Bearing Fruit That Lasts (March 9, 2025)

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Nursery go.
Kids are staying with us today.
How exciting.
I know the kids love it.
Emmett, did you bring yourBible?
Emmett didn't bring his Bible.
He usually follows along.
So Alyssa and I I'm going togive a quick update on life

(00:22):
before we get too far into this.
I wanted to share that lastnight we went to Sam's Club.
How many of you shop at Sam'sClub?
This is like a genuine.
I had an aha moment at Sam'sClub yesterday.
First of all, it's too busy,that's number one.
Okay, the carts aren't bigenough, that's number two.
But number three have you evereaten in their cafe?

(00:44):
Holy smokes.
I got an all-beef hot dog.
It was humongous.
I don't like hot dogs.
I got an all-beef hot dog and adrink for $1.50.
I'm going to start taking myfamily there for dinner every
night.
It's cheaper to eat there thanit is to cook at home.
Yeah, a whole pizza for $8.
They had two slices of pizzaand a drink for $2.50.

(01:06):
What else did?
Oh, those pretzels.
Has anybody had their softpretzels?
They're as big as your head fora buck and they're good.
I don't know Like.
Apparently I have missed thecafe at Sam's Club.
We've had a Sam's Clubmembership for years never eaten
there.
Yesterday we went right afterbasketball, we went in.

(01:27):
We're like, let's get somethingfrom the cafe.
I was like I don't know howpeople aren't doing this every
day Like and I may maybe youdon't like hot dogs, you know
seven days a week, but for abuck fifty, how do you go wrong?
And the pizza right.
I'm just anyhow.
Okay, I digress.
We went there to get candy forthe Easter egg hunt.
We came home with about 8,000pieces of candy.
It was a lot of candy.

(01:47):
We packed the back of the carcompletely full.
So we have that for people tostart packing.
If you're interested, just letus know.
We'll get you bags of candy andeggs and you can get started on
that Again.
The hope would be that we couldbe done before the March 28th
packing party, but if not, wewill gather together and pack
with joy, because it is ourbiggest community outreach of

(02:11):
the year every year, and sowe're excited to get to do it
again this year.
It's going to look a little bitdifferent, but it's still going
to be great.
The other thing that I wanted toshare is that my daughter and
my father have left for Disneythis morning, that my daughter
and my father have left forDisney this morning.
Now, that was probably one ofthe hardest things that I had to
allow happen.

(02:31):
Right, seven days she's goingto be gone.
And she's my princess, right,she's the youngest.
So I had to text my mom thismorning and just tell her hey,
make sure she's safe and try tohave fun.
I'd rather than put her in abubble and keep her safe, but
you know they're growing up andit is what it is.

(02:52):
But I wanted to share thisAbout three weeks ago, two weeks
ago, when she learned that shewas going to Disney, she had no
idea.
Actually, in fairness, my wifeand I didn't know either.
My dad had sent a text and ithad asked you know, hey, can we
have Adeline like the 7th or the9th, something like that?
And we were like, oh yeah, sure, you can have one of those days
.
We never thought about it.
And he comes back and says,okay, everything's booked,

(03:13):
tickets are bought, and we'relike, wait a second, what Turns
out?
They were planning a Disneytrip.
We just didn't realize that'swhat was happening.
But anyhow, adeline said to mewe were sitting in the kitchen
and she says Daddy, she getswhatever she wants.
After that statement right,doesn't matter what she asks.
She says I know I'm not allowedto miss church on Sundays to go

(03:34):
do things, but can I leaveearly for Disney?
How do you tell her no, right?
How do you tell her no?
And we don't often miss on aSunday morning, so I was willing
to let it slide.
But I just want to tell youthat when your kids have that in
their hearts and it's not justby force for us, our kids know
on Sunday mornings we go tochurch, but our kids also don't

(03:57):
look at it as an inconvenienceor something that is a problem
for them.
They enjoy coming, generallyspeaking.
Now, my kids are also raised inthe building.
We're here quite a bit, but Ijust wanted to share with you
the difference that it makes toyour children when you have them
in the building on Sundaymornings every week.
Amen, all right, let's stand.
We're going to honor the word.
This morning.
We're going to be in 1 John 15.

(04:17):
You can turn there first beforeyou stand, if you want.
If you're not able to stand,that's okay too.
I don't know why my tech teamjust put their finger up as if
we've got the wrong scripture.
No, I didn't give you the wrongscripture.
You wrote down the wrongscripture because it's the same

(04:38):
one that's in my iPad.
1 John 15, remember being verse5?
1 John 15, verse 5.
We there, we got it.
Yay, nay, a little bit ofpressure.
Hey, did I bring my coffee withme?

(04:58):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, listen, thisis a good coffee too.
I make a pretty mean latte,don't I?
Actually, in fairness, this onewas Don's what.
This is what I wrote down.
People, will you go get myMacBook?

(05:19):
It's in the conference room.
I need my MacBook becauseapparently, I wrote it down on
my iPad wrong.
Okay, I don't know what itstarted with, because I count on
the screen being up there.
That's why I need my computernow.
We'll get there.

(05:39):
I was going to say give me asecond.
Let me chug this one.
Roger, I'm going to need awater buddy.
Hey, if this is your first timehere, welcome Join the party.

(06:01):
I don't know what it is,because I count on the screen
and it's not there.
It's Roger's fault.
It's right.
All right, let's see if we canfigure this out.
Let's see if we can sort thismess out.
What did I do?
Well, that's what I put inthose notes too.
That's not helpful.
That is not helpful at all.
Let's flip here, let's see.

