Rooted Week 4

Rooted

Week 4: Harvest

Big Idea: God, the master gardener, whose ultimate goal is to produce a great harvest in and through each and every person. There is a harvest of spiritual fruit that can be developed in the life of the believer. There is also a harvest of souls that will be a result of God’s work in the individual.

THINK: If you allow God to work in your life, you can be a part of a spiritual harvest in the world that will have an eternal impact.

FEEL: God wants to develop spiritual gifts inside of you that will cause you to look more and more like Jesus Christ. It is those very developments that give you a purpose that is bigger than yourself. You can partner with God in redeeming the world.

DO: Exercise and develop the spiritual gifts you find within your life. Where these gifts can make a positive impact, get involved in ministering to the world around you. Don’t sit on the sidelines. Get plugged into the work of God.

Main Scriptural Text: Matthew 9:35-38

Matthew 9:35–38 NKJV

35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Introduction

Begin the service by showing different types of fruit on the screens and have the congregation vote by multiple choice what kind of fruits they are. Start easy with an orange but progressively get more difficult by showing a papaya or a durian. (look it up, it’s real) Point out the various types of fruit. Comment that these fruits are a result of the careful work of planting, growing, pruning and harvesting. Just as this is the desired outcome for any fruit tree or plant, it is also the desired goal of every believer. (If you don’t have or like using screens bring in several different types of fruit and you can make the same point)

This is the final week of our rooted series, and today we’re going to talk about the harvest. The harvest is what comes after the planting, the cultivating, the pruning, and everything else necessary to see the literal fruits of your labor.

Main Teaching/Body

Everyone wants the delicious fruit at the time of harvest, but few are willing to do all that’s necessary along the way. Let’s take a look at the reality of the harvest fruit.

The Spirit inside you

Galatians 5:22–23 NKJV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

A follower of Jesus is given the spirit of God to dwell inside of them. The spirit has many different jobs, but one is to produce a harvest of fruits of the spirit. These fruits are present in the life of every believer, but they must be exercised and honed to become our new nature. When we walk in the power of the Spirit, our lives produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These qualities are evident to those around us and may even move someone to ask, “What’s different about you?”

The key here is to be walking with and in the Spirit. The broader Galatians chapter mentioned above states that human nature and the Spirit are in conflict with each other. The fruits of human nature are sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, and factions. The fruits of a life in the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. To live in the Spirit takes courage, wisdom, discernment, and intentionality. It takes energy and pruning to ensure that healthy growth happens in the Spirit.

As I share about the fruits of human nature and fruits of the Spirit I imagine several specific characteristics stuck out to you. Either positive or negative, I encourage you to make a note of those that caught your attention and ask God to prune or grow the fruit that He wants in your life.

We Reap What We Sow

Further on in Galatians we hit another key passage pertaining to the harvest. Galatians 6:8-10 says;

Galatians 6:8–10 NKJV

8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

To say it plainly, if a farmer or gardener plants apple trees they will receive apples. If they plant a strawberry plant they will receive strawberries. If we sow evil and sin into our lives and the lives around us, we will reap in return the same. If we want to receive the things of God within our lives, we must sow to please the spirit. We should willingly and readily sow love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control into all aspects of our lives. It is not easy, but we cannot get tired and weary of doing good because it has an impact on the world around us. Weariness sets in when we try to do things in our own power.

Think back for a moment to last week when we talked about remaining attached to the vine. Jesus says in John 15:5

John 15:5 NKJV

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

f you want to reap healthy fruit you need to sow healthy fruit. And the best way to do that is to stay connected to Christ and to walk in the power of the Spirit.

Fresh Fruit

It isn’t hard to distinguish between fresh fruit and rotten fruit. In Matthew 7:16-18 Jesus says,

Matthew 7:16–18 NKJV

16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.

The point here being that people around you will recognize and respond to the fruit of your life. Fresh fruit is delicious and inviting while rotten fruit stinks and no one wants to have it. Rotten fruit isn’t hard to recognize. The same is true about the fruit in the life of a believer. This point only emphasizes the last in that it’s imperative that a believer remains connected to the vine and exerts the necessary effort to remain healthy.

Galatians 5:16–26 NKJV

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

OUT OF THE OUTPOURING OF THESE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT WE WILL YIELD A HARVEST OF SOULS AND FULFILL THE GREATY COMMISSION!

Work In His Power

Salvation is a process that begins with a profession of faith, but doesn’t end until we expire. The good news is that the work that is to be done in us is not accomplished in our own power. The power we are given by God is the fuel we need to act and live out the good purposes of God. God plants the seed by His power and our acceptance, He grows it by His power and our cooperation and in time, He harvests by His power and our partnership.

Philippians 2:12–13 NKJV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

It’s All Around You

The opportunities for good and evil are all around us.

Matthew 9:35–38 NKJV

35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

I’ll say it again, everyone wants the delicious fruit at the time of harvest, but few are willing to do all that’s necessary along the way. We do our part and God will do his. We have a role to play in all of this, and along the way we have unwavering trust that it’s all possible through Christ and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

EASTER/ CROSS IS A CALL TO SALVATION, BUT ALSO A CALL TO SERVICE/LABOR FOR THE HARVEST!!

Conclusion

Throughout this series we’ve talked about some of the weighty realities of following Christ. Where have you seen yourself described? Have you just recently been planted? Are you currently in a season of growth and health? Are you in a season of pruning? Are you experiencing the richness of the harvest?

All of these seasons have their place in the life of a believer. This is a process with a very real, eternal destination.

As we wrap up our time here I want to invite you into a time of response and reflection. Are there areas of life that you need to seek forgiveness and help over? Are you ready to profess your faith and make a lifelong commitment to Christ? Are you ready to step into the fields of harvest and commit to a deeper level of training and discipleship?

Wherever you find yourself today, please know that God sees you. He knows the journey you’ve taken and the trials you’ve had along the way. By His grace and empowerment you can have a life of abundant fruit that you see a ten, twenty, maybe a hundred fold return on.

Let’s pray together.

call for commitment from your congregation.