bearing fruit (john 15)

Jesus says "I am the vine and you are the branches"
and I know that the gospel touches my life
through prayer and scripture.

Jesus says "Love one another as I have loved you"
and I am aware that the gospel touches my life
through fellowship and worship.

Jesus says "I appointed you to go and bear fruit",
and I acknowledge that the gospel touches my life
most abundantly as I am sent out to witness and serve.

There is something natural about growth.
The branches cannot grow apart from the vine,
But it is also true that the vine cannot bear fruit
apart from the branches.
Indeed, the vine exists to bear fruit.

How am I being called to grow?
In what areas of life am I bearing fruit?

To be a Christian is to bear fruit.
A Christian's life reflects the love of God.
A Christian's life represents the love of God.
A Christian's life reveals the love of God.

The visible signs of God's presence surround me.
God reaches out to me in creation.
As I reach out to others, I exercise the gifts
that have been placed within me.
God reaches out to me in covenant.
As I reach out to others I embody the truth
that I have been blessed to be a blessing.
God reaches out to me in Christ.
As I reach out to others, I encounter Christ
in the hungry, the stranger, the poor.

Why is life in the world so difficult, so unsettling?
Why am I more content to enjoy a personal relationship with God,
or the security of those closest to me?

Do I...

doubt the gifts that have been placed within me?

sense that the covenant is really exclusive and restrictive
rather than inclusive and expansive?

relate to a Christ who is found more often in stained glass
and pastoral scenery than in the margins of my ordinary experience?

I have been called to bear fruit, to reach out, to serve and witness.
As I reach out in Christ, I discover that God truly uses my gifts.
As I reach out in Christ, I recall a covenant that is for all people.
As I reach out in Christ, I learn about a Jesus who belongs not to the church
but to the world.

To reach out is to experience connection,life, growth.
My isolation from others is transformed into reconciliation, through Christ.
My gifts help to restore life, as people receive provisions for body and spirit.
My growth occurs when I am stretched beyond the familiar and the known.

Life in the world is life with God.
In the world I participate in the creation,
I renew the covenant, I encounter the Christ.
In moving out I discover that
what is most worldly is most spiritual.
In reaching out I find that my giving
is met by the One whose gift,
Jesus Christ,
is for me
and for all people.