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[0:00] Well, I was going to be a bit aggressive and try to preach through Matthew 10 today, but we're going to stick to Matthew 9, verses 35-38. And so if you would open up your Bibles to Matthew 9, verses 35-38, I would just delight in reading them to you.

[0:19] And as we're reading, take note of Jesus' heart. And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.

[0:38] When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

[0:56] Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His, His, His harvest.

[1:10] Let's go for a drive together. Let's say you meet me down at K9 Corner. Do you know where that is? Down on 22nd Avenue on the south side, right next to Anderson Pool.

[1:25] Let's say we're going to meet there. We're going to meet in my pickup truck. I'm going to take you on a tour of sorts of Kenosha, and we're just going to make a kind of a beeline north on 22nd Avenue.

[1:38] And so we get into my pickup truck, and as we're pulling out, I start telling you about the different demographics that we see going north. Oh, this neighborhood over here, oh, those are ranches built in the 50s and 60s.

[1:51] Mixed neighborhoods, mixed income. We have owner occupiers. We have renters there. Oh, this neighborhood over here, those apartment complexes, primarily people with lower incomes, ethnically very diverse.

[2:06] And as we're driving, we hear this, from the back seat. My pickup truck's got this back bench you can squeeze people in on, and it's Jesus.

[2:24] And Jesus says something to the extent of this. Those things, Mike, you may be saying are true, but every person in that neighborhood is a sheep without a shepherd.

[2:38] I see that neighborhood as a harvest. I look to you, and I look in the rearview mirror, and we keep on going. I bring you to the next neighborhood. I give you kind of a demographic stats.

[2:51] Oh, the crime rate is rising here past this certain road. Jesus says, well, that may be true, but everyone in that crime-ridden neighborhood is a sheep without a shepherd.

[3:02] They need me. It's a harvest. Needing laborers. I look at you.

[3:13] I look at Jesus. We keep on going. Next neighborhood, we come to uptown. I try to describe it as best I can. Then, Jesus says, this is my harvest.

[3:33] These are sheep without a shepherd. They're harassed and helpless. I look at you. I look at Jesus. We keep on going. We get up to about Washington Road, and I start saying, well, that, you know, Muni Golf Course, the velodrome, the park, it's a berry of sorts.

[3:55] There's a different kind of demographic on each side of it, and I look up in the rearview mirror, and I see Jesus. We meet eyes, and I say, but they're all sheep without a shepherd. And then you say, and it's all a harvest field.

[4:09] And then I say, and they need laborers. Laborers. And then Jesus says, so pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers.

[4:23] This morning, we're going to see Jesus' heart for the lost. And His heart for the lost will compel you.

[4:34] It will compel you to have a heart for the lost. When you see people the way that Jesus sees people, when you feel about people the way that Jesus feels about people, your priorities change.

[4:51] You will want to live for what matters most according to Jesus. Not the American dream.

[5:04] You're going to want to join Him in His mission to reconcile sinners to God in this harvest field. So here's how we're going to proceed.

[5:17] We're going to walk through the text. And I'm going to show you, I'm going to make five observations. And then those five observations move to a point. I'll make that point. And then we'll seek to apply it to our lives.

[5:29] We're going to read about something that happened maybe 2,000 years ago. And we're going to bring it to our lives to bear today in 2017. 2017. So what we're going to see here is God's heart for the lost and it's designed to compel us.

[5:46] So, let's turn back to Matthew 9, verse 35. In observation number one, the thing I want you to notice is where Jesus is at.

[5:59] Look at verse 35. And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages. Jesus is on the move. But what you need to see is that Jesus is on the move throughout all the cities and villages of Galilee.

[6:14] Estimates range from there being upwards of 200 plus cities and villages in the greater Galilean metroplex. But as we talk about that, I just want to remember, remind you who Jesus is.

