Brown's Daily Word 2-11-11

Good morning,
Thank Jesus it is Friday and Sunday is coming. We are studying and sharing in Wednesday evening gathering on "Becoming a Contagious Christian". We are to use every opportunity to work for the advancement of the kingdom of God. Live boldly! Live creatively! Be a spiritual entrepreneur! Even if we are not completely sure what will work, try everything we can to serve Christ in a world that desperately needs the gospel. Work from morning till night, making the most of our time by offering God a full day’s work. Then leave the results to him, knowing that he will use your work in whatever way he sees fit.
In Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 we read about the preacher's practical exhortation to sow good seed. Sowing good seed is not just for farmers, of course. It applies to many areas of life. The Bible most frequently uses the imagery of sowing and reaping to talk about what we do with the Word of God. Jesus told a famous parable about a farmer who sowed his seed on four different types of soil. When he explained this parable to his disciples, he told them that “the sower sows the word” (Mark 4:14). Of all the things that we ought to be sowing, therefore, the most important is the Gospel of the Kingdom. There is no single way to invest in the kingdom; the best way is to use our time, talent, and treasure whenever and wherever we can to invest in the kingdom of God.
Jesus Christ is the Lord of the harvest, which will come at the proper time. This was true of his own life and ministry. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). Jesus was talking about his own death on the cross and burial in the ground, as well as the resurrection that followed. It was not just words that Jesus sowed but his very life itself, when he offered his blood on the Cross for our sins. The gospel harvest of his saving work is forgiveness and eternal life for everyone who believes in him. Jesus does not offer his grace in portions to seven, or even to eight, but to every sinner on the face of planet Earth.
Jesus sends us out to do a little sowing of our own. He is the Lord of the surprising harvest (surprising to us, not to him).v We do now always know what God will do with what we sow, but if we keep on sowing, the day will come when God will reap a harvest of salvation.
One example of God’s surprising harvest is the story of I read about some time ago of the conversion of Luke Short at the tender age of 103. Short was sitting under a hedge in Virginia when he happened to remember a sermon he had once heard preached by the famous Puritan John Flavel. As he recalled the sermon, Short asked God to forgive his sins right then and there, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He lived for three more years, and when he died, the following words were inscribed on his tombstone, “Here lies a babe in grace, aged three years, who died according to nature, aged 106”!
The most remarkable part of the story is that the sermon that old Mr. Short remembered had been preached eighty-five years earlier, back in England! Nearly a century had passed between Flavel’s sermon and Short’s conversion, between the sowing and the reaping.
Therefore, let us not get paralyzed by our lack of knowledge but instead use every opportunity to work boldly but wisely for the glory of God. Let us be excited about the coming weekend to worship the Living Lord with His people wherever we might be. Let us witness for Him in word and deed. Let us keep on sowing the seeds of the Gospel of the Kingdom. The Lord of the harvest will bring forth His Harvest, 100 fold, sixty fold and thirty fold. Blessed be His Name.

In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AibBR6j2g54



Saturday evening worship service.
Location: First United Methodist Church. Endicott
53 McKinley Avenue, Endicott.
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128, Maple Drive, Endicott


Saturday February 12, 2011
An Italian Fest will take place on Saturday, February 12, 2011 at the First United Methodist Church, 53 McKinley Avenue, Endicott, NY. The meal will be served, beginning at 5:00 PM. The public is invited. A suggested donation of $5.00 per person will be received.
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music .: Laureen Naik
Speakers: Rev. Brown Naik, and Jeff Vansycle