Making Disciples for Global Impact - Week 4: Fruitfulness | Zach Wylie

Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is

an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.

We invite you to connect with us from wherever

you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our

mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

by this week's sermon. Welcome. We've been on

a bit of a series, right? We've been on a series

looking at ECB's mission, who we are as a church,

and that is to make disciples for global impact.

And we started in part one almost four weeks

ago. Does anybody remember what that was about?

Well, shared services, yes, but being rooted.

Then we moved on to? So we planted, rooted. Last

week, come on, starts with a G, ends with a rowing.

Growing. And then this week, naturally, the result

would be fruitful. And so as we look at or as

we hear this word fruitful, many of us might

think of images like me. I think of images of

my grandma's garden and my grandpa's backyard

that had peach trees and apples and they had

cherry trees. And in the summertime, if it was

a good season, then I'd be able to climb the

cherry tree and pick ice cream buckets full of

cherries. We're not talking about bananas, and

we're not talking about apples. If you're super

spiritual, you might be thinking, oh, I know

what fruitfulness is. It's this spiritual checklist

of good Christian behavior. No, we're not talking

about that either. However, as we open Scripture,

we see that fruitfulness is far more than personal

performance. It's about God's life in us overflowing

to the world. It's about living in alignment

with him, with God's heart for all people. It's

a posture of abiding, being connected to Christ.

It's a posture of being available to his spirit

working in and through us so that our lives become

these channels of his blessing that goes out

to us from the very beginning of time. God's

design was that humanity, which includes you

and I, would be fruitful, that we would multiply,

and that we would fill the earth with his glory.

And that design has never changed. And so fruitfulness

is not just about being good, about me being

good. It's actually about God's beauty. It's

about God's goodness. or God being glorified

through us so that others might be blessed. In

other words, it means that others get to have

a glimpse of who God is, something that is beyond

ourselves, to see the one who actually planted

us, who has rooted us, and who grows us. And

so this imagery matters as we talk about moving

from seed to fruit. A seed that is planted and

watered, that puts down roots and grows, doesn't

stop there. The goal of a seed is fruit. Multiplication

to bloom. But here's the tension. Many of us

feel like this. Does anyone know what this is?

It's a dandelion. It's one of those seeds. You

blow it and it kind of puffs and goes out. Many

of us can feel like we're a floating seed. We're

busy, but not necessarily fruitful. And we wonder

if this movement is ever possible to end us in

a place of where we're actually going to be rooted.

And beyond that, we might wonder if our lives

even matter. Some even think that fruitfulness

is actually for a special class of people, pastors,

missionaries, the spiritual elites. But Jesus

reminds us in John chapter 15, verse 16, you

John 15:16

did not choose me, but I chose you. I knew you

before you were born. I knew you in your mother's

womb and I appointed you. I've given you gifts.

I've given you talents. I've given you abilities.

I've given you a purpose and a place so that

you might go and bear fruit and not just fruit,

but fruit that will last. And so that's not spoken

to just a few of people or for the disciples

of that time. But the question is, what kind

of fruit will our lives bear? The answer to this

question is answered in Scripture. And today

we're going to look at a few of these moments

or these movements where we see God from creation

all the way to the cross, beyond this image of

the future, and then land us in today where we

see God's intended purposes for our lives and

how he's always been on mission and inviting

us into it. And so we begin. With this first

movement in creation, we were created to be fruitful

by design. But the struggle is that in our world,

people chase meaning. And in this chase of meaning,

we settle for survival. And as we settle for

survival, we begin to believe that life is random.

But scripture couldn't be any more opposite to

this. In the very first chapter of scripture,

God speaks blessing. purpose over humanity. He

says in Genesis chapter 1, God blessed them and

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill

the earth and subdue it. God is speaking this

before humanity has even been created, before

there's sin, before there's the fall. Fruitfulness

by design before creation is not a reward for

our good behavior, but the original design of

humanity. To bear God's image and fill the earth

with his glory, his goodness, as creator, as

redeemer. And this idea, this term of fruitfulness

actually comes from the meaning that carries

not just biological reproduction, but the idea

of flourishing and abundance and multiplication.

Humanities, our vocation from the beginning of

time was, is, and will be to reflect God and

spread his life. If you're like me or if you're

like some people that are in this room at one

time or even in this moment has felt a sense

of longing, know this, that your longing for

significance isn't a mistake because you and

I, we were created for fruit. And from the beginning

of time, God intended human life, you, I, we,

to overflow. And not just exist. And so we were

created by design to reflect God's heart for

humanity. But this starts in the garden and it

moves to his people. And so we see Israel called

as a nation to be a blessing. The struggle is

that God's people then and now are tempted to

turn inward. And in this attempt to be turned

inwards, we think that blessing is just for ourselves.

