighborhood

is a sheep without a shepherd.

I see that neighborhood as a harvest.

I look to you,

and I look in the rearview mirror,

and we keep on going.

I bring you to the next neighborhood.

I give you kind of a demographic stats.

Oh, the crime rate is rising here

past this certain road.

Jesus says, well, that may be true,

but everyone in that crime-ridden neighborhood

is a sheep without a shepherd.

They need me.

It's a harvest.

Needing laborers.

I look at you.

I look at Jesus.

We keep on going.

Next neighborhood, we come to uptown.

I try to describe it as best I can.

Then, Jesus says, this is my harvest.

These are sheep without a shepherd.

They're harassed and helpless.

I look at you.

I look at Jesus.

We keep on going.

We get up to about Washington Road,

and I start saying,

well, that, you know,

Muni Golf Course,

the velodrome,

the park,

it's a berry of sorts.

There's a different kind of demographic

on each side of it,

and I look up in the rearview mirror,

and I see Jesus.

We meet eyes,

and I say,

but they're all sheep without a shepherd.

And then you say,

and it's all a harvest field.

And then I say,

and they need laborers.

Laborers.

And then Jesus says,

so pray to the Lord of the harvest

to send out laborers.

This morning, we're going to see

Jesus' heart for the lost.

And His heart for the lost

will compel you.

It will compel you

to have a heart for the lost.

When you see people

the way that Jesus sees people,

when you feel about people

the way that Jesus feels about people,

your priorities change.

You will want to live

for what matters most

according to Jesus.

Not the American dream.

You're going to want to join Him

in His mission

to reconcile sinners

to God in this harvest field.

So here's how we're going to proceed.

We're going to walk through the text.

And I'm going to show you,

I'm going to make five observations.

And then those five observations

move to a point.

I'll make that point.

And then we'll seek to apply it

to our lives.

We're going to read about something

that happened maybe 2,000 years ago.

And we're going to bring it

to our lives to bear today

in 2017.

2017.

So what we're going to see here

is God's heart for the lost

and it's designed to compel us.

So, let's turn back to Matthew 9, verse 35.

Matthew 9:35

In observation number one,

the thing I want you to notice is

where Jesus is at.

Look at verse 35.

And Jesus went throughout

all the cities and villages.

Jesus is on the move.

But what you need to see

is that Jesus is on the move

throughout all the cities

and villages of Galilee.

Estimates range from there being

upwards of 200 plus cities and villages

in the greater Galilean metroplex.

But as we talk about that,

I just want to remember,

remind you who Jesus is.

Because you can read

that Jesus is cruising around Galilee

and forget that He's God in the flesh.

Do you remember John 1?

The Word became flesh

and dwelt among us.

Remember Matthew chapter 1?

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

Jesus is God with us, Emmanuel.

And so, do you see what's going on here?

We are seeing God in the flesh

walking around Galilee.

God's there.

He's walking.

It's exactly where He intends to be.

It's no accident.

He's not there against His will.

He is in and among the people.

He is on a mission.

A mission of mercy

to reconcile sinners to God.

It's in His name.

Jesus.

It means God saves.

That's why He's there.

Now, some of you remember

back in 2005,

Hurricane Katrina.

Do you remember that?

It did over $100 billion of damage

in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

You may not remember this,

but when Katrina made landfall,

President Bush was on vacation

in Crawford, Texas.

And he stayed on vacation

in Crawford, Texas.

And he eventually flew out of Texas

on August 31st.

August 29th is when Katrina hit.

And as he's flying back to Washington, D.C.,

he tells the Air Force One pilots

to kind of veer over the devastated area.

And there is this photograph taken

of President Bush

looking out a window of Air Force One

and looking down upon the devastation

wrought by Katrina.

And to this day,

he would say,

that was one of his biggest regrets.

Because in that photograph,

it depicts him as being distant

and uncaring.

Some say that his presidency

started to fade at that point.

