"Created For Greatness"

“Created for Greatness”

January 27, 2008

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

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” John 15:1-8

I have been telling you for years, now, that God has a plan for your life. You are not here by accident. Your life is not a matter of chance. God saw you before you were born – and loved you. God held you in His arms, like a loving Father, and adored you. Before you knew your own name – God knew you and He made plans for you. He created you on purpose – for a purpose. And if you live according to His purpose and plans – it will result in your glory and honor and joy. Peter, who knew Jesus best, said,

“And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” 1 Peter 5:4 (NIV)

We need to know that serving the Lord pays off. When we are immature and self–centered, we need to know there is something in it for us. That’s okay. I sure needed to know that. But when we mature – our focus changes from what “I want” to “what does God want”. It changes from, “how much glory do ‘I’ get out of it” to “how will this bring ‘God’ glory.” And somewhere in our spiritual maturing process, we need to go from “my will” to “His will”.

When we first come to the Lord, it is because we see how it can benefit us. After we mature and get to know our loving heavenly Father, we live (or die) for HIS glory.

So this morning, I want to share with you how you can bring the Father glory. Jesus said,

“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit…” John 15:8 (NIV)

You need to know that God has created you to bear fruit. If you do not bear a lot of fruit – you aren’t really a disciple. If you don’t bear fruit – you will be cut off or pruned away from the Vine (which is Jesus). If you do not bear fruit – you will be burned up. Bearing fruit is not an option. It is a requirement.

That’s kind of scary – but those are Jesus words of warning. On the other hand, He said He will help you bear more fruit. In fact, you can’t bear fruit apart from Him. He is the vine and we are the branches. We need to stay connected to Jesus to bear fruit. Every day, every single day, we need to seek connection with Jesus. He is our life-blood. He is our guide. He is our teacher. He is our comforter. Oneness with Him is our life. And every single day we need to choose to die out to our self-centeredness and choose to live for Jesus. Our daily prayer need to be, “I am yours. Use me. Use my heart. Use my hands. Use my voice as you desire.” As we connect like that – we will bear much fruit. In reality, the Father will bear much fruit ‘through’ us.

After telling you all that, I want to say again, you are not here accidentally. Not only are you not an accident of life and fate, but you are not here, in this church, by accident. You may have thought, “Well, I’ll flip a coin to see which church I go to today.” Or you may have thought, “I’ll go down to that Nazarene Church and see what’s going on today.” You may even have thought you will just be here until something better comes along. Not true. Listen to the Holy Spirit’s job.

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth…”