Whenever I hear a story of God at work as the “Lord of the Harvest”, it encourages me to stay involved as his “fellow-worker”. Hope this story does the same for you. I heard it recently from Tommy Lunceford, Pastor of Recreation Ministry at Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte. I asked Tommy to write it out. The following is his story….
Many years ago the Recreation Ministry and Singles Ministry decided to work together on a Singles softball league. This league was called our “Smash” softball league.
The purpose of this league was to use the attraction of sports to help build relationships with people that did not attend church.
On one of the Friday night games there was a little more excitement than normal. One of the participants had a heart attack while playing a game. This resulted in many visits and contacts to the family. After a period of time the man and his family settled back into their life that did not involve Christ or church.
Over the years, this man’s heart developed Coronary Heart Disease. With the ensuing health issues the wife began to attend church again. Just recently, the man’s heart had a flare up and he was considered in a critical stage.
In the mean time the wife had joined our Recreation Sunday School Class. While attending, she had been asking for prayer for her husband. Our class began to reach out with prayers, letters and calls of concern.
One week our class took meals to the family. On one of those occasions someone shared the Gospel with the man. He was thankful but gratefully he resisted.
God works even when we don’t realize it…within a week the man showed up and visited with one of our recreation staffers. The man had been thinking about what was shared with him. And that day, the man had come to have someone share how he could have eternal life.
Just think…God started working years ago…without anyone realizing what HE was doing. And in His sovereign and miraculous way, He reached down to earth and snatched a dying man out of the grasp of Satan and has given him eternal life.
Just think, it all began with a game of softball among friends that led to the salvation of a thirsty man.
God is good.
I would add – there are many lessons to learn from this story. As Billy Graham said, “Seventeen people are involved in someone coming to Christ. Sixteen who thought they did nothing. One who thought he did everything.” I was struck with how many people were involved in this process – those in the initial league, those who visited the family initially, those in the Sunday School class. Lots of laborers in this harvest. Jesus said, “Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.” John 4:36