Our southern citizens,

they were harassed and helpless.

And they needed a leader.

And he flew right over them.

Not so with Jesus.

Galatians 4.4 says that

just the right time,

Jesus' feet hit the ground.

He didn't stay away.

He didn't fly over.

He came.

Some people have a very big challenge

with the problem of evil.

And it's not the easiest thing

to talk about,

but I can say this.

Our God,

in light of the evil

that has been wrought by sin,

He didn't stay away.

He didn't write white papers.

What He did was this.

He came and dwelt among us.

He came and joined us in the mix

to do something.

To give His life as a ransom for many.

To completely reverse

the multi-layered effects of sin.

That's why He came.

He addresses the problem of evil.

Square on.

Jesus came.

And when He walked around

these cities and villages of Galilee,

and as He sees these crowds,

it had a deep effect on Him.

So the first thing I want you to notice

is where Jesus is at.

He's in and among the people.

Just where He intended to be.

That's our Savior.

That's our God.

The second thing I want you to notice

is what Jesus is doing

while He's traveling

through the cities and villages of Galilee.

We read that in verse 35,

that He's teaching

and proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,

and He's healing all sorts

of different diseases and sicknesses.

He was actively working

while He was in town.

He's not cruising through

taking snapshots.

He's not in some kind of bus

unable to be seen by anybody else.

He's walking through,

engaged, doing the work of the Kingdom.

That's what the teaching

and the proclaiming

and the healing was all about.

It was pointing to Him coming

and establishing the Kingdom of Heaven.

The saving reign of God.

We spent quite a bit of time

in the Sermon on the Mount.

It's an unbelievable sample

of His teaching.

Jesus gets a ton done.

It's the inaugural address

of the King who has come.

And what He does in it,

He says,

this is what's to be true

of My citizens,

the Beatitudes.

And they start with being poor in spirit.

The hallmark of My people

is humility,

is what He says.

And then He goes on to teach

in the Sermon on the Mount

how His citizens live

in full light of the law

and live fully in obedience to it

for the glory of God.

And at the end of chapter 7,

the crowds were amazed

at His teaching

because of His authority.

It was authoritative.

It was a signal

that the Kingdom of Heaven

had come.

Not only does He teach,

He proclaims,

He preaches,

He announces.

And what we learn here

is that He proclaimed

the Gospel of the Kingdom.

The good news

that the Kingdom had arrived.

And notice,

the Kingdom arrived

when Jesus arrived.

He's the King

of God's Kingdom.

He brings the saving rain

when He came.

If you look back

at Matthew 4, verse 23,

Matthew 4:23

this was His M.O.

He would go around

teaching, proclaiming,

and healing.

We read in Matthew 4, 23,

and He went throughout

all of Galilee,

teaching in their synagogues

and proclaiming

the Gospel of the Kingdom

and healing every disease

and every affliction

among the people.

So His fame spread.

He taught,

He preached,

and He healed.

He proclaimed the Kingdom.

It was good news.

Here's what happens

with the Kingdom.

Here's where the Kingdom is.

The Kingdom is where

Jesus is being proclaimed.

Sinners are responding

in repentance and faith

and becoming Christians.

And they're being discipled

to obey Him

and all that He commanded.

And His name is being glorified.

That's where the Kingdom

of Heaven is.

That's where the saving reign

of God is.

And Jesus brought that

with Him when He came.

And He announced it.

He announced it

through His teaching.

He announced it

through His proclamation.

And He also made it clear

through His healing.

If you look back

at Matthew 8 and 9,

it is one healing

after another.

It starts with

Jesus healing a leper.

And He does what

nobody else would do.

He touches the leper.

And instead of being

made unclean,

Jesus cleans the unclean

with His touch.

It's amazing.

And remember the centurion?

Jesus heals the servant

of the centurion

from a distance.

It doesn't end there.

The demons and the Gadarenes,

Jesus casts them out.

