Vision Sunday 2025 – The Fruitful Gospel • 01.05.25
Nick Lees   -   January 5, 2025

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Vision Sunday 2025 – The Fruitful Gospel
Colossians 1:1-14

Participating in the ongoing work of God

  1. Give thanks for the ongoing fruit of the Gospel
  2. Recognize the need for faithful servants of Christ
  3. Fervently pray for right belief that leads to right action

Good morning, church family! Happy New Year! (Introduce self + welcome guests)

It is so sweet to worship the Lord with you this morning. I am always extra excited at the start of a new year. It just seems like such a great time for reflection on what has come before and planning for what will come next. Here at Harvest, we like to start off each year with a one-off sermon titled “Vision Sunday”. This is our opportunity to call the church to action for the new year. It’s an opportunity to reflect on a specific passage from God’s Word and consider how we might live in light of it this year.

For 2025 I have selected Colossians 1:1-14, in a message I have titled The Fruitful Gospel. Before we dive into the passage today…

Dismiss 4th + 5th graders

Ushers + Bibles (Colossians 1; page _)

As we prepare to read God’s Word, I want to make sure I clarify what we are doing today. My intent is to read the Word, then explain what it means given its original context. From there, we will then move into an extended time of application for our church family in our context. This will be an application heavy sermon as we consider how to participate in the ongoing work of God in 2025.

Now, if you’ve never studied Colossians before, let me give you a little background information before we read it. Colossians was written by the Apostle Paul roughly 25 years after Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Paul was once a zealous persecutor of Christians. But he had seen the resurrected Jesus for himself and turned to him in faith. He became one of the most prominent preachers of Christ! He has taken the Good News of salvation in Christ to the Gentiles (non-Jews). Jesus’ mission for Paul was to tell the world that God’s plan of redemption was not only for the Jews but also for the Gentiles (aka nations). God is making a people for himself from every tongue, tribe and nation! Hallelujah!

This letter emphasizes a divine view of Jesus. Paul wants the Colossians to understand that Jesus is glorious and worthy of their worship. Christ is greater, Christ is supreme, Christ is preeminent. There is no one like Him. The fullness of God dwells within Him.

In response to this exalted understanding of Jesus, the Colossians are called to walk in a manner worthy of their Lord. You see, there is a direct connection between the Gospel received and the Gospel applied. When you know the truth, it transforms your life.

With that in mind, let’s read the Word.

Colossians 1:1–14 (ESV)

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

What a wonderfully encouraging passage of Scripture! Did you know that Paul had not visited this church prior to writing this letter? His thanksgiving and prayers for them flow from his love for God and fellow Christians! As he explains in his writing, Paul had heard of their faith through a beloved fellow servant, Epaphras.

Have you ever experienced something like this? Perhaps a friend or family member or someone in your small group comes to you and says, “I’ve got to tell you about this conversation I had with _________” or “Let me share what God has been doing in my life or _________’s life”. Those are exhilarating conversations! It is always so sweet to hear of how God is at work. It is invigorating to our faith.

I can think of a couple of recent examples in my own life. The most recent was from a few weeks ago when I visited with my family in Indiana. During our extended family Christmas gathering, one of my uncles came up to me and immediately began sharing the ministry opportunities the Lord had recently given him. He had been encouraged to do more 1-on-1 gospel witnessing and sought to be faithful to that call. From it flowed opportunity after opportunity to speak with complete strangers about the awesomeness of Jesus and even to study the Word with them. I walked away from that conversation praising God and challenged by what I heard.

Another example was during a pastor team meeting in December. During one of our meetings each month we take time to share with the team how we are doing in our walk with the Lord so that we can care for one another in prayer. One of the men was sharing how God had really impressed truth upon him from his Bible study and how it had impacted him during a really tough season at work. Just by the way this person was speaking and sharing I could tell they had been with God and were deeply impacted by it. I was struck with awe and appreciation for clear testimony of how powerful God’s Word is to help us in time of need. I left that time wanting to know my God more and to be able to testify to the same love for Him and His Word. It was exciting and invigorating.

It is good for us to give thanks for gospel fruit when we see and hear of it! It ought to invigorate us when we are reminded that God is alive and at work all around us! Paul and Timothy were excited about the fruit of the Gospel in the Colossians lives, just as they rejoiced that the Gospel was bearing fruit all over the world. They didn’t even need to know the people first-hand to give thanks and pray for them! It was enough to know they were brothers and sisters in Christ – they are family now!

Do you think this way about the ongoing work of the gospel in our world? Are you giving thanks and praying for the fruit that God is continuing to produce? More than that, are you actively participating in the ongoing work of God through the Gospel?

