Good News: Open Your Eyes

August 24th, 2025/Seventh Day Adventist

Intro: Seven years. Can you believe it? Seven years ago Pinewood Church was just a prayer, just a dream. And here we are.

Isaiah 55 is our foundation: “It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. Instead of the thornbush will come up the cypress tree, and instead of nettles will come up the myrtle tree. These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.” (Isaiah 55:11, 13 NLT)

That is what He has done.

He has turned thorns into pine trees.

Brokenness into beauty.

And hard soil into fertile ground.

If your life has been touched by Pinewood in the last seven years, can we just give God praise?

But anniversaries aren’t just about looking back. They’re about looking forward. If you have your bibles, and I hope you do, turn with me to John chapter 4.

Passage: John 4:27-38 CSB

27 Just then his disciples arrived, and they were amazed that he was talking with a woman. Yet no one said, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28 Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They left the town and made their way to him.

31 In the meantime the disciples kept urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.” 33 The disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?”

34 “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work,” Jesus told them. 35 “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready[i] for harvest. 36 The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.”

Pray:

Background: Jesus has just met a Samaritan woman at a well. This was a radical encounter this lady had with Jesus. He had just told her that He is the Messiah! We pick up in the story as she has run back to town to tell everyone about Him. While she’s gone, the disciples return with food. And instead of eating, Jesus uses the moment to teach them something about mission, about hunger, and about harvest.

And from His words, I want to give you three truths. A charge for Pinewood as we step into year eight.

Title: Open Your Eyes

Main Points:

1. The Food (Doing God’s Will Is Our Nourishment)

   1. The disciples said, “Rabbi, eat something.” But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about… My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.” (John 4:31–34 NLT)
   2. Warren Wiersbe said: “The disciples were satisfied with bread, but Jesus was satisfied with accomplishing the Father’s work.”
   3. Here’s the point: Sharing Jesus is not a burden. It is a feast. The will of God does not drain you. It fills you.
   4. Story: At our very first Pinewood Conference, Pastor Shodankeh Johnson shared a prophetic word. He said, “As I was driving through Boulder, I saw bread all over the city. And the Lord showed me this was a sign: the people here are hungry. Hungry for what can truly satisfy.”

   5. That is why I am wearing this shirt today with a loaf of bread on it. People are hungry, and only the bread of life can satisfy.

      1. “13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” - John 4:13-14

      2. “35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” - John 6:35

         6. Fasting: And this is why we fast. We just finished 21 days of prayer and fasting as a church. When we fast, we clear distractions and hunger for what really satisfies. The will of the Father. We clear the noise so that we can hear more clearly. We feel the pain for food and are reminded of our need for the true bread of life!

      3. You know the feeling of day 3 with nothing but water? Desperation! How about day 7? You’d give anything just to smell food!

         7. Application: Notice this too. Jesus was tired. Worn out. Yet He still leaned into the Samaritan woman’s story. He was present with her.
         8. How many of us try to have conversations with one eye on our phone? (pull out phone, pretend to text) Anybody guilty? It is hard to connect when you’re distracted. Jesus shows us what it looks like to be fully present.
         9. Question: Maybe the reason some of us feel spiritually empty is because we are not doing the thing that actually feeds us. Being present with people and sharing Jesus.
         10. Transition: The disciples were focused on bread. But Jesus was focused on something bigger. The harvest.

2. The Harvest (Open Your Eyes)

   1. Jesus says: “You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.” - John 4:35 NLT
   2. Here’s something unique. The phrase “ripe for harvest” literally means “already white for harvest.” Some scholars believe that as Jesus said this, He was pointing to Samaritans walking toward them in white robes. The harvest was not abstract. It was walking down the road.
   3. And here is where the context matters. Jews and Samaritans had been divided for centuries. After Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom, the Samaritans became a mixed people with different practices and a rival temple. To the Jews of Jesus’ day, they were seen as outsiders, half-breeds, and heretics. Many Jews avoided Samaria altogether.

