Harvesters - Devotions for 11-17-21

Matthew 9:37-38 “Then Jesus 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 harvest.”

            Today we are hearing of shortages of workers. It is really getting bad as there are some empty shelves in stores and some merchants are worrying about whether the goods they ordered from overseas will make it to their stores in time to sell for Christmas presents. You have no doubt heard this in the news and seen the pictures of ships full of containers full of goods sitting idle off the shores of some port. You have seen it in the restaurants where a sign is at the door stating that they are sorry for either a slow response or that they cannot serve as many as they used to because of the lack of workers. You see this all over when you see all the “help-wanted” signs. We are in a worker crisis, we need able bodied people to do work.

            The same is true, and has been true for a long-time, regarding workers in God’s harvest. God is in the work of preparing people to come to Him. The Holy Spirit is active in our lives and is working in the hearts of people to prepare them to receive Jesus. God has done and is doing all He can to bring people to Himself. But He says, “the workers are few.” Even though the harvest is plentiful, there are not enough workers to bring in all the harvest.

            As any farmer knows, when the harvest is ready you need all the help you can get to get it into the barn and to the stores as fast as you can. If you are harvesting tomatoes or some other fresh crop, you need the workers to get it to where it can be sold before it rots and is worthless. Jesus is telling His disciples that there is another crop waiting to be harvested, the crop of the souls of mankind. And into that harvest field, Jesus is calling for willing workers. God is calling Christians to enter into the harvest of souls. Jesus was calling His disciples to become workers in the harvest of souls for eternity. Jesus is calling us to become His workers in the harvest of souls for eternity too. He has a place in His harvest for us.

            What does that harvest look like? What sorts of jobs are there in the harvest of souls? Mostly, Jesus is looking for Christians, people who have come to Jesus and had their sins washed away and are walking with Him, to simply open themselves up to the leading of His Holy Spirit to share with those God leads to them. Here is how that often works:

            The Holy Spirit has already done His work of salvation in our heart. We know the way to having our sins forgiven and becoming a Christian. We know the way. We have walked that path already. So the Holy Spirit, who has been actively working on someone’s heart, leads them to us so that we can show them the same path we already walked down. This is what it means to become a worker in His harvest, we help others walk the same path of salvation that we already walked.

            There are people needing Christians to show them the way to God, to lead them down the path that they themselves have already walked. They need us. So, Jesus says, “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” You are needed in God’s harvest. So too are more pastors, more youth leaders, more Christian musicians, more missionaries, more Christian workers in various places. For the Lord to be able to accomplish bringing as many people to Himself as possible, He needs workers. Pray for more workers and where you can, go yourself.

            Let us not leave the ships still loaded at the docks, join in His harvest.

Pastor Gary

Thank God for You! - Devotions for 11-10-21

Philippians 1:3 “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.”

            In many of his letters to various churches Paul writes something like this where he tells the church that he gives thanks to God for them. As a pastor I think I can understand his thinking here. Without people there is no church. Without people there is no singing of the hymns and songs. Without people there are no church banquets or pot-lucks or even meals after a funeral. Without people to make up a congregation there are none of the human touches that make a church what God created it to be. For the church is not the building and cross in front and any or all of the decorations. The church is the people. You are the church.

            So, Paul is thanking the people of the church for being the church.

            In my office I do an unusual thing, at least I don’t know any other pastors who do this. I write out a short postcard and mail it to people in the congregation. I do a few of those every week, in a big way, thanks to Betty Speicher who addresses them for me. Thank you, Betty! I started doing that many years ago when I was looking for a way to encourage the people in the congregation. I don’t always know who needs a word of encouragement at any given time, in fact I am often the last to know who needs that. I’m just that oblivious to people’s needs most of the time. That is the one thing I have gotten into trouble the most for in being a pastor, not noticing people’s needs. Thankfully God has given me a wife who is extra conscious of that, and notices people’s needs as good as anyone. She is my eyes and ears in the congregation. She often gives me a heads up when someone is down or having a bad day. Thank you, Debra!

            So, because I knew my own weakness in that area, I started to mail out postcards to hopefully touch people in some way and encourage them. I have gotten many responses over the years from people who needed that postcard the very day it came in their mail. I’m sure some of you get those cards and most of the time you probably just read it and toss it. It didn’t encourage you that day, but for some, it came at just the right time. That is the work of the Holy Spirit, He puts things like that together.

            So, why do I write and send them out? I think it is for the same reason Paul writes, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.” I am thinking of you and praying for you and thanking God for you. So, I try and send a card to let the people of my congregation know that I care about them just like Paul was doing to the people in the church in Philippi so long ago.

            Paul writes that he thanks God for the people of every church. As an Apostle he knew the great need and value of every person in every congregation. Each one was important and needed in that church. If even one person was not there, the church was missing something, someone of great value. Whenever you are gone from church you are missed. I miss you, or your pastor misses you, and so do the people who you usually worship with. You are an important part of your congregation. Thank God for You!

            Wherever you attend church and worship God, remain faithful to that group of people, that congregation. You are an important part of that group even if you don’t know it or feel like it. You are the church. Thank God for You!