(06:24):
No, you put that right backdown there.
Spare with me, folks, we'regoing to be fine.
We're going to be fine.
Thank you, yes.

(06:44):
Hallelujah, hallelujah,hallelujah, hallelujah, thank
you Jesus.
Thank you Jesus, hallelujah,hallelujah, thank you Jesus,
hallelujah, hallelujah,hallelujah, thank you Jesus.

(07:12):
Sis, can you pull up?
Just pull up.
John 15, 5 through 8?
.
Does somebody have their Biblethere already?
Can I see it?
Yes, that's what I want.
See, I just wrote down thewrong.
Okay, what is it?
John 15, 5.
John 15, five, that's wherewe're going.
I lied to you guys.
What?
Well, you know it wasapparently the latte.

(07:33):
No, I didn't have the lattewhenever I did that, it was just
me typing too quick.
Thank you, jesus, you got it upthere.
That's what we got.
Yes, I am the vine and you arethe branches.
Those who remain in me and I inthem will produce much fruit,
for apart from me, you can donothing.

(07:53):
Leave that up there.
You may be seated.
Thank you for bearing with methere.
You know, here's what I'velearned.
Sometimes in ministry, thingshappen fast, right, like it's
kind of rapid fire, and when Iwas writing those notes down,
apparently I got ahead of myself, but the enemy would have loved
nothing more than for us tojust stop right.

(08:14):
So we're not going to do that,we're going to keep moving.
Now I want to read it againbecause I want to really get
into this.
Yes, I am the vine and you arethe branches.
Those who remain in me and I inthem will produce much fruit,
for apart from me, you can donothing.
Now, how does that make youfeel?
Does that make you feel good?
Does it make you feel bad,indifferent, empowered I like

(08:39):
that word, empowered.
But why does it make you feelempowered?
And you know that so long asyou are in Jesus and Jesus is in
you, you can do anything youwant to do.
Right, amen, okay, but thereare some of us sitting in the
building who don't know that.
We don't have that confidence.
So when we read that passage ofScripture, it says to us we'll

(09:00):
produce much fruit, for apartfrom me, you can do nothing.
So if you are in fact apartfrom me, you can do nothing.
So if you are, in fact, apartfrom him, you can do nothing.
So the problem is is that peopleshow up on Sunday morning, they
sit in their seat, they play ontheir phone, they fall asleep
during worship.
Whatever the case may be, theycan do nothing.
And let me tell you you can'tsit there and say, oh well, I

(09:21):
know Jesus and I'm good with Godand I have all.
But you show up to church bored, right?
You show up to church because,just because you don't like the
worship set that's played,listen, I hate Crowder.
Yeah, throw your stuff, I don'tcare, I don't like Crowder
music, I don't look, she's likehe's the best.
I don't like Crowder music, butI knew when I put that set

(09:51):
together this morning that howhe loved was going to move on
somebody today.
Right, it is not about me, it'sabout the people in the
building.
Amen.
And so the problem is,sometimes we like to stop the
move of the Spirit because ofour own personal desires.
But let me tell you somethingIf I say I don't care about the
move of the Spirit anymore, allI care about is playing songs
that I like, I can do nothing,nothing, because it's not about

(10:12):
me anymore.
Right, it's not about me.
Okay, when I started to writethis message, I really ended up
holding on to last week'smessage, and I found that when I
did it.
There were some things leftunsaid from last week.
All I keep thinking about arethat poor plant, poor pathetic
plant.

(10:32):
Now it's going to go and getnew life because Vicki took it
home.
You're going to have to prayover that plant really hard.
Lots of miracle grow because Ikilled it.
Right, that is a fact.
It did not get what it neededand I just kept holding onto
that and I kept thinking aboutall those poor dead leaves and

(10:54):
oh, how miserable it was.
And then I knew that when Vickisaid that she would take it
home, it was gonna get new life.
Amen, that something new wasgonna happen for that plant,
something that I couldn't seebecause I would have thrown it
in the dumpster, right.
But she's going to do somethinggreat.
Now the same is said for theWord of God.

(11:15):
This breathes fresh life intous every single day.
But the problem is is many of usaren't looking for the
nourishment in the word of God.
Right, we come to church onSunday morning and we get filled
up or we get fertilized alittle bit, and then we leave

(11:36):
and we do nothing for an entireweek.
We don't come back on Wednesdaynight to get watered or filled
up.
We don't come back or we don'tlisten to Christian, we don't
watch Christian, we don't do anyof the things in life that we
should.
Instead, we go out and we livelike heathens and we say but
nobody's going to know.
Right, am I talking to myself?

(11:57):
I do it too.
Right, I leave this building.
Listen, I got kicked out of anElvis group the other day.
It happens, right, things likethis happen in our life.
But here's the problem.
I got kicked out because Iwasn't going to tolerate
somebody being rude andobnoxious to me, and the
administrator of that groupthought that, well, if you block

(12:18):
somebody, then you're obviouslya scammer.
No, I'm not going to toleratestupidity.
I'm not going to listen.
I know that I will turn theother cheek and I will allow you
to believe what you believe,but I don't need you in my life.
I don't need that in my life.
Why don't I need that in mylife?
Because then it's pulling mefurther away from God, right,
because then I start to call younames and I tell you your nose

(12:40):
is big and you smell funny.
Right, listen, I know you guyshave done it and if you haven't
said it, you've thought it right, you're probably sitting next
to somebody.
You're like man I don't knowwhat they're wearing today, but
it stinks, right?
We've all done it.
The problem is the problem isthat when we get that way and we

(13:02):
live in that mindset, we can donothing.
Nothing.
I want to produce much fruit.
Okay.
Now it says that he is the vineand we are the branches.
Amen, I am not the vine.
Let me be clear I am not thevine, I am a branch.

