Let me take just a moment to encourage all of you who ‘were’ Harvest members, as well as those of you who may have wanted to become members, to attend the upcoming EFCSD membership class. Since we are now a one-church church, past Harvest membership is no longer valid. Each person must now become a member of EFCSD in order to have true rights of membership (according to EFC by-laws). In addition, if the Harvest congregation wants to play a part in the overall direction of this one church, it is imperative that each person become a member. The rights of membership include being able to vote on many issues pertaining to our church, including who our elders and deacons will be, as well as future pastoral positions. We want all voices to be heard as we move forward.

The process is fairly simple. Fill out a membership application form (download here), and attend the upcoming membership class this Sunday (4/25/10) after lunch. The application forms will then be reviewed, and acceptance for membership will be announced in the days following. Even if you are not sure if you will be attending Harvest in the days ahead, I would still encourage you to apply for membership.

If you have any questions, please forward them to myself, or anyone on the Harvest core team.

God bless,
Pastor Jeff

1. The Growth of this Kingdom is dependent upon (or founded upon) the preaching of the Word of God.

   This is how the growth of this Kingdom initially begins. It begins with the planting of the seed of The Word of God. In fact, this is where the growth of this Kingdom must begin. To expect the Kingdom of God to grow without the proclamation of the Word of God is like expecting a plant to grow without first sowing a seed. It can’t be done. And so, the preaching of the Word of God is essential in bringing about Kingdom growth.

2. The Growth of this Kingdom is mysterious in nature, and is therefore hidden from natural human understanding.

   We find this point made quite clearly in the words of verse 27, where it says that this sower ‘went to bed at night and got up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows – how, he himself does not know’. And so it is with the Word of God. How the Word of God grows in the life of a person is a mystery to all of us. We do not understand it. We do not see the inner workings. We cannot put the human soul under a microscope to see how the seed of the Word germinates and grows in the life of a believer. It is completely hidden from our sight. In fact, the only thing we ‘can’ see is the fruit that is brought forth from the planted seed. But, as to the process, we cannot know.

3. The Growth of this Kingdom is progressive in nature, and once started, will inevitably see itself to completion.

   In this point, we find two great truths presented. First, we see how the growth of this Kingdom is ‘progressive’ in nature. Notice how this seed did not grow to maturity over night, but it grew in stages; ‘first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain on the head’. And, of course, what we see here, in this progression of growth, is similar to what we see in the growth of the Christian. In fact, this is the testimony of every Christian. Like a seed, an individual Christian grows in stages, and he does not reach maturity overnight.

   Secondly, we see how this seed will eventually grow up to maturity. Yes, it will grow in stages, and yes, sometimes that growth will seem very slow, but eventually maturity will come. And, again, the same can be said for the Christian. Christian maturity is guaranteed. As Philippians 1:6 says ‘…He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus’. And so, let the Christian not get too discouraged if the growth process doesn’t go as fast as he would like. Eventually, he will get there.

4. The Growth of this Kingdom will eventually culminate with a great gathering of the Harvest.

   It says in verse 29 that ‘when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the Harvest has come’. Here is the culmination. Here is the ultimate purpose for which this seed was planted. It was planted to reap a harvest. Now, of course, what we read here, in this statement, is a symbol of what will happen at the end of the age, when God will gather up all those who are His own. When He will collect all those who have had the Word of God planted in them. When He will bring together all those who have grown and brought forth fruit to maturity. He will gather them all up and He will bring them into His storehouse.

And so, the question all of us need to ask ourselves today is the question ‘will I be there?’. Will I be there when this great gathering takes place? Of course, the answer, in large part, depends upon whether you have had the Word of God implanted in you or not, and whether that Word is producing fruit to maturity.

And so, let us examine ourselves today to see if the Word has truly been implanted in us. Let us search ourselves today to see if we are producing mature fruit. And let us test ourselves today to see if we will be there when the great day of Harvest comes. Now, as to when the day of Harvest will come, none of us can truly know. But, this much we do know. It will come.

I close with the words of Revelation 14:14-16, which says…

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe”. Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

In Ephesians 5:16, the apostle Paul exhorts his Ephesian readers to ‘make the most of their time’, again suggesting that time is a precious commodity. But, why so? Why is time so precious? Let me offer some reasons.

Put off slothfulness, put off procrastination. Live every moment to its fullest.

