Becoming Fruitful

Today is Mother’s Day.

It is a good day to thank God for our mothers — biological mothers, spiritual mothers, mentors, grandmothers, teachers, and women who have poured into the lives of others.

Thank God for the mothers who raised us, cared for us, sacrificed for us, and invested in us.

Thank God for wives and mothers who daily invest in their children.

Thank God for women who have brought life into this world and for spiritual mothers who have helped shape the spiritual lives of those around them.

Good mothers care not only about meeting a child’s needs, but also about the kind of person that child is becoming.

As parents and mentors, we are uniquely connected to the success and struggles of those we pour into. When they succeed, we rejoice. When they hurt, we hurt. One of our great desires is for our children to become fruitful people.

Fruitful = individuals who use their gifts and abilities to follow the will of God for their lives and make a positive impact on the world around them.

We want our children to be successful — but more than successful, we want them to be fruitful.

There is no greater success than for those we pour into to know Christ and become Christlike disciples.

Challenge: The world, culture, and society will constantly tell you what you should prioritize for your children.

Sports. Achievements. Status. Activities. Opportunities. Comfort. Success.

But if we are not investing in ways that help our children become Christlike disciples, then what are we doing?

The world may call you crazy for investing your time differently. For spending your money differently. For prioritizing church, discipleship, Scripture, worship, and spiritual formation.

But remember the commitment made when dedicating children to the Lord:

“To teach him early the fear of the Lord… to direct his mind to the Holy Scriptures and his feet to the sanctuary… to restrain him from evil influences… and, as much as in you lies, to bring him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

So we must ask: Is the way we are investing in our children leading them toward becoming fruitful Christlike disciples?

Recap: Becoming Better | Becoming Less | Becoming Free | Becoming Perfect | and now Becoming “Fruitful”

God’s Desire Is Fruitfulness

Throughout Scripture, the pattern is clear: God desires His people to bear fruit.

Genesis 1:28 “Be fruitful and multiply…”

Genesis 9:7 “Be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly…”

Psalm 1 describes the righteous person as a tree yielding fruit in season.

Colossians 1:10 “Bearing fruit in every good work…”

John 15:8 “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

The biblical picture of life with God is not stagnation, but fruitfulness.

Don’t tell me God desires for His people to live fruitless lives. Don’t tell me God wants us to settle into spiritual inactivity.

One of the enemy’s greatest lies is convincing good people to do nothing while justifying it with spiritual-sounding excuses.

In many places, churches are declining because comfort and preference have replaced the difficult but rewarding process of bearing fruit.

God’s desire is fruitfulness. God is not interested in fruitlessness. God is not interested in us avoiding what it takes to be fruitful. One of the great lies of the enemy is to have good people do nothing and justify their inaction with holy sounding excuses. Eternity is a long time. And people are going to have to spend it somewhere. And so I want to do whatever I got to do to evaluate myself, have god evaluate me, and adjust with God’s help in order to be as fruitful as possible. The churches in America are closing at an alarming rate.

AND in my opinion, for all thats worth, it is because pastors, boards, elders, and church congregations have chosen comfort and preference over difficult process of bearing fruit. We have chosen to be comfortable instead of allowing God to do the pruning in our lives in order to bear more fruit.

John 15:1–17 ESV

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

John 15:1–3 ESV

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

The Father and Son work together to accomplish the goal of fruitfulness.

Fruitfulness.

The Father is the gardener who inspects and prunes. The Son is the vine who supplies life and nourishment.

And pruning is not punishment. Pruning is preparation for greater fruitfulness.

It is pretty humbling and inspiring that the Father and Son care enough about all of us that they would work together to so our fruitfulness would increase!

(Example: tomato plants — cutting away lower branches so the plant can produce more fruit.)

When God examines our lives, He is asking:

What is fruitful?

What is distracting?

What needs to be cut away?

What deserves more attention?

[Say 2x alternating word] Sometimes God removes bad | good things so better things can grow.

John 15:5 ESV

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

BECOMING a Christlike disciple = BECOMING FRUITFUL.

There are so many ways Christlike disciples can be fruitful. But there are two I wnt to focus on today that are from this text.

Make More Disciples

This makes the most sense. Grapevines grow more grapes. Disciples grow more disciples.

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Are these fruits being grown. Going? Making Disciples? Baptizing? Teaching?

Encouragement for those not receiving credit. Developing more disciples includes more than leading someone to an alter to recite the sinners prayer. It is an entire process from beginning to end. It includes the teamwork of all believers who use their gifts…

This makes so much sense. The Father, Son, and Spirit are three distinct persons working together as one, in perfect harmony. In a way, God, Son, and Spirit, working together show the church how she can and should co-labor together in order to accomplish the fruitfulness God desires in making disciples.

Are you doing your part on the team of developing more disciples? (SFCN Membership commitment: You agreed to follow a few commitments. Give to the ministry through tithe. Serve the ministry through using your gifts. Worship with the body through worship services. Discipleship engagement through study and fellowship) Not because the church is after your money. Not because we are trying to enslave you. Not because we want attendance numbers. BUT because when you and I do these things TOGETHER…we are working together in to fulfill God’s desire - FRUITFULNESS!

Some plant, some water, some teach, some encourage, some pray, some mentor children and teenagers, some welcome guests, some serve behind the scenes, some sing, some clean, some paint. But every believer has a role in bearing fruit.

Love like Jesus loved.

John 15:12–13 ESV

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Love is always woven together with the teaching, command, and expectation of fruitfulness. After all, the first listed fruit of the Spirit is LOVE. And love is a VERB. No greater love, than a self-giving love.

Specifically, the example of Jesus who laid down his life for not only his friends, but also those who were still sinners.

John 15:17 “17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

John 13:34–35 “34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””

“Loving one another is the fruit of abiding in Christ, and the mark of the Christlike disciple!”

Conclusion:

You cannot bear this fruit, if you aren’t connected to the vine? Does anybody need to connect to Jesus today?

Are We Bearing Fruit?

What competing branches need to be removed?

What distractions are choking spiritual growth?

How can there be a better connection to the vine?

Because the goal is not merely activity. The goal is fruitfulness.

And the Father is glorified when His people bear much fruit.