(13:26):
Okay, something should come toour realization very, very early
.
We grow the fruit, we grow thefruit.
Right, the fruit doesn't growon the vine, it grows on the
branches that live on the vine.

(13:47):
Amen.
And so if I am a branch hangingfrom the vine, I should be
producing good fruit.
Right, I should not be hangingfrom the vine dead, because if I
am hanging from the vine dead,I don't really know who Jesus is
.
If he is the vine and I am thebranch, I should be constantly

(14:11):
and consistently producing goodfruit.
Whoo, hallelujah.
The vine provides the nutrientsto the branch so that it may
produce the fruit, and in thisway, we exhibit the fruit that
is grown from the vine throughus.

(14:32):
Right, we are displaying thefruit on our branch, the branch
that we are because of thenutrients that the vine has
provided to us.
Branch, that we are because ofthe nutrients that the vine has
provided to us.
Right, think about a tree.
That tree trunk is not growingleaves.
Right, the branches grow theleaves, but how do those

(14:56):
branches get watered?
Through the root system,through the trunk and into the
branches system?
Through the trunk and into thebranches?
Amen.
Can I tell you something?
Some of us are just deadbranches.
Today, we're sitting in thisbuilding, dead branches, and you
know what we're saying.
Oh, that's not me.
I'm alive and well.

(15:18):
The fruit that you're producingis rotten.
That you're producing is rotten.
The fruit that you areproducing is rotten.
Matthew 12, 33, I think, isright this time.
A tree is identified by itsfruit.
If a tree is good, its fruit isgood.

(15:39):
If a tree is bad, its fruit isbad.
See, this is easy stuff.
He's got it.
He's got it down.
He knows that if you are a badtree, you are producing bad
fruit.
Amen.
How many of us are sitting hereproducing good fruit today?
Hallelujah, thank you Jesus.
How many of us are sitting hereproducing bad fruit today?
You might as well raise yourhand, because we know Most of us

(16:01):
can see it around us.
Amen, all right.
You brood of snakes, how couldevil men like you speak?
What is good and right, forwhatever is in your hearts
determines what you say?
Whoo, so if you're a hatefulperson, if you're a rude person,
a disgruntled person, why iseverybody looking at Stephanie

(16:23):
right now, seriously, her armswent up because, like, heads
turned.
That was rude Steph, that wasrude man.
So I would say I would say thetree that you are next to
probably has some dead branchesthat need pruning, right?
Sorry, mckenna, I'm justkidding, just kidding.

(16:43):
All right, there are threethings that can happen when a
fruit-bearing tree becomesmature Right, and I want you to
hold on to that word matureRight, because you've got people
sitting in this room right nowwho may believe in Jesus, but
their faith is not yet maturedRight in Jesus, but their faith

(17:06):
is not yet matured right.
And they may be a tree thatdoesn't look like every other
tree that's planted.
Amen, okay, three things thatcan happen when a fruit-bearing
tree becomes mature.
It can bear good fruit, healthy,yummy, good to look at nice to
eat.
Healthy, yummy, good to look atnice to eat.
And some can bear bad fruit,fruit that on the outside might

(17:29):
look okay, but in the middleit's soft and it's rotten.
Maybe it's starting to get someflies around it, right?
You ever been around thosepeople?
Ever been around those?
Okay, oh, this is probably oneof the worst things that can
happen to me in life.
I love bananas.
It's the only fruit that I'lleat.
I don't like apples, I don'tlike oranges, I don't like pears

(17:50):
, I don't like peaches.
I don't like fruit, except forbananas.
Okay, I won't eat a strawberryto save my life, like you would
have to like holy smokes.
Strawberry banana yogurt is theonly flavor of yogurt that I'll
eat.
Like, I just don't like fruit.
All right, have you ever openeda banana and peeled it?
A healthy looking banana Looksreal great, yellow, Perfect.

(18:12):
You open it.
It's got a big black spot in it.
What's the first thing you dowith that banana?
Throw it in the trash.
I don't even take a bite.
That banana is ruined.
Right, right Now there are somepeople who are going to say, oh
, I like to make banana breadwith it.
No, you don't.
You leave it Sit on yourcounter until it's black and
mushy and it's got fruit fliesflying around it, and then you
throw it in the trash.
You just pretend like you'regoing to make banana bread with

(18:32):
it, right?
That happens in my head.
There's an apple sitting in myfruit basket right now.
The whole top of that'sdisgusting, and I keep on
walking.
It ain't got flies yet.
I don't have to deal with it,right?
Isn't that how that works?
Eventually, somebody else willthrow it away.

(18:53):
Why do I have to do it?
And then I realize that if Iallow that fruit to sit there
and rot, the other fruit aroundit will also begin to rot.
Hallelujah, right.
So if I'm sitting in a seatright now with rotten fruit, I
am going to start to rot.
Amen, okay, we're togetherright now.

(19:16):
However, however, there issomething that I fear is worse
yet than a tree that producesbad fruit, and it is a tree that
produces nothing.
Now, why?
Bad fruit's bad enough, right,but if you are a tree that is

(19:36):
watered and cared for andfertilized and nourished and you
stand there year after yearafter year and you produce
nothing, what are you doing?
Nothing, why?
Why are you there?
Listen, we should be producinggood fruit every moment of every

(19:57):
day, and can I tell you, itgets tiring.
It is tiring to produce goodfruit all the time.
Okay, here's the question fortoday, and I'm going to give you
the answer right away.
All right, why are we the treethat we are and why do we

(20:18):
produce the fruit that weproduce?
You ready, you are a product ofwhere you are planted.
Amen, super easy.
Let's go back to last week'smessage for just a second.
If you are planted on groundthat is rocky and dry, your root
system can't begin to grow andyou just die.

