This sermon appears to highlight the compassion of Jesus and his sending heart in a world full of need. Through Matthew 9:35-10:15, the message likely focuses on Jesus seeing the crowds, feeling compassion for them, naming the harvest as plentiful, and sending workers into that need. The worship opening stresses that Jesus' love moves toward people with open arms, which gives the missionary thrust of the sermon a deeply personal center. The hope in the message is that the harvest is not plentiful because the world is hopeless, but because Jesus sees people with mercy and is still calling and sending laborers who will carry his healing, truth, and presence into the fields.