How to Be Fruitful as a Christian

 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”
– John 15:5

Even as Jesus led His followers to the Garden of Gethsemane, with precious little time left in His earthly life, He was still teaching them. And as He so often did, He used their surroundings to illustrate a point: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener” (John 15:1). And then, in verse 5: “I am the vine; you are the branches.”

As branches on Christ’s vine, we’re called to bear fruit. Jesus says in verse 8, “This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples.” Jesus highlights three of those fruit in John 14 and 15: love, joy and peace. By abiding in Jesus and producing the fruit of love, joy and peace, we can show the watching world what God is like. We show love to people to show how much God loves them. We display an authentic joy that all the depressed people around us are missing—to point them to the Creator of joy. And when things get stressful, we reflect a peace that our stressed-out friends are hungry for … to draw them to the Prince of Peace. When we bear much fruit, God is glorified through us. People are drawn to Christ through us. And as they accept Christ and begin growing fruit of their own, God is even MORE glorified.

Jesus goes on to make a powerful connection to His illustration about the vine and the branches: “Now remain in My love.” And how do we remain, or abide, in Christ’s love? By obeying Christ’s commands. In chapter 14, Jesus taught that to KNOW Christ is to LOVE Christ. And to love Christ is to OBEY Christ. Here in chapter 15, Jesus makes it clear that knowing Christ and abiding in Christ are one and the same. So, we can say: To ABIDE in Christ is to LOVE Christ. And to love Christ is to OBEY Christ.

Now, how can you tell if you’re abiding in Christ? Look for these five signs in your life:

#1: Daily consistent obedience – you are obeying Christ’s commands (v. 10). 

#2: You experience God the Father’s pruning (v. 2). Useless things and even some “good” things are removed from your life in order to make you more fruitful. Never forget that what is good is often the enemy of what is best. God doesn’t want your “good” fruit or even your “better” fruit. He wants your very “best” fruit. 

#3: You produce much fruit (vs. 2 and 4), especially the fruit of love, joy and peace. 

#4: Others around you are drawn to Jesus (v. 8).

#5: Your life brings much glory to God (v. 8).

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church. Join us every Sunday (including Easter Sunday) at 8:30 a.m. or 10 a.m. at 16209 Kamana Road in Apple Valley, and for our Good Friday service at 7 p.m. March 29. You can also livestream us on Facebook or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Revival Begins with You

 “Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’”
– John 21:15

In the late 1870s—so the story goes—a group of wealthy friends gathered together at a Scottish estate. They were having such a good time that they didn’t notice one of their little boys had fallen into a bog where he got stuck in the thick mud and was slowly sinking. The gardener heard the boy’s cries for help, jumped in, and rescued the drowning child.

The little boy’s parents were so grateful, they asked the gardener what they could do to reward him. He hesitated, then said, "I wish my son could go to college someday and become a doctor." The grateful parents immediately responded, "We'll see to it." They promised to pay for the gardener’s son to go to medical school.

Years later, while Winston Churchill was prime minister of England, he developed a life-threatening case of pneumonia. The country's best doctor was summoned: Dr. Alexander Fleming, the man who discovered and developed penicillin. Dr. Fleming was the first person in his family to become a doctor. In fact, his dad was just … a gardener. The same gardener who had saved Winston Churchill’s life years earlier. According to the legend, after recovering from his pneumonia, Churchill remarked, "Rarely has one man owed his life twice to the same person."

If Winston Churchill had actually spoken those words … he would have been wrong. You see, when Jesus Christ is involved, it’s not rare at all. Jesus doesn’t just save us once. He saves us again and again. When we pray to Him for revival, we’re basically saying, “Jesus Christ, save us again. Save ME again. Lately my Christianity has been like a pile of dry, dead bones. Forgive me. Breathe fresh life into me. Revive me again.”

