Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Sunday, February 25, 2024
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Sunday, February 18, 2024
Saturday, February 17, 2024
ABIDE IN ME: Every Life Produces Fruit 2-18-24
ABIDE IN ME: Every Life Produces Fruit 2-18-24
Scripture: John 15:1-5; John 15:7-8;
John 15:7; Matthew 7:15-18; Romans 12:3
Write Up: The fruit of our lives is
expressed in words and actions. Everyone will produce some kind of fruit,
whether it is good or bad. Abiding in Christ offers us all we need to have a
harvest of good from our lives. However, living disconnected from Jesus will
result in fruit that looks like the world. We will be identified by the fruit
of our lives.
INTRODUCTION
What an honor it is to gather together
this day in worship, Church. We deeply believe God has brought you here for a
reason and that he will meet you with his love and grace.
We are in the midst of a sermon series
called Abide In Me. This has been such a powerful discussion about the
invitation Jesus extends to us in John 15 to remain connected to him and to
experience the fullness of life available to us in him.
”I am the true vine, and my Father is
the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every
branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me,
as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in
the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine;
you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much
fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.“
John 15:1-5 NIV
Illustration: grape vine pic
The first week we learned how a branch
must stay connected to the vine in order to receive all it needs for life. So,
too, we too must remain unified with Jesus. Without that vital connection
through prayer, scripture, fellowship, and service, we are destined to lack the
power to produce good fruit in our lives.
Last week we learned God is a good
gardener who prunes and removes anything that gets in the way of our spiritual
growth. Though it may be painful at times, the end result is a life that
demonstrates the fruit of the Spirit of God.
This week we are taking a look at the
truth that every life will produce a crop of fruit of some kind. The question
is: what kind of fruit, whether in word or deed, will it be?
Story: A few years ago, a family purchased a few fruit trees
from an online website. They had recently purchased four acres of land, and
they loved the idea of being able to walk out the back door and pick fresh
fruit to eat. They had five peach trees delivered to their house. They were all
young so they looked mostly like sticks. The family planted the trees and
faithfully watered and took care of them. Not long after, they began to
recognize one tree was not like the others. It looked slightly different and
had different leaves. It was not until they saw the first fruits from the trees
that it became clear: one of the trees was actually an apple tree. How did they
know? The fruit gave it away. It was the proof of their true identity.
Every apple tree, peach tree,
blueberry bush, grapevine, and strawberry plant is meant to produce a crop that
is consistent with the kind of foliage it is. Fruit can be expected to grow if
given proper water and sunlight. The same is true for every human being. Our
lives will all produce some kind of fruit. That fruit will always be consistent
with the person we are on the inside.
I. YOUR WORDS AND ACTIONS ARE
THE FRUIT OF YOUR LIFE
”If you remain in me and my words
remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to
my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my
disciples.“
John 15:7-8 NIV
A.
Our fruit demonstrates who we are.
How we treat people. How we talk to
our family. How we spend our time. What we value. What we invest in. All of
these things are an outflow of our hearts. They are a reflection of who we are.
Jesus speaks to this in John 15 as he continues His conversation about abiding
in him.
B.
Our fruit demonstrates whose we are.
Jesus says the goal of our lives ought
to be bringing glory to the Father. The ways in which we choose to live should
reflect the heart of God. The way we do this is by realizing that we will
produce some kind of fruit with our lives, whether we like it or not. We are
able to choose how we live, and those choices will reveal whether or not we
abide in Christ. It is the litmus test for the disciple of Jesus. Do our
actions look like love, grace, mercy, compassion, and kindness?
C.
Our fruit develops by remaining in Him.
”If you remain in me and my words
remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.“
John 15:7 NIV `
In verse seven Jesus tells us how all
of this is possible: It is a result of remaining in him. With a connected
relationship comes the ability to ask for what we need to live out our
Christian faith. Like a well-loved child knows to ask his or her daddy for what
they long for, God is faithful to hear our requests and provide the power and
resources we need to live as disciples.
