Aug 2, 2021
At Crossgate Church, we have seven priorities. Here they are: glory, truth, love, prayer, community, generosity, and reach
Today we start a new series entitled, “Reach”. Reach includes an outward focus whereby we pursue and accomplish the purpose of our church which is to “Make more and better disciples for Jesus Christ.”
In order to make “more disciples,” we’ve got to look beyond and go beyond these walls. Let’s look at the life of Jesus to see how he accomplished His mission.
(Matthew – Chapter 9, Verses 35-38)
A Compassion for People
More than anyone else who has ever walked the earth, Jesus was compassion personified. He LOVED people, and we see that time and again in the Bible.
(Mark Chapter 6, Verses 32-34 | Matthew Chapter 20, Verses 30-34)
Jesus saw the need and he felt the need of the people He encountered every day.
When you see the people of Hot Springs and Garland County, what do you see? Do you see the needs? Do you feel the needs? Do you WANT to see and feel the needs? A heartbeat for the harvest begins with a heartbeat for people.
A Word for Disciples
With a heartbeat for the people, Jesus then spoke directly to his disciples—his committed followers. And he introduced the “harvest” concept. As with the illustration of the sheep, the people in that day would have immediately recognized the idea of the harvest. But Jesus was speaking of people, not plants . . . souls, not seeds.
A Prayer for Action (v. 38)
Now, this is not a word for disciples merely to agree on . . . it’s a word for disciples to act on. After all, consider that Jesus talks about a “prayer for ACTION” in verse 38 – “Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
I’m certain that everyone here shares with me what I call the “Gospel Assumption.” The Gospel Assumption says, “Our lost and un-churched family, friends, and neighbors would be infinitely better off with Jesus in their lives as Savior and Lord.” But it is impossible to “Reach” the people around us without prayer.
So in conclusion, we can see that our “Road To Revival” series was just the beginning. God desires to change our heart, pray for the things He cares about, and then go into our community and share His Good News!