Rev. Dr. Brent Russett – Asbury Free Methodist
February 23, 2025 – Matthew 5:10-16
This morning, we are continuing our series on “Things we need to be reminded about.”
This morning, I want to talk about reaching out to those who don’t know Jesus.
I have a friend who was pastoring a large church in a mainline denomination. The church was booming. Services were full. The congregation was active. This was not the experience of most mainline churches.
The denomination that he was a part of asked him, because of his experience, to sit on a committee to look at how to attract people to church. My friend showed up at the committee meeting and listened to them talk for a while. Then he asked this question. “Why do you want people to come to church?” He told me that the room got very quiet. They eventually said, “That is a good question. We are not sure. Why don’t we get back to you on that.”
I want to look at reaching out to others this morning. But I want to start with why. Why do it at all?
We live in a culture where religion is a private matter. It is not one of those things that you discuss in polite company. We live in a culture where the majority of people believe in God, but it is not really cool to believe in God. It is especially not cool to believe in a Christian God. So, why reach out?
So, why reach out. Here is what the apostle Paul wrote.
2 Corinthians 5
Christ’s love controls us.* Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.* 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God
Paul says that the reason I reach out is because God’s love controls us. We reach out because we love our neighbour.
Paul says that I reach out because Jesus died for everyone. He offers new life to everyone. My hope is that they will experience this new life and live for Jesus.
Paul says that the reason I reach out is that God has given us this gift of reconciliation. He has made a way for us to come back to God and have a relationship with God.
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Those are good reasons. For me, I would say this.
God is worth knowing. He is an ever-present friend who is with us in good times and bad. I have found him to be faithful and kind. His love for us still amazes me.
Jesus brings life that is truly life. There is a peace that is found in him that allows us to walk well in a chaotic world. There is a deep sense of well-being, what the Bible calls “joy,” that is found in him. Even when we walk through the difficult portions of life, he can give us the grace to testify to the fact that “it is well with my soul.”
He is the good shepherd. He leads us into green pastures and beside still waters. He is the one who restores our soul. Even when we walk through dark valleys, his presence never leaves us. He doesn’t abandon us. He is with us.
I am the best version of myself when I reflect on who God is. When I reflect on his love, his grace, his holiness, and his truth, I know that I am living out who I was created to be. I don’t have to find meaning or create meaning for my life. My life has meaning because I am his child living out his call on my life.
He gives us his power to live well in a broken world. He gives us the strength and the tools to navigate this world in a way that brings about our good and for his glory. He is present in the questions we have. He is present in the challenges we face. He doesn’t promise us an easy life. He doesn’t promise to take us out of our struggles. But he promises us his presence and his strength to do more than just survive this life. He brings life, which is truly life.
And when our time on earth is over, Jesus tells us this.
John 11:25-26 (NRSV)
I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Jesus promises us eternal life. He promises us heaven. He promises us a life with him, even though we die.
Why reach out? Because God is who he is, and we are who we are, and he is worthy of our worship and our lives.
I know that many of you have experienced what I am talking about. You have come to the place where you believe that God’s way is the best way. You don’t have all the answers, and you may not even have it all worked out in your own life. You know that you are less than perfect. But you have come to believe that God’s way is the best way. That is a good reason to reach out.
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The next question is how to reach out. Let me use a metaphor that is often used in scripture.
Matthew 13:3–8 (NLT)
3 He told many stories in the form of parables, such as this one:
“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. 4 As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. 5 Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. 8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!
Ecclesiastes 3:1–2 (NLT)
1 For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 …A time to plant and a time to harvest.
I grew up on a farm. We used to plant 100 acres of corn. There is a seasonal nature to farming. In the fall you plow the ground so that in the spring, it will be receptive to the seed. You plant the seeds in spring. If you get enough rain. If the raccoons don’t come and destroy the crop. If the weeds don’t choke out the growth. If there is no blight that attacks the corn – then it grows over the summer. Come early fall, it is time to harvest the corn.
Reaching out to those who don’t know Jesus is a lot like that. There is a time to plant and a time not to plant. If you plant corn in the fall, it will rot in the ground, and there will be no harvest.
It is the same when sowing the seeds of the gospel. There are times when people are more open to God than others. There is a season to sow. You can tell it is that season when people start to search for meaning, is for spiritual help or comfort. Sometimes, life gets hard enough that they want to turn to God. When there is a little openness, then it is time to plant some seeds.
You will not plant and harvest on the same day. You may have the opportunity to harvest what someone else has planted. But all you are called to do is to respond to people where they are at.
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What does planting seeds look like? You heard Tim speak. It may be as simple as saying when people share a need, that I will be praying for you. It may be sharing a little part of your story. “I found that when I was going through a hard time, it was helpful for me to talk to God.”
It might mean sharing your story of how you came to know God or how God brought you through a difficult part of your journey. It is meeting people where they are at. I have found that most people appreciate having someone pray for them. Whenever you get the opportunity, sow seeds.