Pastor Gary

Hometown Prophets- Devotions for 11-3-21

Luke 4:24 “And he said, ‘Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.”

            When Jesus started His ministry, He went back to Nazareth and went to the local synagogue. When He was there Jesus took up the scroll of scripture and read from it. That day he read from Isaiah and then the people sat back and waited to hear what Jesus would say about those verses. That was their way. We tend to have preachers with prepared sermons.

            Jesus took that scroll and said that it was talking about Him. He was the Messiah, that is what Jesus claimed. At first they thought this was good. Jesus was brining them something new and He was one of them. They accepted Jesus, at first. But soon they turned on Him when they realized that Jesus was actually claiming to be the real Messiah, the Christ. Then they turned on Him and ran Him out of town. They actually tried to kill Him as they took Him to the cliff outside of town so they could push Jesus over and have Him die on the rocks below.

            But God had other plans and Jesus simply walked away and left them. He would die a violent death, but not that day and not that way.

            We often hear this verse quoted when we go back to our roots, maybe to our family or friends and try and share our faith with them. Maybe it happens when we try and share something else of importance with them. We are not the professional they wanted to hear from. We are not the trained and learned person they think someone needs to be to tell them something important. We are after all, just the local kid who grew up. What can we possibly know?

            What could Jesus possibly know? How could Joseph and Mary’s little boy be anything or anyone important? So, Jesus says that people, prophets He says, are not welcome in their hometown. After that, Jesus would mostly use Capernaum as His base of operations, though He would return to Nazareth occasionally, no doubt in part to see His mother and brothers and sisters.

            When we are rejected by family and friends for becoming a Christian or for trying to share our faith, it hurts. It hurts because we want them to know Jesus. We want our family and friends to share our faith and go to heaven when we die. We want them to be saved.

            Paul had that same desire in his heart for his family and friends, but often they turned against him too. He tried to reach out to Jews all over the Roman empire, but often they chased him out of town and even tried to kill him. He was another prophet who was not welcome by his own people. But still he longed to see them come to faith in Jesus. He said his hearts desire was for them to be saved.

            So what did God do? He sent Paul to preach to the gentiles and many of them did come to faith. Jesus went to Capernaum and people their accepted Him. We should also move on to people who will listen, and do what we can to reach out to them. But we should never give up on our family and friends.

            For Jesus, He started out trying to tell His family and friends about how to be saved, but then God led Him to reach out in other places to other people. In the end, many of His family and friends did come to faith. God did not give up on His brothers and sisters and history tells us that many of them became believers. Never give up on your family and friends either but be patient. God is working on them too, let the Holy Spirit lead someone else to do what you cannot and trust God. And all the while you wait, pray. Hometown prophets can pray.

Pastor Gary

 Praising God - Devotions for 10-27-21

Psalm 66:1 “Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise!”

            Our neighbor has a maple tree that is in full color. It is beautiful. We planted one that is supposed to have bright orange leaves in the fall too. It is still small but showing bright colors too. I love the fall colors and this fall, here in the Denver area, it seems like the fall colors are brighter than they have been in years. It is beautiful.

            I don’t know why God made it so that some trees go out in the fall with a flash of color, with a blaze of glory. Literally, a blaze of glory! But I appreciate it. So too do the many people who drive to the high country when the aspen trees are turning colors, and those who visit the Northeast in the fall to see the brilliant colors there. We are blessed when fall comes because of the way God has made leaves turn colors before falling to the ground.

            In a way, they are doing what this Psalm says, giving God glorious praise. Trees may not be able to give God conscious praise, but it makes a nice thought. Creation returning praise to its creator. I think that in a way that is exactly what is happening, whether the trees know it or not, God does for that is the way God made things to work. Creation does give its creator praise.

            The elk do it in the fall with their bugling, the turkeys do it in the spring with their gobbling. Creation sings the glory of God’s name by just doing what they were created to do.

            We are called to do the same thing. In this Psalm we are called to shout for joy to God. Notice that the call to do that is for “all the earth.” So, humans and trees and animals and all the earth are called to shout for joy to God. Especially humans. Especially people. Especially those people who know God and what God has done for us in sending Jesus to die for our sins and make heaven possible.

            We have much to shout for joy to God about. We have much to sing the glory of His name about. We have much to give Him glorious praise about. We have a lot to say to God and to anyone who would listen, that God is good and that we love God for all He has done for us.

            Let us join in with the leaves of the trees, the bugling elk, and all of God’s creation in giving God praise for all that He has done for us, for all that He has given us. God did not need to make trees break out in beauty in the fall, but He did it anyway. He did not need to make flowers be so beautiful either, but still he did it. He did not need to make mountains look so breathtaking when the snow falls fresh on them, but they are that anyway. And all they do is what they were created to do and in so doing they give God praise and sing His glory.

            We can do that too, and we can give God thanks and praise with a conscious mind and heart. So, let us stop and see the beauty that God created and then either quietly in our hearts, or with our voice, sing the glory of His name. And mostly we do that be being and doing what He created us for, by living our lives for God.

            We have so much to thank and praise Him for.

Pastor Gary