Notes
Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins... For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Ephesians 2:1, 10
We desire to know who God is and learn who we are in Him so we can live it out. Before we came to know Jesus we had no purpose; we were empty and going in the wrong direction. But Jesus sets us straight. With Him we are not only forgiven, but given new life and new purpose as image bearers - people who reflect who God is.
When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father... I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
John 15:8, 11
In John 15, Jesus talked about how to fill up on the right things so that we can produce fruit - so we do the good things we are created to do. Producing causes joy, and that joy will be contagious! Here are three things we need to do so that we can produce much fruit:
1) Remove
I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.
John 15:1-2
Pruning means making room for new growth. Getting the right things in our lives requires that we take inventory of what is already in our lives. We need to make room for what God wants to instill in us, and that means removing whatever is keeping us from producing.
2) Remain
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!
John 15:4-7
Remain connected to the source. To produce fruit and experience joy, we must stay in the game, not quitting or giving up but instead doing the work God has set before us to do. When we remain connected to God, we will overflow with His goodness, joy, and kindness. We will be a city on a hill that changes the world around us.
3) Reflect
I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
John 15:9-12
This is my command: Love each other.
John 15:17
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:3-11
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
If we are going to do the good things God created us to do, we must reflect God’s love. We typically express love the way it has been expressed to us; if we haven’t experienced God’s love, we can’t reflect it.
Jesus expressed love with a purpose, so that people would believe. He expresses love because of who He is, regardless of who we are, what we’re doing, or what we’ve done. He loves each person, no matter what. To do the good things we were created to do, we need to experience this unconditional love so that we can pour it out.
Group Questions
- What does it mean to you that we are God’s masterpiece, created to do good things?
- How can you take inventory of your life to identify what needs to be pruned for new growth?
- Why is it important to remain connected to Jesus to produce fruit in your life?
- How can reflecting God’s love impact those around you and help you fulfill your purpose?
Prayer
Thank you for Valorous Church and everything you have blessed us with. As we enter this new season in the life of our church, help us to seek your Kingdom above all else and produce much fruit as we do what you have created us to do.