(20:41):
Right, you just die.
Now the worst part is is,sometimes you can be picked up
and you can be planted in abeautiful field with all of the
sun and everything that youmight think that you need, but
you're not getting any water,and so your roots may be deep,
but you're not getting thenutrients that you need in order
to continue to bear fruit,because trees don't just bear

(21:02):
fruit just because they'replanted right.
They have to be cared for.
Nick, what kind of tree did youguys plant in your yard?
A peach tree?
Did it produce peaches?

(21:22):
Yes, okay, what did you have todo to get to that point?
So we had one that didn't makeit.
That's okay.
See, so all of the nutrientswere washed past that tree.
It had plenty of water, itsroots were growing, but guess
what?
It wasn't getting anything.
It needed to produce the fruitthat it really should be
producing, planted correctly,fertilized correctly.

(21:43):
Listen, do you know how hard itis to plant a tree correctly?
The hole has to be a certainsize around, it has to be a
certain depth right, it has tohave soft ground, or maybe some
trees require acidic soil versusneutral soil.
That's hard stuff to figure out.
Listen, I just plant and hope.

(22:03):
What else are you going to do?
Right, I'm going to put it inthe ground and I'm going to say
Lord, make it grow.
And sometimes the Lord says youdidn't do enough.
Sorry, I had this beautiful redhydrangea we planted at the old
house.
I love that thing.
It was beautiful.
It was this some weird hybrid.
The leaves were red, theflowers were supposed to be red.

(22:25):
We never saw them bloom becauseit died.
But we planted it on thesunniest side of the house and
we watered it once a day.
But unfortunately we planted itout of season.
Now we didn't know Like.
We thought you keep it watered,it's going to be.
It did not make it.
So now we're going to drivepast our house because it will

(22:45):
come back.
We're going to drive past thathouse this year and then we'll
run up and steal it.
No, I'm just kidding, I'm notgoing to do that.
Thought about it, though.
Not going to lie, we bought it,planted it the spring before we
moved.
So that's like it hurts myheart a little bit.
Hurts my heart, okay.
Luke 3.8.
Prove, by the way you live,that you have repented of your

(23:11):
sins and turned to God.
Don't just say to each other weare safe, for we are
descendants of Abraham.
That means nothing, for I tellyou, god can create children of
Abraham out of these very stones.
Amen.
Prove, by the way you live,that you have repented of your

(23:31):
sins and turned to God, becausewhen we repent of our sins and
we turn to God, we bear goodfruit.
That's how we do it.
This is pretty basic, right.
This is easy stuff.
Now why are we talking aboutroots again?
Why are we talking aboutwatering and soil and all of
those things?
It's not because spring iscoming and we're ready to plant.

(23:52):
We're talking about it becauseI finally heard somebody say it
in a way that I think we canunderstand it.
So the next part of this is notmine.
This is something that somebodyelse has shared that I have
adapted for you guys today,because I believe that this is
going to take root in yourhearts today Amen.
I believe that this statementshould change the way that we

(24:12):
look at life.
Now here's the question have youever seen an apple tree eat an
apple?
Have you ever seen a pear treeeat a pear?
Have you ever seen a plum treeeat a plum?
Why?
It would be cannibalism?

(24:34):
No Well, killed the mood onthat one now, didn't I?
I like this kid.
Keep him coming back.
Okay, he gets me, because thetree only needs water.
The fruit isn't for the tree,the fruit is for the people who

(24:56):
pass by the tree, amen.
So when I am producing fruitand that fruit is falling off of
me, it is for you, it isn't forme to eat.
So when you come by and youpick up an apple and you eat it
from the tree and the fruit thatis falling for me, that is for
you, not for me.
Listen, I have sat in times ofworry, in times of trouble, in

(25:17):
times of stress, in times ofdepression, and given sound
advice to every person sittingin this room.
Why?
Because I don't need my ownfruit.
I need the fruit from you.
Right, you should each beproducing fruit that I should be
able to pick up and eat.
But where is the fruit?
Where is the fruit?
You see, I can't just eat fruitonce a week and expect to

(25:43):
survive.
I can't walk into this buildingon Sunday morning and go well,
lord, I hope that I have anencounter with somebody that's
nice to me today.
I need that seven days a week,right?
I can't walk into the buildingand say, lord, I hope today you
make something good happen in mylife, because if that's all I

(26:05):
expect from him, it's all I'llget.
And then I will stand here andI will bear no fruit to give to
others.
Amen.
Did everybody get a piece offruit this morning?
That little piece of paperfruit?
Keep a hold of that.
We're going to need that in alittle bit.
If I don't talk about that,remind me.
Okay, my brain's on a coffeebuzz right now.
Okay, your fruit is not for you,but let me tell you that

(26:34):
sometimes, the advice that youcan give to somebody else when
they're consuming of your fruitwill transfer into your own life
, right?
What does that mean?
Have you ever said to somebodythis is a big one for me.
Hey, you know, you shouldreally reconsider the way that
you're spending your money.
Well, now I need to reconsiderthe way I'm spending my money,

(26:56):
right?
Because if I'm giving you asound advice but I'm not living
with that sound advice, I haveto make an adjustment in my own
life, right?
So, sometimes, when we speak tosomebody else, somebody needs
to keep his kid around becausehe'd be preaching back to me,
and I'm living for it.
Today, I am living for it.
He's like amen, hallelujah, itwill produce clarity for you.