But, we go on

and we read about

Jesus healing Jairus' daughter.

We read about Jesus

healing a woman

with a 12-year hemorrhage

of blood

that made her unclean

and isolate.

Jesus healed her

and then put her forward

to everybody and said,

she's back in the mix, gang.

Doesn't stop there.

Jesus goes on

to heal two blind men.

Then He heals

a demonized dumb man.

Do you remember all that?

Again and again and again.

He's healing.

And then,

there's the whole healing

of the paralytic.

Do you remember

what happened there?

Jesus heals this paralyzed man.

And it's clear why He does.

He heals his physical paralysis

in order to demonstrate

His authority

to heal the disease of sin.

So that you may know

that the Son of Man

has authority on earth

to forgive sins.

He turns to the paralytic

and says, rise,

get your mat,

and go home.

And He does.

There, Jesus is bringing

in His authority

both over the spiritual

and physical maladies

we all have to endure.

At the end of chapter 9,

we are just amazed

amazed that this man

is unlike any other.

And after all of His healing,

the crowds were amazed

that God had given authority

to man.

His teaching,

His proclaiming,

His healing,

we all point

to this is the one

that has brought

the kingdom of heaven.

So the second thing

I want you to notice

is what He's doing

when He's cruising around

the Galilean Metroplex.

The third thing

I want you to notice,

we see in verse 36,

when He saw the crowds,

when He saw the crowds,

He's making His way

through these villages

and cities,

and when He saw the crowds,

He had compassion for them

because they were harassed

and helpless.

The third thing

I want you to see,

I want you to notice,

is how Jesus sees.

Not just that He sees,

but how He sees.

He saw the crowds.

He had compassion for them

because they were harassed

and helpless

like sheep without a shepherd.

Those two words,

harassed and helpless,

they're worth spending

a little time talking about.

Have you ever been bullied?

Have you ever been harassed?

I was harassed by a man

not too long ago

who threatened me,

threatened my family.

It was a very uncomfortable time.

Harassed is a word

that means to trouble,

to annoy.

We tend to think about

in terms of being bullied.

maybe you've been threatened before.

It's not fun.

And it's not just the threat.

It's the experience.

It's the experience of being beat up,

whether that's physically or emotionally.

Now, this word harassed,

the sense of being bullied and beat up

is linked to this word helpless,

harassed and helpless.

That, in the original language,

it literally means to be cast down,

to be made prostrate.

And the idea there is

you're vulnerable.

Being exposed to harm

without any kind of recourse.

Someone taking advantage of you,

you don't have anything to do,

any ability to protect yourself.

I don't know about you,

but there are a few things

more psychologically diminishing

than when you are being threatened

and you don't feel like

you can do anything about it.

You feel completely vulnerable

and exposed and helpless.

Harassed and helpless.

And so, what we see here

is that Jesus is making His way

through Galilee.

He's going from city to village to town.

He's teaching.

He's preaching.

He's healing.

And He's taking note

of this people.

This people He's in the midst of.

They're harassed and helpless.

Like sheep without a shepherd.

This is a different group of people

than the Pharisees and the scribes.

These are people that

are just feeling the impact

of their lousy leadership.

The harassed and helpless

are those who are being brutalized

by the fallout of sin.

Whether it's disease,

or whether it's demons,

or death,

or natural disaster,

or just the dysfunctional leadership

of the Pharisees and the scribes

of the time.

So what we see happening here

is Jesus sees the crowds,

and He sees that they are harassed

and helpless,

and it moves Him.

He's affected by it.

But just to be honest,

the harassed and helpless,

that's symptomatic of the real problem.

And Matthew points us right to it.

Harassed and helpless

like sheep without a shepherd.

The biggest problem

that these harassed and helpless sheep

were experiencing

was not so much

the experience of harassment,

it's the symptom of them

not having a shepherd for them.

They were shepherdless.

That was the problem.

Jesus is the good shepherd.

