- Home
- Speakers
- Carter Conlon
- Crossing Jordan At Harvest Time
Crossing Jordan at Harvest Time
Carter Conlon

Carter Conlon (1953 - ). Canadian-American pastor, author, and speaker born in Noranda, Quebec. Raised in a secular home, he became a police officer after earning a bachelor’s degree in law and sociology from Carleton University. Converted in 1978 after a spiritual encounter, he left policing in 1987 to enter ministry, founding a church, Christian school, and food bank in Riceville, Canada, while operating a sheep farm. In 1994, he joined Times Square Church in New York City at David Wilkerson’s invitation, serving as senior pastor from 2001 to 2020, growing it to over 10,000 members from 100 nationalities. Conlon authored books like It’s Time to Pray (2018), with proceeds supporting the Compassion Fund. Known for his prayer initiatives, he launched the Worldwide Prayer Meeting in 2015, reaching 200 countries, and “For Pastors Only,” mentoring thousands globally. Married to Teresa, an associate pastor and Summit International School president, they have three children and nine grandchildren. His preaching, aired on 320 radio stations, emphasizes repentance and hope. Conlon remains general overseer, speaking at global conferences.
Sermon Summary
Carter Conlon emphasizes the significance of crossing the Jordan River at harvest time, drawing parallels between the Israelites' journey and the current state of society. He highlights the need for believers to sanctify themselves and rely on God's strength to navigate through challenges, especially in a time when societal boundaries are blurred. Conlon warns against the dangers of pride and self-sufficiency, urging the congregation to remain humble and focused on their mission to gather the harvest. He encourages preparation for a coming revival, reminding listeners that true strength and direction come from God alone. The sermon concludes with a call to action for individuals to seek God's strength and to be set apart for His work.
Scriptures
Sermon Transcription
Joshua chapter 3, please, if you'll go there in the Old Testament. I'd like to speak to you this morning about crossing Jordan at harvest time. Crossing Jordan at harvest time. Father, I thank you, God, for the anointing of your Holy Spirit. Without you, Lord Jesus Christ, none of us would have any strength. We'd have no understanding, no direction. We'd have no power. We'd have nothing. And Lord, I'm the first to acknowledge today I have nothing without you. All that I am, have, or ever will have has come from your hand. I'm asking you, Lord, today as a pastor in this church, that you give me the power to open your word. Lord, that you anoint it and touch the hearts of the hearers. And Father, I thank you for it. God, you'll make this word known. Make it real to our hearts. Anoint what is true, what comes from your heart, oh God. And Father, I thank you for this, Lord. Deliver me from any of my own thoughts and let just the thoughts that are in your mind be exhibited today, Father. And we thank you for it in Jesus' name. It's wonderful to see a full platform of pastors here this morning and elders. Praise God. Thank God for all of the wisdom that the Lord's planted on this platform. Bless the Lord with all my heart. Crossing Jordan at harvest time, Joshua chapter three, beginning at verse one. And Joshua rose early in the morning, and they removed Shittim and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. And it came to pass after three days that the officers went through the host. And they commanded the people saying, when you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord, your God, and the priest, the Levites bearing it, then you shall remove from your place and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about 2000 cubits by measure. Come not near unto it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way heretofore. And Joshua said unto the people, sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, the Lord will do wonders among you. And Joshua was speaking to the priests saying, take up the ark of the covenant and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. Now go to verse 15. And as they that bear the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bear the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, for Jordan overfloweth all his banks at the time of harvest. That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap very far from the city Adam that is beside Zaretan. And those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed and were cut off. And the people passed over right against Jericho. And the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground, in the midst of Jordan. And all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, till all the people were passed clean over Jordan. Now there are times and seasons of great harvest. And this text that we're reading today was one of them. And not every generation, beloved, gets to experience what these followers of God were about to. As they were going over the river Jordan, in Joshua chapter 3 and verse 10, Joshua said these words to them, Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Amorites and the Jebusites. In other words, the ability of hostile men to resist the forward advancement of God's people and purpose was suddenly going to be removed. It