That is what we’re seeking to address this morning. That we, the church family of Harvest Bible Chapel Des Moines, might be…

Participating in the ongoing work of God

This passage encapsulates so much of our pastor team’s heart and desire for our church. We are both thankful for the gospel fruit that we see in our people, and we pray that God would continue to do a good work in and through us in the days ahead.

So, let’s dive into how we can be participating in the ongoing work of God in our day and age… It begins as we…

  1. Give thanks for the ongoing fruit of the Gospel

This is exactly what we see Paul and Timothy doing in verses 3-6. They rejoice in the fruit of the Gospel in Colossae. *pause*

But perhaps we are getting the cart before the horse here… We haven’t even defined the term “gospel” yet. What does Paul mean when he speaks of the gospel?

In verse 5 he describes it as “the word of the truth.” The word gospel literally means “good news”. It is the good news of the Scriptures, the word of the truth, that God has not left humans dead in their sins but has provided a Savior through His Son, Jesus Christ. This good news tells us that the forgiveness of our sins and reconciliation with God is possible through faith in Jesus!

Of this gospel, Paul elaborates in this letter:

Colossians 1:13–14 (ESV)

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

This is a work of God – he has done it!

Colossians 1:21–23 (ESV)

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

The honest assessment for all men/women is that we enter this world hostile to God as we live for our own selfish desires. Yet, in spite of our sin and rebellion, God has done a work of reconciliation and redemption through His Son. But our necessary response is faith in Jesus! Faith in him for the forgiveness of our sins results in being holy and blameless – above reproach before God! What an incredible promise!

Colossians 2:13–15 (ESV)

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Again, God has done it. He makes us alive, he forgives our sins, he cancels our debt through Jesus’ substitutionary death and atonement at the Cross. Through the dishonor and brutality of the Cross, God worked his great triumph – making many righteous and adopting them into his forever family!

This is Good News indeed. And Paul and Timothy recognize it at work in the Colossians. They are bearing fruit of changed lives that is only possible because of the Gospel. First and foremost, they have faith in Christ Jesus. That would not be possible without the gospel’s work in them. Secondly, they have a love for all the saints. Meaning, they care deeply about their fellow Christians.

A love for all the saints is a beautiful fruit of the gospel’s work in a person’s life. Suddenly you care deeply about these people whom you hardly knew before. There is a tie that binds you together that runs far deeper than a shared family tree or mutual hobby or sports team. We are brothers and sisters in Christ! We have been adopted into God’s forever family. I am going to spend all eternity with you, worshiping our Creator and King and enjoying his kingdom.

At Harvest, we capture this idea under one of our six pillars. The pillar of Compelling Community. We have this established as one of our pillars because we believe it is an essential part of a healthy, god-glorifying church. It is a fruit of the gospel at work in people’s lives. We ought to be known for our love for one another. That is what Jesus commanded of his disciples in John 13:

John 13:34–35 (ESV)

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The reality that we love one another deeply and sacrificially will stand out to the watching world. As you bear one another’s burdens and sacrifice of your time, talent, and treasure to care for one another – that draws attention to Jesus. When you faithfully pray for one another for weeks and months and years, that demonstrates a sacrificial commitment that our world knows nothing about. When you choose to endure and forgive when someone sins against you, that testifies to the power of the Gospel at work in you.

Why would such different people from many different family units and personalities and interests choose to partner together through the highs and lows of life? Because we have been radically changed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And now we love Jesus and his bride, the church, our forever family. This is the work of God in the Colossians, it is the work of God at Harvest, and, what is even more incredible, it is the work of God all around the world!

Paul made mention of this in verse 6, “as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing.” Wherever the gospel is heard and understood, the good fruit of transformed lives will be produced! Our faith family tree extends around the globe. (Sermon Point #1)

To highlight this briefly, I’ll just share a few updates from some of our supported missionaries:

  • Amanda Ferris – serves in the UK with She has had opportunities to train Christians in Albania, Romania, and Bolivia this past year.
  • Doug (Jen) Droll – had the opportunity to travel to Uganda twice last year. Over the course of these trips, he was able to teach 80 pastors on Bible training tools, lead a Bible Pathways workshop for many more, and work with the Ugandan believers to host a children’s outreach and evangelistic youth camp.
  • Caleb & Olivia Andrews – serving with college students at UNI. Shared the stories of two college students whom they are discipling and seeing sweet gospel fruit in (Noah – senior & Essie – sophomore).
  • Missionary friends in a closed country – Share of reading the book of Romans with friends of the another faith. Actively translating the Gospels and Romans into this people’s native language.

