Appointed to Bear Fruit #4 - The Focus of Fruitfulness

FROM THE VAULT

A series revisiting previous posts

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This is the fourth and final part of this series, you can read from the first part here:

PART 1 ‘Fruitful, Frustrated or Failure?’

In the last post we looked at some practical outworkings of how we can ‘go’ and be fruitful – but for that to be sustained and not a heavy burden the heart has to change! TO be fruitfulness the secret is not to focus on ’squeezing’ fruit out! You never see a tree straining to push fruit out! The Focus of fruitfulness is not on the fruit – it is on the source, on the root. John 15 makes this abundantly clear in that we are the ‘branches’ and we bear fruit by ABIDING IN THE VINE – particularly in God’s WORDS (v7) and God’s LOVE (v9) … these are two vital ‘nutrient lines’. If we focus on ABIDING, we will BEAR fruit. In fact we learn about God’s love through God’s words…and I think the primary way to move God’s words from our heads to our hearts so that we encounter his love is through prayer. As we take truths and let them sink in and through us by praying (including repenting, praising, asking, meditating etc…).

So HOW ARE YOU DOING on these two things? We don’t only do them ‘to be fruitful’ but as we get to know God and love Him (through abiding in his words and love) we then long to be fruitful for Him…and are most fruitful when we are abiding.

Get into His word and Get his word into you by praying and watch the story unfold.

Appointed to Bear Fruit #3 - The 'Go' of Fruitfulness

FROM THE VAULT

A series revisiting previous posts

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“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…”

— John 15:16 ESV

This is the third part of this series, you can read from part 1 here:

PART 1 ‘Fruitful, Frustrated or Failure?’

By now you have probably noticed I am focussing on ‘fruitfulness’ as being missional fruit. Is that what Jesus means here? This post briefly explains why I think so and then unpacks what the ‘Go’ of bearing fruit looks like…some of the practicalities of what we can do to be fruitful.

Why focus on mission? Firstly, why do I focus on fruitfulness as being ‘missional fruit’? I’ll be brief but you can dig deeper! I agree with those who believe that when Jesus says ‘bear fruit that ABIDES...’ He is echoing John 4:35 where he mentions ‘reaping…gathering fruit to eternal life’. Fruit that abides | Reaping…Fruit for eternal life.

“ 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.”

— John 4:35 ESV

Obviously bring fruitful can refer to growing in Christ-like Character and the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ – but it also means reaping, harvesting, being missionally fruitful. And for the reasons given, I think Jesus is here emphasising evangelism.

Practicalities of bearing fruit

Before we dive in – I know there is much involved in this than I am covering!  Going to nations, planting churches and many other approaches are part of, and essential to bearing fruit. I am focussing on everyday life, where you are now. What can we do to be fruitful, if God has set it up – what is our role? God has laid everything out (appointed) for us to be fruitful, and then we are told to GO…be intentional where God has laid you out! So how?!! Ask these questions;

1. WHO has god connected you with? Pay attention to the relationships that have ‘emerged’ or could be developed.

   • Colleagues? Neighbours? Other parents at school? That man you sit next to on the bus/train every day? Hairdresser?

2. HOW can you maximise those opportunities to develop that relationship?

   • Eat in the canteen with colleagues rather than sleep!

   • Go to the same hairdresser?

   • Play on the front lawn with your children to engage with neighbours?

   • Christmas drinks with the close neighbours?

   • Same bus seat? Build in time at school pick up to engage?

   • Same gym routine?

In my previous church we did a sermon series called INVITED (watch the sermons HERE), where we outlined 8Ss of fruitful mission. They are on a scale of increasing ‘intensity/difficulty’ but give us a great starting point and how we can take the next step. As you will notice it is about SOWING and reaping. The 8Ss are;

1. SMILE – Invite people to share the peace of God

2. SERVE – Invite people to encounter the servant-heart of God and his love

3. SOCIAL – Invite people to share the community and love of God

4. STEPPING STONE – Invite people to a ‘stepping stone’ event run by the church that connects them to others and reduces the ‘unknown’ of ‘church people’. Examples are ‘Wine & Wisdom’ nights/Easter Fun Day/Christmas events/BBQs

5. SICK – Invite people to be PRAYED for their needs – most are very happy for you to pray for them!

6. STORY – Invite people to hear YOUR story…why are you a Christian? Why do you go to church? How do you cope with….

7. SUNDAYS – Invite people to church

8. STORY – Invite people to hear HIS story…share the gospel!

How can you ‘GO’ and be INTENTIONAL where, and with whom God has connected you?

Having said the above…we all know that unless our HEARTS ARE CHANGED, we would rather;

• Sleep on the train

• Watch TV when we get home

• Stick to ourselves in the Gym

• Rush on to the next thing after the school drop off

Not that those are bad…but practicalities are only helpful if our hearts are engaged and changed! Our final blog post in the series deals with the HOW of heart change. How do we keep our hearts engaging in mission, loving others, being soft, wanting to serve God in this way?