[6:27] Because you can read that Jesus is cruising around Galilee and forget that He's God in the flesh. Do you remember John 1? The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

[6:39] Remember Matthew chapter 1? Jesus is God with us, Emmanuel. And so, do you see what's going on here? We are seeing God in the flesh walking around Galilee.

[6:51] God's there. He's walking. It's exactly where He intends to be. It's no accident. He's not there against His will.

[7:03] He is in and among the people. He is on a mission. A mission of mercy to reconcile sinners to God. It's in His name.

[7:15] Jesus. It means God saves. That's why He's there. Now, some of you remember back in 2005, Hurricane Katrina. Do you remember that? It did over $100 billion of damage in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

[7:31] You may not remember this, but when Katrina made landfall, President Bush was on vacation in Crawford, Texas. And he stayed on vacation in Crawford, Texas.

[7:45] And he eventually flew out of Texas on August 31st. August 29th is when Katrina hit. And as he's flying back to Washington, D.C., he tells the Air Force One pilots to kind of veer over the devastated area.

[8:04] And there is this photograph taken of President Bush looking out a window of Air Force One and looking down upon the devastation wrought by Katrina.

[8:16] And to this day, he would say, that was one of his biggest regrets. Because in that photograph, it depicts him as being distant and uncaring.

[8:26] Some say that his presidency started to fade at that point. Our southern citizens, they were harassed and helpless.

[8:40] And they needed a leader. And he flew right over them. Not so with Jesus. Galatians 4.4 says that just the right time, Jesus' feet hit the ground.

[9:00] He didn't stay away. He didn't fly over. He came. Some people have a very big challenge with the problem of evil.

[9:11] And it's not the easiest thing to talk about, but I can say this. Our God, in light of the evil that has been wrought by sin, He didn't stay away. He didn't write white papers.

[9:23] What He did was this. He came and dwelt among us. He came and joined us in the mix to do something. To give His life as a ransom for many.

[9:36] To completely reverse the multi-layered effects of sin. That's why He came. He addresses the problem of evil. Square on.

[9:48] Jesus came. And when He walked around these cities and villages of Galilee, and as He sees these crowds, it had a deep effect on Him.

[9:59] So the first thing I want you to notice is where Jesus is at. He's in and among the people. Just where He intended to be. That's our Savior. That's our God.

[10:11] The second thing I want you to notice is what Jesus is doing while He's traveling through the cities and villages of Galilee. We read that in verse 35, that He's teaching and proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and He's healing all sorts of different diseases and sicknesses.

[10:30] He was actively working while He was in town. He's not cruising through taking snapshots. He's not in some kind of bus unable to be seen by anybody else.

[10:42] He's walking through, engaged, doing the work of the Kingdom. That's what the teaching and the proclaiming and the healing was all about. It was pointing to Him coming and establishing the Kingdom of Heaven.

[10:56] The saving reign of God. We spent quite a bit of time in the Sermon on the Mount. It's an unbelievable sample of His teaching. Jesus gets a ton done.

[11:09] It's the inaugural address of the King who has come. And what He does in it, He says, this is what's to be true of My citizens, the Beatitudes.

[11:19] And they start with being poor in spirit. The hallmark of My people is humility, is what He says. And then He goes on to teach in the Sermon on the Mount how His citizens live in full light of the law and live fully in obedience to it for the glory of God.

[11:39] And at the end of chapter 7, the crowds were amazed at His teaching because of His authority. It was authoritative. It was a signal that the Kingdom of Heaven had come.

[11:52] Not only does He teach, He proclaims, He preaches, He announces. And what we learn here is that He proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom. The good news that the Kingdom had arrived.

[12:06] And notice, the Kingdom arrived when Jesus arrived. He's the King of God's Kingdom. He brings the saving rain when He came.

[12:20] If you look back at Matthew 4, verse 23, this was His M.O. He would go around teaching, proclaiming, and healing.

[12:31] We read in Matthew 4, 23, and He went throughout all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

[12:42] So His fame spread. He taught, He preached, and He healed. He proclaimed the Kingdom. It was good news. Here's what happens with the Kingdom.

