Recognizing the Season

One of the greatest mission fields is ready for harvest, and yet continues to be overlooked by the majority of microchurch leaders. Have you ever had a problem with recruiting people to your microchurch? Did you know that the majority of the people who attend large weekend church gatherings are actually not yet plugged into a microchurch? There is a season for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Every good farmer knows the season for cultivating fields, sowing seeds, tending crops, and harvesting the produce. Whether they are on a smaller farm or larger mechanized farm, harvesting is either one of the most labor-intensive activities of the growing season or most expensive due to high-tech machinery. In essence, farmers (we) must be ready for the work of the harvest and intentionally prepare with eager expectations!

Jesus told his disciples that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. (Luke 10:2) Yet, unlike vegetables, herbs and other crops that are ready to be harvested this autumn season, we know that the harvest Jesus makes reference to is much more significant than our perishable foods.

We must keep in mind that we are entering the end of the peak-moving season as new families get settled before the new school year. And for those that live in Gainesville, or possibly another predominately college city, many students and working professionals prepare for the start of the fall semester and are seeking community. How are you preparing for the harvest to maximize this treasured season?

A Call to… Pray and Invite

Pray

Everything begins with prayer, thus we ask the Lord of the harvest. We ask God for His heart. We ask for His Spirit to fill us and lead us, as we usher lost and wandering souls into His Kingdom. This is a matter of urgency!

• I do: As the mc leader, pray for hearts to respond to the Gospel daily; for lost ones to find hope and rest in Christ Jesus!

• We do: Encourage your microchurch to pray with you! Together make it a habit to take a few minutes possibly during worship to pray for the lost each week. The more we pray the more we are activated to respond!

• You do: Imagine if everyone in your microchurch was praying daily because you’ve modeled this. Does everyone have a VIP card with a list of names they are praying for daily?

Invite

Have you ever experienced an awkward moment when someone asked you why you didn’t show up to the party? Was your invitation really lost in the mail, or perhaps it was never actually sent. Perhaps you responded with something like this, “I would have come, but I didn’t know I was invited.” And yet had you been responsible for the delivery of the invitations, you would have made sure all the guests received an invite.

Well, that’s just it. You are responsible for the delivery of the invitations, and every person you interact with is invited! Jesus paid the price, God has prepared the feast, your assignment is simply to invite, and the Holy Spirit takes care of the rest! But we can’t expect people to show up to a party they were never invited to.

Have you delivered the invitation?

• How many people have you personally invited this week to your microchurch?
• How many people have those in your microchurch invited this week? How is this being encouraged, and how will new people feel welcomed?

Weekend church gatherings still tend to be the greatest mission field. Just because someone attends a church gathering doesn’t mean they are necessarily walking in the light of the Gospel, and just because someone takes a microchurch packet from the wall display doesn’t necessarily mean they are coming to your microchurch. Most people want to be personally invited. Make an intentional effort to invite and reach out to someone this Sunday and every week. And remember to encourage your microchurch to do the same. Discuss this in your microchurch; brainstorm about other ways to be more inviting and become more missional!

Scripture expresses the value and deep love God has for people and tells us that we need to be ready to respond when we are asked about the hope that is within us. When was the last time someone has asked you for the hope that is within you, or the last time you left 99 sheep to pursue the one that was lost? As believers, we must look different than the world in the way that we love the world for the sake of the world. You are the light and salt of the world. Won’t you commit to maximizing this season to be even more intentional about praying and inviting people to experience the Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven? This is urgent! Jesus is coming back, and tomorrow is n