The Lord of the harvest

The Lord of the harvest

Preached by Jonty Allcock on Sunday, January 5, 2020

From the series Guest Speaker - Preaching

     I have got a question for you. What you are you asking God to do in 2020? What would you love God to do in 2020.

     Asking is what Christians do. To be a Christian means that you are a child of the creator of the universe. You get to call Him Father and therefore you get to ask him for things. So what are you asking him for.? One of the big mistakes we make as Christians, we fail  asking God for anything. I learnt this the hard way when we were young, I have 3 brothers. Once we had a visitor in, this wasn't very normal. but he was a fairly wealthy man from Jordan and he was travelling back to Jordan and coming back to England, he said what would you like me to  bring you. I was polite and I said: 'Can I just have a few sweets. My little brother who was less well-mannered said I want a remote-controlled car. We forgot all about it then he turned up. He gave me my sweets and then he gave my brother the biggest most extraordinary remote-controlled car I've ever seen.

I learnt an important lesson that day, You ask and what you ask for shows what you think of the person you ask.

Often the things we ask God for are about the things that affect us

In Matthew chapter 9:35-38 Jesus is going to teach us something something all of us should be asking for. 

Can you see Jesus is telling us what we should be asking God in 2020. It's in verse 37, 38

35 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. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

We should be asking in 2020 that there would be more workers to go in the labourers sent by God. What would it

What would it be for you 

To help bring it down, 3 ways

The idea of harvest.

The harvest is plentiful, the Lord of the harvest. What is he talking about? Why does he use this language

The Lord of the harvest

A rich biblical thing, it goes right through the bible. 

The bible is one story from beginning to end, the Bible is not random verses where you pick verses that's nice for you. 

it's the story of God and his work.

The idea of harvest

I'm not much of a farmer, and I get  I do remember occasionally doing a bit of There are two bits of harvesting, 1st bit is scattering, you scattering the seeds all over the place then you wait

and then the comes the exciting bit : the gathering bit

To be honest, the scattering is a bit boring

Scattering and harvesting this is what 

In the Bible, Jesus is talking about something bigger.When you hear the word scattered, that is a bad thing, 

To be scattered, it's to be under God's judgement, when people do something wrong, he scatters them.

To be gathered, is a good thing

When they rebelled against him, what did he do, he scattered them out of the Garden,  away from the Garden

in Genesis 11, humanity again rebells against God in a big way and it build a tower so that they can be gathered together.. in rebellion agasint God

It's very funny. 

We are going to make a name for ourselves

They are building a tower to reach the heavens

Are they doing something down there?'I can't see what they are doing it's very small

When God comes down and sees the rebellion, do you know what he does? he scatters them, that's His judgement, he sends them away. 

The story of the bible is how God from scattered people gathers them in the harvest. 

That's what the Bible is all about

We discover time and again that when people do things wrong, they are scattered.

There is an evil king of Israel called Ahab, and his days, one of the prophet said to Ahab I saw Israel  like sheep scattered without shepherd.

When there is something wrong, the people are scattered.

Turn to Ezechiel chapter 11, verse 17. Here is God speaking through Israel, 

“Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’

Here is God's great promise, that's God's judgement. Now in his coming, there is the time of gathering, not the time of scattering

that is what Jesus is referring to when he says the harvest is plentiful

Jesus as he is looking at Israel 

Matthew 9 verse 36

Do you see a people content or do you see like Jesus see them 

people who are like sheep without a shepherd. Do you know how they are, they are dead. For a little while, they could be happy, the reality is that if they haven't got a shepherd, they are in danger

As we walk through London

if we first see the need

He didn't walk through the world

There was a b

Jesus sees it

We pretend that everything is fine but it's not We live in a world 

because this world is a scattered world

There are millions of people scattered

The danger is

 that 

we've got to fix it

Can we fix it?

Bob the builder, can we fix it? No not really!

We just need better education, heathcare, 

a declaration 

we don't want 

The message in the bible is no you can't. 

v 38 Therefore do, fix, therefore pray why, 

Do you know what his Son come to do?

Right at the start of Matthew gospel, John the Baptist said..

his winnowing hand ..

Why does Jesus have to die in order to gather the harvest? I deserve to be scattered in hell but Jesus came to take the punishment in my place, he was forsaken by his people

This morning, do you know this Lord of the harvest

Those who refuse to be gathered, i will not be gathered by Jesus

broken, Jesus says Come to me, why don't you come 

There is no 

Only him 

There would be more 

Jesus is interested in labourers, he doesnt want fan, he doest not want 

He wants people 

He doesnt want customers, 

Jesus doesn

want volunteers, that is very different to a labourer

Labourers work

The normal experience 

How are you? I am tired. Exactly, that's what it's supposed to be like.

We are supposed to rest, you learn to rest.

Some of us need to be told: work

There are million people

how are they going to hear?

