The LORD God is the Creator of the ends of the earth. He has established laws in nature which govern all the processes of life–planting, growth, cultivation and harvest. These principles give us insight on how to conduct our lives, families, churches, and societies (to continue reading this essay, click on image above).
Bringing in the Sheaves: God’s Kingdom Come, Rev. 14:6-16
God’s Kingdom arrives through his sovereign will and intervention, not through our efforts to build it ourselves. We are called to faithful witness and patient endurance during times of testing and persecution, trusting that God himself will complete the work he has begun and gather his people when Christ returns. We cannot force the Kingdom’s arrival through our own human schemes or compromise with worldly powers. Instead, we are called to remain steadfast in obedience to God’s commands and faith in Jesus, even when the world around us seems to be falling apart. Living in light of the coming harvest means we proclaim the eternal gospel with urgency, resist the temptation to align with systems opposed to God, and rest in the confidence that our labor and sowing in the Lord is never in vain—for the One who began the good work will bring it to completion at the harvest.
Invocation
Sovereign Lord, who holds all of history in your hands, I acknowledge today that your Kingdom comes not by our power or might, but by your Holy Spirit and his working in this world. Open my heart to receive the eternal gospel afresh and grant me the courage to proclaim it faithfully to those around me, even when the cultural tide seems to run against the church. Strengthen my heart to patiently endure, that I might keep your commandments and maintain a fresh faith in Jesus as I await your final harvest and the full establishment of your glorious Kingdom. Amen.
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father,
And to the Son and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning,
Is now, and ever shall be,
World without end. Amen, amen.
Chronological Scripture Readings for Today
These Scriptures allow us to read through the entire Bible in one year in chronological order.
Sunday: Heb. 4.14-7.28
Our readings from the Psalms, the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Epistles are taken from the Revised Common Lectionary for this week.
Psalm: Psalm 98
Old Testament (or Acts [during Eastertide]): Isaiah 65:17-25
Gospel: Luke 21:5-19
New Testament: 2 Thess. 3:6-13
Click here for all of this week’s Scripture readings
Psalms and Proverb for Today
These Scriptures allow us to read through the Psalms and Proverbs each month.
Sunday: Psalm 16, 46, 76, 106, 136 and Proverbs 16
Bringing in the Sheaves: God’s Kingdom Come, Rev. 14:6-16
The final harvest is God’s ultimate gathering of his people. This final message will point to the culmination of God’s plan, where all of creation is renewed and his Kingdom is fully established. We are called to prepare for this harvest and live in anticipation of his return.
Reflection
John provides the reader with a sequence of angelic announcements and divine action where the Lord reveals his sovereign plan for the end of history. Three angels proclaim messages of escalating urgency: the first to respond to the eternal gospel and worship the Creator. The second announces the inevitable fall of Babylon and all systems built on rebellion against God. Finally, the third delivers a sobering warning about the eternal consequences awaiting those who align themselves with the beast and receive his mark. Amid these pronouncements, we are called to patient endurance, keeping his commandments and maintaining our faith in Jesus, with the assurance that those who die faithful to the Lord are blessed and will rest from their labors. Soon and very soon One like a Son of Man who is seated on a white cloud with a sharp sickle in hand, will come and reap the harvest of the earth, the end of all God’s redemptive purposes. God here shows that his Kingdom comes through Christ’s direct, sovereign intervention into history, not through gradual human progress or our best earthly strategies.
Engaging God’s Word Today
In what areas of your life are you tempted to “build God’s Kingdom” through your own efforts, strategies, or compromises rather than trusting in God’s sovereign timing and intervention? How can patient endurance and faithful witness (and not anxious striving) change the way we engage the challenges and opportunities before us?
Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, The Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God,
Begotten of the Father before all ages,
God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God,
Begotten not created, of the same essence as the Father,
through Whom all things were made.
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and became human.
Who for us too, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried.
The third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and life-giver,
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Who together with the Father and Son is worshiped and glorified.
Who spoke by the prophets.
We believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sin,
and we look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the age to come. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen.
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Benediction
O Father God, the great God of the harvest, who sends your messengers to proclaim the eternal gospel, send to us now your Son to gather your people from every corner of the earth. Grant to us that patient endurance to remain faithful in these days of waiting. Help me to resist the allure of worldly kingdoms and show me how to maintain a singular allegiance to the Lamb, staying confident in the truth that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. Fill me with the power of your Holy Spirit, that to my friends, family, and neighbors I might proclaim with urgency the good news that the hour of God’s judgment is coming, that great day when Christ returns on the clouds to bring in the final harvest and establish his Kingdom forever. Amen.
