What is fruit?

(I read this post by Ron Duncan today on the I Am Not Ashamed blog.  Very thought provoking!)   

When you hear Christians talking about producing “fruit”, what are they talking about?

Do these things come to mind when you think of “fruit”?

1.Number of people saved/baptized
2.Increase in number of people attending church
3.Increase in number of people in small groups or Sunday school
4.Lots of church activities/opportunities
5.Number of people involved in ministries
6.Tithes and offering increased
7.Plans for building additions/building new buildings
8.New ministries started
9.Mission trips
10.Personal growth plans
11.Add yours here . . .

It's funny how so many people think of fruit as the things we do or accomplish instead of what the Bible calls fruit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. (Gal. 5:22)

Why is this? God’s word is clear about where fruit comes from—“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.”—John 15:5

We would much rather be in charge of producing the fruit, wouldn’t we? I mean, this way we get to determine what we do and where we go. You know, God just tell me what your plan is for my life and I will handle it from there. We get to maintain control instead of having to trust God. The problem here is, that is not how God works.

God is more interested in real “fruit”—the fruit from Gal. 5:22. Why? Because He is interested in changing us! Not just doing some stuff! He created everything just by speaking! Don’t you think He can accomplish things without us to help out?

Changing us means complete surrender to God. You know giving up credit, giving praise only to God, allowing God to receive credit for whatever happens. This is one of those statements that have been so overused to the point that it does not hold much credibility anymore. You must think more of God than you or maybe all of God and none of you.

Jesus said “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”—Matthew 10:37-39

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”—I Corinthians 10:31

“For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to cut you off. See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.”—Isaiah 48:9-11

Maybe we are a little too self-centered instead of God-centered. What if God got all the glory for building His church? (He is the one that does it anyway!) I have prayed with lost people who got saved, but I have never saved anyone. I have shared and taught believers Truth and encouraged them to follow God, but I have never sanctified anyone.

God produces the fruit in us. God empowers and accomplishes the good works through us. God does it all! God does it for Himself!


*Don't forget the social planned for April 30 at Jason & Michelle's house!  Get your babysitter now!!

Prayer & Pampers for Becky!

Continue to pray for Becky as she goes through her last few weeks of pregnancy and for a safe delivery when Hudson decides to make his debut into the world!

"Sons are a heritage from the Lord,

children a reward from him."

Psalm 127:3

Happy Easter! Now what?

"And from everyone who has been given much, much shall be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more."

Luke 12:48

As we all come down from the sugar high of Easter, what are some ways we can live Easter all year?  In the Bible study I am currently in (Anointed Transformed Redeemed), Priscilla Shirer wrote about the benefits and responsibilities of being one of God's children.  She writes, "God's desire to bless His children with abundance and blessing is seen from the very beginning of the Old Testament and into the church age.  However, his blessing was most often tied to a requirement on the part of those He loved."  The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a free gift to us, but a heart in line with God should be compelled to take on the responsiblities that go along with the benefits.  I hope you'll listen to the following song and look for ways this week to be Jesus to the world (or in our world of Trussville) by being "his voice calling, his hands healing, his feet walking to a broken world."  By just simply loving others whether it's the clerk at the grocery store who needs a friendly face or the person who cuts you off in traffic because they must be in a bigger hurry than you are.  Or in my case, the daughter who is pushing all of your buttons!  Jesus needs our help to do His good work.  Will you be His love?

Announcements

• Prayer & Pampers shower for Becky Rogers and Baby Hudson TONIGHT at Elaine's house - 6:30
• MetroChangers - Saturdays in April
• Let's get social!  Class dinner (adults only) at Jason & Michelle's on Friday, April 30.  Details about food will come soon.  Get your babysitters now!!!
• Class members, for prayer requests see the class facebook page.

FYI - Operation Christmas Child Update

I received the following email from Samaritan's Purse about the Operation Christmas Child project in the Birmingham area.

"31,314 shoe box gifts were collected this past year in your area alone. That’s 31,314 opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus with Children around the world! Your group was a big part of the 31,314 gospel opportunities that were collected and contributed to 5.1 million shoeboxes collected in the United States. You may also be encouraged to know that through the gifts collected in all 13 OCC sending countries, a total of more than 8.1 million hurting children will receive a gift, have the opportunity to hear the Gospel, and connect with a local church for on-going follow up and discipleship."