   4. So you can imagine the disciples’ perspective.

      1. They assumed Samaria was closed.
      2. They believed nobody there would care about their message.

      3. Prejudice told them to overlook these people.

         5. And that is why Jesus had to call them out. “Wake up. Open your eyes.” The very people they dismissed were the ones walking down the road, ready to believe.
         6. The irony is thick. The disciples went into town and came back with bread. The Samaritan woman went into town and came back with people. She did the work they ignored.
         7. And here’s what is striking. The woman didn’t have a polished testimony. She didn’t wait until she had it all together. She just said: “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” (John 4:29 NLT)
         8. That is the kind of witness God uses. Authentic. Real. Imperfect.
         9. Now let’s bring this home. People say the same thing about Boulder. From the outside, people say, “That’s a hard place. Too progressive. Too intellectual. Too hostile to the Gospel.” And sometimes even on the inside, people whisper, “Nobody here really cares about Jesus.”
         10. But Jesus says, “Wake up. Open your eyes.” Do not write off Boulder. Do not see it as closed ground. Do not see it as simply thorns and thorn bushes! See it as harvest ground, fertile ground where pine trees can flourish!!!

      4. If God can move in Boulder, if God can bring revival here, then it will shake the nation. It will ripple out to the world.

         11. This is why I believe God is moving in Pinewood.

      5. Our kids ministry is exploding.

      6. We are launching youth this fall.
      7. We are praying for a building in the heart of this city.
         12. The harvest is here. The only question is whether we will see it!
         13. Transition: And here is the encouragement. You are not laboring alone. Some sow. Some reap. And God brings the growth.
         14. Encouragement: Some Sow, Some Reap
         15. Jesus said: “I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.” (John 4:38 NLT)
         16. This is unique. In farming, sowing and reaping usually happen in different seasons. In God’s kingdom, sowers and reapers will rejoice together.
         17. Think about who sowed into your life before you believed. For me, it was my mom. For you, maybe a praying grandpa. A faithful mentor. A close friend. Somebody who planted the seed.
         18. We are reaping today because others sowed yesterday.
         19. “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” - Galatians 6:9 NLT
             “Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.” - Psalm 126:5–6 NLT
         20. Parents, you know what sowing with tears feels like. Prayers whispered while kids climb the walls. Do not give up. You will reap joy.
         21. Transition: Which brings us to the call. If the harvest is now, if the harvest is plentiful, then the question is. Will we step into the field?

3. The Call (Step Into the Field)

   1. “A wise youth harvests in the summer, but one who sleeps during harvest is a disgrace.” (Proverbs 10:5 NLT)
   2. Church, it would be tragic for Boulder to be ripe for harvest and for us to be asleep. What will history say about Pinewood? That we played it safe? Or that we went all in for the harvest?

   3. And here’s the picture again. The Samaritan woman left her jar behind. She didn’t wait. She didn’t hesitate. She was relentless. She just went and said: “Come and see.”

      1. One ask is great, but if you really believe in something, why give up so soon?
         4. Application:
      2. Pray daily: “God, open my eyes to the harvest today. Give me one opportunity.”
      3. Submit a prayer request to our team of one person you are praying to receive Christ

      4. Name one person you will pray for and invite. (Pause and let them write it down.)

         5. Story: Even Forrest Frank caught the vision. He wrote, “If He can use some kid that’s lost in Colorado Boulder to raise an army full of soldiers, what else won’t He do?”

      5. If he can see it, how much more should we?

         6. What if CU students caught fire for Jesus? What if leaders bowed to Christ? What if Boulder was known not just for mountains, not just for progressivism, but for revival?
         7. Transition: And that is why we share. Because harvest is not about numbers. It is about names. Souls. Your neighbor. Your coworker. Your child.

The Gospel:

• The Problem is sin. We are separated from God.
• The Penalty is death.
• The Provision is Jesus. He died and rose again.
• The Decision is faith. Salvation is a gift you can receive today.

Invitation:

Some of you are the harvest. You have been hearing seeds scattered for years. Today, it falls on good soil.

“Indeed, the ‘right time’ is now. Today is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2 NLT)

• If you are brand new, this is your moment.
• If you have been sitting on the fence, this is your moment.
• If you have been running, this is your moment.

Prayer of Salvation:

Jesus, I acknowledge that I need you

I confess that I have sinned against you

I believe that God raised you from the dead

And right now, by faith, I say “Jesus is Lord”

Thank you for forgiving me

By your grace I am saved

And by your power I am set free

Commissioning:

For the rest: Lift your eyes. Do not sleep through harvest. The fields are ripe. The workers are here. The Spirit is with us.

Billy Graham: “The harvest is always urgent. Every generation is strategic.”

And I believe Pinewood’s eighth year is strategic.

• A year of kids and students rising up.
• A year of new workers sent into the field.
• A year of harvest in Boulder.

Church, this is our moment. Let’s step into the field. Let’s reap the harvest together.