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If you know any Christian farmers, you have probably met someone who has spent a lot of time praying about the weather. If you get a late frost, it can kill the plants that have just sprouted from the ground. If you get too much rain or not enough rain, it can devastate the crop. If you get a blight or bugs, it can warp a crop.
The crazy thing is, you can’t do a thing about it except pray. You can plant seeds, but you can’t make the seeds grow. If you are growing a garden, you can plant, and you can water – but you know that there are so many things outside of your control.
Here is what the Apostle Paul said,
1 Corinthians 3:6-9a (NIV)
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labour. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service
You are not responsible for making things grow. You can plant seeds. You can encourage seed by watering it. You can pray for the seed. But it is God who causes the seed to grow.
So, don’t become over-responsible. You can hope that people will come to know the Jesus that you know. You can plant seed. But it is God who makes it grow.
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Ecclesiastes 3:1–2 (NLT)
1 For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 …A time to plant and a time to harvest.
Whether you are growing fields of corn or a garden, God willing, there comes a time to harvest. It is kind of depressing if you drive by a field of corn that hasn’t been harvested before the snow comes. It is sad to drive by a field where the round bales have been left to rot in the field. There is a time for harvest.
In the same way, there is a time for harvesting in God’s field. Here is what Jesus said,
Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV)
“The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”
That was true then, and it is true now. There is a lot of spiritual openness right now. Now I get that people don’t like church. You are not trying to get them to buy into organized religion. You are asking them to follow Jesus.
I don’t know if you have noticed, but the world is a little chaotic right now. Who knows what the future holds? The economy is questionable. Politics is crazy right now. Many of our institutions are at the breaking point. If you are connected with the public school system, you will know how difficult it is for teachers and students. If you are connected with the medical system, you know that many departments are overwhelmed. If you are connected with the legal system, you know that it is problematic.
We live in a world that feels a little chaotic right now, and people are looking for stability. There are a fair number of people who are wondering if they can find stability in faith. The harvest is ripe.
But Jesus also said that the labourers are few. There is a danger in that the crop will rot in the field. So, Jesus said, pray for labourers.
There will be times in your spiritual journey when you will be the answer to that prayer. God will call you to labouring in his field.
Because we are working in the Lord’s fields, you may harvest what someone else has planted. You may harvest what someone else has watered. That is OK. This is the Lord’s work.
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What does harvesting look like? People are saved by grace through faith. Harvesting involves helping people put their faith in Christ and express that faith. That may involve talking about God’s plan of salvation and leading people in a prayer, inviting Christ into their lives. It might involve bringing a person to a place where someone else can help you do that.
There will be times in your life when there will be a harvest that only you can get to.
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Just a word about saving faith. Faith in the bible has never been about believing the right things. Believing the truth about who Jesus is and what he has done for us is important. But here is the thing, if faith were just about believing the right things, then the devil would be a Christian. He would score higher on a theological exam than I would. He knows the truth about who God is – who Jesus is.
Having the right answers on a theological exam – believing the right things, is not what makes you a child of God. Saving faith means that you believe in Jesus enough that you are willing to follow him. You are willing to do what he says and go where he leads. When we truly say, “Jesus, I believe in you” we are saying I am going to follow you so that I take on your qualities.
It is the difference between believing that a parachute will open and jumping out of an airplane. One is theoretical knowledge, and the other is applying knowledge. Saving faith is not just believing in Jesus but following Jesus.
When you are leading people into faith, remember that.
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There is a time to a time to plant and, a time to water and a time to harvest.
So, what does that mean for us here at Asbury? Here is what I would like us to do. I would like us to own the fact that we are farmers. Whatever you day job is, own the fact that you are a spiritual farmer. There will be time for you to plant seeds. There will be a time for you to water. There will be a time for you to harvest.
If you only see yourself as a child of God and don’t understand that your heavenly Father is in the business of growing good things – you might miss that part of your identity. You are in the family business. Own that you are a spiritual farmer.
Here are two things that you can do practically this week. I encourage you to pray two prayers.
The first prayer is “Lord, show me where I can plant your seeds, and give me the boldness to do so.” Here is what I have noticed, when we pray for opportunities to plant seeds, God has a way of providing them. If you become outward-focused, God will provide the opportunity.
The second prayer I would encourage to pray is to ask the Lord, “Who should I be regularly praying for that they will come to know you.” Prayers like that are about plowing the field and getting it ready for planting. I expect that when you pray a prayer like that, God will bring a name or two to your mind. It may be a neighbour or a family member or someone you work with. But when you pray for people, it has the benefit of moving the hand of God and keeping you outward focused.
So, my questions to you are,
- Will you own your identity of being a spiritual farmer?
- Will you pray, “Lord, who me where I can plant your seed and give me the boldness to do so?”
- And, “Lord, who should I be praying for regularly that they will come to know you?”
Let us pray.