D.
Our fruit cannot be faked.
This is not something we can fake.
They must come from a genuine connection to Jesus.
Illustration: Have you ever been to a restaurant or a living room
where someone has chosen to decorate using imitation fruit like a plastic bunch
of grapes or a painted foam apple? Sometimes these fruits are so real looking
you might be tempted to take a bite only to be left with a rubbery treat or a
chunk of foam in your mouth. Though those decorations may have the aesthetics
of an authentic harvest, the substance of them reveals a different story.
Your life will produce some kind of
fruit. That fruit may come from selfishness, guilt, anger, or bitterness or it
may come from the Spirit of God, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Your fruit can have a
vast array of impact, whether positive or negative. No matter where the fruit
originates, it will be revealed for what it is.
II. WE ARE RECOGNIZED BY OUR
FRUIT
The reason this family knew they had
four peach trees and one apple tree is because of the fruit those trees
produced. Jesus speaks to this truth in another Gospel in the New Testament as
he addresses what he calls “false prophets.” Those false prophets were
individuals who claimed to be disciples but whose lives did not match that
assertion. Jesus gives us handles for how to make sense of the fruit in our
lives and others.
”Watch out for false prophets. They
come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By
their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or
figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree
bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear
good fruit.“
Matthew 7:15-18 NIV
A.
Fake prophets produce fake fruit.
This discussion about fruit is very
common within the New Testament. It is a way of talking about the kinds of
attitudes and actions that someone produces from their lives. The fruit of
someone’s life is an indication of their true identity. In verse fifteen, Jesus
tells his listeners to “beware or watch out” for false prophets. The Greek word
for beware is prosecho, which means “pay full attention to.” Jesus warns us
that we must pay close attention to be able to distinguish truth from
falsehood, true fruit from false fruit.
B.
Fruit is produced according to its kind.
The author then uses the fruit image
to make the point that we can learn a lot from what our life produces. You
would not expect to get grapes from a thorn bush or figs from a thistle plant.
That would not be consistent with the true nature of the plant. The same is
true for us. If we want to know who we really are, we must prosecho – pay
attention to what we say, what we do, how we treat people, what we value, how
we make others feel, the kinds of environments we create, what we do with our
power. This is a very clear indication of the kind of tree our heart is, and it
produces good fruit or bad fruit.
Story: I grew up the grandson of a pig farmer, and for most
of my formative years we had fresh pork in the freezer. We ate pork
chops, pork steaks, pork roast, and fresh sausage. Every time I
turned around it was pork this and pork that. Given a choice today of
what I want to eat I will usually pick pig. After I grew up, I would eat
sausage from the store or sausage from a restaurant, and I could not believe
what they called sausage. I could hardly eat it. Sometimes it was
sweet. Sometimes it tasted like ham. Sometimes mystery meat.
It was nothing like fresh sausage: straight from the butcher. I had eaten
enough good sausage that I could recognize bad sausage in a heartbeat.
You see, false prophets don’t produce
joy, love, kindness, peace, patience. Pay attention to the fruit. It will more
closely resemble pride, indifference, manipulation, shame, guilt, fear, greed.
The fruit will give them away every time. We are recognized by what our lives
produce.
III. WE CAN CHANGE OUR FRUIT
A.
We can change our fruit.
Maybe you would like to see the fruit
of your life change. By abiding in Christ, we can produce better fruit. Like
plowing a field and replanting for a different harvest, God graciously offers
us the ability to lean into his love and grace and live a different life. If we
focus on our private lives with Jesus, it will have an impact on our public
lives. This change takes a level of humility and self-assessment that many of
us struggle to demonstrate, but this introspection is key to change.
Paul writes about this to the early
church in Rome as he encourages them to live with sober judgment in faith.
”For by the grace given me I say to
every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but
rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God
has distributed to each of you.“
Romans 12:3 NIV
B.
