I. Introduction
A. Fruit Tree
B. Spiritual Fruit
II. Growth
A. in Good
1. In our passage, we find words like building, mature, measure, no longer being tossed, grow up, joined, etc. In order for these things to take place, we have to have the right foundation from which to start.
2. We need to have our roots planted in the right place, the right kind of soil.
3. I the parable of the soils, Jesus talks about different kinds of soils that the seed lands in. (Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23)
a. Hard packed soil- hard heart
b. Rocky soil- surface level kind of faith
c. Thorny soil- world is choking out the word
d. Good soil- …fell on good soil and produced…
4. For the church to grow, each of us have to make sure the soil of our hearts is a place where the Word of God can take and produce .
5. There’s a lot of misinformation out there in the world today, and it’s easy to fall for an AI kind of truth.
a. Psalm 119:160
b. John 17:17
6. Make sure your soil is right so the Word can take root.
B. Healthy
1. We should constantly be and our spiritual growth.
2. The trunk of a tree is a key indicator of growth.
a. Did your mom and dad ever stand you up against a doorway and mark your height? We did that in our house in Selmer, TN, until we moved to Knoxville. It was neat to see how much our children grew from year to year.
b. Spiritually speaking, do we look in the mirror and ask ourselves, “How have I grown as a Christian?”
3. The trunk of a tree also tells you a lot about the health of a tree.
a. If there is a disease, it shows up on the trunk of a tree pretty quickly.
b. 1 Corinthians 11 reminds each person to “…examine himself…” during the Lord’s Supper. Why?
c. Because we are prone to forget. We go about our daily lives, and rarely do we check our spiritual condition.
d. Here’s a way to do that each day: ask the question, “How did others see Jesus in me today?”
C. Reaching and
1. The branches of a tree remind us that if we want the church to grow, we need to out and people to Christ.
2. Jesus also makes it clear that if we’re not connecting to Him and bearing fruit, we’re dying. (John 15:1-7)
a. Everything and everyone must be connected back to Christ.
b. When someone tries to do Christianity without being connected back to the source, it’s like trimming one of these branches. Eventually, that branch will die because it can no longer receive nutrients.
3. Pruning-
a. We need to things from our lives that and our spiritual growth.
b. One of the things all of us could do a little more of is prune the things out of our lives that don’t need to be there.
c. You prune a tree so that the strongest, healthiest branches receive the nutrients and energy the tree is using for growth.
d. If you let a diseased branch stay on a tree it will take away nutrients to health branches AND it will spread disease
e. Jesus reminds us that pruning is a healthy practice for Christians so that they can grow. (John 15:1-7)
D. Continual
1. Leaves are the food factories for trees. They are essential for photosynthesis. They absorb sunlight and convert it into food for the tree.
2. Becoming a Christian is not a one-time action; it’s a process that continues throughout your life.
a. Christianity is more about becoming than .
b. Just like a tree, there are times when we are flourishing and times when we are failing. The key is to continue becoming.
c. Philippians 4:11-13 …I have learned… Even Paul had to learn to live through the good and the bad and glorify Christ in all of it.
E. and Enjoying
1. Only when all these other things are being cared for will we see the .
a. If our congregation stalls in its growth, it’s time to check the soil and root system, the trunk for disease, check for damaged branches, and leaves for health.
b. Often, we want to enjoy the fruit without doing any of the work, kind of like eating the orange or drinking the orange juice without doing anything else.
c. If we don’t learn to appreciate the source of the fruit, we won’t produce any.
2. 1 Corinthians 1:6-9 In this passage, we learn that if we will do our part, God will do even more.
III. Conclusion
A. Sustainable
1. One of the main reasons each generation should pay attention to these things is that the fruit contains seeds that can be used to plant more trees, which will, in turn, bear more fruit.
2. We can only plant more if we are producing now.
B. Invitation