How Fresh is Your Fruit?

Pickleball Ken Story:

Old man who was slow and shuffled around. But he was “in the game” choosing to play.

I took William to the toys and Sydney stayed at the courts watching the other games.

I came back and I saw this older gentleman evangelizing my daughter with a little book with no words, just pages of colors.

After talking with Ken I came to know that he intentionally shares the gospel, daily.

Ken is in the game, the game that matters!

His fruit is fresh fruit.

How fresh is your fruit?

Anchor Text:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 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.

5 “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. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other. John 15:1-17

John 15:1-17 is our anchor text for this sermon series which will be 4 weeks long. (Please read this passage daily and spend some time meditating on it. Asking the Spirit to reveal to you what He wants you to know personally).

Personal Story:

I’m excited to preach this message for a few reasons:

In this whole pastoral appointment journey my wife asked, “Are you sure the board knows you haven’t really preached before?”

The next morning the Spirit woke me up around 4am. Spirit gave me the framework for this sermon series. I was very happy to go to Jenn and tell her what happened. She gave me one of those “Really?” looks.

On Friday 9/12 I was setting up my office. I went into the hallway and I saw on the bulletin board the ECC example of John 15 the vine and the branches.

I say in the hallway, thanking Father, “Can’t make this stuff up.”

Main Idea: Bear MUCH Fruit (Fresh Fruit)

We aren’t to just produce fruit. We are to produce MUCH fruit.

Fruit-bearing is the test of life-giving attachment to the vine.

In this teaching Jesus is setting an expectation for us.

It isn’t random production. It isn’t a passive life of goodness. The words and phrases Jesus uses in this teaching indicates an active intentional engagement in the fruit bearing process.

Cutting

Pruning

Bearing

Remaining

Throwing

Burning

Asking

Showing

Keeping

Completing

Laying down

Appointing

Loving

There is a lot going on in these verses. If we narrow it down to one idea it is: Our collective call, as a body of Christ, is to bear much fruit for the glory of the Father. (Fresh Fruit). The main command in this fruit bearing; LOVE ON ANOTHER!

If we have a collective call, guess what the enemy does. He tries to discourage us from answering that collective call. He doesn’t want us to have fresh fruit. So what does he do? He fills our minds with thoughts of discouragement.

I need more training.

I don’t know enough.

I’m not old enough.

I have done enough.

I’m not the “evangelist type”.

I’m not called to that ministry.

I don’t hear God like other people do.

Fill in the blank. We all have these thoughts……and more.

My personal nemesis: “Is that me or is that God?” (The purpose of this thought makes you pause when your action should be full steam ahead. Why? When you pause you miss. You miss your assignment).

Let me encourage you.

If you still have breath in your lunges, you can bear MUCH fruit.

There isn’t an age minimum or maximum.

If you are old, you have the benefit of wisdom, go be wise and produce.

If you are young, you have the benefit of vigor and energy, go be zealous and produce.

You can do it!!!!!

In this reaching Jesus is commanding us to bear fruit and is giving us some action steps to do so.

Point #1: Fresh Fruit Comes by Remaining / Abide:

4 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.

The word remain is used 9 times in this passage. Obviously there is a point being made here. So what is Jesus telling us?

Believers are to abide or remain in Jesus, the vine.

The Greek word for “abide” is spoken as a command.

It also has an ongoing emphasis; this command is not for a single act. This command is for a lifestyle. A life style of constant, moment-by-moment decision to follow Christ.

This life-style is not passive, we don’t just sit and “abide” and then die.

It is a daily decision to abide.

A daily decision to listen to his voice.

A daily decision to ask.

A daily decision to obey.

Discipleship is not just a matter of acknowledging who Jesus is; it is the process of coming to a complete understanding that you are utterly and completely dependent on Christ.

We can do nothing without him.

We are only truly alive when we are abiding in him.

There is only one evidence if a branch is truly alive: Does it produce fruit?

Note carefully, however. Fruit-bearing is not a test; that is, a branch does not have to demonstrate a “level” of productivity to be safe from destruction. Rather, fruit-bearing is a byproduct. “Apart from me you can do nothing”. To be connected to the vine means that the life of Jesus is flowing through us, and this leads to fruitfulness. Fruitfulness will be the inevitable outcome of an interior spiritual life with Jesus.