Over the past few weeks, I’ve focused on the need for revival in our nation and our church. Together we must humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways. But each of us, individually, needs to be revived. And Simon Peter is a great example of personal revival.

In Matthew 26, shortly before Jesus was arrested, He told His disciples that all of them would fall away from Him (v. 31). But Peter boldly proclaimed, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will” (v. 33). And Jesus prophesied, “This very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times” (v. 34). You may recall what happened later. Three times that night, after Jesus was taken away by soldiers—mocked, slapped, punched, and tortured with scourge whips—Peter broke his reckless promise. Three times, when asked, he said he had never been with Jesus, going so far as to say, “I don’t know the man!” (vs. 69-74). There’s no sugar-coating it: The great apostle Peter fell. And he desperately needed to be lifted back up and revived.

Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. According to 1 Corinthians 15:5, Peter was the first apostle He appeared to after His resurrection. It was clear that despite all his failures, Peter held a special place in Christ’s heart. But as the days passed, Peter still needed to experience the full forgiveness and restoration of Christ. That forgiveness and restoration came in a conversation we read about in John 21:15-22. Three times, Jesus asked: “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Three times, Peter affirmed that love. And each time, Jesus responded with a command to take care of His sheep (His beloved followers). I want you to join me in answering these important questions:

#1: Why did Jesus call Peter by his birth name, Simon, instead of by the nickname Jesus had given him? I believe it was because Jesus was giving Peter a fresh start. The name “Peter” means “rock.” But that rock had crumbled under pressure. So, in John 21, Jesus took Peter back to the beginning and gives him a fresh start—a new opportunity, by God’s grace, to be the Rock that Christ had called him to be.

#2: Why did Jesus ask Peter three different times, “Do you love Me?” On the night Jesus was arrested, Peter had publicly denied Jesus three times. So, Jesus gave him an opportunity to publicly confess his love and commitment to Jesus three times.

#3: Why did Jesus follow each of Peter’s confessions with a command to feed or take care of his lambs and sheep? In John 21, Jesus forgave Peter and fully restored him to his position as the lead apostle. But that’s not all. Jesus does something very significant here that the metaphors clue us in about. The first time Jesus commissioned Peter, He said, “Follow Me, and I will make you a fisher of men.” But this time, Jesus switched metaphors. I think it’s clear that Jesus fully restored Peter as a fisher of men. But here Jesus adds to his role. From this point forward, Peter wouldn’t just be a FISHER of unsaved men. He would also be a SHEPHERD of saved Christians.

Isn’t that just like Jesus? He doesn’t just forgive. He restores. He revives. And He promotes. Jesus took a big chance on Simon Peter, and it paid off big time. Peter was the lead apostle of the Church in Jerusalem. He was used by God to lead thousands of people to Christ, and he wrote two books of the New Testament before he was martyred for his faith. In the Book of Acts, it’s plain to see: Simon Peter was a man on fire, fully revived and filled with the Holy Spirit. God worked in and through him in extraordinary ways. And He can do the same with you and me.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church. Beginning on Easter Sunday (April 9^th), join us at our great NEW worship location in Apple Valley (16209 Kamana Road) at 9am and 11am. You can also join us online at Facebook or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

I Am Not a Fan of Jesus

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

- Matthew 21:9

Over the past several months, my wife Christine and I have really enjoyed watching L.A. Lakers games. Christine has been a big Lakers fan since she was a kid, and she got me hooked early in our marriage. Now, this year the Lakers have been having a fantastic season. They acquired LeBron James two years ago and added Anthony Davis to their starting lineup last summer. Together LeBron and A.D. have led their team to first place in the Western Conference. The Lakers are having one of their best seasons in 20 years.