Jesus is the shepherd king

from the line of David

who had come

in order to lead His people.

If you want to look at Matthew 2.16,

look what happens.

Look what is announced of Jesus.

Jesus.

And you, O Bethlehem,

in the land of Judah,

are by no means least

among the rulers of Judah.

For from you shall come a ruler

who will shepherd My people Israel.

If you flip back all the way

to Ezekiel 34,

don't go there.

Look at it this afternoon.

Look at it sometime this week.

God's people,

the shepherds,

the men He's put in place,

has failed His people.

And so God Himself says,

I will shepherd My people.

I will become their shepherd.

And so what we see happening here

is the shepherd has come.

And He's walking around Galilee

and He's seeing all the effects

of a people who lack a shepherd.

And so His heart of compassion

springs from this void of leadership.

Their King has come.

Now just a word about sheep.

Sheep are known to be dumb animals.

A sheep would graze in the same place

until there was nothing left but dirt.

If it weren't for a shepherd

to move that sheep along

to greener pastures.

They are not the smartest animals.

They need the provision of guidance.

But they also are easily harassed.

They really don't have

any stellar defense mechanisms.

I don't know about you,

but I've never seen quills

on a sheep before.

I'm unaware of any poison glands

on a sheep.

I don't think they have

switchblades in their pockets.

They need protection.

In short,

sheep are helpless.

They're easily harassed

and they need a lot of help.

And what Jesus says

throughout the Gospels

is that people are like sheep.

We need help.

Because of the deceitfulness

of sin in our own hearts,

here's what we do.

We become enslaved

to the very pleasures

that we think

are going to satisfy us.

And so we eat

and eat

from the same place

until it's just dirt

and we think all is well.

We like to think

we can protect ourselves.

But our defense mechanisms

never fully work,

do they?

Have you met people

who are so guarded

about being hurt

they essentially isolate themselves

from everybody else?

We all need help.

We're more like sheep

than we care to admit.

We're all in need

of a shepherd.

2,000 years ago,

Jesus walked around

the Galilean metroplex

and He identified the need.

You need a shepherd.

We need a shepherd today.

The harassed and helpless

just didn't live then.

You drive around this city

and you will see

plenty of harassed

and helpless.

Jesus saw the crowds

as they truly were.

and Jesus sees us

as we truly are.

He sees through

our empty attempts

of satisfying ourselves.

He sees through

our weak attempts

to protect ourselves.

And you know how He responds?

He doesn't bring the heavy.

He brings a compassionate heart.

You need a shepherd.

That's what you need.

So, the third thing

I want to notice here

is how He sees

these crowds

and how He sees

many of us

like sheep

without a shepherd.

Jesus identifies

our greatest need.

He

is

our shepherd.

shepherd.

The fourth thing

I want you to notice

is in verse 36 too.

When He saw the crowds,

He had compassion for them

because they were harassed

and helpless

like sheep

without a shepherd.

He's affected

by what He sees.

He's moved

deeply

by the shepherdless crowds.

He moves

towards them.

There were great crowds

of people following Jesus.

We read that in Matthew 4.23.

That also comes up

in Matthew 8.1.

And as He's making His way

throughout Galilee,

He's seeing these crowds.

And Matthew tells us

not only how He sees them,

but how He feels about them.

What we see here

is the heart of God

for the lost.

His heart for sinners.

His heart for the harassed

and for the helpless.

It's just like God's heart

for His people

back in Ezekiel 34.

He wants good for His people.

He wants Himself

for His people.

When Jesus saw the crowds,

He didn't see

a potential fan base.

He didn't see

the grassroots

of a new political movement.

He didn't see

a demographic market

to make a quick denarius.

Matthew tells us

that when Jesus saw the crowds,

He had compassion for them

because He saw them

as sheep without a shepherd.

And that's why He came.

That word compassion

is used in your New Testament

only of Jesus.

Only of Him.

It's used only of Him

and only by Him.