Questions for this post;

1. What changes could you make to your daily routine that will maximise where God has put you?

2. Who are the people of peace you could take the next step with?

3. Which of the 8Ss could you start doing?

Appointed to Bear Fruit #2 - The Foundation

FROM THE VAULT

A series revisiting previous posts

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If you haven’t read the first blog in this series click HERE. It is short but helpful to make sense of this post! It finished by asking these questions in response to reading John 15:16;

“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…”

— John 15:16 ESV

1. What is your instinctive reaction to this verse?

2. Which part do you focus on?

3. What do you find yourself praying about/for as a result of reading it?

4. What do you think ‘fruitfulness’ is in this context?

What were your answers?

I like DOING and getting the to practical outworking of what the Bible says, and as a result I would usually jump to the ‘get fruitful’ part of the verse and start asking questions such as; How? What does it look like? How am I doing? How can I honour Jesus in this? That is not a bad thing…too often we know a lot but don’t do a lot! HOWEVER it can be unhelpful at best, and crippling at worst if that is where we START. If you focus on the second part without mining the first part of the verse you’ll miss the FOUNDATION FOR FRUITFULNESS that sets the FLAVOUR for the ‘go and…’ part!

Jesus starts (amidst a bigger section I know) by saying ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go…(and bear fruit).

We usually make ourselves too important and think it is down to us – Jesus shatters that by stating ‘You DID NOT choose me’ – rather I ‘head hunted you’. When you apply for a job and you get an interview along with various others…you go in PROVING YOURSELF form the outset, wondering if they will like you, if you will be good enough…and then if you get the job you work extra hard to show them they made a good choice – you have to impress!

When you are headhunted you know you are good enough from the outset! They have watched you, seen you and want you! You go in to the interview confident, free and start the job excited to be able to use your skills…not to prove yourself but to be fruitful! They think you have proved yourself already.

Jesus says ‘I CHOSE YOU’ – I like what I see (even though it is far from perfection!)…and in case you weren’t sure – HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING! Commenting on this John Piper says that basically Jesus is saying;

““Your presence here is my doing and so I take full responsibility. I know you agreed to join me in this work, but deep in your heart you know it was I who laid claim on you and so my honour, not yours, is at stake in this work.” If that is what Jesus means, then the reason he said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you, was to encourage us that he would help us. If his honour is at stake in our success because he chose us for the work, then we can be sure he will exert all his power to make us fruitful. Jesus will not lightly let his wisdom be scorned. Therefore, he will not look lightly on our cry for help, when we say, “Lord you chose me! You are not fickle. You are not short-sighted. You are not impulsive. Your choices have the weight of eternity in them. You will not let your chosen one be ruined. Help me, Lord.” Such a plea—if it comes from the heart—he cannot ignore. His wisdom and constancy and reliability are at stake.”

— John Piper

Wow! HE knows what He is doing. He knows what you are like. He STILL CHOSE YOU, AND APPOINTED you.

The word appointed means ‘laid out’, ‘put in place’…the Sovereign Saviour has chosen you and laid everything out (Check out Acts 17:26) for you to be fruitful – he lays out where people live, what they do so that they feel their way to God and find Him…mainly by placing you next to them! He CHOSE WISELY, knows what he is doing and has set everything up for you to be fruitful.

“And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having DETERMINED allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling places, 27 that they should seek God in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us”

— Acts 17:26 ESV

He takes responsibility for his decisions (yes we have a part to play – we get to that!) and his zeal is at work to make it happen. He calls us to follow him…and he MAKES us Fishers of men (Matthew 4:19). The Harvest is plentiful but the workers are few so work extra hard? No! Pray to the Lord, HE will send out more labourers (Luke 10)!

Breathe deeply, drop the shoulders and look around – how has God set things up for you to be fruitful? Who is around you? What are the relationships he has drawn you in to? Anyway I am getting ahead of myself!

God’s edicts are always accompanied by his enabling. He qualifies the called. His Spirit shapes us. How we approach ‘being fruitful’ – what our foundation is makes a huge difference between it being an exciting and liberating mission we join in with, or a crushing burned we feel responsible for.

Some questions for his post;

1. Do you live with a sense of the Sovereignty of God guiding you for his purposes?

2. Did you focus on the first part of John 15:16 or the second part in the previous post? Power comes from both…but start with His choosing!

3. Where is your focus on Mission – your responsibility or his sovereignty? How do you work out both/and?

Appointed to Bear Fruit #1 - Fruitful, Frustrated or a Failure?

FROM THE VAULT

A series revisiting previous posts

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I’m a pastor. I am planting a church. I am excited about seeing people saved…I should be! I love the stories and watching lives change.

BUT…when I think about ‘mission’ and ‘evangelism’ I immediately feel PRESSURE. I DON’T feel fruitful – rather I feel like a FAILURE at worst, or FRUSTRATED at best! Even those who don’t feel pressure, when you really ask them how fruitful they are…you eventually find out they feel frustrated too! How about you?

I think there are 2 MAJOR REASONS we feel pressure (they aren’t the only ones!) – our FOUNDATION for the mission and our FIXATION on what fruitfulness looks like.

The next few blogs will unpack these. My hope, as has happened in my life, is that you will feel encouraged, liberated, excited and confident about being on mission!

For now, take a read of John 15:16 and think through the following questions

“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…”

— John 15:16 ESV

1. What is your instinctive reaction to this verse?

2. Which part do you focus on?

3. What do you find yourself praying about/for as a result of reading it?

4. What do you think ‘fruitfulness’ is in this context?

Try and make a note of your answers for next time.