How sweet is it to hear these little snippets of Gospel fruit from around the world?! It is good for us to give thanks for them.

That is not to mention the gospel fruit we see at Harvest! Some of these I mentioned last week, but I’ll give thanks for them again today:

  • Sweet testimonies at Stewardship Celebration
  • Additional opportunities to disciple our community
    • Starting Adventure Club
    • Firm Faith podcast
    • Equipping classes offered and recorded
  • Faithful invites leading to growing ministries
    • Added a new small group
    • Addition of new small group for Harvest students
    • Addition of new members
  • Servants choosing to sacrifice to bless others
    • 3 new SGLs trained up over the past year
    • 3 new Harvest Students SGLs
    • Growth of students worship team
    • Many new kids volunteers and rearranged classrooms for discipleship growth
    • Men responding to the call to lead as Deacons
    • More variety of people attended witness on Wednesday throughout the year
    • Jordan writing a song to bless our church and others
  • Sacrificial giving of finances
    • Blessing our local school district with Backpack Buddies
    • Adding support to current missionaries and adding new missionaries
    • Largest giving year in our history (nearly $100,000 over our budget)
  • Members allowing the pastors to shepherd them
    • Successful transfer of many members communicating well with the Pastor Team/church body rather than disappearing
    • Repentance of sin (in Matthew 18 confrontations or counseling sessions)
    • Increased Family Chat attendance
  • Relational growth of students and kids and families in the church
  • Future planning process started
  • Preaching through hard topics and books boldly
  • Worship Nights bringing passionate praise by young and old in our church
  • High Five Camp ministering to our community

 

Truly we could go on and on with reasons to give thanks for the ongoing fruit of the Gospel! Thank you, Jesus, for saving and sanctifying us! May 2025 continue to be a year of faithful, sacrificial service for God’s kingdom. For that to continue, we must participate in the ongoing work of God by…

 

  1. Recognize the need for faithful servants of Christ

Epaphras is a great example for us in this passage. In verses 7-8 Paul explains that he is a faithful minister (aka servant) of Christ. Epaphras was the one who originally shared the Gospel with the Colossians and God used his faithful evangelism to call sinners to salvation! Which led to a church being formed in a pagan city and serving as an ongoing witness for Jesus Christ. Then Epaphras continued his missionary journey and shared the Gospel with others. His willingness to share not only the Gospel but also these missionary updates resulted in this letter being written for their edification and encouragement in the faith. A letter that we still benefit from to this day!

It is far too easy to take for granted the need for faithful servants like Epaphras or Paul or Timothy. These ordinary men and others like them sacrificed of themselves to serve the Lord and bear much gospel fruit.

We learn more about Epaphras’ sacrificial service near the end of the letter:

Colossians 4:12–13 (ESV)

12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. 13 For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.

The man continued to struggle or strive/fight on their behalf in his prayers! He was engaged in spiritual warfare for their sake. Why? So that they may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. He cared about their spiritual health and eternal wellbeing. This is what motivated him to minister on their behalf.

Epaphras is a great example for us! Do you recognize the need for faithful servants of Christ? And don’t say yes outwardly while thinking inwardly, “I hope these people all around me get it!” This is for YOU! This is for ME!

Are you willing to struggle on behalf of others in your prayers? *pause*

Will you sacrifice of your time, talent, and treasure to help others stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God? *pause*

Will you open your mouth to share the Gospel and call others to saving faith? *pause*

Will you purposefully disciple them into a deeper faith and love of Jesus? *pause*

This is what it looks like to be a faithful servant of Christ! The calling of every Christian is to be a disciple-maker. This is bound up in the Great Commission that Jesus gave to his people. Let’s review it:

Matthew 28:18–20 (ESV)

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Make disciples is the controlling command in this passage. Making disciples is what we are to be about. Helping others to know and follow Jesus. And the way we do that is by going to them, teaching them to observe all he commanded, and baptizing them in God’s name.

We capture this calling in our church’s mission statement:

Harvest Bible Chapel exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment.

You’ve just heard the Great Commission – make disciples! That’s what we are to do in order to make much of God, but how we are to do it is also important. We are to do it in the spirit of the Great Commandment – meaning we are to love God with everything we have and love our neighbor as ourselves.

Please hear this – there is no room for selfishness or apathy or passing the buck to other “more-mature” Christians. If you call yourself a Christian, then this is your King’s command for your life.

At Harvest, we want to be a church of purposeful discipleship. Just like we see from Epaphras and Paul and Timothy’s examples. These men intentionally shared what Jesus had taught them with others. They were willing to faithfully pray for others. They desired that as many as possible would walk in a manner worthy of the Lord!

