By Nick Savoca
Recently, after the passing of Charlie Kirk, I was praying for the church that my wife and I attend here in Jupiter, Florida. Our church’s name is Harvest Community Church. As I prayed I began to focus on how very appropriate that name is for the time we are living in. I believe that no other time in the history of the Church has it been more relevant than it is now to make the Harvest our focal point.
All over the world there is a move of revival that is stirring and surging ahead. People are more open to the gospel now than has been true for many years. “Gen Z” is leading the charge. God is moving so powerfully in communities, high schools, and college campuses that it is changing the fabric of our society!
The assassination of Charlie Kirk has fueled the fire and people are considering their relationship with God, even many who had no interest in the past. It’s Harvest Time!
I was raised as a city/suburban kid, but while in Bible college in Southwest Missouri I joined a crew during the summer to haul hay. It was very hard work and I have some vivid memories of those days. One day our crew began work on a large farm bringing in the hay that had just been bailed in the field. We worked from early afternoon to dusk and managed to get about half of the hay in the big barn. Our crew leader approached the farmer at dusk when we were all exhausted and said we would finish the job the next day.
I will never forget the farmer who was sitting in a chair leaning back against his barn with a hayseed in his mouth. He was fairly expressionless but firm as he simply said, “Oh no, that hay is coming in tonight.” He did not want to take the chance that it might rain during the night and spoil the bales. We worked until 2 am, but got the job done! When it is Harvest time it’s harvest time! The harvest waits for no one and if we do not respect harvest time, we risk losing everything.
I recently shared at a men’s breakfast that when it’s harvest time it is time for us to be in the fields and not in the barn. Singing harvest songs in the barn will not bring in the harvest. Listening to great sermons in our barns will also not help. We need to get out of our church “barns”, into the fields, and bring in the harvest!
In John 4:35 Jesus said, “Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”(NIV) People are open, they are vulnerable, they are sensitive, they are RIPE for the Gospel today!
We need to pray the prayer Jesus asked us to pray in Matthew 9:38 “So pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”(NLT). Then we need to be willing to be the answer to that prayer.
I have been involved in evangelism and missions all of my life. I began by knocking on doors in my neighborhood with my two brothers in tow at the age of 11. I have been involved in all sorts of evangelism strategies, but none as powerful and fruitful as Prayer Evangelism. I encourage you to have your church or ministry order one of our various Prayer Stations and begin to take the gospel to the people of your community. People are coming to Christ at the Prayer Stations all across the country and around the world. NOW is the time!
IT IS HARVEST TIME!