was a moment in history. It has happened several times in the course of scriptural and biblical history that suddenly, almost sometimes without a whole lot of warning, the resistance of evil has to dissipate. God's word said in one place, He said, I put my hands out like a swimmer, in a sense, and I just simply move out of the way. Everything that opposes the advancement of God's kingdom. The same thing happened in Acts chapter 2 in verse 41. The scripture says they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day were added unto them about 3,000 souls. I can envision these 120 in the upper room, very aware of their own frailty, which I am today and I hope you are as well. You and I know that we can't advance the kingdom of God in our own strength. Lord knows this generation has tried and the church age we live in has come up with every possible scheme that could come out of the minds of men only to see, in a sense, the enemies of righteousness increase and our society perishing at an ever rapid rate. But 120 people went into an upper room, were empowered. They went into their inheritance as it is. Now they were crossing Jordan in a time of harvest to get their inheritance. And you and I have been given an inheritance. It's no coincidence that Jesus Christ was baptized in the river Jordan. He's a type of the ark that went before the people of God. And he opened the way as it is into the land of promise that you and I may have our inheritance and we're going to need it in this generation. We're going to need strength that can only come from God. There's no time to play anymore. There's no time to play around on the edges of Christianity to be satisfied with just moderate little bites from the word of God, little pieces of learning here and there, more or less building a Christian resume. There's no time for this anymore. We have to lay hold of the power of God now. We've got to go into the promised land, which is Christ. The promised land is Christ. It's his life. It's his power. It's everything he said that he is within us. It's not that what we are outside, it's what he is and who he is. That's the promised land for the New Testament believer in Jesus Christ. These 120 came out of an upper room and suddenly almost without warning, I think I am personally convinced and that's what it is. It's a personal conviction that most everybody they're expected to die when they come out of that upper room. They had just crucified Christ. They're in no mood to entertain his followers. Society has developed a religion and its religion for itself is sufficient. They don't want anybody rattling their religion and they've just crucified the chief rabble rouser as they see it and they're no mood to entertain any of his followers. And we're living in a very similar day today. Their society at large is not in a mood to entertain the people of God and what we believe and what we hold dear in the value system that we know comes from the very heart of God. And so coming out of that upper room, they had their inheritance and when they walked out in that inheritance, which is a heart of love for the lost, it's a mouth in Peter's case that's filled with knowledge and wisdom and the boldness to speak it plainly and clearly to a generation. It's the ability to believe that God is able to do the impossible one more time. And as they stood facing this hostile crowd, I think they were shocked to see suddenly the resistance was gone. Suddenly people are beating on their chest. They're wiping their brow and they're reaching their hands out saying, what must we do to be saved? I think it must have shocked them at that moment. I don't personally feel that that's what the reaction they anticipated. And sometimes when revival comes, it comes so suddenly, so quickly. It's not what we really thought was going to happen. Now in our text that we read, it was harvest time and Jordan, a river that was flowing within prearranged borders as it is. There's a hollow more or less carved out of the ground and the river was known to flow within these borders. But at harvest time, Jordan overflowed its borders. The apostle Paul in second Timothy chapter three speaks of the world of our day becoming a place where society has spilled over all the natural boundaries which God has laid out for life and behavior. And they're covering it all up with a religiousness that actually is a resistance of truth. Spilling over without natural affection, incontinent, fierce, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, despisers of those that are good. We're living at the edge of our own society, beginning to despise those that are good, to despise what God says is right, practices that the Lord clearly says are the way that I have established. These are the borders of life. They're the borders of living. They're the borders of godliness. You stay within these borders and God says, I'll be with you. I'll walk with you. But we're living in a day of lawlessness. Folks, we're going to be stunned in our generation at the depth of the lawlessness, the casting off as it is a restraint. Mankind finally acting out the fullness of what's in the fallen human heart. When in the garden of Eden that seed was planted that we and ourselves can be as God and we can rightfully determine what is good and what is evil. This is the generation we're living in. When evil now