I hope this will inspire everyone to participate next year!  I would be thrilled to see 100% participation!

Do you know him?

Happy Easter Week!  This is an exciting week in the life of Christians as we celebrate and remember Jesus' final week on earth before being crucified and resurrected.  There are many opportunities for you to reflect on this important week... lunch services at the Methodist church every day at noon (Buddy will be speaking on Wednesday), Ladies Night Out with Sherrie Burgess (tonight at 6:00), and a Good Friday service at 6:00 on Friday night...  Take the time to invite someone to church this Sunday when you run across someone this week.  You could change their life!

"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.  Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.  Amen."

- 1 Timothy 1:15-17

Announcements

• Welcome new members to the class - Chris & Beth and Jason & Michelle
• Easter Egg Hunt at the Akridges on Saturday, April 2, at 11:00 - Bring your family's picnic lunch, Easter baskets, blankets, and lawn chairs and come ready to have a good time!
• The Prayer & Pampers shower for Becky Rogers is Tuesday, April 6, at Elaine's house.  Come help shower Becky as she waits on the arrival of baby Hudson.
• The girls of the Hollingsworth and Akridge classes enjoyed showering Kris and baby Kate with diapers and wipes this past Sunday at Emily's house.  Continue to pray for Kris, Drew, and Andrew as they wait the last couple of weeks to meet Kate. 

In case you didn't see this video last Sunday, here it is again.  I can't see this too many times!  That's my King!

Creation Science

I saw this today on the I Am Not Ashamed website.  It's a good read.

Not Ashamed to be a Creation Scientist
by Dr. Andrew Snelling

As a Christian, I am thoroughly enthralled when exploring the world created by our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 1). As a scientist, I see so many mysteries yet to be solved.

Invariably what I discover reveals more of God’s wisdom, awesome power, and His character which loves beauty and order. Yet we also see disease, decay, and death that mar the entire world around us (Romans 8:20–22). These are the result of God’s judgment of man’s rebellion and sin in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:14–19). Fossils, for example, are testimony to the global Flood judgment (Genesis 7:19–24), and the different human languages are a reminder of the dispersion judgment at Babel (Genesis 11:1–9).
What was at the heart of man’s rebellion that brought sin and death into the world? Was it not Adam and Eve’s doubt of God’s Word and His sovereign all-knowing authority? Satan set a trap by causing doubt: “Has God indeed said”? (Genesis 3:1). Adam and Eve fell for the trap by choosing to become their own authority, rather than totally submitting to God’s authority and what He had told them.
Sadly so many scientists and scholars today, even those who call themselves Bible-believing, fall for Satan’s same trap. This in spite of the apostle Paul’s warning (2 Corinthians 11:3). Rather than always beginning with God’s Word as our ultimate authority, they instead place more trust in the ideas and opinions of those who ignore, and even oppose, God’s Word as the basis for investigating earth’s history.

Haven’t we learned from the repeated failures of God’s people, Israel? Don’t we often think how “dumb” the Israelites must have been to repeatedly fail in their obedience to His Word? So often God delivered them by His powerful actions—the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the drowning of Pharoah and his army—but sometimes even within days they grumbled and rebelled against His authority.
Yet we are no better today! Over the past 25 years I have met so many professing Christians, including scientists and pastors, who are adamant that Genesis can’t really mean God created in six literal days only thousands of years ago; they also deny that God later judged the world with the global catastrophic Flood. They claim that geologic evidences presented by evolutionary scientists and scholars (evidences that have been interpreted without the Bible as the ultimate authority) don’t agree with the Bible! Well, of course they don’t! Therefore, they say, God’s Word can’t be taken literally, and has to be re-interpreted!

I am utterly amazed by this totally inconsistent reasoning. Those who are guilty of it are in reality accusing the infinite, all-powerful, triune Creator God of not being able to communicate accurately and clearly what He meant to tell us in His Word. Instead, the reasoning of sinful, finite, fallible men who are in rebellion against God is regarded as more reliable in explaining earth’s history!
This is why I am not ashamed to be a creation scientist. Science (so-called, 1 Timothy 6:20) cannot save me from God’s judgment which I deserve as a rebellious sinner. God in His grace and mercy has provided His free gift of salvation (John 3:16). The living Word, my Creator (John 1:1–3), died for me, so how can I not trust His written Word that He used by His Spirit to draw me to Himself? It is the fear of the Lord, not man and man’s opinions, that is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. And God has told us clearly in His Word (the Bible) that He created every thing in six days, and subsequently judged the whole earth by a year-long, mountain-covering, global catastrophic Flood.