(27:21):
You don't have to eat your ownfruit, but you need to consume
the fruit of those who arearound you.
You need to grow fruit that,when people see it, they are in
shock.
Right, I think of the land ofmilk and honey, and they talk
about all of the great fruitsthat are there, like I'm
thinking, like apples the sizeof your head.
Right, you're picking upbunches of grapes.
Grapes are disgusting, by theway, but you're picking up

(27:41):
bunches of grapes that are astall, they're nasty, it's like
eating eyeballs.
But they should look at you andgo how can someone grow such
amazing and beautiful fruit?
Amen, when somebody looks atyou as a Christian, as a
follower of Christ, as a littleChrist.

(28:02):
Right, they should be able tosee the greatest fruit they have
ever seen.
Now, here's the problem Somepeople are going to pick from
your fruit.
They're going to take a biteand they're going to throw it to
the wayside, right?
You ever had a conversationwith somebody that you're like,
hey, listen, you really need toknow who Jesus is and you share
Jesus with them?
And they're like, yeah,whatever, and off, they go on

(28:23):
their own little way and thenext thing you know, you see
that piece of fruit that theypicked from your tree laying
alongside of the road.
Here's the thing.
It's not your responsibility togrow that seed.
That is the responsibility ofGod.
You plant the seed.
They ate of the fruit.
They have received something ofJesus Because, remember, you

(28:49):
are a branch on the vine.
You are growing fruit becauseof the vine.
You are growing fruit becauseof the nutrients that you get
from the vine.
That means that if you comeinto church and you sit here and
you don't get any of thosenutrients from the vine, if you
spend your week living in theworld and not living for Christ,
you're not getting any waterfrom that vine you are going to

(29:11):
produce rotten fruit and whenpeople see the rotten fruit,
that's what they assume Jesus isthe dead leaves.
Right, jesus is more thananything that you could be.
It is your responsibility togrow and bear fruit that is
happy and healthy so that peoplecan enjoy it.

(29:37):
My wife and I we like to plantflowers in our flower beds.
We really do.
We love actually, she likes it.
I do it because I enjoyspending time with her.
Now, do we have disagreementswhen we're planting flowers in
the flower bed?
Absolutely, because we plantedall of the plants today and
tomorrow she wants to move themall.
That doesn't work for me.

(30:00):
Right, can we do it just once?
But this one is going to growbigger and now it needs to be
separated and put over here.
With that, for those of us wholike to grow flowers, we get
that.
That happens.
Right, she loves it.
She thrives when she's in theflower bed.
She enjoys spending time doingthat.
And if we were to take a walk orwe were to go, we cannot go to
greenhouses.
Us going to a greenhouse islike Courtney going to Rural

(30:21):
King.
She's going to come back with62 chickens.
I'm going to come back with 150plants, right.
She held it and put it back.
There was two in her pockets,but she ain't talking about
those ones.
We listen.
We go to a greenhouse and we seesomething and we're like, ooh,
what is that?
We snap a picture of it so wecan go back and we have to buy
them in phases because ain'tnobody got money like that,

(30:42):
right.
Going to the greenhouse can beexpensive, but when we see other
people's plants, we look atthem.
We think, man, that's beautiful.
That was a really matter offact.
We picked up our daughter froma friend's house the other day
and I said to her I said, man,their landscaping is top notch.
They've got all these shrubsout front and it's nice,
different shades of green.

(31:03):
They did it right when they didit right and I was so excited
to see it.
And I'm thinking to myself howcan I replicate that at my house
right Now?
I'm not trying to covet theirplants.
I think their plants are nice.
They can keep their plants.
I want my own, right, but theirplants are inspiration for me,
right?

(31:24):
Your fruit should be inspirationfor people around you.
You should be able to look atthe people around you and go.
You know what I really like theway he talks to his kids.
Don't look at me for that.
I really like the way heinteracts with people he doesn't
know.
I really like the way he treatsso-and-so or I like the way he

(31:45):
carries himself, whatever it maybe.
You should be able to look atthat and go.
I want more of that, and youshould be able to go to Jesus
and say Jesus, I want my fruitto be bigger and prettier and
healthier than any fruit I'veever had today.
Right, and when he does that,chances are you're going to be

(32:06):
able to carry yourself in theway that you have desired to
carry yourself, because Jesustells us that whatever we ask of
him, he will give us, so longas it is within his will.
Now I'm saying that I don'twant to be like most other
people.
I want to be unique, right?
I want to look at somebody andgo hey, that's a great
characteristic.
I want to carry that.

(32:27):
How many of you have ever heardme say my pleasure.
That's all I say.
I don't say you're welcome.
My kids ask for a drink and Iget it.
Thanks, dad.
My pleasure, buddy.
Do you know why?
Because that was instilled inme at a job that I had.
Before you could go to thesales floor, you had to
naturally say my pleasure.
Now, that might sound silly,older folks, you're going to get

(32:48):
this.
Younger folks, you are not Okay.
My pleasure to me feels betterthan you're welcome or no
problem.
You will never hear me say noproblem, because if I tell you
no problem after you've thankedme for something, that implies
that there was in fact a problem, that you were an inconvenience
to me, and I'm trying tosugarcoat that with no problem.

(33:09):
Right, older folks, you getthat, because when somebody,
when a younger person, says thatto you, you kind of get that
right.
You can feel that.
The other thing I don't like tosay is you're welcome.
Now, I don't think that there'sanything inherently wrong with
that, but there are things thatI do that you don't have to
thank me for.
Right.
If I do the dishes at my house,my wife does not have to say
thank you.
It is my pleasure to get toserve alongside her.