is becoming good at an ever-increasing rate and good is becoming evil. When we don't let our children pray in our schools anymore, something is wrong in this nation. When we let every kind of abominable behavior is allowed to parade in the streets of our city, but God forbid that one of our sports teams should bow their heads in prayer to God before a contest. No, no, no. We've spilled over our borders. We have as a nation spilled over the borders of godliness, spilled over the borders of what family is, spilled over the borders of acceptable life and practice, and spilled over the borders of in our religiousness that has covered all of this up with a form of godliness that has no truth in it. It's in this season that we are called into our inheritance to receive the fullness of our promised new life in Christ for one purpose and one purpose alone. Firstly, without Christ, you're not going to stand and I'm not going to stand. We need Christ. He's got to occupy my mind, my thoughts, my heart, my life. His value system has got to become mine. And once his value system is mine, my focus will immediately move towards other people to gather in the harvest. That's why we've been left on the earth, folks. It's to gather in the harvest. It's to bring the lost into the kingdom of God. It's to prepare to stand as lights in a darkened world. It's to be the salt in New York City. It's to be the light that's set upon a hill that cannot be hidden. It's to have this heart that is filled with the compassion of God and the passion for the work of God in the earth. It's for this reason that God gave clear instruction and visible boundaries to his own people. Visible boundaries. Chapter 3, verse 4, he said, there shall be a space between you and it, which is the presence of God or the ark of God, about 2000 cubits by measure. That's quite a lengthy distance. Come not near to it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before. Stay well back, in other words. Stay back from those who are clearly called to lead you, for you've not gone this way before. There are very few generations that have known what history has called great moves of God. Moments when suddenly society opens its heart for only a season. It's only a window. Generally, historically about two years. Suddenly just God comes. It happened in New York City in 1857. There was a collapse on Wall Street. Many people don't know the history of that. A man called Jeremiah Lanphier started a prayer meeting. There were only six, I believe, at the first, maybe three and six the second week at this prayer meeting. But by the time this prayer meeting was over, tens if not hundreds of thousands of people had given their lives to Jesus Christ. This prayer revival swept New York City and then went beyond the borders of the city all throughout this country. A great moment, a great touch of God came into society. But it's very important that you and I understand divine order. There's a leadership in revival that God sets there and it's his choice. It's not ours. He set the priesthood as it is to go into this water first. And Joshua said to the people, stay behind. Don't get carried away with yourself when God comes in revival. People unprepared for revival generally get lost in the exuberancy of the moment. And they let a once in a lifetime opportunity slip through their fingers. I've been a student of revival most of my Christian life. I've read almost everything I think that can be read on the subject. And I remember Pastor David telling me one time about the various moments of revival he had experienced as a young man, as a youth and as a young man, churches and communities that would go into revival. But revival itself, which I'm going to define as a massive turning of the unsaved to God. People who are unprepared can get lost in the exuberance. For example, now Brother Dave told me one time, he said, I foresee a day Carter in this church when the doors will not close. When that day happens for the numbers of people seeking God. Now, when that day happens, we're going to have to have great wisdom. We're going to have to know because revivals have been lost when people just simply don't know when to go home. They start with the church at 300. It moves to 10,000 almost overnight. And when it's over, it's down to 150. It's less than when it started because the people have exhausted themselves. They're absolutely mentally and physically burned out. All of the infrastructure of a church in a genuine move of God. If the leaders don't have enough sense to tell the people when to go home, all of your Sunday school workers, all of your nursery workers, all of your, all of those that are working behind the scenes. Now we might be having a wonderful time in the sanctuary here. We could stay here for hours in the presence of God, but don't forget that somebody is with our children for hours in another building. And brother Dave warned me, he said, when it happens, I've seen churches literally fall apart because they don't know when to go home. They don't understand the inner workings of the house of God. Joshua 3.5, Joshua said to the people, sanctify yourselves for tomorrow. The Lord will do wonders among you. In other words, get prepared to live for and fulfill the will of God alone for your future. Sanctify yourself in your heart. It's the simple Jesus. My life is yours. My