Church of God Faith Fellowship
June 2023 - Vol. 23, No. 6
Meeting place: Gray Summit United Methodist Church
Calendar Notes:
🍒 Sabbath, June 10th - Women’s Heart to Heart
Jeanie is facilitating our discussion after potluck.
🫐 Sabbath, June 17th - Services in the sanctuary
Community breakfast in the fellowship hall.
Bearing Fruit
by Cynthia Saladin
In John 15:16, Jesus told His disciples, You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
There’s something absolutely wonderful about fruit!! I don’t know that asparagus is fruit, but it is the first thing I harvest every spring. And it’s delicious! It also provides that little bit of encouragement I need to put in the work to eventually have more to harvest.
Planting, weeding, watering, and even harvesting is work. My strawberry and blueberry harvests are overlapping this year. Usually when the strawberries are done, I know that the blueberries will start. This year, we are picking cherries as well. I am loving having three different types of fruit to harvest all at the same time!
I have tomatoes set on and a green pepper that is almost ready to harvest. It’s fun and exciting and, as I said, it provides the encouragement I need to keep working.
But that’s not really the fruit Jesus was talking about in John 15:16.
Ron and I are experiencing the fruit of our labor in another area. All three of our children are married, or soon will be, to Godly spouses. Just as I put the work into the garden, Ron and I diligently worked as parents. But, in both cases (the garden and our kids), God gave the increase. We feel incredibly grateful to God for His goodness in providing the mates He did for our children.
But that’s not exactly the fruit Jesus was talking about in John 15:16.
The fruit that God wants us to produce comes from being connected to the vine. It is the natural outflowing when our lives are not only dedicated to His service, but are truly functioning within His will. (It has to be both because Jesus warned that there would be people who seek to kill His followers and think they do God a service. You can be dedicated and still be wrong.) So then, how do you know that you’re acting in His will?
Romans 12:1-2 says, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
We want to discern the will of God. So first we have to be all in - present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. Whatever He wants us to do, we will do. We may not get that right all the time, but we understand the concept. And we understand the next requirement too: do not be conformed to the world. I don’t know about you, but as I watch this world decay into more and more godlessness, I don’t want to be conformed to the world. It’s the next section which is the crux of the matter. We must be transformed. This is the Greek word from which we get metamorphosis. Paul gives us a vivid object lesson in using this word! Metamorphosis is the process by which a Monarch caterpillar goes into the cocoon and dissolves into a glob of muck, then reforms into a beautiful butterfly. We, who have been chosen by God, who have accepted Jesus as our Savior, and who have been baptized, are in that process now of being reformed into new creatures in Christ through the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Metamorphosis is a crucial part of knowing what God’s will is in our lives.
So look at this next phrase: that by testing you may discern what is the will of God. Ah! Here’s where our work begins. It’s not a good test if it’s not based on the very best information. That means you have to study God’s word, searching out guiding principles and eternal truths. Bible study, prayer, meditation - all of these vital components to testing, they all require time and careful attention. It’s work! Oh, but the reward is great! The fruit of devoting your life to diligently seeking God and His ways is finding what is good and acceptable and perfect.
There’s one other very vital component to this whole process of seeking God’s will in order to produce fruit: fellowship. We need one another! We need the encouragement of sharing God’s word and our hearts. We need the iron sharpening iron. We need the hugs and smiles. We, as social creatures, designed this way by God, need each other for our spiritual, mental, and physical health. This being so, the best way for a predator to take out one of the flock is to separate the victim from the rest. Don’t let the enemy separate you from your church family.
It’s like a line of dominoes. Fellowship is a vital component (as is prayer, fasting, and meditation) in testing and discerning God’s will for our lives. Being in God’s will is paramount in producing fruit that will last. And man, oh man, harvesting that fruit will be sweet!! It’s time to get to work.
🍒 🫐 🍓 🍑 🍐
Sabbath School
🍒 Sabbath, June 3rd - Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Luke 6:46
🫐 Sabbath, June 10th - I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me. Psalm 120:1 (NIV)
🍓 Sabbath, June 17th - My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. Mark 11:17 (NIV)
🍑 Sabbath, June 24th - I the Messiah, have the authority on earth to forgive sins. Mark 2:9 (TLB)
🍐 Sabbath, July 1st - I have come to get sinners to turn away from their sins. Luke 5:32 (NIrV)
🍒 🫐 🍓 🍑 🍐
Points to Ponder:
Common Sense is not so common. ~Voltaire
A problem is a chance for you to do your best. ~Duke Ellington
Try to turn every disaster into an opportunity. ~John D. Rockefeller
June 2023 - Vol. 23, No. 6
Meeting place: Gray Summit United Methodist Church
Calendar Notes:
🍒 Sabbath, June 10th - Women’s Heart to Heart
Jeanie is facilitating our discussion after potluck.
