pastor's article 03-03-24

Have you ever been in a large crowd of people and just felt overwhelmed? Crowds of people can make you feel claustrophobic, anxious, and frustrated. Every time I get in a large crowd in our terrorist-minded society, my mind always begins to think that this would be a great opportunity for an evil person to cause a lot of pain and sorrow. You know what Jesus thought about when He looked over a large gathering of people? The Bible says that He was moved with compassion because He saw how tired and confused the people were: they had no one to shepherd or lead them. He saw their greatest needs and His love for them broke His heart. If I look at the world with a Biblical view, I see it. I see it in how people dress, how they act, how they behave. The world is lost, searching for meaning and purpose and hope. It really is sad. If we love people like Jesus does, it breaks our hearts as well. Jesus didn’t see people as obstacles in His way to His next destination, He saw them as His purpose, His mission, and therefore His heart was moved with compassion because He knew that their greatest need was a loving shepherd to lead them. As I read the reaction Jesus had when looking at the multitudes of people and compare it to what my reaction usually is, I see how hard my heart has become to the ministry and mission that God has called me to.
When Jesus saw the need of the people, His request was that we pray that God would send laborers into the fields that were ripe for the harvest. Today the world has a population of over 8 billion people, and more than 4.9 billion of those people are lost. If the fields were ripe unto the harvest way back then, what could be said about the fields today? We need to pray for laborers to be sent and workers to be raised up, people who will help us share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have a lot of work to do and only a few are willing to do it. Pray for workers to go into the fields which are ripe for the harvest and ask God where you can work to do your part in this enormous task.
Pastor,
Rev. Wayne Marcus