future is yours. Whatever you want to do, count me in and whatever measure you would have me to do it. I'm here to serve you. Sanctify, turn away from what you shouldn't be embracing, from things that you shouldn't be involved in, from relationships that you should not be in. Everything that will take away your strength would be to God. Samson had listened to this. Get your head off of that lap and move away from any seduction that's come your way and walk into the will of God for that is your strength for the future. Sanctify yourselves. In chapter three again in verse 16, it tells us the waters opened up and became a clear wall defining safe passage on the left and on the right. Now the waters to me represent this book and when you and I make a choice to be fully involved in the work of God, no matter what that is going to personally cost us, this book will open up. And even though we have to live in a society that has lost its borders, we haven't lost ours. Jordan had overflowed its borders so there's there's no real understanding of where the river begins and where it ends. But God set a secondary border in that river for his people. He always will establish clear borders so that we don't end up confused as society is confused. The moment you make a choice in your heart to live for God and to go all the way with God, this book will live. It will suddenly be a wall on your left and it'll be a wall on your right and you'll see a clear passage through into the promises of God even in the midst of this whole society spilling over its borders all around us. Joshua was warned in chapter one of verse seven that success depended fully on not turning to the right or to the left of all that he had been taught to do. Now history teaches us clearly the peril of those who overflow their boundaries in times of harvest. If you go with me to Proverbs please, chapter 30, I'd like you to see this. Proverbs chapter 30, verses seven to nine. Now this is what this particular writer said. He said, two things have I required of thee. Deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me vanity and lies, pride and lying. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me. Lest I be full and deny thee and say who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain. Now it's my opinion but I feel that people who fail to finish the journey in a time of harvest generally do so for one of the two reasons listed here. Either lies or vanity. It could be at the beginning of an incredible harvest that we fail or it can be at the end of the harvest. Now some people believe that the lie that the pathway that God has laid out before them and their part in it are insufficient. In other words, it's a poor plan or it's a good plan but it's a plan that poorly uses me. I want you to think about Judas for a moment. Here's a man who's overflowed his borders at the beginning of harvest. He had only three years of instruction. He's being invited into this incredible life of God. He is being called to serve fallen humanity as he sees the son of God serve fallen humanity. He could have been there on the day of Pentecost but he made choices. He overflowed. He couldn't walk within the boundaries. And folks, I've just seen a lot of people not finish well over the years. A lot of people. And it's always the same. They simply cannot be contained. They cannot receive instruction, cannot walk within the boundaries, cannot stay in the place that God has prescribed for their lives. In John 13, at the Last Supper, Jesus dips the bread in the wine which represents the giving of himself for people, his life, his strength, his blood, his all. And he hands it to Judas in fellowship. And the moment it touched Judas' lips, the scripture says, Satan entered into him. As an ex-cop, I have so many theories about what happened at that Last Supper. But he was invited to be a fellow laborer in the harvest. But here's what I really feel. It fell short of his self-expectation. He was on this journey, but he had an agenda in his heart. And Jesus and the kingdom of God was just part of his own religious agenda. He really wasn't interested in what true fellowship with God is all about. Therefore, he reached out beyond his borders and he used his closeness to the son of God for his own advantage. I can't help but wonder how many people are doing that. How many people are using their proximity to Jesus Christ for their own advantage in our generation, in whatever that means. In his spiritual poverty, he stole, and he took the name of his God in vain. Remember, the psalmist says, lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain. He reached out and took these pieces of silver into his hand, and he took the name of God in vain. And he contributed to making the name of Jesus of no report among the people. There are so many today who preach the gospel, but they are simply contributors to making the name of Jesus of no report, of no reputation, a name not to be dealt with, a place where sinners can come into the house of God and be very comfortable in their sin. God forbid, if anybody's ever comfortable in this church in your sin, if you're in this church and you're living in sin and you're comfortable, there's either something wrong with me or you're deaf. Those are the only two choices. But you can't be comfortable in your sin, in the presence of God. It