REFOCUSING ON THE HARVEST
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
KEY TEXT :  Matthew 9:35-38                            KEY THOUGHT : Refocus
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1) We as believers in Christ Jesus are to be:
   (a) Worshipers of God
   (b) Ministers of God
   (c) Developers of Gods character, found in Jesus.

2) All believers in Christ Jesus are given a ministry of reconciliation.
   (a) Just looking at Jesus' life can show us a great example of our job;
       
Matthew 9:35 ; "Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching
                in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom,
                and healing every sickness and every disease among the peo-
                ple." (NKJV)
   
   (b) Don't plan on starting a ministry of reconciliation with a great big
       position or strive for a title. There is plenty of room at the bottom
       to be a "servant". So then, strive for service instead.
   (c) [ see matt 9:37 ] 
       * Don't pray for a harvest! *  It's ready to be brought in NOW.
       Pray that there will be laborers for the harvest, and pray personaly
       for those laborers. Jesus said, "the harvest truely is plentiful, but
       the laborers are few."                                 ---------

3) 1 Cor 12:4-7 ; "There are divrsities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
                   There are differences of ministries, but the same
                   Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but
                   it is the same God who works all in all. But the 
                   manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for
                   the profit of all." (NKJV)
   (a) In this ministry of reconciliation WE MUST ALL WORK TOGETHER.
   (b) If there is no togetherness there will be no "profit" for any.

4) Ephesians 4:13-16 , >Here is our goal.<
   (a) The goal = the fullness of Christ.
   (b) Those who are full of God are those who are ministering, witnessing,
       visiting, praying, ect.
   (c) Those folks who are most of the time depressed or always getting beat
       up by the enemy or continually sinning and shaming Christ, do not
       minister much of anything Godly, especially reconciliation when they
       cannot even be reconciled themselves.

5) Romans 12:1 ; "...present your bodies as living sacrifices"
   (a) This is priority in living in a restored life. Giving our whole life,
       everything that we are or seem to be, to God as a sacrifice for Him
       to do with and use as He pleases.
   (b) [ Romans 12:4-8 ]
       We must do something- in other words be active with our faith. Other-
       wise we will become dead beats spiritually and will begin to move
       backwards in our relationship to the Holy Spirit, and ultimately re-
       urning us to desolation often times more severe then when we origion-
       ally came out of it. This then resulting in separation from our flock
       ( our church, fellow believers ) and worst of all, our shepard ( the
       Lord himself ).


============================================================================
============================================================================

    Examine yourselves to see weather you are in the faith; test yourselves.
Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you- unless of course, you fail
the test? (2 Cor 13:5)

    This is my prayer for the body of Christ; that we will know more than  
ever before, who we really are. And more than that, throughout the church of
the Lord we need to "examine ourselves". What is being "in the faith" ?
Do you and I know what this means for us?
    Without going into a whole nother study at this point, we can sum the 
answer to these questions up in the words and actions of Jesus. And the best
way to find out what he did and relate it to our life is to get in the four
Gospels and dig!