Weeping and Rejoicing­­­­—Both Are Part of the Harvest

He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. Psalm 126:6

Healthy things multiply—it’s true, but those who endure in ministry learn to embrace both the weeping and rejoicing that accompany fruitbearing in God’s field.

Yes, healthy life leads to multiplication. It’s as irrefutable in the life of a church as it is obvious in the world around us. As spring finally springs forth in the midwest, trees are bursting with seed, flowers are opening with future life hidden inside their beauty. Soon the forest will be teeming with fawns—yes, health is seen most clearly in multiplication. What is less obvious is the death that is part of that life—the cost of the new life. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).

As pastors and church leaders we rejoice in the multiplication and the many who are blessed, but we also know the cost—in time, in travail, in petition, in perseverance. In every mulitiplication there are the few who sacrificed much for the blessing of many. Elders gave up leadership, congregants gave up comfort, pastors gave up relationships and laid down fears as they released church planters to go, or stepped out by faith and went themselves. New life quickly erases the pain of giving birth, but not the memory of the travail. I praise God for the family called Harvest Bible Fellowship and the sacrificial faith of many you will never meet who are part of that story. God knows, and we love them very deeply. We weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice (Romans 12:15).

Rejoice with Those Who Rejoice

May 4 marked an amazing milestone in rejoicing for us—from our own church family to our entire fellowship of churches.

Once again God has done something awesome. In 2000, as the first step toward fulfilling the vision of planting “10 churches in 10 years,” our first ‘daughter’ church was planted by Pastor Ron Zappia and became Harvest Bible Chapel Naperville. We thought 10 churches in 10 years was an insanely aggressive goal, but God thought otherwise.

10 churches were planted by Harvest Bible Fellowship—in just 4 years. By the 10-year mark, there were 62 Harvest Bible Chapels around the world.

Now, 14 years into our mission of planting church-planting churches, we’ve celebrated the launch of our 100th church, in Brantford, Ontario. AND #101 and 102, in Merida, Nicaragua, and Glendale, Arizona. On deck preparing for their first worship services this weekend are 103, our 10th Harvest in Nepal, and 104, our 4th in Nicaragua. Awesome. Simply God-sized AWE-SOME.

By God’s grace, these churches aren’t just surviving, they’re thriving—more than 60,000 believers and growing in gospel-proclaiming, disciple-making, Word-centered, Christ-adoring Harvest Bible Chapels on four continents.

Watch what God is doing. As Psalm 118:23 declares, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”

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Jesus Christ is building His church.

“And on this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18b