Scripture Memory for this season
Psalm 125:5-6 (ESV):
5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! 6 He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
Scripture Engagement
As disciples of Jesus, the Churches of Christ the King strongly seek to engage the Scriptures to discover the centrality of Christ and his Kingdom in the prophetic and apostolic writings. You will find a rich treasure of resources on engaging Scripture at the Center for Scripture Engagement of Taylor University.
Book Reading
• As A Man Thinketh, James Allen (during seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany)
• The Way of the Heart, Henri Nouwen (during seasons of Holy Week, Lent and Resurrection)
• Atomic Habits, James Clear (during seasons of Ascension and Coming of Holy Spirit)
• The Seven Laws of the Harvest, John Lawrence (during seasons of Headship and Harvest)
• Get Your Pretense On!, Dr. Don Davis (during the seasons of Hope and Remembering the Saints, Exalting the King)
Book Reading Reflection: Get Your Pretense On!
(Reading “Get Your Pretense On!” during seasons of Hope and Remembering the Saints, Exalting the King)
The Ethics of Reversal: The Values of the Upside-Down Kingdom
One of my favorite studies over the years has been to collect and meditate upon the explicit statements of reversal that are mentioned in the NT, most of which were mentioned by Christ, but also the other apostles. What this list reveals is that the heartbeat and pulse of the Kingdom is this turning-everything-upside-down nature of God’s rule. Look at how reversal shapes and informs everything God does in a world where righteousness and justice are rarely seen and practiced:
• The poor shall become rich, and the rich shall become poor, Luke 6.20-26.
• The law breaker and the undeserving are saved, Matt. 21.31-32.
• Those who humble themselves shall be exalted, 1 Pet. 5.5-6.
• Those who exalt themselves shall be brought low, Luke 18.14.
• The blind shall be given sight, John 9.39.
• Those claiming to see shall be made blind, John 9.40-41.
• We only become truly free by being Christ’s slave, Rom. 12.1-2.
• God has chosen what is foolish to shame the wise, 1 Cor. 1.27.
• God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong, 1 Cor. 1.27.
• God has chosen the low and despised to bring to nothing things that are, 1 Cor. 1.28.
• We only gain the next world by losing and letting go of this one, 1 Tim. 6.7.
• Love this life and you’ll lose it; hate this life, and you’ll keep the next John 12.25.
• You become the greatest by being the servant of all, Mark 10.42-45.
• Store up treasures here, and you forfeit heaven’s reward, Matt. 6.19.
• Store up treasures above in order to gain heaven’s wealth, Matt. 6.20.
• Only if you truly die to yourself can you fully come to live again, John 12.24.
• Release all earthly reputation to gain heaven’s favor, Phil. 3.3-7.
• The first shall be last, and the last shall become first, Mark 9.35.
• The grace of Jesus is perfected in your weakness, not in your strength, 2 Cor. 12.9.
• God’s highest sacrifice is contrition and brokenness, Ps.51.17.
• It is better to give to others than to receive from them, Acts 20.35.
• Give away all you have in order to obtain God’s best, Luke 6.38.
• Only if you truly die to yourself can you fully come to live again, John 12.24.
• Release all earthly reputation to gain heaven’s favor, Phil. 3.3-7.
• The first shall be last, and the last shall become first, Mark 9.35.
• The grace of Jesus is perfected in your weakness, not in your strength, 2 Cor. 12.9.
• God’s highest sacrifice is contrition and brokenness, Ps.51.17.
• It is better to give to others than to receive from them, Acts 20.35.
• Give away all you have in order to obtain God’s best, Luke 6.38.
~ Allen, James, As A Man Thinketh. Readers Library Classic, The Original 1902 Edition. Amazon Electronic Edition, 2020, Location 639-657.
Seedling Focus for the Season: Those who Sow in Tears Will Reap with Joy
Description: The joy of harvest is the reward for labor, patience, and trust in God, Psalm 126:5-6.
On Eagles Wings Prayer Focus: A Long Time Comin‘
Harvest Joy: Celebrating God’s Blessings, Psalm 126:5-6.
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