I once heard it said that the growth of a Christian and the pruning we go through towards maturity (and maturity as a branch that actually produces) looks like this. Jesus transitioning from your Savior to your Lord.

As Savior He is your ticket to heaven. This is a baby Christian. However, unfortunately many new believers stay at this stage. They believe they are saved because they were told to pray a prayer and they would be saved. But it is more than that.

What Jesus told the disciples he is telling us, “Come follow me.”

Following indicates more than just a belief and a prayer. It is a decision to walk with Him and do what He tells you to do.

This test is an important test that we have to be aware of. A few questions arise, because it is the test:

Are you bearing fruit?

How fresh is your fruit?

What is your fruit?

There is a very real warning the Lord gives us. The reality is there are branches (people) claiming to be abiding in the vine (Jesus). These branches are pretending to be abiding. Their branches are producing foliage, but only foliage. They are sucking on the vine, getting nourished by it, but are not producing fruit. The Father will cut off these branches.

Do not take this warning lightly. This isn’t a warning to earn your faith through works but in a true faith in a life laid down to serve Jesus Christ.

What might it look like if someone is remaining or abiding?

Are you desperately hungry to know Jesus every morning you wake up?

Are you hungry today?

The true branch hungers for spiritual nourishment and will do whatever it takes to receive it.

Jesus had a living dependence on the Father. Jesus is our example.

Do you have a living dependence on the Father that drives you to hunger for Him every single moment of the day?

Point #2: Fresh Fruit Comes by Appointment & Obedience

15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last…

This reminds me of the story of the women at the well (John 4). In that story it says “So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he HAD to go through Samaria.

Why did he “have to go”?

He was going to appoint the women to be a disciple, who would lead a movement, and many people would become saved.

What was her testimony? “Come and see a man that told me everything I had done.” (Simplest testimony ever!)

You don’t need more training!

You just need to say “Yes” to the appointment.

You are appointed. We are all appointed.

Jesus tells us, “everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

Where true friendship exists, true disclosure (or revelation) accompanies it. Disciples possess the word of Jesus, and they will receive ongoing revelations.

Here is a plug for our next series which will all be about The Secret Place. Jesus often went into the wilderness to be with the Father. It was in the wilderness that Jesus would receive revelation from the Father. Jesus brought three of his inner circle into some of these wilderness moments. The women at the well was in The Secret Place with Jesus.

His Spirit talks to us and nudges us. It is in the communion of The Secret Place that we can hear the voice.

We learn his voice in The Secret Place.

The more we obey the more we learn the voice of our shepherd.

The more we learn to trust the voice the faster we respond.

You learn the voice by engaging. Spending time. Asking! Listening! Obeying.

When you ask……… listen…….. and obey the words you have received.

We are appointed by the Spirit to be put in situations to bear fruit. It is up to us to obey.

A lot of times this is and should be a spontaneous process. Doing what the Lord wants done today.

The whole purpose of the appointment is to go and bear fruit to glorify the Father.

Don’t let what God has put in your heart slowly begin to atrophy. Immediate obedience matters!

Potential Testimonies: (Pray and ask Spirit which story to tell)

Oscar - nudged to go hand out bibles.

Jim - the couch. (Sometimes you move the couch, sometimes you purchase the couch, sometimes you sit on the couch).

Point #3: Fresh Fruit Comes by Asking:

7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

Jesus tells us to ask, multiple times.

He actually is commanding us to ask.

Asking is connected with fruit bearing.

The context of this scripture suggests our prayers should be centered around fruit bearing.

Asking is our direct involvement in the growing of the fruit process.

When we abide in him, our thoughts and desires conform to his, and we can pray “in His name”.

What prayers are you praying today that are leading you to bear fruit?

Prayers like:

Father, give me an opportunity to disciple (fill in the blank). (Be specific….ask on behalf of the person you are contending for).

Father, accelerate my spiritual growth.

Father, burn up everything in my life that isn’t bringing you glory and replace it with opportunities to glorify you.

Father, help me to see your hand moving today. Let me see where you are and be obedient in joining you today.