(33:32):
Amen.
Listen, dawn has picked that up, she has.
Sometimes we bear fruit that wedon't even realize that we're
bearing and it's making animpact on people's lives that we
don't even realize.
It's making an impact on Right,and when we can do that in a
way that is so natural andorganic.

(33:53):
It is so easy, so easy to justlive life to the fullest in
Christ, amen.
Every day when I wake up I wantto bear good fruit.
All right, running out of fuel?
What?

(34:21):
Yeah, pour some of this on thefruit, it'll really get it going
.
The hard work of other peoplecultivating the ground allows
inspiration for my life.
Amen.
That is through whatever workGod is doing in their lives.
Listen, sometimes you look atpeople and you're like I don't
understand them and I don't getwhat it is that they're doing.

(34:43):
I don't connect with them, Idon't get this, I don't get that
, whatever the case may be, andthen you realize one small thing
that they're doing in theirlife and God is saying to you
take note, it may not be today,it may not be tomorrow, but in
10 years that fruit's going tostart to grow for you, right?
How many of us and I don'traise your, don't lie to me okay

(35:04):
how many of us wish we couldread our Bible like Joe does?
It's a hobby for him, do youknow what I mean?
Like he naturally, can pick upthat Bible and read it.
Most of us.
When we pick up our Bible and westart to try to read, we're
like I don't know.
I don't know.
You get three or four pages, orthree or four sentences words

(35:25):
sometimes, and we're like I'mlost, I don't even know what
we're talking about anymore.
Let me tell you that you needto go back to God and you need
to say I need you to relightthis fire in my life.
Right, I need you to give somenutrients to this, because I
ain't growing the way I shouldbe growing.
I'm not bearing the fruit thatI should be bearing.
God, I am not doing what youhave called me to do because I

(35:47):
am miserable.
Let's be honest, is that theproblem?
A lot of times, we findourselves miserable in life,
we're miserable in the world,and so we become miserable in
the spirit Because, see, I don'tthink I have ever once walked
into the prayer room and walkedout in the same mood that I went

(36:10):
in with.
It's almost impossible, right,because God's not going to allow
me to be in that place and notgrow in that place.
Right, it's the same in theworld that you live in every
single day.
See, the problem is, if you'remiserable, you've planted
yourself in the wrong place.
See, the problem is, if you'remiserable, you've planted
yourself in the wrong place.
You've allowed yourself to besurrounded by people who will

(36:31):
make you, help you and evennourish your miserable nature.
Amen, we all have them.
We all know them.
We all know people who areliving like that and won't
change the way that they'reliving.
Well, god's not moving in mylife.
It's because you're living withmiserable people.
You have chosen that misery.

(36:53):
You have to break that cycle.
Let me tell you that God is notgoing to allow you to be
miserable your entire life.
He is gonna continue to moveand shake things up and change
things in your life.
That's his desire.
It's fresh revelation every dayin your life that you would
have a fresh move of the spirit.
It is your choice.

(37:14):
Where you go back to right,have you guys ever?
I'm not gonna say that.
Thank you Jesus.
Thank you Jesus.
What scripture did we just do?
Okay, we're gonna go to Luke 13.
Luke 13, 6 through 9.
Is it hot in here?
Thank you Jesus.
I turned it back to 66 becauseI was sweating to death.

(37:36):
I'm getting to the bottom ofthis cup.
You know what the bottom is?
All that espresso, mmm.
Here we go.
Luke 13, six through nine, itsays.
Then Jesus told this story A manplanted a fig tree.
I love this story.

(37:57):
A man planted a fig tree in hisgarden and came again and again
to see if there was any fruiton it, but he was always
disappointed.
How many of us live lifedisappointed.
We're disappointed in otherpeople, we're disappointed in
ourselves, we're disappointed inour Walmart shopping experience

(38:18):
.
We are all because we want tobe disappointed.
Amen, because the flesh likesthat feeling Okay.
So he's always disappointed.
Finally, he said to hisgardener I've waited three years
and there hasn't been a singlefig.
Cut it down, it's just takingup space in the garden.
And the gardener said, sir,give it one more chance.

(38:40):
Leave it another year and Iwill give it special attention
and plenty of fertilizer.
If we get figs next year, fine.
If not, then you can cut itdown.
We are always looking for areturn on our investment.
Roi, baby, if you're a businessperson, that's what you live

(39:05):
for, right.
But when we pour into somebodyor we give somebody fruit from
our branch, we expect a returnon that investment.
That return is not for you,it's for the kingdom.
That return is not so that youcan be glorified, but so that
the kingdom may grow.

(39:26):
Amen.
This isn't about you.
Remember, the Bible was notwritten to make you the Savior.
Jesus Christ is the only onewho should get glory in any of
the things that are taking place.
Amen.
Okay, we are always looking forsomeone that can return the

(39:46):
favor.
We want someone or something topay us back for our hard work
and dedication, and here's whatthat passage said to me
Sometimes, the fruit I bear willbe picked up and the seeds will
be planted by someone whodoesn't know what it means to be
mature.
Amen.

(40:07):
See, age does not make youmature.
I know plenty of grown adultswho live in drama.
I know plenty of young childrenwho can look at you and go you
don't know what you're talkingabout and chances are they're
right.
Maturity does not come with age.