First, time is precious because it is brief.

The apostle James tells us in James 4:14 that our lives are ‘just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away’. Again, in Psalm 39:5, King David writes this: ‘Behold, you have made my days as handsbreaths, and my lifetime as nothing in your sight; surely every man at his best is a mere breath’. In other words, our time in this world is short; our time is brief. And just as the scarcity of a commodity makes that commodity all the more valuable, so also, the brevity of time should make time all the more valuable.

Secondly, time is precious because once it is gone, it is gone forever.

Time cannot be retrieved. In this sense, time is quite unique when compared to the other commodities of life. Whatever other things we may possess in life, if we should use them, or sell them, we can to some degree always replace them again. But, not so with ‘time’. Time, once it is used up, is gone forever.

Thirdly, time is precious because what we do with it will determine our future happiness in this world.

If we spend our time on sin, we will reap the consequences of sin. If we spend our time being lazy, we will reap the consequences of laziness. Then again, if we should spend our time pursuing righteousness, if we spend our time pursuing God’s will, well then, life will go well with us. And we will enjoy peace, and joy, and the favor of God in this world. In other words, how we spend our time now, will determine the quality of our lives in the future. For this reason, time should be seen as precious.

Finally, time is precious because what we do with it has eternal significance.

Let us not forget that God has given us a predetermined amount of time in this world, and in that span of time, He has given us certain things to do; things that will determine our eternal future. He has given us time in which to serve Him, and what we do with that time will determine our rewards in heaven. In Matthew 6:19-20 Jesus said ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy, and where thieves do not break in or steal’. In these words, Jesus reminds us all that we have a choice, a choice between spending our time pursuing ‘earthly treasures’ or spending our time pursuing ‘heavenly treasures’. And the decision we make has eternal consequences. Again, once our time runs out, our opportunity to store up ‘heavenly treasures’ also runs out. And so, what we do with our time certainly affects our own eternity. But not only that, but what we do with our time may also affect the eternity of somebody else. Our use of time in spreading the gospel and ministering to those around us may be the means that God uses to bring someone else to Himself. And we must not squander this time. We must not say ‘I will speak to him tomorrow’; ‘I will tell that person about Christ tomorrow’. Again, tomorrow may never come.

Practically Speaking

But now, if time is so precious, what can we practically do to ‘redeem it’? Here are a couple of thoughts:

Be Resolved

First, for those who like to make New Years resolutions, consider making the resolution that Jonathan Edwards made for himself, when he said this; ‘Resolved: Never to lose one moment of time, but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can’. In other words, endeavor to make the most of your time. Put off slothfulness, put off procrastination. Live every moment to its fullest.

Be Accountable

Secondly, consider doing what the great Reformer Philip Melancthlon was said to have done. It is said that he would keep a list of all the ways in which he wasted time during the day, and then at the end of the day, he would confess it to the Lord. In other words, keep yourself accountable for wasted time.

And so, as we now embark on the year 2010, may we see this year for what it is. A brief, but precious time, in which we have the opportunity to serve the Lord for His glory. Let us walk as wise men, and make the most of this time.

Something worth worshiping will require sacrifice. God, the Heavenly Father, desires ultimate worship and this requires ultimate sacrifice on our part. David understood the requirement. In just the opening five verses, he uses the word “all” four times! Especially in verses 1-2, the focus of our being is not partial but everything. This is in accordance with Scripture, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut 6:5). David wants to remember God’s benefits and he knows that he does not want to do it superficially. David wants to subject his entire being and exert all of his will to worship God. In the midst of struggles, trials, and even life, we can forget to worship God. Even worse, we worship God in a superficial manner with our hearts being far from him. It is common for us to forget – in fact, it is human to forget. But let us remember that it is a terrible thing to forget God’s “benefits”. In a rather long section, Moses recounts the ways God was faithful to the wandering Israelites. This was important because the new generation was being prepared to inherit the Promised Land and Moses needed to instruct the listeners about God’s faithfulness and blessings (Deut 8:10-14). It is a passionate plea to actively remember God’s benefits and to praise Him because He has acted and protected them.

As you read this, ask yourself, “Self, do you display this deep, rigorous, and real praise in your heart?”