[12:53] Here's where the Kingdom is. The Kingdom is where Jesus is being proclaimed. Sinners are responding in repentance and faith and becoming Christians. And they're being discipled to obey Him and all that He commanded.

[13:05] And His name is being glorified. That's where the Kingdom of Heaven is. That's where the saving reign of God is. And Jesus brought that with Him when He came. And He announced it. He announced it through His teaching.

[13:17] He announced it through His proclamation. And He also made it clear through His healing. If you look back at Matthew 8 and 9, it is one healing after another.

[13:30] It starts with Jesus healing a leper. And He does what nobody else would do. He touches the leper. And instead of being made unclean, Jesus cleans the unclean with His touch.

[13:43] It's amazing. And remember the centurion? Jesus heals the servant of the centurion from a distance. It doesn't end there.

[13:55] The demons and the Gadarenes, Jesus casts them out. But, we go on and we read about Jesus healing Jairus' daughter.

[14:09] We read about Jesus healing a woman with a 12-year hemorrhage of blood that made her unclean and isolate.

[14:20] Jesus healed her and then put her forward to everybody and said, she's back in the mix, gang. Doesn't stop there. Jesus goes on to heal two blind men.

[14:30] Then He heals a demonized dumb man. Do you remember all that? Again and again and again. He's healing. And then, there's the whole healing of the paralytic. Do you remember what happened there?

[14:41] Jesus heals this paralyzed man. And it's clear why He does. He heals his physical paralysis in order to demonstrate His authority to heal the disease of sin.

[14:54] So that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. He turns to the paralytic and says, rise, get your mat, and go home. And He does. There, Jesus is bringing in His authority both over the spiritual and physical maladies we all have to endure.

[15:16] At the end of chapter 9, we are just amazed amazed that this man is unlike any other.

[15:26] And after all of His healing, the crowds were amazed that God had given authority to man. His teaching, His proclaiming, His healing, we all point to this is the one that has brought the kingdom of heaven.

[15:44] So the second thing I want you to notice is what He's doing when He's cruising around the Galilean Metroplex. The third thing I want you to notice, we see in verse 36, when He saw the crowds, when He saw the crowds, He's making His way through these villages and cities, and when He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless.

[16:12] The third thing I want you to see, I want you to notice, is how Jesus sees. Not just that He sees, but how He sees.

[16:25] He saw the crowds. He had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Those two words, harassed and helpless, they're worth spending a little time talking about.

[16:43] Have you ever been bullied? Have you ever been harassed? I was harassed by a man not too long ago who threatened me, threatened my family.

[16:59] It was a very uncomfortable time. Harassed is a word that means to trouble, to annoy. We tend to think about in terms of being bullied.

[17:10] maybe you've been threatened before. It's not fun. And it's not just the threat. It's the experience. It's the experience of being beat up, whether that's physically or emotionally.

[17:28] Now, this word harassed, the sense of being bullied and beat up is linked to this word helpless, harassed and helpless.

[17:41] That, in the original language, it literally means to be cast down, to be made prostrate. And the idea there is you're vulnerable. Being exposed to harm without any kind of recourse.

[17:58] Someone taking advantage of you, you don't have anything to do, any ability to protect yourself. I don't know about you, but there are a few things more psychologically diminishing than when you are being threatened and you don't feel like you can do anything about it.

[18:16] You feel completely vulnerable and exposed and helpless. Harassed and helpless.

[18:26] And so, what we see here is that Jesus is making His way through Galilee. He's going from city to village to town.

[18:37] He's teaching. He's preaching. He's healing. And He's taking note of this people. This people He's in the midst of.

[18:48] They're harassed and helpless. Like sheep without a shepherd. This is a different group of people than the Pharisees and the scribes. These are people that are just feeling the impact of their lousy leadership.