🫐 Sabbath, June 17th - Services in the sanctuary
Community breakfast in the fellowship hall.
Bearing Fruit
by Cynthia Saladin
In John 15:16, Jesus told His disciples, You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
There’s something absolutely wonderful about fruit!! I don’t know that asparagus is fruit, but it is the first thing I harvest every spring. And it’s delicious! It also provides that little bit of encouragement I need to put in the work to eventually have more to harvest.
Planting, weeding, watering, and even harvesting is work. My strawberry and blueberry harvests are overlapping this year. Usually when the strawberries are done, I know that the blueberries will start. This year, we are picking cherries as well. I am loving having three different types of fruit to harvest all at the same time!
I have tomatoes set on and a green pepper that is almost ready to harvest. It’s fun and exciting and, as I said, it provides the encouragement I need to keep working.
But that’s not really the fruit Jesus was talking about in John 15:16.
Ron and I are experiencing the fruit of our labor in another area. All three of our children are married, or soon will be, to Godly spouses. Just as I put the work into the garden, Ron and I diligently worked as parents. But, in both cases (the garden and our kids), God gave the increase. We feel incredibly grateful to God for His goodness in providing the mates He did for our children.
But that’s not exactly the fruit Jesus was talking about in John 15:16.
The fruit that God wants us to produce comes from being connected to the vine. It is the natural outflowing when our lives are not only dedicated to His service, but are truly functioning within His will. (It has to be both because Jesus warned that there would be people who seek to kill His followers and think they do God a service. You can be dedicated and still be wrong.) So then, how do you know that you’re acting in His will?
Romans 12:1-2 says, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
We want to discern the will of God. So first we have to be all in - present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. Whatever He wants us to do, we will do. We may not get that right all the time, but we understand the concept. And we understand the next requirement too: do not be conformed to the world. I don’t know about you, but as I watch this world decay into more and more godlessness, I don’t want to be conformed to the world. It’s the next section which is the crux of the matter. We must be transformed. This is the Greek word from which we get metamorphosis. Paul gives us a vivid object lesson in using this word! Metamorphosis is the process by which a Monarch caterpillar goes into the cocoon and dissolves into a glob of muck, then reforms into a beautiful butterfly. We, who have been chosen by God, who have accepted Jesus as our Savior, and who have been baptized, are in that process now of being reformed into new creatures in Christ through the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Metamorphosis is a crucial part of knowing what God’s will is in our lives.
So look at this next phrase: that by testing you may discern what is the will of God. Ah! Here’s where our work begins. It’s not a good test if it’s not based on the very best information. That means you have to study God’s word, searching out guiding principles and eternal truths. Bible study, prayer, meditation - all of these vital components to testing, they all require time and careful attention. It’s work! Oh, but the reward is great! The fruit of devoting your life to diligently seeking God and His ways is finding what is good and acceptable and perfect.
There’s one other very vital component to this whole process of seeking God’s will in order to produce fruit: fellowship. We need one another! We need the encouragement of sharing God’s word and our hearts. We need the iron sharpening iron. We need the hugs and smiles. We, as social creatures, designed this way by God, need each other for our spiritual, mental, and physical health. This being so, the best way for a predator to take out one of the flock is to separate the victim from the rest. Don’t let the enemy separate you from your church family.
It’s like a line of dominoes. Fellowship is a vital component (as is prayer, fasting, and meditation) in testing and discerning God’s will for our lives. Being in God’s will is paramount in producing fruit that will last. And man, oh man, harvesting that fruit will be sweet!! It’s time to get to work.
🍒 🫐 🍓 🍑 🍐
Sabbath School
🍒 Sabbath, June 3rd - Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Luke 6:46
🫐 Sabbath, June 10th - I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me. Psalm 120:1 (NIV)
🍓 Sabbath, June 17th - My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. Mark 11:17 (NIV)
🍑 Sabbath, June 24th - I the Messiah, have the authority on earth to forgive sins. Mark 2:9 (TLB)
🍐 Sabbath, July 1st - I have come to get sinners to turn away from their sins. Luke 5:32 (NIrV)
🍒 🫐 🍓 🍑 🍐
Points to Ponder:
Common Sense is not so common. ~Voltaire
A problem is a chance for you to do your best. ~Duke Ellington
Try to turn every disaster into an opportunity. ~John D. Rockefeller