And what seems to be

going on there

is that this compassion

is more than human pity.

It's more than just

a human emotion

to seeing people

in tough situations.

What we see happening here

is the heart

of the Messiah.

The Good Shepherd.

His heart is on display

for the harassed

and helpless sheep.

Jesus is deeply moved

at seeing these people

and their need for Him.

It's why He came.

He's deeply, deeply moved by it.

What Matthew seems to be saying

is this deep emotion

he's experiencing

is unique to the office

he holds.

He's the Messiah King.

The Shepherd who has come

in the line of David.

And he sees His people.

A people needing Him.

So, what I want you to notice

is how He feels.

How He feels about

the harassed and helpless.

How He feels about those

without a shepherd.

The fifth thing I want you to notice

is how Jesus responds.

What Jesus does first.

He sees these crowds.

He is moved to the depths

of His being over it.

And what He does first

is really instructive for us.

Really informative.

We see that in verses 37 and 38.

He's moved to compassion.

He sees these people

like sheep without a shepherd.

And then He says to His disciples,

the harvest is plentiful,

but the laborers are few.

Therefore, pray.

Pray.

Pray.

Pray earnestly to the Lord

of the harvest

to send out laborers

into the harvest field.

Pray.

Did you notice there's a shift

from language?

A language that moves

from sheep and shepherds

to harvest and laborers

and the Lord of the harvest.

So there's a shift in metaphor here.

The harvest that Jesus speaks of,

of course, it's not a harvest of wheat.

It's not a harvest of corn or soybeans.

It's a harvest of the harassed and helpless.

The harvest is a harvest of people.

People are incredibly important to God.

Do you know why?

We're made in His image.

We're designed to worship Him.

His worship,

the worship of His name,

He treasures.

And when His name is not treasured,

it grieves Him deeply.

People are very important

to the living God.

And so He starts talking harvest.

And in verse 7,

He seems to identify a problem.

According to Jesus,

there's too much harvest

and not enough laborers.

Up until this point,

Matthew, Jesus has been doing

the work of ministry Himself.

And next week,

when we look at Matthew 10,

we're going to see Him

send out 12

to join Him

in the work

of the harvest field.

But right here,

what we're seeing is

Jesus is aware

of a harvest boon

and a serious labor shortage.

And how does He respond?

What does He do?

He calls a prayer meeting.

That's what He does.

He sees the problem

and He says,

let's go to the Lord

of the harvest.

Let's ask Him

to send out laborers

into His harvest field.

Did you notice that?

Whose harvest this is?

The Lord of the harvest.

His harvest.

He's speaking of God.

God's in control.

God looks at the city

of Kenosha

and He's thinking,

this is my harvest.

But what I want you

to notice is

the first impulse

of Jesus

is not to equip people

on how to share their faith.

There's a place for that.

It's to call people

to pray

for the Lord of the harvest

to raise up laborers.

So five things

I wanted you to notice.

Where Jesus is.

What Jesus is doing there.

How Jesus sees people.

How He feels about them.

And what's the first thing He does?

He calls a prayer meeting.

He calls us to pray.

And so the point

of it all is this.

God is showing us

the compassionate heart

of Jesus

to reconcile sinners to God.

It's all about reconciliation.

Reconciling sheep

to their shepherd.

Harvesting a people

to the Lord of the harvest.

It's all about

reconciliation.

It's the mission of Jesus.

And that's what He's calling us

to be a part of.

If you see the heart of Jesus,

if you see His heart,

how He sees people,

and how He feels about people,

it's going to change your priorities.

You're going to want to join Him

in the work He's doing.

And so in light of that,

let's apply this

in four ways.

First is this.

Delight.

Joy.

Rejoice.

Why?

Here's why.

Delight yourself

in that the compassion of Jesus

was towards you.

He had compassion on you.

He was moved at your situation.

And He did something about it.

If you're a Christian,

remember you were once harassed

and helpless like a sheep

without a shepherd.