(40:30):
Maturity comes with discipline,and I don't mean like whooping
your kids discipline, I meanlike your own structure.
Discipline when you stop andsay you know what.
I'm going to get up everymorning and I'm going to read
one line out of my Bible everyday.
It may take me 10 years to getthrough my Bible, but I am

(40:50):
committed to the discipline ofat least being in the word every
single day.
Right, that's discipline.
Something's a start.
We can't do it all and we allcan't just swallow multiple
pages.
Amen, it's not that easy forall of us.
Okay, they will expect the treeto grow and bear fruit in its

(41:12):
first year, but, truth be told,it's never going to happen.
How many of you have looked atsomebody who is not saved, or
who claims to be saved and actslike they're not saved, and you
expect them to begin to bearfruit immediately?
Right, you look at somebody andyou're like well, you come to
church every Sunday.
Why aren't you doing this?
Or why aren't you doing that?
Or what's happening over here?

(41:33):
What's happening over there?
Did you know that it takesbetween two and nine years for
an apple tree to bear fruit?
Between two and nine?
That's a huge swing.
Two and nine years, okay, so intwo years, marcus may be
growing fruit.

(41:53):
It may not be beautiful fruityet he may just get a couple of
apples.
But some of you who have beensaved longer are not getting
fruit and you're gettingfrustrated and you're getting
angry and just cut down the treethen, because if I can't
produce fruit, then what good amI?
And you turn away from God andyou blame him because you aren't

(42:14):
producing fruit, but when infact, you haven't been nourished
properly.
You've planted yourself in aplace that you can't grow.
Maybe there's rocks on allsides of you and your roots
can't grow.
Maybe you've placed yourselfaround a group of people who
really don't want to see yousaved Hallelujah, hallelujah.

(42:36):
We all have those people in ourjobs, people who think that you
know.
I had somebody say to me oh somuch for a Christian.
And I thought to myself yeah,I'm not perfect, but at least I
know who Jesus is right, becauseas a Christian, I would never
say that to another Christian.
If you tell me that you aresaved, I am not in the market to

(42:58):
tell somebody when they are andare not saved.
I'm gonna believe you if youtell me that you are, and I'm
going to pray that God revealswhatever is happening in your
life.
That is not good, and of himAmen, because that's the only
thing I can do.
I can't make you more saved.
I can't make you actuallyunderstand what it is to be
saved, because being saved is avery simple process.

(43:20):
Is that a fair statement?
Because if I confess my sinsand I say that Jesus Christ is
my Lord and Savior, I'm saved.
Well, it feels like you shouldhave to sign something.
Is there a book I have to reador is there a form I have to
fill out?
No, but the fact is, you won'ttruly get to that point until

(43:47):
you are ready to give up thethings in your life that are not
of God.
That may take nine years Church.
If we're sitting here withpeople around us who are not
bearing fruit, that's not to saythat they aren't saved.
It's to say that they've stillgot some things to work out
right.
And you can do two things.
You can give them good, healthyfruit, something to chew on,

(44:10):
something to eat and somethingto find hope in.
Or you can give them rottenfruit.
And what I mean by rotten fruit?
If I hand you this apple thatlooks shiny and you go to take a
bite of it and you realize it'sall soft and gooey in the
middle and you know the worstthing about finding a whole worm
, there's something worse thanfinding a whole worm in your
apple.
It's the half a worm becauseyou've eaten it.

(44:32):
And I think to myself how manytimes do we try to give that
kind of fruit to people.
Right.
And what I mean by that is I'msaved, I know Jesus and I love
Jesus and I believe Jesus lovesme.
And now I'm sitting here andI'm talking about Mel, and you
know, can you believe that Melsaid or did and I'm saying that

(44:53):
to people who aren't necessarilymature in the spirit yet oh my
gosh, can you believe that Bethdid?
Can you believe that Dale did?
Oh my gosh.
I was sitting out in the hallwaythe other day and so-and-so
walked by me and oh my gosh, howmany of us are bearing bad

(45:15):
fruit?
How many of us are bearing badfruit?
And here's the thing sometimespeople are like, oh no, I don't
do that kind of thing, but youfruit.
And here's the thing Sometimespeople are like, oh no, I don't
do that kind of thing, butyou're raising kids that are
liars.
You're raising kids that'llbeat up other kids or pick on
other kids at school.
You're bearing bad fruitbecause you are the one raising

(45:39):
them.
Right?
It's the truth, folks.
Bad fruit is bad fruit, nomatter how you slice it.
You guys ever remember how youslice an apple and you made a
little star on the inside.
Do you want to?
Hey, do you want to come preach?
Oh, it's.
Oh, that was Elsa.
Hey, I thought it was him.

(46:01):
Elsa, you want to come preach,sweetheart?
No, she doesn't want to.
Okay, do you guys remembercutting an apple in half and you
can make a star if you cut itone way and the other way it
just looks ugly.
Anybody remember that?
Do you remember that?
No, anybody remember that.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you for those of you whoactually remember.

(46:23):
I don't know how you slice it tomake it look pretty, but if
that fruit is rotten in themiddle, it ain't going to look
pretty either way, is it?
It's going to be gross andmushy and probably stink a
little bit, right?
I'm going to tell you something.
Sometimes I stink a little bit,and sometimes everybody sitting
in this room we stink a littlebit, right, and we have to do
better.
We have to look to the vine toget the nourishment so that our

(46:47):
branch can grow good fruit.
Amen.
Because when we're bearing badfruit, when we're bearing no
fruit at all, when we are matureand bearing no fruit at all, we
are doing no good for thekingdom.
If you're standing still,you're backsliding Amen.
If you are standing still,you're backsliding Amen.
If you are standing still, youare backsliding.
If you are standing still, youare not gaining anything for the
kingdom of God, all right.

