My vision for Biblical Worship at Harvest is to encourage, develop, and raise up true worshippers who worship the Triune God in spirit and truth within all aspects of life; that we might be a people who grow in our understanding of God and respond by making much of Him with our lives not just music....
Rob Maxey was a friend to as many people as he could meet. He was tireless in his service in God's Kingdom, relentless in his pursuit of teenagers for the sake of Jesus, and abounding in hope and joy and love that came from a heart captivated by the good news that Jesus forgives sinners and changes lives for eternity. He is and will be deeply missed. ...
So many questions, so little time! We had over 30 questions come in on Sunday morning during our services, and of course we couldn’t get to all of them from the front. But, we can provide some brief answers to the ones that didn’t get mentioned, and that’s what we are doing here. The goal is not an exhaustive answer, but helpful, direct, biblical answers. And, we provide links to reliable sources where possible because many of these questions already have good answers....
At Harvest, "walking with Christ" is the process by which you consistently grow as a disciple in community, growing in your love for Jesus and other people. Being a disciple is never a one-person show....
You were created to worship. There isn’t a single soul on this planet who isn’t wired this way. We are all worshipers. The question is simply who or what you worship. People can deny God exists all they want, but far from denying His existence, they prove his existence as they live out a life of worship. ...
"Meditation" is a popular practice for many people, yet also a confusing one for many Christians. Is it OK to meditate like other people do, seeking to cleanse or empty the mind of all distractions, worries, burdens, etc? Is meditation spoken of in the Bible similar to that, or altogether different?...
There’s no denying that we each come to the Bible with our own presuppositions, biases and assumptions, and there are a slew of contributing factors. So when you come to God’s word, your commitment must be to let the Bible say what it says and mean what it means even if it changes the way you’ve always thought about it......
Every presidential election season seems to create a feeling of "When will this be over?" by the time we are all actually voting. We've heard about candidates for years already in some cases, then we hear from their "camps" every day for months and months, then we hear from candidates themselves incessantly down the home stretch. This race feels, to me, to be more polarizing than any I've seen in my relatively brief 32 years of life......
Anniversary celebrations bring perspective and expectation. Perspective of what’s God has done and expectation about what another year of walking with the Lord will produce in our hearts, in our church, and in our community. Our third anniversary has once again prompted both. People have asked me, “three years ago, is this where you expected to be?” And it’s difficult to answer that question. ...
I believe there is so much that God has in store for us, but were I to sum up all that the Lord has impressed upon my heart for this upcoming year of ministry, I could summarize the focus in two words: All in! This is our theme for the year. If we’re to be the type of church that I believe God is calling us to be, it’s going to start with each and every person committing to being “All in.” This year, we’re going to get off the fence of mediocrity. We’re going to stretch ourselves beyond our levels of comfortability. We’re going to establish a clear focus on the right priorities. And we’re going to be sold out for Jesus unreservedly. ...
How could I encapsulate the top 3 lessons learned in the past 3 years at Harvest? Answer: I can’t. So, I’m ditching the idea of “top” 3 lessons, and instead want to put forward the following 3 lessons that we’ve learned at Harvest. There have just been too many lessons to count, some more significant than others. But for your consideration…...
As I reflect back on 3 years of ministry at Harvest, my heart is overwhelmed with thankfulness. Were I to speak of every form of thankfulness that has welled up in my heart, I would likely never stop writing. So in light of three years of ministry, I wanted to speak of my thankfulness in 3 ways......
The Trinity is one of the most complex and mysterious Christian doctrines, but there is certainly a strong Biblical basis for this concept. The foundational idea is that God is one God who eternally exists in three persons. Bruce Ware summarizes it well when he writes......
For the better part of a year, we will be studying the book of Mark together and the series title is Discipleship Defined. In light of the mission and the momentum God has been building in our church, I felt that it would be essential to define what our mission is again, which is glorifying God by making disciples. If you were to poll an assortment of Christians and ask them about discipleship, I believe......
As we bring our series, Rest: Summer in the Psalms, to a close this weekend, I’m reminded of so many of the truths that came out of our study. Were I to rank them all, the one that stands out most prominent to me in my life is my need to talk to myself more than I listen to myself. ...
Keep ReadingThe men’s Bible Study I lead on Thursday mornings has been going through the book of John ever since we started about 9 months ago. It has been a very fruitful time together, with everything you can expect from a good men’s Bible Study in the morning… coffee, scones or cinnamon rolls, open Bibles, some banter and meandering, and a sincere desire to understand the Wor...
Keep ReadingI love my small group. And I’m not just saying that because I’m the pastor and I’m supposed to say that. Sure, I have the weeks where I barely get everything together in time to have small group in the first place. But within minutes of group starting, I’m overwhelmed. Not by the stress of another activity on the schedule but by the sheer blessing of redemptive rel...
Keep ReadingIn the early church, it used to be a lot simpler. You'd meet in the temple courts for corporate worship and house to house for small groups (Acts 2:46). Two ministries done with excellence that fueled their mission-minded emphasis as they scattered into their spheres of influence to proclaim the excellencies of him who called them out of darkness and into his marvelous lig...
Keep ReadingThe saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the ...
Keep Reading"God loves you" is a statement many of us have heard many times, whether in church or in books. The love of God has at certain times in my life following Christ made a profound impact on me but at different times it has also meant very little to me. I'm reading a book called Communion with God by a Puritan Pastor named John Owen, who lived in the mid 17th Century. In chapt...
Keep Reading1 Peter 3:15 says, "But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect." This verse is the hub for almost every conversation I've ever heard on the subject of apologetics, or in other words, defending the Christian faith. The context...
Keep ReadingAfter Jesus gives us the how of prayer by giving a model, or template, on mature prayer to aim for, he turns his attention to some of the "why" of prayer. To be sure, no single passage, book, or sermon says all there is to say about prayer, so I won't pretend that this says it all. But it would help us if we press in to what Jesus presses upon our hearts. Why should we pra...
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As we see our lives play out, we spend much of our time trying to make sense of what we watch unfold. But wouldn't you agree that your perspective on the interpretation of your life is limited? Despite our limited understanding, we still tend to poorly interpret our circumstances and come to believe that God is not good or that somehow God is not for us. What's happening t...
Keep ReadingWhat do you find yourself rejoicing in these days? A good dinner? A nice glass of wine? Perhaps a beautiful sunset, waves crashing on the beach, a glorious view of Lake Tahoe, or a baby being born. What are the sorts of things that make your heart full of joy, full of awe or inspiration? Those are things you rejoice in. We all rejoice in things; I would even argue we rejo...
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