[19:11] The harassed and helpless are those who are being brutalized by the fallout of sin. Whether it's disease, or whether it's demons, or death, or natural disaster, or just the dysfunctional leadership of the Pharisees and the scribes of the time.

[19:29] So what we see happening here is Jesus sees the crowds, and He sees that they are harassed and helpless, and it moves Him. He's affected by it.

[19:41] But just to be honest, the harassed and helpless, that's symptomatic of the real problem. And Matthew points us right to it.

[19:54] Harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. The biggest problem that these harassed and helpless sheep were experiencing was not so much the experience of harassment, it's the symptom of them not having a shepherd for them.

[20:18] They were shepherdless. That was the problem. Jesus is the good shepherd. Jesus is the shepherd king from the line of David who had come in order to lead His people.

[20:36] If you want to look at Matthew 2.16, look what happens. Look what is announced of Jesus. Jesus. And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah.

[20:55] For from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd My people Israel. If you flip back all the way to Ezekiel 34, don't go there.

[21:07] Look at it this afternoon. Look at it sometime this week. God's people, the shepherds, the men He's put in place, has failed His people. And so God Himself says, I will shepherd My people.

[21:20] I will become their shepherd. And so what we see happening here is the shepherd has come. And He's walking around Galilee and He's seeing all the effects of a people who lack a shepherd.

[21:36] And so His heart of compassion springs from this void of leadership. Their King has come.

[21:48] Now just a word about sheep. Sheep are known to be dumb animals. A sheep would graze in the same place until there was nothing left but dirt.

[22:03] If it weren't for a shepherd to move that sheep along to greener pastures. They are not the smartest animals. They need the provision of guidance.

[22:16] But they also are easily harassed. They really don't have any stellar defense mechanisms. I don't know about you, but I've never seen quills on a sheep before.

[22:29] I'm unaware of any poison glands on a sheep. I don't think they have switchblades in their pockets. They need protection. In short, sheep are helpless.

[22:41] They're easily harassed and they need a lot of help. And what Jesus says throughout the Gospels is that people are like sheep.

[22:54] We need help. Because of the deceitfulness of sin in our own hearts, here's what we do. We become enslaved to the very pleasures that we think are going to satisfy us.

[23:10] And so we eat and eat from the same place until it's just dirt and we think all is well. We like to think we can protect ourselves.

[23:24] But our defense mechanisms never fully work, do they? Have you met people who are so guarded about being hurt they essentially isolate themselves from everybody else?

[23:37] We all need help. We're more like sheep than we care to admit. We're all in need of a shepherd. 2,000 years ago, Jesus walked around the Galilean metroplex and He identified the need.

[23:54] You need a shepherd. We need a shepherd today. The harassed and helpless just didn't live then. You drive around this city and you will see plenty of harassed and helpless.

[24:13] Jesus saw the crowds as they truly were. and Jesus sees us as we truly are. He sees through our empty attempts of satisfying ourselves.

[24:26] He sees through our weak attempts to protect ourselves. And you know how He responds? He doesn't bring the heavy. He brings a compassionate heart.

[24:38] You need a shepherd. That's what you need. So, the third thing I want to notice here is how He sees these crowds and how He sees many of us like sheep without a shepherd.

[24:59] Jesus identifies our greatest need. He is our shepherd. shepherd. The fourth thing I want you to notice is in verse 36 too.

[25:14] When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. He's affected by what He sees.

[25:27] He's moved deeply by the shepherdless crowds. He moves towards them.

[25:40] There were great crowds of people following Jesus. We read that in Matthew 4.23. That also comes up in Matthew 8.1. And as He's making His way throughout Galilee, He's seeing these crowds.

[25:54] And Matthew tells us not only how He sees them, but how He feels about them. What we see here is the heart of God for the lost.

[26:07] His heart for sinners. His heart for the harassed and for the helpless. It's just like God's heart for His people back in Ezekiel 34. He wants good for His people.

[26:21] He wants Himself for His people. When Jesus saw the crowds, He didn't see a potential fan base. He didn't see the grassroots of a new political movement.