With God, we can change our fruit.
It is easy to think more of ourselves
than we should. Many of us struggle to be honest about the fruit of our lives
because our ego won’t allow it. However, the grace of God offers us insight
into who we actually are and where we fall short. It is a sober judgment that
enables us to recognize whether our words and actions are good or bad fruit.
C.
When we abide in Christ, our fruit will reflect that of Christ.
When we abide in Christ, we make space
for the Spirit of God to speak to us about the areas of our lives that don’t
look like Jesus. In order to grow, we must take intentional time to remain,
abide, and wait on God.
D.
Three practical ways to see the fruit of your life change.
1.
Search through the scriptures and identify the kinds of attitudes and actions
you want to possess. Write them down and pray for God to manifest them within
you by the power of the Holy Spirit. Consciously pay attention to when they are
evident, and thank God for his faithful work in changing your fruit.
2.
Spend time in prayer and ask God to reveal the areas of your life that need
some attention. Remain humble and wait on God to convict your heart. Repent of
what God exposes and commit to embrace new ways of living that honor him.
3.
Identify some trusted individuals who are disciples of Jesus themselves. Invite
them to give you feedback from what they see in your life. Ask them to be
honest and gracious in order to gain an objective view about what you need to
ask God to prune and what you need to receive from the vine.
Your life will produce one kind of
fruit or another. Whether it is good or bad, you need to expect it. By abiding
in Christ, we can become more like him in all we do.
CONCLUSION
Your words and actions are your
fruit. You are recognized by your fruit. You can change your fruit.
Let me offer 3 things to consider when
contemplating your fruit.
Think: My life will have some kind of
impact on the world around me. It can be positive or negative.
Feel: I want to be easily identified
as a follower of Jesus by the kind of fruit my life produces.
Do: Take an account of what my words
and actions are like. Do they look like Jesus?
INVITATION
It is our custom to offer an
"invitation" following the preaching of the Word. You may want
to follow Jesus. You may want to proclaim your faith. You may want
to repent (stop doing ungodly things and start doing Godly things).
Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit. Possibly, if you have already responded to
God’s call in these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood
Church. If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in
your life, you can come forward now. If you would like, I would be
honored to speak with you following the service about what God is doing in your
life.
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Saturday, February 10, 2024
ABIDE IN ME: God is the Gardener 2-11-24
ABIDE IN ME: God is the Gardener 2-11-24
Scripture: John 15:1-2, 4-5 // Hebrews 12:5-11
INTRODUCTION
Welcome back to worship today, Church. We are so
blessed to gather together once again to open God’s word and to learn something
new. We are in our second week of a new series called, “Abide In Me.” We have
been looking into the gracious invitation that Jesus gives us to abide in him
in order to experience the full life God wants for us. Last week we learned
Jesus is the vine. He is the source of all we need to produce good fruit with
our lives. We are the branches that must remain connected to him in order to
demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit with our lives.
”Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch
can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear
fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you
remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do
nothing.“
John 15:4-5 NIV
Illustration: grape vine pic
Today, we are diving into another aspect of John 15.
Not only does Jesus call himself the vine, but he also calls God the gardener.
Story: Paula has become an
avid gardener over the past 10 years. We have added garden after garden over the years.
We now have more square footage in garden than we
do in our home. At first we
just did what we thought made sense. Over the years, Paula has started watching gardening videos on
YouTube.
In fact, she is going to start her own YouTube
channel called, “Garden Watch Party” where she will give a synopsis of other
gardening videos for those who don’t have the time to watch for themselves.
As Paula has spent more time watching master
gardeners and gardening enthusiasts, she has become a better gardener.
She knows much more now than she did 10 years ago.
Today our property has beautiful gardens lush with
all types of plants and flowers. What she has learned from other gardeners has improved our gardens
many times over.
Let us pray.