On this final day

It's our finest joy, 

He is looking for labourers

Other time I go to the supermarket, 

Saying to people about Jesus is the best thing ever

and sometimes we think that 

Bible in one year. Day 5

It is such a delight to read the Word of God, why don't you join me! 

Ezra Reads the Law 

    When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns,

Nehemiah 8

 ¹ all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.

 ² So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. ³ He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

 ⁴ Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.

 ⁵ Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. ⁶ Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

 ⁷ The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. ⁸ They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear^[a] and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.

 ⁹ Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

 ¹⁰ Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

 ¹¹ The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.”

 ¹² Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

 ¹³ On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered around Ezra the teacher to give attention to the words of the Law. ¹⁴ They found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month ¹⁵ and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make temporary shelters”—as it is written.^[b]

 ¹⁶ So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim. ¹⁷ The whole company that had returned from exile built temporary shelters and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.

 ¹⁸ Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.

Nehemiah 9

The Israelites Confess Their Sins

 ¹ On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. ²Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. ³ They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the LORD their God. ⁴ Standing on the stairs of the Levites were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani. They cried out with loud voices to the LORD their God. ⁵ And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.^[c]”

   “Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. ⁶ You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

 ⁷ “You are the LORD God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. ⁸ You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.

 ⁹ “You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea.^[d] 10 You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. ¹¹ You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. ¹² By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.

 ¹³ “You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. ¹⁴ You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses.¹⁵ In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.

 ¹⁶ “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. ¹⁷ They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, ¹⁸ even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.

 ¹⁹ “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. ²⁰ You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. ²¹ For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.

Footnotes:

1. Nehemiah 8:8 Or God, translating it
2. Nehemiah 8:15 See Lev. 23:37-40.
3. Nehemiah 9:5 Or God for ever and ever
4. Nehemiah 9:9 Or the Sea of Reeds

1 Corinthians 9

Paul’s Rights as an Apostle

 ¹ Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? ² Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

 ³ This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. ⁴ Don’t we have the right to food and drink? ⁵ Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas^[a]? ⁶ Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living?

 ⁷ Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk?⁸ Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? ⁹ For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”^[b] Is it about oxen that God is concerned? ¹⁰ Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. ¹¹ If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? ¹² If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?

   But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

 ¹³ Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? ¹⁴ In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

 ¹⁵ But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast. ¹⁶ For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.

Footnotes:

Psalm 33:12-22

Listen to this passage

 ¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
   the people he chose for his inheritance.
¹³ From heaven the LORD looks down
   and sees all mankind;
¹⁴ from his dwelling place he watches
   all who live on earth—
¹⁵ he who forms the hearts of all,
   who considers everything they do.
 ¹⁶ No king is saved by the size of his army;
   no warrior escapes by his great strength.
¹⁷ A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
   despite all its great strength it cannot save.
¹⁸ But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
   on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
¹⁹ to deliver them from death
   and keep them alive in famine.
 ²⁰ We wait in hope for the LORD;
   he is our help and our shield.
²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,
   for we trust in his holy name.
²² May your unfailing love be with us, LORD,
   even as we put our hope in you.

Proverbs 21:11-12

Listen to this passage

 ¹¹ When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom;
   by paying attention to the wise they get knowledge.

 ¹² The Righteous One^[a] takes note of the house of the wicked
   and brings the wicked to ruin.

3 best Christmas cards

Here is a selection of Christmas cards that I would consider the best. What about you, which cards did you buy this Christmas?

1 Tearfund Journeyingon. They have a message printed inside, Isaiah 9:6, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Awesome!

2

2 Tearfund, a pack of 20 Color in Christmas cards, ideal for families with children, 

3 Share the story,  

Cover: Sharing the Story
Inside: May the miracle of Christmas shine in your heart all year.
Scripture: "When they saw the star they rejoiced." - Matthew 2:10

What about you, which cards did you buy this Christmas?What are your favorite?

Tonight, I went to the college MFL party and had a great time, met new people. Students and staff were sampling foods from Europe and China. Being entertained by traditional Christmas carols. Have a blessed end of week. N.

Have a blessed end of week. N.

Colours of day

This is one of my favorite hymns not just because of the tune but also for the powerful lyrics, and we sang it at our local pub the Bank House for a special Harvest celebration.  Oups. It was a fantastic evening as the event was well-attended, the music was outstanding and you felt relaxed and joyful. Hearts and ears open to something new, a glimpse of heaven maybe who knows! Regular customers, parishioners from Mid-trent churches and outside the village such as Great Haywood. We were privileged to have John at the mandoline, Maureen at the violin, Helga at the keyboard and Steve at the guitar. At the interval, I was going to say the entr'acte, we were offered a selection of tasty food bites, courtesy of Carol and Tom Brannon. I may be biased but the other attractive feature of this event was the opportunity given to everybody to request their favorite songs. So we can't wait for another evening of worship there. If you live nearby and have never been, why don't you join us next time! 

