A young boy, the son of a missionary, had heard his father say to the native congregation that if each Christian in that particular city would win fifty to Jesus the entire city would be Christianized. Without reservation this twelve-year-old boy accepted his share of the responsibility. Every day he would pray for a boy friend of his who was a Hindu. Such successful personal work was done that after a few months the boy friend was baptized. Radiant with happiness the lad watched the baptism, and said to his father, “Only forty-nine left for me now, Dad.”
Oh, that our faith were so simple that we would look to the Master for power to win against the enemy of souls! 

    John 13:1-17, describes that evening when Jesus washed the feet of His disciples.

 In verse 17, Jesus said: “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed  if you do them.”

Jesus knew:

“…that the time had come…” (vs 1);

“…that the Father had put all things under His power..” (vs 3);

“…that He had come from the Father…” (vs 3);

“…that He was returning to God…” (vs 3);

“…who was going to betray Him…” (vs 11).

Jesus said: “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.” (vs 8).

“When  He had finished washing their feet, He put on His clothes and returned to His place.

‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ He asked them. ‘You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.”

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36)

OK, Church, this is our truth. We don’t know the time when Jesus is coming back.

We just know that He is and we should “speed His coming”. (2 Peter 3:12)

We do know what is required for Him to come back.

“When the gospel is preached to all the nations the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)

We also don’t know the day or the hour that our life will end.

“Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.” (Psalms 144:4)

We also don’t know the day or the hour that the life of everyone we meet will end.

Jesus lived His whole life on earth with a kingdom perspective and we have been predestined to be conformed to His image.

Jesus said, “As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21)

As believers we have been given the full gospel in Jesus Christ – God with us – the birth, death and life of Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

It encompasses Christmas, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, the Passover, Pentecost, the Sabbath, communion, baptism (water and Holy Spirit) and even the Rapture, the millennium and the new heaven and earth.

But these are not days or times of celebration – they are all one in Christ Jesus.

This morning as I share this – none of you reading this knows whether your journey of life will be over before day’s end.

Neither does the person that is going to lose their life in a tragic accident, a heart attack, starve to death, raped and murdered or a deadly pestilence.

Being around to celebrate a particular day or event that we have been given in Christ is not the most important thing in their life at the moment.

     We are blessed to have been born and to live in a country in which we have the freedom to practice our religion as well as the opportunity to prosper. Harvest Vision Ministries is in partnership with men and women who suffer unbearable conditions to carry the good news of Jesus to desolate places and it is an honor to be able to support these men and women through this ministry. They need your help.

       Pr. Martin over-sees the ministry in Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, Burundi and the eastern DRCongo and we are thankful that many of us in the USA have had the opportunity to meet him and be aware of how God is using him. His apostolic call is to prepare and equip all the saints along with others in the five-fold ministry, which is impossible without God and the help of the Body of Christ. The pandemic that brought a global response has affected the whole world and in Kampala, population 3+ million, it is devastating. The country has shut down all transportation which has impacted those in the city getting food, where Pr. Martin and the ministry is head quartered. He is also praying and encouraging pastors and leaders in a country with 42 million people and 23 million of them are under the age of 14, along with 4 other Africa nations. Our co-laborers need our prayers and support. We wired some money today  to assist him in doing the work God has set apart for him to do and we will be wiring money again next week.

        If you would like to make a donation, they can be made on line at www.myegiving/hvm or the “donations” button to “Where most needed” on the home page of the www.harvestvisionministries.org website or through PayPal to harvestvision21@msn.com. If you would like to donate electronically but do not have access to the internet or would like someone to assist you, please call George Henson at 360-421-8811 or Kylee Walker at 360-540-0890. To maximize your gift, on donations directly out of a checking or savings account a fee of $.25 is withheld, while credit and debit cards the fee is $.25 + 2.7%. You can also mail donations to Harvest Vision Ministries, PO Box 733, Sedro Woolley, WA, 98284. All donations are tax-deductible and help advance the gospel of Jesus Christ and build His Kingdom.