Week 4 - Fruitful Labor (Part 2)

Philippians 1:22 "If I am going to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me."

Midtown's staff is in Orlando this week at a church planting conference called Exponential: National New Church Conference. We are not just big conference people, but we do want to be continually learning and growing in our spiritual maturity and leadership abilities as we seek Jesus in leading our church family. This is the second year we've come down here and and last year we heard some amazing solid Biblical teaching along with some very interesting ideas (and by interesting I mean wrong). For instance, one man said, "It's not your job to develop your people. Let someone else do that if you want to, but as a pastor, that's not your job." Essentially his point was that a pastor's job was to be a flashy, attractive salesman and convince people to say yes to Jesus, end of story. The only problem with this idea is the Bible.

Jump ahead to Philippians 2:12-13.

Yesterday we talked about Paul's labor in Jesus' mission of spreading the gospel; the good news of salvation by faith in Christ's death and resurrection. That labor is not finished at the point that someone puts his hope and trust in Jesus. The labor is finished as we learn to walk daily by the Holy Spirit in hope and trust of Jesus, working out our salvation with fear and trembling.

The Fruit of Discipleship
Go read Galatians 5:16-25
<> What promise is in vs. 16?
<> List out the contrast between the deeds of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.

The goal of the mission is not to create a bunch of converts who trust Jesus but have no idea what changes that brings about in life. The goal of the mission is that we would become people who walk by the Spirit. This happens as we send more time with Jesus growing in intimate knowledge of Him, and as older, mature Christians pour their wisdom into our lives.

When we understand the fruit of the Spirit, it changes both the way we minister to other people and our hope for our own walk with Christ.

Your Walk
<> Are you dealing with the tension that Paul talks about in Galatians 5:17?
<> Are you more controlled by the deeds of the flesh or the fruit of the Spirit?
<> Where do you see God growing the fruit of the Spirit in your life?
<> Who do yo know whose life is marked by the fruit of the Spirit?
<> What do vs. 24 and 25 mean for your life?
<> What would your life look like if you walked by the Spirit?

Too many of us settle for far too little in our spiritual lives. We are harassed by sin, temptation and old habits with no real hope for freedom or any ability to live the new life that Christ offers (2 Cor. 5:17). In a blissfully ideal world someone older than you should be pursuing you and pouring their wisdom into you and training you to walk by the Spirit. In our somewhat demographically lopsided church family you may need to just ask someone to hang out with you for lunch or coffee. Here's the good news! Regardless of whether you can find the perfect mentor or not, the Holy Spirit wants to mentor you daily through the Scriptures (1 John 2:27-29). That's a good option.

Your Ministry
<> Who are you pouring your life into?
<> Considering the fruit of the Spirit, are you hoping too little for them?
<> What do you pray for people you love and minister to?
<> Do you see God working out the fruit of the Spirit in their lives?

As we fall in love with Jesus and with our city, God will continually break our hearts for those who are far from Him. He will also break our hearts for those who know the way and have tasted salvation but are struggling to walk in intimacy (including ourselves). I was thinking about a coworker of mine who is far from God and as I started to pray for Him, I felt Jesus asking me, "what do you really want for him?" I realized that I don't just want him to come to know Jesus, but my real prayer for him is that someday he will know Jesus so intimately that he would be qualified to be an elder of a church family.

<> Do you hope for people's spiritual growth in such a way that only Jesus could possibly accomplish your prayers?
<> Do you hope for people's spiritual growth in such a way that you will never run out of possible labor in their lives?