[26:36] He didn't see a demographic market to make a quick denarius. Matthew tells us that when Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion for them because He saw them as sheep without a shepherd.

[26:48] And that's why He came. That word compassion is used in your New Testament only of Jesus.

[27:00] Only of Him. It's used only of Him and only by Him. And what seems to be going on there is that this compassion is more than human pity.

[27:13] It's more than just a human emotion to seeing people in tough situations. What we see happening here is the heart of the Messiah. The Good Shepherd.

[27:25] His heart is on display for the harassed and helpless sheep. Jesus is deeply moved at seeing these people and their need for Him.

[27:37] It's why He came. He's deeply, deeply moved by it. What Matthew seems to be saying is this deep emotion he's experiencing is unique to the office he holds.

[27:56] He's the Messiah King. The Shepherd who has come in the line of David. And he sees His people. A people needing Him.

[28:06] So, what I want you to notice is how He feels. How He feels about the harassed and helpless.

[28:18] How He feels about those without a shepherd. The fifth thing I want you to notice is how Jesus responds. What Jesus does first.

[28:30] He sees these crowds. He is moved to the depths of His being over it. And what He does first is really instructive for us.

[28:42] Really informative. We see that in verses 37 and 38. He's moved to compassion. He sees these people like sheep without a shepherd. And then He says to His disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

[29:00] Therefore, pray. Pray. Pray. Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest field. Pray.

[29:14] Did you notice there's a shift from language? A language that moves from sheep and shepherds to harvest and laborers and the Lord of the harvest. So there's a shift in metaphor here.

[29:26] The harvest that Jesus speaks of, of course, it's not a harvest of wheat. It's not a harvest of corn or soybeans. It's a harvest of the harassed and helpless.

[29:40] The harvest is a harvest of people. People are incredibly important to God. Do you know why? We're made in His image.

[29:52] We're designed to worship Him. His worship, the worship of His name, He treasures. And when His name is not treasured, it grieves Him deeply.

[30:05] People are very important to the living God. And so He starts talking harvest. And in verse 7, He seems to identify a problem.

[30:18] According to Jesus, there's too much harvest and not enough laborers. Up until this point, Matthew, Jesus has been doing the work of ministry Himself. And next week, when we look at Matthew 10, we're going to see Him send out 12 to join Him in the work of the harvest field.

[30:39] But right here, what we're seeing is Jesus is aware of a harvest boon and a serious labor shortage. And how does He respond?

[30:52] What does He do? He calls a prayer meeting. That's what He does. He sees the problem and He says, let's go to the Lord of the harvest.

[31:08] Let's ask Him to send out laborers into His harvest field. Did you notice that? Whose harvest this is?

[31:22] The Lord of the harvest. His harvest. He's speaking of God. God's in control. God looks at the city of Kenosha and He's thinking, this is my harvest.

[31:38] But what I want you to notice is the first impulse of Jesus is not to equip people on how to share their faith. There's a place for that.

[31:50] It's to call people to pray for the Lord of the harvest to raise up laborers. So five things I wanted you to notice. Where Jesus is.

[32:02] What Jesus is doing there. How Jesus sees people. How He feels about them. And what's the first thing He does? He calls a prayer meeting. He calls us to pray. And so the point of it all is this.

[32:13] God is showing us the compassionate heart of Jesus to reconcile sinners to God. It's all about reconciliation. Reconciling sheep to their shepherd.

[32:24] Harvesting a people to the Lord of the harvest. It's all about reconciliation. It's the mission of Jesus. And that's what He's calling us to be a part of.

[32:36] If you see the heart of Jesus, if you see His heart, how He sees people, and how He feels about people, it's going to change your priorities.

[32:48] You're going to want to join Him in the work He's doing. And so in light of that, let's apply this in four ways. First is this. Delight.

[33:04] Joy. Rejoice. Why? Here's why. Delight yourself in that the compassion of Jesus was towards you.