So, here is our call to not forget and to actively worship and praise God. Do not forget these 5 Truths of God’s Benefits:

1. He forgives sins (v.3a). The truth David starts with is that God forgives sin. If you flip back to Psalm 51, you will know and understand that David intimately understood the powerful truth that God forgives sins. This is the greatest of all gifts that we can receive from God and the first we need to have. Before you can have any relationship with God the Father, you will need His forgiveness. The forgiveness of our sins is the greatest benefit any of us can ever receive and we can only receive it because God gave his Son over to death on the cross to procure it for us. Is it only some sins? This sin or that sin? No! David writes “all” to signify that God forgives each and every little sin—past, present and future. To what extent does he forgive? Look later at verse 12. David writes “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” I don’t know about you, but the last time I checked my cardinal directions, east and west are pretty far apart.
2. He heals (v.3b) The second truth the writer is thankful for is healing, indeed healing of “all” of his diseases. While we may have been forgiven of our sins, as believers we do get sick still and there are many passages that teach God has his purposes for us in our sicknesses. But what does David suggest? David is suggesting that when we are healed, as we often are, it is God who has done it (not just your local pharmaceuticals). God is the healer of the body as well as of the soul. Such health, therefore, as we have been given is a sure gift from God. God should be praised for it.
3. He redeems from the pit (v.4) David reinforces the savior God. For when David says that God redeems our lives from the pit, he is saying that God brings us back from the very brink of death. Where is this pit? It most likely refers to Sheol, where the dead go when they die. Is this some allusion toward heaven? Unlikely. It most likely means that God has redeemed David by sparing him from death, presumably by healing his diseases.
4. He crowns you with steadfast love and mercy. As if forgiveness of sins, healing from diseases and redemption from Sheol were not enough, God goes to great lengths to bestow upon His people crowns, which are far more precious than those made of corruptible things such as silver and gold; it is studded with the gem of grace and lined with love. At no point do we earn this crown but it is out of mercy and not merit that we are given these crowns by God. It was sin that took away all of our honors, it was the effects of sin that labeled us as traitors to God but it was God who removed the sentence of death by redeeming us from destruction; it was God who restores us to our former honor by crowning us. It is a glorious truth that when the chief Shepherd appears, you and I will receive the unfading crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4).
5. He satisfies you with good things (v.5). As David finishes this section of Psalm 103, he reminds himself that God can and will satisfy him with good things. God’s providence to David was abundant and true. God’s desire to provide allowed David’s energy to rise and to have his youth rise like the eagles. It ought to remind us of Isaiah when he wrote, “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isa 40:31).

As you read this, ask yourself, “Self, do you display this deep, rigorous, and real praise in your heart?” It is easy to come to church, to bible-study, and to fellowship out of habit. It is easy to hear sermons without really listening to God. If this is your condition, you need to be like David and you need to talk to yourself. You need to preach to yourself God’s truth and Scripture. You need to stir your heart up to a more appropriate emotional response to the truth about the God you know. Brethren, if you find your heart cold, be like David and begin to count your blessings.

Perhaps you complain about school? Praise God you have a school and are able to study.
Perhaps you complain about work? Praise God you have work and a steady flow of income when most of the world does not.
Perhaps you find someone hard to love? Praise God that He loved you and His only Son died on the Cross for you. Loving God results in loving others.

Above all things, remember to protect, cultivate and fight in your hearts for an attitude that is humbled at God’s mercies and grace and eager to praise Him.

I must admit that the first thought I had when hearing the crunch of my rear bumper was not ‘Thank you God’.

First, the giving of thanks is a command, and not simply a suggestion. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, the apostle Paul writes this; ‘in everything give thanks’. This particular exhortation takes the form of a command, a command with no qualifiers or exceptions. The command does not say ‘in everything give thanks, unless…’ Or, ‘in everything give thanks, but only if…’ No, the command simply says ‘in everything give thanks’. In other words, we are to give thanks in all circumstances. We are to give thanks in the good times and the bad. We are to give thanks when we feel like it and when we don’t feel like it. We are to give thanks in everything. This past week, I had someone hit my car as I was backing out of the parking lot at my son’s school. I must admit that the first thought I had when hearing the crunch of my rear bumper was not ‘Thank you God’. However, upon further examination, I realized that even in that situation, I should have expressed thanksgiving. I should have been thankful that I wasn’t hurt. I should have been thankful that I had car insurance. I should have been thankful that I owned a car in the first place. In other words, in spite of the ‘frustration’ and ‘inconvenience’ of having a car accident, there was much to be thankful for. Unfortunately, we don’t always see it that way. But, as Paul commands ‘in everything give thanks’.

