The morning text comes from Matthew

chapter 9, not Matthew 10, has printed in your worship folder.

Matthew 9 verses 35 through 38.

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless,

like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples,

the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

It was the last time, by the way, that I saw Alma. She passed away last night.

And the funeral will be on Tuesday at the Albin Funeral Chapel.

The time hasn't been set yet, so if you know Alma and you want to support the

family at that time you can call the church and we'll give you the time when we

know it. The question that returned to me again and again as 1981 passed away was might 1982 be Harvest Time at Bethlehem Baptist Church.

Might this be the God appointed year for a movement of the Spirit that causes a great earnestness to spread through the church convicting of sin and captivating our desires and empowering us for fruitful witness.

Might this be the year that God grants many people to be converted from

unbelief to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And when I think about what I would like to see happen under the Lord's grace, God forbid that I should be

unmindful of the grace of 1981, full of mercies.

Let me mention a few so that you can see that we're moving from a position of blessing, not a position of barrenness.

In 1981, the Lord brought to our ministerial staff, Glenn O'Gren, Bruce Leiflad, Corey Dahl, and Greg Hinesch, not to mention some other paid

workers. Our giving in 1981 surpassed the giving of 1980 by over 14%, went way above our budget.

We will pay all our expenses.

And on top of that, you $58,000 to Project 84, 37% of which has already been sent to Mission

...