[33:20] He had compassion on you. He was moved at your situation. And He did something about it. If you're a Christian, remember you were once harassed and helpless like a sheep without a shepherd.

[33:33] But if you put your faith in Jesus, no more. Your shepherd is for you now. You belong to His flock. He wanted you to be His own.

[33:44] So much so, He laid down His life for you. He's your shepherd. He has claimed you as His own. And He will never let you go.

[33:57] Now let's say you're here this morning and you're not a Christian yet. I'd like you to ask yourself a question. Is it possible that the risen Jesus has a heart full of compassion towards you?

[34:10] And His heart is full of compassion towards you because you are a sheep without a shepherd. His heart moves towards you because He wants to be your shepherd.

[34:23] He wants you to respond to Him in faith. He wants to reconcile you to Himself. And so if you find yourself in a situation where you came in here and said, I'm not Christian.

[34:38] I don't want to follow Jesus. And now you're thinking, well, maybe I want to be a Christian. Maybe I want to follow... He sounds awesome. He's paid for my sin. Well, let me tell you.

[34:49] Here's what you need to do. You need to start being honest with yourself and honest with Him. You need to tell Him that you've made a mess of your life trying to be your own shepherd.

[35:02] Trying to lead yourself everywhere. And you've made a mess of things. And then you tell Him something like this. You say, I believe you laid down your life for me.

[35:17] Lord, would you take me as your own? He says yes every time. He'll bring you into His fold. Make you one of His sheep.

[35:28] But it doesn't end there. Tell Him you will follow Him wherever He leads and obey Him at whatever the cost. Tell Him it. Tell Him it. I'll go wherever you lead.

[35:38] I'll obey whatever you say. Now let me just say something right there. When you see Jesus for who He is, these kinds of words of response, I'll follow you wherever.

[35:52] I'll obey you no matter what. Those kinds of words of response, they don't spring from duty. Yes, Jesus, I will do whatever you say. Yes, sir. They spring from delight.

[36:05] They spring from joy. Here's why. Because when you realize you were lost and your shepherd came and found you and laid down His life for you so that you could be part of His flock, do you know what happens?

[36:25] Delight. I will follow my shepherd wherever He leads me. I will go wherever He wants. I will obey every word as I am able. Where are you at?

[36:38] Where are you at? Today, God is talking to you. Respond to Him. He wants to be your shepherd.

[36:52] Delight first. The second thing is see. See people as Jesus sees people. So see sheep, see harvest. People everywhere need a shepherd.

[37:06] We've got that in common. So when you run into someone with a different skin color than you, that person needs a shepherd just like you.

[37:17] Whenever you bump into someone who has a different sexual orientation than you do, I'm not saying that's okay. I'm just saying that's where we live. When that happens, realize that person needs a shepherd.

[37:30] When you bump into people of different income levels, who cares if they're poor? Who cares if they're rich? They all need a shepherd. Educational backgrounds.

[37:41] You bump into someone who didn't get out of elementary school. And then you meet someone with three PhDs. You know what they have in common? They need a shepherd. Criminal backgrounds.

[37:55] Someone has clean as a bill. Other ones has racked up years in jail. They all need a shepherd. Maybe you're here legally as a citizen of the United States.

[38:08] And maybe you know someone who's here illegally. We all need a shepherd. We're all like sheep without a shepherd. Every person living in this city is somehow harassed and helpless.

[38:24] It changes the way that you see them. And it's not just limited to our city. This is a global phenomena. All seven whatever billion people on the face of the earth in need of a shepherd.

[38:40] One shepherd. The shepherd. The good shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep. Let me just kind of dial this in a little bit more. Husbands. Your wife needs Jesus, the good shepherd, more than she needs you.

[38:55] Wives. Your husbands need Jesus, the good shepherd, more than they need you. Parents. See your children as sheep needing the good shepherd. It changes the way you parent.