I. GOD IS A GOOD GARDENER
In order for any garden, vineyard, or orchard to
produce fruit, it must be cultivated carefully and taken care of by a skilled
gardener. I had none of those skills myself, but by inviting someone else in,
the results were wonderful. Jesus tells us in John 15 that he is the vine,
which provides all of the love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and power in order
for us to grow—as long as we stay connected to him. In the same passage, he
also gives us another secret to the full life in Christ. He tells us that God
is a gardener, and our lives are his field.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that
does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.“
John 15:1-2 NIV
A.
Provision
The crowd Jesus was speaking to in these verses
totally understood the connection Jesus was making. In the Middle East, it was
very common for there to be vineyards that would be cultivated carefully in
order to produce the best and largest crop of grapes possible. The gardener
would be careful to provide everything the vine needed to produce strong
branches, leaves, and grapes. All the plants had to do was receive. However,
there was something a gardener would do that was incredibly important for the final
crop: he would prune the vine.
B.
Pruning
Illustration: Take this potted
plant for example. The gardener would carefully scan each and every plant to
determine that the branches of each were healthy and able to produce the
necessary fruit. If there was a branch that was unhealthy or damaged, which
would hinder it from providing fruit, the gardener would clip or prune it. It
would be removed because, otherwise, the vine would provide much needed
resources to it rather than the healthy branches. The pruning process, though
it may look painful, was actually for the overall health of the plant.
Jesus invites us to remain in him, to abide in him,
because it ultimately is about our overall health and effectiveness in producing
as much good fruit with our lives as possible. The warning in John 15 is this:
unless we stay connected to the vine, we run the danger of being fruitless and
pruned from it. A part of abiding is recognizing that God, as a good gardener,
looks over our lives to determine areas that may be unhealthy, a waste of
energy, or dangerous to us. He prunes them in order that we might produce good
fruit.
Jesus says there are two reasons for the gardener to
prune branches.
II. PRUNING IS ABOUT SPIRITUAL HEALTH
Sometimes it is hard to fathom this spiritual truth
because we are so far removed from vineyard husbandry. Here is a quick video
that may help us understand it more.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6kcjKdDRlI
Paula shared with me that there are 3 D’s of
pruning: dead, diseased, and damaged.
”And have you completely forgotten this word of
encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My
son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he
rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens
everyone he accepts as his son.”“
Hebrews 12:5-6 NIV
A.
Pruning unproductive branches
Like a gardener in this vineyard, God prunes
branches that are bearing no fruit. We would be wise to consider our lives and
areas that may be causing us to produce no fruit. It might be a relationship we
keep that hinders us, a habit or addiction that we indulge in that stifles us,
a sinful attitude that keeps us from producing fruit, or a spiritual apathy
that limits us. These are areas that God, as a good gardener, may prune in
order to make us healthy.
Abiding in Christ is about being sensitive to these
limitations that God wants to rid us of and join him in his spiritual
husbandry. Consider praying for God to reveal areas in your life that need to
be removed. Consider inviting a trusted friend to give honest feedback as well.
God wants to remove these things in order to produce more fruit in your life.
B.
Pruning unnecessary branches
God also will prune our lives of good things in
order for us to embrace great things. Are there places in your life where your
energy, affection, time, and attention are going that don’t really matter?
Maybe it is a pastime, a recreation activity, binge watching television,
surfing social media, or tracking fantasy football. They aren’t necessarily
evil or sinful in and of themselves, however, they may be limiting the kind of
fruit you could be producing. Would the good gardener want to prune them from your
life in order to make you even more healthy and productive? Abiding in Christ
will help you recognize what God desires for you.
This process can be painful. It is difficult to give
up things we have grown accustomed to relying on, however, God longs for us to
rely solely on Jesus as the vine and to abide in him. Out of the pain comes
growth, and out of the pruning comes freedom.
Steven Somalia tells a story of him pruning his
lilac bush.