It is one thing to say that is one of our six pillars and another to live it out! As we begin a new year, I want to once again bring the 5-3-1 cards to your attention. This is a tool we’ve been using for years now to encourage intentionality in our prayer, evangelism, and discipleship. They are very straightforward. You write down the names of five people you are committing to praying for in 2025 – that God would do a powerful work in their life to bring them back to him. Then you write down three different names of people that you are committing to evangelizing in 2025 – people whom you believe you can cultivate a relationship with that is going to be gospel-saturated. Then you write down one more name of the person you are committing to invest in to help them grow in their walk with Christ in 2025 – someone that you know who would allow you walk alongside of them and help them to mature in their faith.

If you’ve never participated in this before, I want to lovingly challenge you to make 2025 the year you begin. There are many ways you could carry out the praying and evangelizing and discipling for the year. What I am exhorting you to do is commit to faithfully doing them this year!

Remember, this is ultimately about being faithful to be used by your Lord and Savior. God has chosen to use men and women like us who are his faithful servants to accomplish his mission! As Paul writes in his letter to the Romans:

Romans 10:13–15 (ESV)

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

In order for sinners to be saved, someone must preach the Good News! That is not simply the job of a pastor, that is the calling of every Christian. Open your mouth and share the gospel. Call others to faith in Jesus Christ.

Two more of our six pillars are bold preaching and courageous evangelism. The willingness to share the truth of the gospel was evident in Epaphras, Paul, and Timothy’s lives. Will it be evident in yours this year? I would encourage you to prayerfully consider whose names you would write in these blanks later today. Then take intentional steps over the year to be faithful to these commitments. Even better, ask others to pray for you to keep these commitments! That’s what we find Paul doing in our courageous evangelism verse:

Ephesians 6:19–20 (ESV)

19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Paul wanted them to pray on his behalf that he would be bold/courageous in his preaching/evangelism. I need you to pray for me on this matter and I will pray for you too.

In fact, this anticipates our final takeaway in participating in the ongoing work of God.

  1. Fervently pray for right belief that leads to right action

This entire letter to the Colossians kicked off in verse 3 with Paul’s profession that they were praying for the Colossians. In verse 9 the intensity of this praying is revealed… Let’s review it again:

Colossians 1:9 (ESV)

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Unceasing prayer for people they had never even met! If this is not fervent prayer, then I do not know what is. And the emphasis of their prayers was that the Colossians would have right belief, that they would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will. They are praying for these Christians to know what God wants! Why is that the emphasis of their prayers? So that the Colossians might be moved to right action, walking in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him.

This is how the Christian life is intended to work. We learn what is true and holy and it changes us. Our thoughts/speech/actions are transformed by the truth of God’s will and ways. This pursuit is worthy of our most intense efforts!

Fervent prayer is one way that we can exert ourselves towards it. As you may know, this is also one of our six pillars! We want to be a people known for our passionate intensity in prayer – not a manufactured intensity but rather one driven by our realization that we are utterly dependent on God. We need God to fill us with the knowledge of his will. We need God to empower us to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.

Will you commit to praying for our church family this year – praying for one another to be filled with right belief that leads to right action? This practice can be aided by praying through the membership directory. Or by grabbing one of the provided prayer journals in the back and writing down your prayer goals for the year. (Title Slide)

You see, even though we are utterly dependent on God, he still calls us to do our part in pursuing these things! We get to partner with God in our growth! So, as the year begins, our church leadership is seeking to provide resources to help you walk in a manner worthy of the Lord in 2025. Let’s talk about these as we wrap up today.

  • Personal Growth Plan – remind them of the template
  • Annual Bible Reading Plan
  • FighterVerse Scripture memory challenge
  • Isaiah Scripture Journals

If increasing in the knowledge of God is part of how we please him (v10), then we have to be men/women of the Word! What would it look like for you to take the next step of faithfulness in your study and memorization of God’s Word this year? It is a good use of your time to plan for growth in this area!

I personally have purchased the remaining Scripture Journals that I was missing. Now I have all the Old and New Testament, and my desire is to go slowly through one book at a time and take time to journal and study in more depth. Last year I enjoyed the annual Bible reading plan. I find it helpful to switch things up from year to year. I’m also planning to memorize the weekly Adventure Club verse with my family. What will it be for you?