is absolutely impossible to be so, because the Holy Spirit is the only one who brings true comfort into the heart of those who are followers of Jesus Christ. Matthew 26 gives us another scenario of this moment at the last supper, where it's going around the table because Jesus had just said, one of you is going to betray me. And so out loud they're asking, they're saying, is it I? Is it I? Is it I? One thing that everyone had learned in their walk with Jesus is don't trust your own heart. Every man is asking this question. Is it me, God, that you're talking about? Am I going to betray you? But it's in the context of, oh Jesus, if that's in me, I could see if Jesus had turned to John or Peter or Matthew and said, it's you. They would have been on their face. They would have grabbed his feet. They would have been begging for mercy. Yet this man Judas says to him, is it me? And Jesus looked him right in the eye and said, yes, it is. Straight out question, straight out answer. Now, I don't know if this was before he offered him the bread, before he offered that final offer of fellowship. I happen to think it might've been in the very proximity of just a few moments apart. He said, no, you're going to betray me and offers him the bread and the juice. And it says in John that the moment it touched him, the moment he took it, Satan entered into his heart. He had just seen Jesus wash his feet. He was talking about giving of himself and being betrayed for the sins of humanity. And it just didn't fit his religion. It just didn't fit his image of himself. Servanthood was a great thing to study, but it was another thing to practice it and to be a servant to fallen humanity and to the body of Christ. And when Jesus said to him, you will betray me, I feel that he was offended. He was offended at the correction of God. He was offended that God was trying to bring his life back into the borders of where Christ is, of where God's life truly flows. And he simply could not be brought back into those borders. And he took offense to this course correction, and that's when Satan entered into him. And I think that's the key to understanding Judas, because Satan's nature is, I will not serve. I will not be yielded. I will not be brought under authority. I will be as God. I will choose what is right, and I will choose what is wrong. Nobody has the right to tell me. No preacher, no pastor, nobody has the right to tell me what's right and what's wrong. I know, and I will make my choices, and God will respect my choices. That's who Satan is. And when Judas decided not to be a servant, when he saw Jesus washing the feet of other people, and when he heard him talk about going to the cross to die for humanity, he said, no, sir, that's not why I've walked with him. This is a poor plan, and it is a poor pathway for my life. I have something greater and more prominent in mind. I have something that is more valuable in mind. I know what is right, and I know what is wrong. And he chose to believe the son of God to be an error, and Satan entered into him. I've seen this, folks. I've seen it over and over again. I've seen good people turn evil. I thought they were good, and perhaps some of them were, but I've watched them turn evil for this very reason. In 2 Chronicles chapter 26, in the Old Testament, now Judas is a man who failed at the beginning, but in 2 Chronicles 26, we see a man who failed at the end. He overflowed his borders. God help us not to fail at the beginning or the end of what the Lord has called us to be as a people in our generation. This was a king called Uzziah. He was marvelously helped. 2 Chronicles 26 tells us he was a seeker of God. In verse 5, verse 6, he was a warrior. He built cities. Verse 7, God helped him. Verse 8, his name spread abroad, even to the entering into Egypt, for he strengthened himself exceedingly. Verse 10, he built towers in the desert. He digged wells, and he had much cattle. Verse 11, he had a host of fighting men. Verse 13, he made war with mighty power. Verse 15, he made in Jerusalem engines. That means like instruments of war. They were inventions that hadn't been seen up to this time. There were engines to shoot arrows and great stones. His name spread far abroad. He was marvelously helped, verse 15, until he was strong. And folks, I feel a deep caution in my heart. The Lord has marvelously helped us for almost 25 years now, but I feel we're just entering into the final moments of what this church was set in New York city and established for. Verse 16 says, but when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord, his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense. Remember Proverbs chapter 30, verse 9 says, lest I be full and deny thee and say, who is the Lord? Lies and vanity. Lies in the beginning that the pathway of God is insufficient for the quality of person that I am. That's a lie. And at the end, God, having used you or me, God, having given us all that we are and have God, having been our strength, God, having marvelously helped us, God, having given us wisdom, God, having stretched us out farther than we could ever hope to be in ourselves. God, having even given you or I reputation, even in the church and among the lost, marvelously helped, and at the end of his life and ministry, overflows his borders. My goodness, how many times, Brother Crandall, have you seen