not about us

Reading: Matthew 9:35-38 NLT

35Jesus traveled through all the cities and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And wherever he went, he healed people of every sort of disease and illness. 36He felt great pity for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn't know where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd. 37He said to his disciples, "The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. 38So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields."



Thought/Story:
Jesus could have asked us to pray for the sheep. Or he could have asked the Father to save all the sheep…instead he asks us to pray for (and be) the harvest workers!

I came to know quite a lot about sheep while living on a farm in rural Virginia. There , the farm owner had a flock of 100 or so sheep that she would shear every year and sell the wool. Here is what I learned about sheep: They are not very smart animals. They would wander into swamps, or ponds, become waterlogged and die, without much struggle. They have no natural defense: they cannot outrun a predator,(many were run down and killed by local dogs) they literally cannot fight back. They rely on something (like a fence or barn) or someone (like a shepherd and his dogs) to give them protection.

Exercise:

To reach our friends and family, I’m increasingly convinced we have to start by listening to them. Just be yourself! Show sincere interest. People so need to be listened to. We don’t have to close the deal each time we talk to our friends. Go on a journey together. Listen. Pray. Pray some more!

“Don’t talk to them about God, until you have talked to God about them”
-quote from last Sundays sermon

Questions:
Do you feel guilt when it comes to “evangelism”? Or insecurity? Why?

Who are the people in your life who might be called “sheep without a shepherd?”

Would you start praying for them every day?(Hint: don’t get into a rut praying the same thing over and over: ask God one day to plant a thought or to have them hear about Him in a unique way or have an experience that draws them to God, etc)