Colours of day dawn into the mind,
The sun has come up, the night is behind.
Go down in the city, into the street,
And let's give the message to the people we meet

So light up the fire and let the flame burn,
Open the door, let Jesus return,
Take seeds of His Spirit, let the fruit grow,
Tell the people of Jesus, let His love show.

Go through the park, on into the town;
The sun still shines on, it never goes down.
The light of the world is risen again;
The people of darkness are needing a friend.

Refrain

Open your eyes, look into the sky,
The darkness has come, the sun came to die,
The evening draws on, the sun disappears,
But Jesus is living, His Spirit is near.

Even though I had more free time in my hands than now, I'm sharing this with you a month later.Have a blessed evening!

Do not worry about your life...

 Matthew 6:25-33

When I was a youngster it was meat and two veg, by and large. There were no curries, pizzas, spaghettis - unless it was from a tin, no Chinese meals and some of the fruit and veg was delivered by Mr Jarvis with his horse drawn trailer and the horse ate oats from it's nose bag. The veg we got were the more traditional; carrots, peas, cabbage, cauliflower, various beans and I am not sure about broccoli - don't think that was around much.

 We didn't have a TV until I was six and there were two channels with 405 lines - no 625 lines or pixels or colour for that matter and it wasn't all day and night. We didn't have a phone until I was about 13 and I didn't have a mobile phone till I was 50 and it was a phone and had text and nothing else.

 It was only in the mid 60's we started to try curry and from that time that the world started to shrink in a variety of ways and it wasn't because I was getting bigger. It was the advent of what we might now refer to as instant global communications - I remember Sputnik 1 the first satellite and a few years later the first transatlantic satellite broadcast which lasted about 30 minutes. Men going to the moon, the first digital watches in the 70's. I started with computers - if you could call them that - in 1984; 1k of memory!

 The world has got smaller, in a way, and we know more about what is happening; what people eat, how they live and we hear more about earthquakes, famines, storms etc. and all very quickly. We see graphic pictures from far and wide and a lot of the world comes to our living room or even mobile phone!Hence, knowing so much about our world and being able to enjoy a much wider variety of what is produced our Harvest Celebration can take on something bigger and with that has to come our care for planet earth which we realise has been increasingly abused since probably the late 17th century and the start of industrialisation. Of course, some things have improved in our corner of the world: beaches are cleaner, rivers that had lost fish have them again and the old pea-souper fogs seem to have gone. But we hear of climate change - is it or isn't it? Who knows except I can't help but think we are doing some damage and that therefore part of our husbandry - a duty given by God in the first pages of Genesis  and which should naturally arise from Harvest Celebration - is something we should take seriously as a matter of course and not because of fear.

 Planet earth is awesome and what it can produce - often with a little (or much) help from our friends - is incredible, and, today we have the opportunity to enjoy more of it . Wearing it, eating it, going to It, experiencing it etc.

 Thanksgiving is good and proper; appreciation is helpful and the two should lead us to respect and use aright, as best we can, what is here so that whatever changes are taking place, natural or otherwise, we and others can continue to enjoy the good things that are around.

   There is no point worrying about the basics of life as life is more than this.

 Jesus was speaking into the materialism of his day which compared to ours was very different. However, materialism is not about how much or what we can get and have, it is an attitude of mind and anyone in any society in any age can be materialistic. What Jesus is saying is that there is more. Having it all, whatever it all is, does not make life or indeed happiness.

 There is much in the world that looks after itself very nicely

And he gives some simple examples of birds and flowers and the wonder of what they are without toil and the like. He is not laying down concrete facts but is being illustrative. We know that much in the world about us can be devastated by adverse conditions and Jesus knew that too. But he doesn't dot i's and cross t's because he is using broad pictures that are meant to make a simple point to us, and if we let them, they do. He is also saying that this life is passing and not lasting so why look to things that are and which will perish and fade.

 The Priority is God, his Kingdom and what he wants

 Here we come to the focus and pattern of Jesus and what he calls us to and that is, above all, to be in tune with God and His ways, His rule and His priorities.

In Jesus' book here we have a focus that is beyond the passing and of the things that fade and perish. More, this is a regular thrust from him in one form or another. Don't get it wrong, Jesus isn't anti the material world. He made it and enjoyed lots of the good things in life whilst he was here. What he is saying is there is more . . don't miss is, don't lose sight of it.

Thanksgiving, such as we are doing today, giving, receiving, sharing and celebrating are an antidote to being materialistic  because then we are appreciating the giver rather than what is given in a wrong way and being bound to it.

We live in a material world but we don't have to be bound to it. It is a world God loves and for which Jesus died so it and those within it can be restored and made new.

Conclusion

 I wonder - if we could look at the world, life, what we have and don't have more as Jesus would have us look - how would it be different? Would we be more chilled, a little less held by the growing grip of consumerism. Liberated more to see the beauty and wonder of the natural world as we see how it is and the awesome way it is held under God's creative care and love?

S. Abram