But if you put your faith in Jesus,

no more.

Your shepherd is for you now.

You belong to His flock.

He wanted you to be His own.

So much so,

He laid down His life for you.

He's your shepherd.

He has claimed you as His own.

And He will never let you go.

Now let's say you're here this morning

and you're not a Christian yet.

I'd like you to ask yourself a question.

Is it possible

that the risen Jesus

has a heart full of compassion towards you?

And His heart is full of compassion towards you

because you are a sheep without a shepherd.

His heart moves towards you

because He wants to be your shepherd.

He wants you to respond to Him in faith.

He wants to reconcile you to Himself.

And so if you find yourself in a situation

where you came in here and said,

I'm not Christian.

I don't want to follow Jesus.

And now you're thinking,

well, maybe I want to be a Christian.

Maybe I want to follow...

He sounds awesome.

He's paid for my sin.

Well, let me tell you.

Here's what you need to do.

You need to start being honest with yourself

and honest with Him.

You need to tell Him

that you've made a mess of your life

trying to be your own shepherd.

Trying to lead yourself everywhere.

And you've made a mess of things.

And then you tell Him something like this.

You say,

I believe you laid down your life for me.

Lord, would you take me as your own?

He says yes every time.

He'll bring you into His fold.

Make you one of His sheep.

But it doesn't end there.

Tell Him you will follow Him

wherever He leads

and obey Him at whatever the cost.

Tell Him it.

Tell Him it.

I'll go wherever you lead.

I'll obey whatever you say.

Now let me just say something right there.

When you see Jesus for who He is,

these kinds of words of response,

I'll follow you wherever.

I'll obey you no matter what.

Those kinds of words of response,

they don't spring from duty.

Yes, Jesus, I will do whatever you say.

Yes, sir.

They spring from delight.

They spring from joy.

Here's why.

Because when you realize

you were lost

and your shepherd

came and found you

and laid down His life for you

so that you could be part of His flock,

do you know what happens?

Delight.

I will follow my shepherd

wherever He leads me.

I will go wherever He wants.

I will obey every word

as I am able.

Where are you at?

Where are you at?

Today, God is talking to you.

Respond to Him.

He wants to be your shepherd.

Delight first.

The second thing is see.

See people as Jesus sees people.

So see sheep,

see harvest.

People everywhere

need a shepherd.

We've got that in common.

So when you run into someone

with a different skin color than you,

that person needs a shepherd

just like you.

Whenever you bump into someone

who has a different sexual orientation

than you do,

I'm not saying that's okay.

I'm just saying

that's where we live.

When that happens,

realize that person needs a shepherd.

When you bump into people

of different income levels,

who cares if they're poor?

Who cares if they're rich?

They all need a shepherd.

Educational backgrounds.

You bump into someone

who didn't get out of elementary school.

And then you meet someone

with three PhDs.

You know what they have in common?

They need a shepherd.

Criminal backgrounds.

Someone has clean as a bill.

Other ones has racked up

years in jail.

They all need a shepherd.

Maybe you're here legally

as a citizen of the United States.

And maybe you know someone

who's here illegally.

We all need a shepherd.

We're all like sheep

without a shepherd.

Every person living in this city

is somehow harassed and helpless.

It changes the way

that you see them.

And it's not just limited

to our city.

This is a global phenomena.

All seven whatever billion people

on the face of the earth

in need of a shepherd.

One shepherd.

The shepherd.

The good shepherd

who laid down his life

for his sheep.

Let me just kind of dial this in

a little bit more.

Husbands.

Your wife needs Jesus,

the good shepherd,

more than she needs you.

Wives.

Your husbands need Jesus,

the good shepherd,

more than they need you.

Parents.

See your children

as sheep needing

the good shepherd.

It changes the way

you parent.

If you're a friend,

see your friends

as people in need

of the shepherd.

You got an overbearing boss?

He needs the shepherd.

