Who is called to “go into all the world and preach the gospel?” If you are a Christian, you are! We are! Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).
We may think the work of evangelism is only for those who are called to be evangelists. Granted, there are people in the church whom God has raised up to be evangelists, and certainly evangelism is not limited to those who preach to hundreds or thousands at a time. I have seen many individual believers who obviously have this gift.
I believe that God wants to use all of us to bring people to Himself. The book of Proverbs says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30). Scripture also tells us, “Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who turn many to righteousness will shine like stars forever” (Daniel 12:3).
One of the most exciting and fulfilling things you can do is tell others about Jesus. This message God has given us was meant to be shared, not hoarded. You were blessed to be a blessing. When you do not share, you begin to stagnate; when you do, you revive. God doesn’t want you to share the gospel out of mere duty, but with joy and passion.
If you were walking down the street and you heard screams coming from someone trapped in a burning house, what would you do? Would you just hope someone does something, or would you take action? How much more important is the truth of the gospel message! When we share the gospel with others, it’s like we are going to a person who is trapped in a burning house, with only moments to live, and pulling them to safety.
We have the solution to humanity’s problems. We have the way for people to know God. If we only apply that in our own lives and keep it to ourselves and never tell others, then certainly that is falling short of what God would want.
Harvest America can be a catalyst for a believer to utilize in his or her evangelistic efforts. After all, there are a lot of unbelievers who won’t go to church when Christians invite them. Something about the idea of going to church intimidates them.
When you invite them to a theater, coffee house, or living room, however, they are more likely to go with you. But whatever the motive an unbeliever may have for coming to a Harvest Crusades event, they will hear the gospel.
When we were in Hawaii a number of years ago for a crusade, one of our volunteers was out on the streets with his little boy, handing out invitations to the event. When his son spotted a very burly biker with tattoos up and down his arms, he said, “Dad, I am going to go give him an invitation.”
His father told him no, but the boy insisted. Before he could stop his son, he was tugging on the biker’s arm. The biker looked down, and the boy gave him the flyer. Then the biker crumpled it up. The father and son quickly made their exit, but the encounter went better than they realized. That night when the gospel invitation was given, the first man on the field was that biker. He came because a little boy gave him a flyer.
The seed you sow today could turn into a tremendous harvest later. Remember, the Word of God will not return void, but it will prosper in the place where He sends it.
An event like Harvest America reminds us that, regardless of our denominational handles, we are one church called to one Great Commission. Listen, if you have put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and received His forgiveness for your sins, you’re part of the church, and we are all members of the same body—the Body of Christ.
We are inviting churches across America to open their doors and to bring in a live feed through a variety of available media, from Internet to satellite, in order to proclaim the gospel as one church, with one message!
Any congregation is welcome to participate in Harvest America. This event is from the church, for the church, to build up the church. By that, I mean the objective of this event is not to grow the “Harvest” brand, or to build up any particular denomination, or to pursue any agenda other than the simple proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our objective is to spiritually build up the local church in any given community. We would be delighted to hear that local congregations all over the country grew numerically as a result of this outreach, but it’s not the numbers that are important—it is the individual lives of those who hear and respond to the gospel.