Now, I am not sure who this ‘goodness’ person is, and even if he/she exists, but according to the Bible, thanksgiving is ultimately to be given to God.

Secondly, the Biblical teaching is that thanksgiving is ultimately to be directed toward God. Now, that is not to say that we ought not thank other people for their acts of kindness, or their generosity toward us. Certainly we should. But, the ultimate recipient of all our thanks must be God and God alone. How often, when something has gone well, have I heard people say ‘Thank goodness’. Now, I am not sure who this ‘goodness’ person is, and even if he/she exists, but according to the Bible, thanksgiving is ultimately to be given to God. We are told in James 1:17 that: ‘every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.’ In other words, every good thing we receive ultimately comes down from God and God alone, and therefore, it is God who should be thanked for these things.

Then thirdly, the Biblical teaching is that thanksgiving is not to be limited to one day out of the year, but it is to be a virtue that characterizes every day of our lives. As Christians, we have so much to be thankful for, and as such, we are to be in a constant state of expressing our gratitude and thankfulness for all that God has done for us. And no matter how bad things may be going for us at any particular moment, as Christians, we know that God is even working those things out for good, something we can also be thankful for. And so, for the Christian, every day is to be Thanksgiving Day.

Now, with that said, let me just mention briefly some of the things that I continue to be thankful for.

• I am thankful for the wonderful wife and son that God has given to me
• I am thankful for the young people at Harvest Church who continue to impress me with their love and commitment to God and His Word.
• I am thankful that God continues to meet every one of my physical needs and the needs of my family
• I am thankful to live in a country where I am free to worship God and to speak of Him in the public arena
• I am thankful for my health, and the health of my family
• I am thankful for the gift of salvation, and that God loves me in spite of myself
• I am thankful that this world is not my home, and that one day I shall be with God in paradise

Obviously, this list could go on and on; as well it should.

In closing, let me just quote the words of King David in Psalm 79:13, words which hopefully express the heart of our Harvest congregation;

So we Your people and the sheep of Your pasture will give thanks to You forever.

May we, both individually, and corporately, express our great gratitude to God for all that He has done for us, not only on this Thanksgiving Day, but also throughout each day of the coming year.

We live in a media-saturated world. This technological age has brought about a dangerous mindset that craves instant results and the constant droning of our various media fills all our waking moments. Information is gathered, analyzed, disseminated, and packaged in a rather short amount of time. There is a great danger to our current generation as the absolute joy of silence is being quickly taken away from us. Consider the rise of Twitter, the online social media tool that has taken the world by storm. Limited to only 140 characters, the system has great benefits but also great dangers. Idealistically, the goal would be to succinctly use the tool as a means to communicate with family and friends without exposing them to every little facet of your life. The reality of Twitter is that people fill every waking moment of their life with a “twitter post” that reduces their once thoughtful and poignant entries to banality. Now, I must confess that I have a Twitter account and I find the tool useful when I want to update my friends about what God is doing in my life or how the Lord is teaching me, and even the occasional posts that reveal the sillier side of my personality. I find it to be a good source of communicating with fellow church goers as well as a good source of fast and concise information. My concern is that we do not take the time to ponder our next post and think carefully about our day or even reflect in silence a meaningful aspect of our life that we would like to share with our friends and family. Opinions are thrown from one camp to another; blogs with comment features enabled all resulting in a litany of weak arguments, straw man propositions—all in all a general buzz that is vying for our attention.

How has the lack of silence affected us? David Ulin, book editor at the LA Times, wrote an an article that articulates the slow decay of our ability “to still the mind long enough to inhabit someone else’s world, and to let someone else inhabit mine.” Not only does it affect our ability to read, but our church services have been affected by the need to fill the silence. Mark Dever, senior pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church also notes the need for our silences to be filled—even during worship services. He writes that the silence in between does not necessarily need to be filled but can give the congregation an opportunity to reflect on the songs they just sung or the Scripture that was just read. He writes (emphasis his):

There’s silence between various aspects of the service. I encourage service leaders to NOT do the “no-dead-airspace” TV standard of busy-ness. We LIKE “dead air space.” “Dead air space” gives us time to reflect. To collect our thoughts. To consider what we’ve just heard or read or sung. The silence amplifies the words or music we’ve just heard. It allows us time to take it all in, and to pray. We have silence to prepare ourselves. We have silence between the announcements and the scriptural call to worship. We even have a moment of silence AFTER the service! I pronounce the benediction from the end of II Corinthians, invite the congregation to be seated. And then, after about a minute of silence, the pianist begins quietly playing the last hymn that we had just sang. During those few moments, we reflect and prepare to speak to others and depart. We do business with God. We prepare ourselves for the week ahead.

