Endeavor to be Fruitful

Pray – (1/2 minute)

Read – (2 1/2 minutes) – “The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to find out if it had any fruit. When He reached it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then He said to the tree, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And His disciples heard Him say it.” (Mark 11:12-14)
      Passage: Isaiah 56:1-8

        I heard of a preacher who was being interviewed as a prospective pastor for a small church. He was asked what he considered his greatest quality. He said it was his ability to stay and not quit. One of the people interviewing him asked, “If that’s true, how come you’ve been the pastor of three churches in the past six years?” He replied, “I stayed with each of them until they died and closed down.” It is a sad reality that many churches close every year in America. While there are many factors that contribute, the one factor that is the biggest is a lack of church health.
        Healthy things grow. When Jesus saw the fig tree, the full-grown leaves made it look healthy on the outside, but the lack of fruit showed that was unhealthy on the inside. Israel was compared to a fig tree in the Old Testament, and they had a purpose to help people in the world come to know the one and only God, Jehovah. The cursing of the tree was a precursor to what Jesus would do in cleansing the temple. Pray for your church to be a healthy church that bears fruit in reaching people with the gospel. Endeavor to be fruitful in your own life and be a follower of Christ who helps your local church stay healthy in mission and ministry.

Apply - (2 1/2 minutes)
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Pray - (1 1/2 minutes)