  • Prayer Journals

This may sound scandalous to say, but it is easy to become bored with prayer. As author Don Whitney points out that is because we’re saying the same old thing about the same old thing. When we are left to ourselves, we become overly repetitive in our prayer life and soon our minds wander, and we lose interest. We are also incredibly prone to selfish prayers – laying out our list of desires/demands before God rather than adoring him and giving thanks to him or even praying for others.

These prayer journals can be a helpful way to be intentional in your prayer life. They give you categories for prayer and help you track answered prayers. This can be a helpful resource in staying fervent and consistent in your prayer life.

I just finished Don Whitney’s book Praying the Bible and I intend to put that into practice this year. The premise is simple, allow God’s Word to inform your prayer life. Especially the psalms, which were written to be used as worship! This keeps your prayers from being repetitive or boring. I’m excited to grow in this area this year! What about you? Other tools that could inform your prayers and efforts this year would be…

  • 5-3-1 cards
  • 2025 Church Initiatives

There are some challenging things in these initiatives! They require each of us to do our part. For example, let’s consider the Passionate Worship pillar initiatives. This fits well with the call in Colossians 1:12 to “be giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” When you realize what God has done in your life, the only appropriate response is to passionately worship him!

Will you come to church ready to worship passionately? Jordan and I were discussing how thankful we are that our congregation is involved in the singing. That has been an area of growth for our church over the years. Please continue to let your voices ring out each time we gather. And don’t be afraid to get your hands clapping, arms raised, smile on your face, or even tears in your eyes as needed. This is not about showmanship but demonstrating by our body and soul that we love the Lord.

You know that I like to encourage our church family to consider the lyrics of the songs we’re singing. We seek to introduce songs that are theologically rich and help move us to a place of growing in holiness in our lives. Will you allow the richness of the lyrics to move you towards transformation and action? Don’t just sing… worship! Let God change you through your worship.

Then, as opportunities arise, be ready to share your testimony of how God has been at work in your life or participate in open-mic times to share passages of Scripture that have deeply impacted you. These are ways for us to joyfully give thanks to the Father who has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son!

My purpose in sharing these resources is to exhort our church family to be actively participating in the ongoing work of God in our midst. We have an exciting mission to accomplish! Our community continues to grow – there are more and more souls to reach with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And we have tremendous resources at our disposal through God’s Spirit, God’s Word, and God’s Church.

And how sweet it is to watch as God works in our midst. As I mentioned earlier, there have been both spiritual and physical growth in our church over the past year. For years we have been doing our best to make this facility work for our growing church family. We want to be wise stewards of all that God has entrusted to us – including our finances and facilities. I want to ask you to commit to praying for the future for our church family. Our pastor team believes 2025 is going to be a year of big decisions for the future. Our meetings with the architects have been very helpful. We’ve also spoken with a commercial realty group. There is much to consider and pray for. Would you please commit to praying for our church family’s future, specifically for wisdom about any future building projects or purchases? Our desire is to have a facility that helps rather than hinders the mission. It is an exciting time to serve the Lord, and we want to be filled with the knowledge of his will so that we walk in a manner worthy of Him! *pause*

As you consider your next steps, let me remind you of a few key things. At Harvest we like to say that we are a church OF small groups, rather than WITH small groups. That language hasn’t been used from the pulpit in a while, but it is still important to us. What that means is that we deeply value every single member and committed attender prioritizing small group involvement. We believe this is where we can best carry out the one-another commands of Scripture. So, if you consider Harvest your church home but are not yet in a small group, I highly encourage you to take steps to get in a small group this year. The first step is attending our Step 2 – Harvest Essentials class which is on Jan 19th during the 11am service. You can sign up for that online or via a connect card. If you’ve already done that, then email the church or pastor Jack and he will gladly help you get connected to a group. If you’re a member who is not in a group, please remedy that this year. I know life can be busy, but this is an important aspect of our church pursuing God together.

I also think it’s important for me to share this infographic with you. This explains the priorities of involvement that our pastor team believes each of us should have as we approach church life.

  • Sunday mornings (highest priority)
    • Clearly commanded in God’s Word
  • Small group
  • Men’s/Women’s ministries
  • Other ministries (lower priority)

I share this to alleviate pressure for those who feel like they must be at everything. That is not the case. I also share this to help you make wise decisions for what you prioritize when it comes to involvement with the church family.

I know a lot has been said today. When all is said and done, my hope is that you are challenged and invigorated to participate in the ongoing work of God here at Harvest. There is much fruitful Gospel work to be done in 2025, both personally and corporately.

I am looking forward to moving back into our sermon series in Isaiah: The Lord Saves next week. It will be good to return to a verse-by-verse study of God’s Word as we pick back up in chapter 40.

Let’s pray.

Pray through our passage