One day we all have to stand before our Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ, to give an account of our lives (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Let us not forget that Jesus said: “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed” (Luke 9:26; Mark 8:38). I am not ashamed to be a creation scientist who stands on the authority of God’s Word. Will you stand with me?

News for the Week

Brian and I missed seeing everyone yesterday in Sunday School as we were spending our morning with a fun group of four-year-olds.   If anyone has any prayer requests or announcements to add, go to the class Facebook page!  Take some time to go there this week and post when you are unavailable for a class "get-together" during the next month.  Mike and Alison are trying to plan a time for us to get to know each other better!

There are several announcements that need posting, so check them out.

• The Akridges have invited our newly formed class to the annual Easter Egg Hunt at their house on Saturday, April 2.  Be there at 11:00 with a picnic lunch for your family, lawn chairs, blankets, etc.  If you plan to attend, Mike and Brenda need 2 dozen plastic eggs filled with candy (no chocolate or anything that melts) next week.  If you are able to help hide the eggs on Friday night, April 1, let them know.  Our class needs to figure out who wants to bring chips, drinks, and desserts (brownies, cookies, etc. that don't require utensils).  Another treat for the day is the Easter story being told by Ann Hill for the kids!  It should be a fun day, so make plans to attend!!
• Upcoming Prayer & Pampers showers!  Prayer & Pampers showers are showers for mothers who are having their second (or third or fourth) child.  The class shows up and showers them with diapers and wipes and (most importantly) prayers!  We will be celebrating the impending arrival of Baby Kate with Kris Rush on Sunday, March 28 at 5:30 at Emily Wolfe's house.  We will be celebrating with Becky to get her ready for Baby Hudson on Tuesday, April 6 at 6:30 at Elaine Price's house. 
• A new Tuesday morning Bible study led by Natalie Johnson begins tomorrow morning at 9:45!  Books have been purchased by the church and are $13 so bring cash or check. 

When Life is Unfair

Andy Stanley is pastor of North Point Community Church and son of Charles Stanley. In his book How Good is Good Enough his summary of Christianity goes something like this...  “Christianity is based on the premise that God laid aside fairness and opted for mercy and grace instead."  As we enter this Easter season, let's remember Mark 15 and what Jesus suffered in order to save a world of sinners.  Justice is getting what I deserve, mercy is not getting what I deserve, and grace is getting what I don't deserve...

"With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.  The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." 

Mark 15:37-38

Announcements

• Prayer & Pampers for Kris Rush - March 23 at 7:00 at Brenda's house
• Prayer & Pampers for Becky Rogers - April 6 at 6:30 at Elaine's house
• MetroChangers - Saturdays, April 5 - May 1... Chris Chambers will hold a short informational meeting in the Chapel this Wednesday night at 7:30 if you are interested.
• We will be starting the Love & Respect marriage series next Sunday.  Mike will hit play on the dvd at 9:30.

I am not ashamed.

Has anyone seen this commercial yet?  I thought it was pretty cool when I saw it last week.  It definitely made my ears perk up, so look for it and check out the site here. 



Announcements

• Prayer and Pampers shower for Kris Rush on March 23 at Brenda's house - 7:00!
• Prayer and Pampers shower for Becky Rogers on April 6 at Elaine's house - 6:30!
• A Prayer and Pampers shower is an opportunity to celebrate the upcoming arrival of a new life!  Since the Akridge class recently branched off into the Hollingsworth class, we'll all be showering Kris and Becky together.  Bring a gift of diapers and have a time of prayer for the mother and baby - lots of fun!

New beginnings...

The Akridge Sunday School class has been extremely blessed in recent months with a growing crowd with new faces each Sunday to study God's Word.  Due to the tremendous growth it is time to start a new class to make room for even more growth.  Several couples from the Akridge class have joined with Mike & Alison Hollingsworth to start this new adventure.  We will be meeting in Room 307 of the Francis Building at 9:15 each Sunday morning, so please come join us.  This is an exciting time in the life of our church, so pray for the new class as it begins and for those looking for a church/Sunday School home!

"Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;

his greatness no one can fathom."

Psalm 145:3