“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…”
John 16:13
You are here today, because the Holy Spirit guided you here. You are here by divine appointment. You are here by God’s will. Can you get out of His will? Certainly. Can you miss His will? Of course. But if you love the Lord and are following his Spirit – you are here because He led you here.
The question is: Now that you are here- what are you going to do? Now that you are here – why are you here? I will tell you – if you don’t know yet. You are here to bring God glory. You are here to bear much fruit.
It is my job, as Pastor of this church, to help you succeed. Part of my job is to help you and encourage and teach you to bear fruit. You can do that in three ways.
First of all, commit to becoming a part of this body of believers. In other words, join the church. Through the years, I have been a little reluctant, in some cases to have people join the church. There is a difference between members of the church and attenders of the church. If you attend this church, we want you to know we love you and we welcome you to join with us in worshipping God. But a member of the church has addition responsibilities and authority. Church members have a part in deciding the future of the church. They choose a group among themselves who determine what we are going to do and what we aren’t going to do – as a church. They are the only ones with the authority to spend the churches money. Members even have a voice in who is going to be the pastor.
Do you see why I am a little careful about who joins the church? But if you believe what we believe and agree to abide by the rules of the church – if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you can join the church. You can be a part of the team. And I believe God wants you to be a part of the team. God wants you to commit to this local body of believers and use your gifts and talents with us to bring Him glory.
Our purpose is to “bring Christ to the community”. Our motto is “every member a minister”. Satan does not want you to join the church. He doesn’t want you on the team. He doesn’t want you committed. Satan wants you to ride the fence and stay in the bleachers where you can’t bear much fruit. But Jesus wants you to get off the fence and choose a side. He wants you to get out of the bleachers and into the game. The enemy wants you to remain uncommitted. Jesus wants you to make a total commitment. Satan is contented to have you come to church on Sunday, sing a few songs, a hug a few people, maybe do a few little things. But Jesus wants you to throw yourself completely into accomplishing His will and bearing much fruit in this local church.
If you heard last week’s sermon, and agree with us, you are qualified to join the church. (Stand if you are a member of the church. Stand if you would like to be)
God wants you to be committed. And it starts at this local church. Commit your time, your talent, your all to the Lord here – and bear much fruit – right here!
God, secondly, wants you to be involved. For years, the attitude of the church was to have the ‘paid professionals’ do it all. Someone likened the church to a football game. Twenty two, highly motivated, trained, exhausted men being watched by thousands of fat, lazy, people in the stands. That’s not the church in the bible. In the bible, everyone was involved. Everyone had gifts and talents they used for God’s glory and to bear fruit.
In our church, we believe that every member is a minister. Everyone needs to be involved. Now, the results may differ. The goals may even be different. It’s kind of like a football game, again. What is the goal of playing football?
Some may say it is scoring points. We might score 6 points in a touchdown, three points in a field goal, two points in a safety, or one point in a point after the touchdown.
What if I told you about a guy who played football for 23 years? 15 years in the NFL, 4 years in college, and 4 years in high school and he never scored a touchdown or made a point? He never even scored one point? This man would have to be a failure, wouldn’t he?
Well, let’s look at this. This man never made a touchdown, but he played in 245 games in his career. Why start a man that can’t score? Because, he made 1,032 tackles. Pretty impressive, huh?
He blocked 86 passes. He made 19 fumble recoveries, but still no touchdowns. He made 3 interceptions, but no touchdowns. In a football game everything centers on the football and the goal line, but there is more to the game than that.
The man’s name is Ed ‘Too Tall’ Jones! Ed "Too Tall" Jones is in the Football Hall of Fame, the reason he never made a touch down was his position. Ed was an All Pro Defensive End. He played 15 years for the Dallas Cowboys. Ed was a TEAM PLAYER. He never played to make touchdowns. He played to help his team win. Not everyone that plays football is there to make touchdowns.
The word TEAM, stands for:
T-OGETHER, E- ACH, A- CCOMPLISHES, M- ORE
That’s true in church, too. Not everyone is the pastor. Not everyone teaches. Not every has the gift of evangelism or giving or helps. But everyone is needed. Everyone has a job. Everyone has a ministry. Are you doing yours?
I want to remind you that God wants you committed and He wants you involved on the team. The enemy of Christ and our souls will do everything he can to hinder you and discourage you and prevent you from getting involved. But it is up to you – to make it happen. The Holy Spirit will help. He will lead and teach you – but you have to make it happen.
And that brings us to the Third thing God wants for you. He wants you to have a willing heart. That always separates the men from the boys. That separates the sheep from the goats. That separates the winners from the losers. If you do not become committed and if you do not become involved – you will regret it for more than a lifetime. You will regret it eternally.
Do you remember the end of “Schindler’s List”? If you haven’t seen the film, it is a classic. Oscar Schindler is a German business man who, in Nazi Germany, saved thousands of Jews from being killed. But at the end he says,
“I could have done more. I could have sold my car, and sold my suits and...” And in great remorse and great sorrow this man who had done so much, in tears of anguish, realized he could have done more.
I wonder if we will feel the same way? The key is our wills. Jesus was willing. He was willing to go to the cross. And He was willing to help.
“A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said.”
Matthew 8:2-3
Jesus was willing to give His all for us. Are we willing to give our all for Him? If you are willing – let’s commit ourselves and let’s get involved. We can begin to do that right now – by praying this prayer.
Dear Jesus,
Thank you so much for loving me. Thank you for wanting me on your team. Thank you for leading me to this church. Thank you for the opportunity to give back to you. From this point on I commit myself to you. I will be involved in building your Kingdom and doing your work. I surrender my will to you. Please led me and direct me in the things I should do. Give me the grace to do them.
In Jesus Name,
This week, seek God direction and will in how you can put that prayer into
action. Look for your ministry. And make it happen
“Open the Eyes of my Heart”
