Discover LIFE at Harvest
Last Updated on Friday, 12 February 2010 16:38 Written by Richard Graham Saturday, 09 August 2008 23:30
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"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, (19) to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Luke 4:18-19 NIV
As Jesus stepped out of that temple and began his three years of ministry; His mission was both deliberate and intentional. His vision was unshakeable and unswerving and it carried Him all the way to the Cross. As He endured the pain and travail of the most brutal punishment imagineable and as His life began to fade, He declared decisively "it is finished". The statement was multidimensional in that was completely true in the present but more amazingly; in the future. His vision was fulfilled on two levels:
Firstly; it was finished in that The Good News message of God's Grace was established once and for all. God's forgiveness for sin was now freely available to anyone who realized they were "poor in spirit", He had secured freedom for those in every kind of prison (physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually), the oppressed could embark on a journey of peace and joy, blindness both spritual and physical would be healed and the world would now be able to discover God's favor on their lives.
Secondly; it was finished because He knew that His vision would continue on AND be completed and fulfilled in ALL the earth and in ALL the future generations until the day that He returned to the earth. He could see His Church carrying The Kingdom of God into all the world, giving life everywhere that it went. The vision that He had included YOU and ME! The vision that He carried was so powerful and so clear that it gave Him Joy to complete His part of the mission. The bible says it like this: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2 NIV.So here we are today! As a result of Jesus inviting a fledgling group of disciples to join Him on a mission of building a faith filled, life-giving community in the earth we are now favored, blessed and privileged to be a part of the continuing mission that He began over two thousand years ago. That mission is called "The Church" which simply means the "called out ones" of God. It's multifaceted, multigenerational, multi ethnic, multi regional and most importantly multiplying rapidly and transforming lives dramatically everywhere it goes. The vision of Christ is impacting the nations of the world as ordinary people surrender their lives to become comissioned, missionaries on the greatest mission known to mankind.
At Harvest we are pleased and excited to be engaged in the mission that Jesus gave us all those years ago. What makes it all the more exciting is that Jesus rose from the dead and is now seated in the heavenly places giving us His direction as to how we are to complete the mission and see His vision fulfilled in our world.
As people grow and mature in the LIFE that Christ has provided for them; it is our hope that they will in turn become a life-giving community to the sphere of influence they connect with on a regular basis.
Jesus made it clear that this was what He expected from all of when He said, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation" Mark 16:15 NIV and His instructions included "As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' (8) Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." Matthew 10:7-8 NIV .