I have a lilac tree in my back yard – beautiful
white flowers. Well I decided it needed a little bit of pruning, so I got out
some cutters and – well, the truth is I hacked it up. I didn’t really know what
I was doing, but it had overgrown my clothes-line and needed to be cut back, and
now it looks a little bit funny. Not too bad, but one look and you know it
wasn’t pruned by someone who knows what they are doing.
And that’s why the pruning Jesus is talks about
isn’t a scary thing. The gardener knows what He is doing. The pruning might
still cause us some pain – He might cut off a particular part that we are fond
of, a habit we enjoy, something we are proud of. It might be a part of our
lives that we think it really important, that we couldn’t live without.
But the gardener knows what He is doing. And He
prunes with a purpose – that we might be even more fruitful.
Steven
Simala Grant in "The Art of Giving" on www.sermoncentral.com
III. PRUNING IS AN ACT OF LOVE
Often, our first response to the pruning process of
God as gardener is frustration, anger, or sadness. Many conclude that God does
this in their lives because he hates them or wants to punish them. However, the
book of Hebrews can change our perspective on hard times in our lives and the
pruning of things we hold so dear.
”Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you
as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you
are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not
legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human
fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should
we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little
while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that
we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but
painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace
for those who have been trained by it.“
Hebrews 12:7-11 NIV
A.
The discipline of God
The author of Hebrews speaks about the pain and
frustration of the discipline and pruning of God. It offers really helpful
imagery: It is like a father who loves his children. Any good father will
discipline his children, not because he hates them, but because he loves them.
Any good father wants what is best for his children and will say “no” or take
things away in order for them to live healthy, happy lives.
B.
The love of God
Pruning is a result of the love of God for each and
every one of us. It is out of love that God removes things from our lives
because he longs for us to share in his holiness and experience righteousness
and peace. Instead of being angry with God’s boundaries, limitations, and
pruning, know that he does this for all those he loves.
Story: Trevor Miller tells a
story about his daughter.
During a recent trip to the zoo, my two-year-old
daughter was thirsty and wanted a Gatorade to quench her thirst. She was
drinking and pointing at every animal we saw. Suddenly, I realized she had
something in her mouth, and she had a panicked look in her eyes. I quickly
figured out she had put the Gatorade lid in her mouth, and it had slipped too
far back into her mouth. Without hesitation, I reached in and grabbed the cap
from going into her throat. I closed the bottle and took it from her. Rather
than her responding with gratitude for saving her, she was instantly angry and
demanded the lid back. I told her “no.” She proceeded to melt into a screaming
heap. It took a lot of hard work and a distracting monkey to calm the
situation. My daughter did not realize that what I was doing as a loving father
was not to punish or harm her, but to help her.
Far too many of us ignorantly grasp for things that
only harm or limit our potential, while God longs to free us from them out of
his gracious love. Though it may be painful, it may be the catalyst for your
spiritual growth.
CONCLUSION
I pray there are 3 responses that you might have to
this message this morning: thinking, feeling, and doing.
Think: God will use the painful times in our lives
to remove what hinders our spiritual growth.
Feel: God loves me like a father loves his children.
His discipline in my life is an extension of his
love and mercy.
Do: Identify the areas of my life that God wants to
prune and obediently respond to his discipline.
Abiding in Christ means that we accept and receive
the pruning at the hand of God in order to produce a great spiritual harvest.
What is one area of your life God wants to prune to
enable you to experience holiness, righteousness, and peace? Are you willing to
allow him to do his work as a loving gardener? Abiding in Christ is about
receiving from the vine as well as the refining of the Father.
INVITATION
It is our custom to offer an "invitation"
following the preaching of the Word. You may want to follow Jesus. You may want to proclaim your faith.
You may want to repent (stop doing ungodly things
and start doing Godly things). Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in these ways,
you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church.
If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make
a decision in your life, you can come forward now.
If you would like, I would be honored to speak
with you following the service about what God is doing in your life.
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Sunday, February 4, 2024
Thursday, February 1, 2024
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