Let us consider Psalm 131. Psalm 131 is a psalm of confidence in the Lord; the writer models for us the ideal mindset and readiness of soul before a holy and eternal God. David writes that he has “calmed and quieted my soul” (Ps 131:2) and then goes on to compare what this “calmed and quieted” attitude is similar to. He notes that this attitude is similar to a “weaned child with its mother,” where a child is simply content in being in his mother’s presence, so our attitude as a faithful worshiper is to be content with God’s presence, even when there are things billowing through our minds. Note the final outcome of such trust in verse 3. The writer notes that they may hope in the Lord at all times. This hope is gained in the disposition of trust and contentment found only in the stillness of their soul as they stand humbly before the King.

What are some benefits of cultivating a discipline for silence?

1. You are able to mediate on God’s Word. We need the stillness of our souls, minds and hearts to be quiet just as our study rooms. This silencing of noise—music and speech—allows us to consider very carefully and deeply the words of God and the piercing implications of His word in our lives (cf. Ps 119:48).
2. You are able to focus on your prayers. Before our day is over-saturated with noise, our time of silence allows us to focus on the most urgent of matters and to cogently form our thoughts and prayers for our Lord to answer.
3. You are able to reflect on your day. Perhaps a lost practice, the time to reflect upon the day allows us to develop a better habit for introspection. Do we examine our heart and soul for sins committed? Do we examine them for moments of dissatisfaction with the Lord? Do we examine our days to see the specific blessings the Lord may have placed in our day? Read Psalm 119 and you will get a sense of deep thinking and mediating on God’s Word in the silence of the days and nights.
4. Last, you are able to think deeply, poignantly and accurately about many subjects. This ties into the sermon with our speech. We are in a rush to answer or to glibly comment on passing remarks. This should not be the case. The writer of Proverbs notes, “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame” (Prov 18:13). Let us not be fools and bring shame upon ourselves by giving an answer before we even the know the relevant facts.

The benefits of silence are great. Let us eagerly pursue the discipline of silence with joy. Protect your times of silence from the buzz of society and you ought to be better for it. Like the advice your movie theater gives you, “Silence really is golden.”

However, as exciting as this particular time of year is for our church, there are a couple of reasons as to why we also approach this time with a certain level of sobriety. First, we are well aware that what these young folks are taught during these particular years of life, whether good or bad, will set the direction for the rest of their lives. These young people are at an age where they are building for themselves a spiritual foundation, and if that foundation is faulty, the rest of their lives will suffer. We, at Harvest, take this very seriously. This is why it is our goal, as a church, to equip our young people to the best of our ability. While other churches may give to their students things like entertainment or self-help messages, we strive to give our students sound, Biblical instruction. We do this by emphasizing things like biblical theology and doctrine, and we do this unashamedly. We believe that it is these things that will make the Christian strong. In addition, we also approach this time of year soberly because we know that our college students will be confronted by a university system that is not overly friendly to the Christian faith. They will be assaulted, seemingly on a daily basis, by things like secularism, humanism, relativism, hedonism, and every other ‘ism’ under the sun. It is no wonder that many young people, who grew up in the church, end up abandoning the faith upon entering the university. Again, we at Harvest, take this very seriously. This is why we, with the help of our Lord, will concentrate our efforts on giving our college students a distinctly Christian world-view. We want them to be able to identify and refute the false teachings that they will inevitably be exposed to on the university campus. Obviously, the ultimate success of these efforts rests solely on God Himself, to whom we look for strength.

And so, as it is late September, I, for one, am looking forward to another year of college ministry. This year will certainly bring with it great challenges. But, with great challenges also come great opportunities. To those who will be visiting our ministry in the days ahead, we welcome you in the name of our Lord. Please know that we are here to serve you. And to the rest of Harvest, please pray for this particular ministry, that the Lord will do ‘exceedingly, abundantly, more than we could ever ask or think’.

Pastor Jeff