that in your lifetime? Men that God used, and they get right to the time when their hair is gray, and something happens to them, something gets a hold of them, and they overflow their borders, and he walks into the temple, and he's now his own priest. He's now his own God. He's making the same mistake that Judas made in the beginning. No longer can be brought under authority or control, and even though valiant men went in to resist him, and anger rose in him against them. How dare you tell me what I can do and what I can't do after all these years that God has been with me? Proverbs said, there's nothing more foolish than an old and foolish king who will no longer be admonished. He comes out of prison, the scripture says, to reign. Oh God, help us when the Lord chooses in his mercy to use us. Oh Times Square Church, if God uses us in New York City, and in our generation, I appeal to you with everything in my heart, stay low. Keep that basin in your hand, and keep that towel girded around you, and stay low. All we have is what God has given us. Without Christ, we'd be reprobates. The scripture tells us in the book of Romans, you'd be a murderer. Many of you here, you'd be in adultery. A lot of you would be dead. Others would be thieves. You'd be chronic liars. You'd be lost in sin. We have only what we have because of Jesus Christ. There's nothing else given to us. Now sir, one of my constant prayers is, oh Jesus, help me to see myself in truth. Help me to remember where I've come from. Help me not to fail or to forget. Oh God, that this is a work of mercy. It's a walk of mercy. Whoever you choose to use us because of mercy, there's no other reason that God would use you or me. It's mercy. You think you're smart. In the sight of God, you're an idiot. You think you're strong. You're weaker than a snail on the ground in the sight of a holy God. You have no righteousness. You have nothing to boast about and neither do I. If any man boasts, let him boast in Jesus Christ. Let the name of Jesus be on our lips. Let the cross of Jesus Christ be what we talk about. We started with a cry of mercy and if God uses us, if the city church is filled, if God chooses to give this church a reputation, let mercy still be on our lips when it's all over. We stand, we live, we move, we are by the mercy of almighty God in Jesus Christ. Samuel came to Saul and he spoke these incredibly indicting words to him. He said, when you were small in your own sight, the Lord sent you on a journey. When you were small, when you were little, when you knew you needed a savior, when you once hid among the stuff, when you didn't want to be in public, you didn't want to be seen, God saw you, he called you. When you were little, he called you and he sent you on a journey. But Saul, I'm paraphrasing, but Samuel said these words in essence to Saul, you overflowed your borders, Saul. You couldn't be contained and you overflowed. And he says, you flew upon that which was forbidden to you. You flew, whether it's gravitating, in his case, he just simply couldn't obey. It just wasn't in him to obey. But whether we gravitate for reputation, whether it's for wealth, whether it's for prestige, whether it's for fine seats, whether it's to be known, whether it's for a greater image of ourselves, this is a spoil in a sense, but it doesn't belong to us. It belongs to God. We're not to take the credit for the journey. I don't care how many people God uses you to win throughout your lifetime. When you are on your dying bed, the last thing in your voice better be, thank you Jesus for making me what I could never have been. We must stay in the boundaries of what is right in the midst of a society that's lost its moorings. In the midst of a time when I personally believe we're going to live to see a moment of incredible harvest. It will come in hardship folks. It will come when people are afraid. It will come in a time of economic difficulty, but yet it will come. And for this, I'm deeply thankful. I don't wish for hardship in anybody's life, but if hardship is what it takes to bring people to Christ, then so be it. It will be difficult, but it will not be impossible. There will be a glory. There will be a strength. There'll be a vision. There'll be a song in the people of God that nothing of this generation can take away from you or from me. I thank God for that with all of my heart. Hebrews 3, 7, and 8, the writer says, today if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. If you can hear God, Joshua 3, 5, Joshua said, sanctify yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. Get ready. Get prepared. Make sure that your heart is right before God or you will touch what you are not called to touch, and I will touch what I'm not called to touch. Stay behind those that God calls to lead you. Be careful with these moments that you don't let exuberancy take away your strength. Sanctify yourselves. Tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. The Lord gave me a simple altar call for today. Number one, for people who are just simply living outside of what is right, be courageous. Come back and do what is right. Sanctify yourself. Let the Holy Spirit give you the strength to do what you already know is right. Be set apart for the work of God. And for others who pray like I prayed this morning, Jesus, give me strength to make this journey because