But I have a confession to make: I didn’t watch nearly as many Lakers games last season or the season before that. And it wasn’t because I was busier than I’ve been this year. It’s because over the past few seasons, the Lakers stunk. Yes, I am a fair-weather Lakers fan. When they’re playing well, I jump on the bandwagon and cheer them on. But when they’re stinking it up, I pretend I don’t know them. To diehard Lakers fans, that makes me a bit of an embarrassment. I’m not a loyal fan through good times and bad. But when all is said and done, I can live with being a fair-weather fan. Because, after all, it’s just basketball. But when it comes to the most important thing in life—following Jesus Christ—I never want to be a fair-weather fan. And I hope you don’t either.

On the first Palm Sunday, almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus was greeted by thousands of fair-weather fans as he entered Jerusalem riding a donkey colt. The enthusiastic crowd lined the streets of Jerusalem, placing cloaks and palm branches on the ground in front of Jesus. And according to Matthew 21:9 they shouted: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Now, there is a whole lot of meaning packed into this one word: “Hosanna.” Hosanna means “Save us now.” Or to say it a different way, “God save us!” Some of the people in the crowd that day were probably in terrible health and wanted Jesus to heal them as he’d healed so many others. Some were probably out of work and in debt up to their eyeballs, and they wanted Jesus to get them back on their feet. And certainly many Jews in the crowd were sick and tired of Israel being under Roman occupation. They longed for the coming king of the Jews to be a military leader who would mobilize a Jewish army to drive Rome out of Israel once and for all.

There were likely many reasons why people shouted “Hosanna!” on that first Palm Sunday. But I think it’s safe to say that most of those reasons were selfish. People were excited to see Jesus enter Jerusalem because, on that day, he was wildly popular. They were getting to lay their eyes on a celebrity. And they were hopeful that Jesus would do something for them. Well, five days later Jesus would do something for every one of them. But it wouldn’t be the thing that they most wanted. Instead, it would be the thing that they most needed. You see, Jesus didn’t ride his little donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to heal diseases or provide a financial bailout or kick out the Romans. Jesus rode his little donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday because he had his eyes fixed on the cross. He had come that day to save the world from sin and death.

Sadly, the fair-weather fans of Jesus would end up saying, “Thanks, but no thanks! If you’re not going to give me what I want, I’ll just pick up my palm branch and go home.” By the time Friday rolled around, Jesus was arrested, flogged, had a crown of thorns shoved on his head, and was nailed to a cross. It was just five days after Palm Sunday, but the cheering crowds were nowhere in sight … just a few dedicated women and one apostle a short distance from the cross.

I wonder—had I been there in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, would I have been one of the few loyal followers of Jesus there at Calvary? Or would I have kept my distance and kept my mouth shut, along with all of Jesus’ other fair-weather fans? How about you? Are you a fair-weather fan of Jesus?

To be honest, there are times when it’s easy to cheer for Jesus and stick by his side. But at other times, it’s really, really hard. It’s hard to cheer for Jesus when He doesn’t seem to answer your prayers and your life seems to be falling apart. It’s hard to cheer for him when your health is failing, when you lose your job, or when your bills are piling up. It’s easy to cheer for Jesus and take selfies with him on Palm Sunday … but it’s not so easy to do the same the rest of the week. Jesus isn’t looking for fans who wave the palm branches on Sunday but take a hike on Monday. Jesus is seeking truly loyal followers who trust him and love him and obey his commands every day.

So, here we are, in the midst of one of the most challenging times in the life of our nation. During this Covid pandemic, it’s not easy for some of us to trust Jesus. Will you trust him anyway? It’s not easy for some of us to love Jesus during this time. Will you love Him anyway? And it’s not easy for some of us to obey His commands during this crazy season. Will you obey His commands anyway? If your answer to each of these questions is “Yes,” I can guarantee you that you won’t regret it. I hope you , can join me today in saying: “When it comes to Jesus, I am not a fan! I choose to be a loyal follower. And nothing that goes on in this world around me will change that.”

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our online worship service Sunday at 10 a.m. at Live.GreaterImpact.cc or on our YouTube channel (Impact Christian Church) or on Facebook.