[39:08] If you're a friend, see your friends as people in need of the shepherd. You got an overbearing boss? He needs the shepherd. And so do you as you deal with him.

[39:21] You got an annoying sibling? You both need a shepherd. You've got a nosy neighbor? They need a shepherd.

[39:34] We need to see people as sheep and we need to see our city and the neighborhoods in it as a harvest field. If you drove along 22nd Avenue, how would you interpret what you see normally?

[39:50] What would you see? Would you see different crime rates of the different neighborhoods? Would you see different home values based on locations? Would you think of different qualities of school based on the neighborhoods?

[40:06] different business opportunities? Police activity? How do you interpret it? How do you make sense of it? When you see it, how do you see it? See it like Jesus sees it.

[40:20] Harvest. If Jesus was in the back seat when you're driving, you know what He would say to you as you're driving through Allendale? Well, it's my harvest. It needs laborers.

[40:32] Harbor Park? It's a harvest. It needs laborers. Wilson neighborhood? It's a harvest. It needs laborers. Lincoln Park? All the way through as you get out from downtown Kenosha and as you work your way west, north, and south.

[40:49] It all is a harvest field needing Jesus. Needing laborers. See the city as Jesus sees the city.

[41:03] It's a harvest. You need to want what Jesus wants. So delight, see, want. Let me just ask it this way.

[41:15] When you see your neighbor next door to you, does it occur to you that they need a shepherd? Have you started asking yourself the question, with those people living around you, what does Jesus want to do here?

[41:33] Have you begun asking yourself that question? Start asking yourself that question. You begin to want what Jesus wants. How does Jesus feel about your neighbors?

[41:45] is it possible that he wants to be their shepherd too? And finally, pray. Pray along the lines that Jesus compels us to pray.

[41:58] Pray for laborers. We had a leadership team meeting this past Wednesday and we all heard this very interesting statistic. 92% of church growth in the United States is by transfer growth.

[42:11] It's Christians going from church to church to church. And then there's a place for that. We're not saying that's bad necessarily. So far as Christians are leaving one church and going to the next for God-pleasing reasons and God-pleasing ways, welcome.

[42:31] But I'll tell you what, we want to be a church here in the city that is growing more and more by conversions. Men and women hearing Jesus and realizing I am harassed and helpless and I don't have a shepherd and you're the shepherd.

[42:47] And you lay down your life for me. That's why we're here. And that's what we're going to pray for this Friday night, 7 o'clock. Here, we're going to pray for revival and we're going to pray for the raising up of laborers to go to our city.

[43:05] We're going to do that on Friday night. Do you know what we're doing on Saturday? We're sending Chelsea Zeman to Nicaragua. Is that pretty cool?

[43:18] May there be more Chelsea Zemans that go to our city, in our state, in our nation, in this world. Would you start praying personally for laborers?

[43:30] Pray when you're driving. Pray with your family around the dinner table. Pray in your life groups and join us this Friday as we pray here. Let's go for a drive.

[43:43] Say we may meet down at Canine Corner. This time Jesus is driving. And as we're making our way north, person after person, He points to and says, you see Him?

[43:56] Harassed and helpless. A sheep without a shepherd. He needs me. She needs me. They need me. I'm the shepherd. He goes on to say, all these neighborhoods, these are all different areas of this harvest that I want to harvest souls from.

[44:17] The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Let's pray to the Lord of the harvest. And let's pray that He sends us. Lord Jesus, we are so thankful that You are the good shepherd.

[44:33] Thank You that for many of us in this room, You have come for us. You laid Your life down for us. And now we know Your voice and we follow You with great joy even when things get tough.

[44:43] Lord, we want to live our lives for You and we want to be on Your mission. God, would You raise up laborers to go to the city of Kenosha to speak the Gospel, to swing the sickle of the Gospel and to harvest for You men and women, boys and girls, from all stripes of life to live for the glory of Your name.

[45:06]  It's Your name we pray. Amen.