(47:08):
The last thing I'm going totell you this morning is a
reflection of that passage ofScripture.
The man that was tending thetree said allow me to apply more
fertilizer.
What's fertilizer?
Poop.
Who said poop?
A lot of times it's manure ofsome sort right.

(47:31):
A lot of times it's oldleftover food, whatever.
Because somebody told me thatcoffee grounds is really good
for plants.
Use coffee grounds.
It makes the soil more acidic,and I've heard that banana peels
do really well, eggshells doreally well for some plants.
There's all of these littlenatural things.
But basically, what he said wasallow me to apply some more

(47:55):
fertilizer.
Let me apply some more manurearound this tree, and if it
grows fruit, great, and if not,then you can cut it down.
But I need to tell you somethingand this is the part that we
have to realize as Christiansthat sometimes you're standing
knee deep in manure that you'veapplied and that tree still
ain't going to grow.
Do you know why?

(48:15):
Because you cannot make thetree grow.
All you can do is give itnourishment.
Once you get knee deep in that,you need to walk away and say,
god, this is yours, this isn'tmine anymore.
I've given it everything I haveand I'm not getting knee deep
at this point.
Y'all you know why I'm notgetting knee deep anymore?
Because when I'm knee deep I'mstuck and it is so hard to get

(48:38):
out of a cycle of sitting hereand talking to you, because
typically what happens is I findmyself talking bad about other
people, right, I find myselfsaying things that I would never
say to anybody else, becauseI've grown comfortable being
stuck with a dead branch, with atree that isn't growing any
fruit.

(48:58):
Do you know how much easier itis for me to die standing next
to a dead branch than it is forme to get a dead branch to grow
fruit?
I will die faster than you willproduce fruit, right, and I'm
not going to do that.
I'm not going to stand here anddie so that you may produce
fruit.
I'm going to stand here, I'mgoing to fertilize, I'm going to
make sure you have water, andthen I'm going to say, god, this
one's all yours.

(49:20):
If you come back and you sayPastor Michael, what you said to
me really moved in my life andI've made drastic change, and
I'm going to say I'm going tokeep pouring.
But if I pour into you and yousay, well, that was stupid, that
didn't do any good in my life,I'm going to say, then you need
to seek higher counsel.
You need to stop looking to manand look to the word of God.
Amen.
You need to stop looking foranswers from me and you need to

(49:43):
start looking for answers fromthe one who actually has them.
All I can do is give you godlyadvice.
He will give you the ultimateanswer Amen.
Okay, maybe it's time to walkaway and let someone else tend
that tree.
Maybe it's time to say you knowwhat?
I've taken this tree as far asI can take it.
Maybe I need to send it homewith Vicky Hickey, right,

(50:06):
because I ain't making a changein that tree.
In my mind it's gone, so I'mgoing to send it to somebody
else who can hopefully give itbetter nutrients, somebody who
understands that this one needseggshells instead of banana
peels.
Amen, amen, amen.
Hallelujah Church.
I don't think that we can wrapour heads around how easy it is

(50:28):
to become a negative personrather than a positive person.
How easy it is to get wrappedup in the gossip of the
day-to-day lives of the peoplearound us.
As Christians, we should not bedoing that.
Everybody, get out your fruit.
You got your fruit.
Get your fruit, get it out ofyour pocket.
Everybody got to pick their ownfruit.

(50:49):
Well, tina gave some of you thefruit because it was.
She was like they're just, theywouldn't pick fruit.
It was getting complicated.
So she's like you get what youget and you don't throw a fit.
Well, does everybody have apiece of fruit in their hand?
Everybody's got a piece offruit.
I'm going to give you 15seconds to give your fruit to
somebody else, because thatfruit is not for you.
That fruit belongs to somebodyelse.

(51:10):
I don't care who you give it to, but you should leave here with
a piece of fruit.
I don't have one to give you.
Everybody else had fruit exceptfor me, tina, I need a piece of
fruit.
Tina, I need a piece of fruit.

(51:31):
Hurry, thank you.
Did everybody exchange fruit?
Is anybody holding the samepiece of fruit?
Good, because I didn't want anydead branches today.
The fruit that you are holding.
Stick that in your Bible.
Put that somewhere that thiswill be a reminder.
Put it on your mirror at home.

(51:52):
I don't care if you stick it toyour car windshield, just not
in your line of sight.
Please Allow this to be areminder that the fruit that you
are bearing does not belong toyou.
The fruit that you are bearingyou should be passing to other
people.
The passerby should pick it upand eat it.
Amen, amen, let's pray together.

(52:12):
Father, in the mighty name ofJesus, I thank you and I praise
you for just continuing to moveinside of this house.
Father, allow us to realize howimportant our fruit truly is.
That, father, the fruit is notfor us, it is for the people
around us.
And that, father, we don't haveto just consume of the one type
of fruit that we produce, thatwe should be looking for fruit

(52:35):
from other people.
That, father, we should be ableto say, hey, this is for me and
I want this in my life.
God, we trust you to place theright people in our lives every
single day.
Father, give us a discerning ofspirits, because that is where
we really need to focus.
Allow us to understand that adiscerning of spirits and your
wisdom is what will allow thefruits to grow in our lives.

(52:57):
Father, I thank you for themighty move in this place today.
Father, for an anointed word, Ipray that you continue to lead
us, guide us and direct usthrough this week.
Father, just allow us to movefrom this place with a joyful
spirit.
I thank you for every personthat sits here today, that this
fresh anointing would take placein their heart, father, that it

(53:20):
would begin to take root andthat they could see the fruit
from your word.
I thank you, I praise you, Igive you all the honor and glory
in the mighty name of Jesus.
And the church says