And so do you

as you deal with him.

You got an annoying sibling?

You both need a shepherd.

You've got a nosy neighbor?

They need a shepherd.

We need to see people as sheep

and we need to see our city

and the neighborhoods in it

as a harvest field.

If you drove along 22nd Avenue,

how would you interpret

what you see normally?

What would you see?

Would you see different crime rates

of the different neighborhoods?

Would you see different home values

based on locations?

Would you think of different qualities

of school based on the neighborhoods?

different business opportunities?

Police activity?

How do you interpret it?

How do you make sense of it?

When you see it,

how do you see it?

See it like Jesus sees it.

Harvest.

If Jesus was in the back seat

when you're driving,

you know what He would say to you

as you're driving through Allendale?

Well, it's my harvest.

It needs laborers.

Harbor Park?

It's a harvest.

It needs laborers.

Wilson neighborhood?

It's a harvest.

It needs laborers.

Lincoln Park?

All the way through

as you get out

from downtown Kenosha

and as you work your way

west, north, and south.

It all is a harvest field

needing Jesus.

Needing laborers.

See the city

as Jesus sees the city.

It's a harvest.

You need to want

what Jesus wants.

So delight, see, want.

Let me just ask it this way.

When you see your neighbor

next door to you,

does it occur to you

that they need a shepherd?

Have you started asking yourself

the question,

with those people living around you,

what does Jesus want to do here?

Have you begun asking yourself

that question?

Start asking yourself that question.

You begin to want what Jesus wants.

How does Jesus feel about your neighbors?

is it possible that he wants to be their shepherd too?

And finally, pray.

Pray along the lines

that Jesus compels us to pray.

Pray for laborers.

We had a leadership team meeting

this past Wednesday

and we all heard this

very interesting statistic.

92% of church growth in the United States

is by transfer growth.

It's Christians going from church to church to church.

And then there's a place for that.

We're not saying that's bad necessarily.

So far as Christians are leaving one church

and going to the next

for God-pleasing reasons

and God-pleasing ways,

welcome.

But I'll tell you what,

we want to be a church here in the city

that is growing more and more

by conversions.

Men and women hearing Jesus

and realizing I am harassed and helpless

and I don't have a shepherd

and you're the shepherd.

And you lay down your life for me.

That's why we're here.

And that's what we're going to pray for

this Friday night, 7 o'clock.

Here, we're going to pray for revival

and we're going to pray for the raising up

of laborers to go to our city.

We're going to do that on Friday night.

Do you know what we're doing on Saturday?

We're sending Chelsea Zeman to Nicaragua.

Is that pretty cool?

May there be more Chelsea Zemans

that go to our city,

in our state,

in our nation,

in this world.

Would you start praying personally

for laborers?

Pray when you're driving.

Pray with your family around the dinner table.

Pray in your life groups

and join us this Friday as we pray here.

Let's go for a drive.

Say we may meet down at Canine Corner.

This time Jesus is driving.

And as we're making our way north,

person after person,

He points to and says,

you see Him?

Harassed and helpless.

A sheep without a shepherd.

He needs me.

She needs me.

They need me.

I'm the shepherd.

He goes on to say,

all these neighborhoods,

these are all different areas

of this harvest

that I want to harvest souls from.

The harvest is plentiful,

but the laborers are few.

Let's pray to the Lord of the harvest.

And let's pray that He sends us.

Lord Jesus,

we are so thankful

that You are the good shepherd.

Thank You that for many of us in this room,

You have come for us.

You laid Your life down for us.

And now we know Your voice

and we follow You with great joy

even when things get tough.

Lord,

we want to live our lives for You

and we want to be on Your mission.

God,

would You raise up laborers

to go to the city of Kenosha

to speak the Gospel,

to swing the sickle of the Gospel

and to harvest for You men and women,

boys and girls,

from all stripes of life

to live for the glory of Your name.

It's Your name we pray.

Amen.