c. Teach the Lesson (15 minutes)

DOWNLOAD Lesson #11 Visual Aids

[Dress up in work clothes; gloves, hat, shirt, and boots.] In our Bible reading today, Jesus sent out people to bring in the harvest. Do any of you know what a harvest is? Harvest is the time when plants, fruits, vegetables and grains are ready to be picked and brought in, when your Moringa tree gets around 7 feet you can harvest it and cut it down to just around 1 foot off the ground. Remember we learnt about pruning, the more your pinch back the branches, the bushier and better they become.

The harvest Jesus was talking about here in the Bible was not Ewe Igbale, Mangos or Bananas. (Hold up objects) He was sending out workers to bring people into the Kingdom of God. He said that there were many souls who were ready to be harvested, but there were not enough workers. One reason it was hard to find workers was that it was very difficult work. Jesus warned that the workers in His Kingdom would often be treated very unkindly.

Jesus said that there are many people out there who need to be helped, who need to be cared for, who need to be taught about God’s love.

We don’t need these things (gardening props) to care for the harvest Jesus talks about, but sometimes we do need to get our hands dirty to really serve and care for others.

Jesus is still looking for people who will work for him and bring people into his kingdom. That is what the church is supposed to do. It won't always be easy. In fact, it will be hard.

A farmer usually doesn’t buy a field with a ready grown harvest.

Our Ewe Igbale harvest began when we planted the Ewe Igbale seed in the water bottles many months ago. But our work didn’t stop there. NO.

We had to:
• Water it.
• Cultivate it.
• Weed it.
• Plant it.
• Guard it against bugs, goats etc
• We had to give it a lot of attention to make it produce so we can go out & gather in the harvest!

How do I nurture the Jesus seed that has been planted in my heart?
• By cultivating your relationship with Jesus Christ.
• By praying
• By reading and memorizing His Word the Bible
• By worshipping Him
• By fellowshipping with other believers

In between the seed-planting & the harvesting a divine process had been going on.

GOD HAD BEEN GROWING THE SEED!

The important thing to notice about farmers is that they have to be willing to wait for the seed to come into full growth!

6. APPLICATION / ENCOUNTERING GOD
Let the children come and quietly ask God how He can use them to be labourers to reap the harvest in their schools, homes and playground.

CLOSING PRAYER:
Lord of the Harvest, we know that Your harvest field is ripe for the picking. We long to see Your Kingdom come on this earth and to do everything we can to obey Your commission to go into all the world. We know that the workers are few so we ask you Lord to release workers to go into the Mission field. We thank you God that you created fruit trees for our health and healing You created light to enable trees to grow. You created us in your image to reflect Your love and glory. You are awesome and we worship you. Amen.