Sowing and Reaping

by Barry York

“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “

_When the plowman will overtake the reaper _

_And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;     _

_When the mountains will drip sweet wine _

And all the hills will be dissolved.”

-Amos 9:13

Last night our church gathered for an Outreach Kick-Off Evening.  This fall we are devoting three months to a time of sowing and reaping by God's grace.  Ten days ago, we had given each person a sheet of ten ways we would offer for them to sow the seeds of the gospel in our community and beyond:

  • Help with monthly distribution of literature in Marion
  • Host or participate in a Christianity Explored course
  • Invite people to special evening services we will have
  • Hand out  ____ (specify number) 1-3-5 cards
  • Send weekly a sermon or blog link to friends
  • Post weekly on the church’s Facebook pages
  • Attend the monthly Rescue Mission service
  • Invite friends to the Revelation Bible class
  • Participate in Sabbath devotions at a nursing home
  • Write and share my testimony on the Web
    We went through a devotion on Psalm 126 and discussed the pain involved in sowing gospel seeds as well as the joy in reaping.  We then explained each activity and answered questions.  After this, we had the congregation break into small groups, where they spent time talking about the ones they might do, prayed, then marked the activities they were committing to and signed their sheets.   We are now in the process of organizing and helping the congregation fulfill their commitments.

It was encouraging to come before the Lord in this manner with my brothers and sisters to make an intentional commitment together to do outreach.  So often we can allow other activities press out of our schedules time and energies we could be giving to the Lord.  Last night it felt as if we were recapturing that ground.

As you can see by some of the options above, we are encouraging people to use some of their social media time to sow seeds.  Since you are here, why not join along in that effort?  In God's providence, I saw the video entitled "321" below today (HT: Tim Challies).  This gospel presentation is Trinitarian (that's the 3), covenantal as it shows you are either in Adam or in Christ (that's the 2), and compelling as it calls you to oneness with Christ (that's the 1).  Why not sow a seed by sending a link to a friend or posting it on Facebook right now?

After all, it is a great privilege to live in the days the Lord declared in Amos above.  Are we living as if we believe it?

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/48734715]