I don't have the strength in myself. There's some people sitting here today saying, Pastor, you're talking to me about a future. You're talking to me about another work. You're talking to me about a harvest time. I can barely get through to next Monday. Then you should be at this altar. Jesus, give me strength. You remember when you choose to be set apart for God in all your ways, this book is going to open and you're going to see a path. And in that path is strength. And in that path is the miraculous. Even though the Jordan River had flowed in that area for thousands of years, the Bible says they went across on dry ground, not soggy ground, not muddy ground, dry ground. The miracle was total. It was complete. Can you imagine what it must have felt like to walk through there? And you're walking through on a dry riverbed and you're looking to one side and the other and the waters are piled up as a heap, as it were. And you know, if you would permit me to say this, to stray out of the borders would have meant to drown. It was that simple. God says, here are the borders. Now you walk in these borders and you're going to go into a place of promise. And in that place, your enemies are going to, the enemies are going to dissolve. They've lost their power. You're going to see it when you hit Jericho, the walls are just going to fall. The terror of you has come upon your enemies. And if you walk in obedience to me, you're going to start to know the miraculous and you're going to start to know it in a season of harvest, in a season where others will come in to the kingdom of God. Thank God for the hour that we're living in right now. I am not afraid of the future, folks. I have an anticipation in my heart of something wonderful. I have an anticipation. When I pray, I see churches filled in the greater New York area with people praying. I have a vision in my heart of the elders and pastors of this church one day standing upon Broadway, just clapping our hands and laughing for the glory of God that has touched our city, for the mercy of God that has come our way, for the blessing of the Lord. Stay in the boundaries and trust God for strength. I'd like to give an altar call for people who need to get right with God. And for those who want strength, we're going to worship for a little while. And as we do, please, if you could just get out of your seat and make your way to this altar, and we're going to start believing for the miraculous this morning, strength. I'm going to pray that God give you strength, and we're going to believe God for strength, to get through whatever it is you have to get through, or to get out of whatever you need to get out of. Let's stand together. Balcony, you can go to either exit. Annex, if you could step between the screens, please. And as we worship, we're going to pray. Lift your hands, please, everyone in this sanctuary. Father, God, Lord, I ask you today for strength. Give strength to your people, Father. Each of us, Lord, we lift our hands and surrender to you. Lord, we want to be sanctified. We want to be set apart for the work that you've called us to, Lord. We don't consider anything too small. If you give it to us to do, Lord, we thank you, God, that you've called us to be partners in this great work at this season. Oh, God, Father, we thank you, Lord. God, help us not to overflow our borders and give us strength, Father. I pray for strength in the mighty name of Jesus. My God, I read your word, and it tells me that no son or daughter who asks for bread will be given a stone, that you will give the Holy Spirit in great measure to those who ask. And so, God, I ask for strength that can only come from heaven. To each of us, O God, who stand in this house today, strengthen us to do right. Strengthen us, God, to march forward. Strengthen us to walk in faith. Strengthen us to love people. Strengthen us to love the word of God. Strengthen us to obey, God, the pathway you lay out before us. And for this, God, we give you praise and glory and thanksgiving, Lord, for answering our cry in Jesus' name. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, mighty God. Thank you, mighty God.
Crossing Jordan at Harvest Time
- Bio
- Summary
- Transcript
- Download

Carter Conlon (1953 - ). Canadian-American pastor, author, and speaker born in Noranda, Quebec. Raised in a secular home, he became a police officer after earning a bachelor’s degree in law and sociology from Carleton University. Converted in 1978 after a spiritual encounter, he left policing in 1987 to enter ministry, founding a church, Christian school, and food bank in Riceville, Canada, while operating a sheep farm. In 1994, he joined Times Square Church in New York City at David Wilkerson’s invitation, serving as senior pastor from 2001 to 2020, growing it to over 10,000 members from 100 nationalities. Conlon authored books like It’s Time to Pray (2018), with proceeds supporting the Compassion Fund. Known for his prayer initiatives, he launched the Worldwide Prayer Meeting in 2015, reaching 200 countries, and “For Pastors Only,” mentoring thousands globally. Married to Teresa, an associate pastor and Summit International School president, they have three children and nine grandchildren. His preaching, aired on 320 radio stations, emphasizes repentance and hope. Conlon remains general overseer, speaking at global conferences.