I hear people, well intended, say things like, “Be careful what you pray for, it just might happen.” I say an empathic “NO, NO, NO, NO”. This statement isn’t uplifting. Honestly, unbeknownst to most of us this is a spirit of doubt or even settling to stop growing spiritually. Rather we should say, “I’m praying for you in that area and I am here to help bear your burden so you can grow and bear more fruit!”

When was the last time you asked God to do something in your life or in your church that made His name and His fame great? (How to Multiply Your Church)

Are you asking Him?

Do not take lightly the charge Jesus is giving to all of us.

We have a Father that listens to requests that are about bearing fruit. Let’s take full advantage of this opportunity.

Our Father loves to answer fruit requested prayers because He loves to help us accomplish the task of fruit bearing. He is in it with us. Remember……we can’t do it alone.

I am here to testify that when we ask, Father speaks. When Father speaks we get assignments. When we get assignments and obey these nudges we get to see God’s hand to some incredible things.

This is what brings verse eleven alive. “11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

A deep part of the joy as a Christian comes from asking, obeying, and watching!

Point #4: Fresh Fruit Comes by Loving:

12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

The reference to love was used 9 times in the passage we are looking at.

Jesus is making a point here that we need to love as He loved.

The source of all fruit comes from the love of the Father being poured out through us.

Remember, we can do nothing on our own. He is the source of the love.

The hard question we all have to ask: Am I loving as Jesus loved?

If a mirror was put in front of you, would the love Jesus commands be reflected? John 13 love!

For my social media friends. The beauty of FaceBook is it’s a mirror. It is a mirror of your heart and you don’t even know it! Do me a favor. Look back at your posts over the last year. Categorize them. Politics, your opinions, memes, forwarding other things, or proclaiming the unique love of Jesus. What does the mirror reveal about your heart?

Jesus doesn’t just tell us to love one another so we have a big kumbia party on earth. In this context he appointed the 12 disciples. He also chooses each believer to be a branch in the Vine. A branch that bears fruit…..help bring in lost souls and living by the fruits of the Spirit, especially brotherly love. Love for the body.

We must love one another because we are taking the message of Jesus to a world that despises us. Jesus commands us to love one another. This requires us to make peace with each other quickly. To place the interest of our brother above the interest of our own. We are diverse, but the source of our love is the same place. This is a high standard set by our Lord, but for a reason. This high standard is intended to maintain unity of the body.

Backbiting, disrespect, and bitterness toward fellow believers strips the church of its power.

I think this is a clue to us that we need to pay attention to.

Closing:

Jesus has called us to bear much fruit. The whole purpose is to glorify the Father. We need to be a people that are all about our Father’s business. As long as we have breath in our lungs we are about His business. We need to choose, key word choose, to reproduce converts and reproduce our church! If we don’t get laser focused on this it won’t happen. What is your part?

To my brothers and sisters who immediately feel the guilt of “not doing enough”. I know your thoughts because that is me. I constantly have those same thoughts. “I don’t know if I’ve done enough or I need to do more.“ Let me share something with you. You can’t do anything. If that’s your thought right now, What should you go to and ask from the Spirit? To help you keep your eyes on Jesus and simply abide in a manner that Spirit is guiding you in. It isn’t about doing. Maybe for you this sermon is more about sitting more. And by the way, sitting with Jesus is “fruit”.

To my brothers and sisters who immediately think “I’m good. I did something last week”. Nest week’s sermon is on this mindset, “Looking back to see what you have accomplished.” That thought is a dangerous thought. It is a slippery slope of self effort and tempting you to “settle”. We are told to not look back, only look forward. Do not worry about tomorrow. Which also means do not worry about yesterday. Only think about today. Keep running the race to win the prize. Don’t settle. In your abiding time ask the Lord, “What daily detour do you have for me today and then obey it.”

To those that don’t yet know Jesus. We talked about a lot of different things today. But if you were to go home with one thing. May this phrase stick in your mind……….because it is true. JESUS CHANGES EVERYTHING! If you choose to follow Him it wont be easy……but it is so worth it! I encourage you to seriously consider dropping your nets and following him to be a fisher of men. He invites you personally into the mission just like he did to the 12 disciples. You need to do nothing but say Yes to him.

How fresh is your fruit? Meditate on that question this week. Ask Spirit what He thinks about it.