Except scripture, again, is abundantly clear

that God's blessing is not meant to be just for

us. It's always meant to be outward facing. In

Genesis chapter 12, God tells Abraham, I will

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

bless you. And so Abraham's family here was chosen

for the sake of the nations, not just for themselves,

because God's mission was always outward facing,

not inward, not about keeping blessing to himself,

but outward facing. I will bless you. And all

peoples on earth. We continue in Exodus at Sinai,

Israel. The nation is called to be a kingdom

of priests. Priests then were meant to stand

in the gap. and be between God and people, to

mediate God's presence to them. And so Israel's

vocation, their purpose in this moment, was to

mediate God's presence to the world, that God's

presence would come in and through them, that

when the nations looked at Israel, they would

be introduced to the person... Yahweh to God

that they would know God in such a way in such

an intimate way that the language that they use

about knowing Yahweh would confuse the nations

because they said the way that you say you know

God is as though you have an intimate relationship

like you're married to them That's what they

had been called to. And in that, the world was

to look at them and know that there was a God

who wasn't just for them, but was for the Israelites,

but was for all. And so in Isaiah, he continues,

and God tells his servant, I will make you a

light for the Gentiles that my salvation might

reach to the ends of the earth. Israel's identity

was always missional. From creation to this moment,

God's purpose was missional. He was on mission

for his people and he invited his people to be

his vessel, to be the place of movement in which

he would be revealed to humanity. Chosen, absolutely,

but chosen to be a conduit of blessing. And so

his mission was and it is always outward facing

because fruitfulness, I'll say it again, was

never just for insiders. God's people are always

called to look outward towards the nation, towards

the world, towards our neighbor, towards our

community. And the same temptation that they

faced then, to keep the blessing inward, it's

for me. It's the same temptation that we face

today. And so, will we turn out? If we continue

following this Missio Dei, the mission of God

and this arc from creation to the cross, we see

in Jesus, he is the fruit for the world. The

struggle that disciples had then, and some of

us do in looking at Jesus now, is that we think

that fruitfulness then is just reserved for a

spiritual elite kind of person. And if you're

like me, again, I'm just revealing my humanness

and these wonderings at times, like can my life

ever really change? Can God ever really use my

life? The great news is, is that scripture and

the Bible tells us, or the Bible tells me so,

yes. Jesus fulfills and he redefines what fruitfulness

is. He reminds us in John 3, verse 16, which

John 3:16

is such a classic and famous text among Christians,

that God so loved the world. And then sometimes,

because we really want to hammer at home, we

say, for God so loved me. For God so loved me,

and God so loved this nation, and God so loved

the world. The scope of God's mission is not

for Israel alone, is not for me alone, is not

for Christ and his disciples alone at that moment.

The cross in this time became this pivot point

where God's love breaks outward to all peoples.

Jesus continues with a parable. It's a story

about... Something that tells a spiritual truth.

That's what a parable is. And he's talking about

these soils. And he begins to explain that the

seed, the seed is the word of God. And the seed

on good soil stands for those with a noble and

a good heart. Those who hear the word. Those

who retain it. And by preserving, they produce

a crop. And he talks about fruitfulness of 30,

60, 100 times. Because fruitfulness is multiplication.

But what's interesting is if we remember that

Jesus was speaking these words to the disciples.

He was nearing the end of his life. The cross

was a few days in front of him. He was trying

to reveal this to the disciples. They were pretty

fearful for the world that was going to exist

without his physical presence. And their purpose

in this moment, Jesus was trying to move them.

Your purpose is not just survival, but your purpose

is for mission. And so for us then, Christ's

fruitfulness, it's not optional. It's promised.

It's not because we're capable. It's because

we abide in him. And his scope then for the disciples

was the same for us now. The scope is the world.

So it's not because we're capable. It's not.

Because we've got it all together. But because

we abide in him and he begins to develop this

in us. And so we continue. Jesus ascends. We

spoke about it probably a few months ago now.

He's on the mountaintop with his disciples. And

they think, you're going to bring a revolution,

right? And he says, it's not for you to know

the time and the place for that. Priorities are

misapplied. I'm not going to overthrow the empire

as you thought. But he calls them to be witness

to the nations. And so the movement then moves

from creation. Israel. Jesus. And now witnesses,

the sent out ones. And if... Again, you're like

me, and you read scripture, or you read stories

like this about the disciples, or Jesus and the

church, and you think, man, those are extraordinary

people. But no. I'm too ordinary. No. Mission

is for others. No. Interruptions, those are kind

of annoying. But as we look at the book of Acts,

we see how the gospel actually begins to spread

and hits the nations, us being one of them. In

Acts chapter 1, verse 8, Jesus, he promises the

Acts 1:8

Holy Spirit and says, hey, it's going to empower

you to be witnesses to the ends of the earth.

Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth.

In Acts chapter 2, there's this group of people

Acts 2 · chapter mention

that hear the gospel in their own languages.

This is a huge hit because the empire at that

time had tried to make one language forever.

everybody to speak. And all of a sudden the gospel

comes and everybody's hearing it in their languages.

And the Romans at that time would have been like,

what is going on? This is how things get out

of hand. And they don't just bring the gospel

in one language, but from that space, they go

to Turkey, Turkey, they go to Libya, they head

out from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, Mediterranean,

Middle East, and they head into Europe and then

fill up. is on the road, and he's interrupted.

How dare God interrupt our plans and purposes?

And on this road, this desert road, he's interrupted,

and he meets an Ethiopian official. And the gospel

spreads to Africa. So now it's the Middle East,

the Mediterranean, Europe, and Africa. And then

Peter in Acts chapter 10 comes to this realization

Acts 10 · chapter mention

when he has this dream that Jesus didn't just

come for the Jewish people. He came for the Gentiles.

And he didn't just come for a Gentile. He came

for one that would murder. People who would believe

in followers of the way. And so to believe that

God could come and speak in a vision or a dream

to a murderer was unreal. We talked about Paul.

A murderer of Christians. I think of gladiator.

And people being dragged into these spaces. Christians

being mauled by lions. And here, Paul. Most religious

at that time. Well studied in scripture. One,

I think it's crazy that he thought that that

was acceptable to his God. And then two, he's

met on the road to Damascus. He's blinded and

God tells him, I'm going to do something with

your life. The gospel makes it to Asia. Thank

you, Paul. 2 Peter 3, 9, Peter later then writes,

the Lord is patient, not wanting anyone to perish,

but everyone to come to repentance. Now to some

of us who have been around for some time, this

might all seem normal. Of course, God's always

been on mission for everybody. But no, that's

not. That's not what was thought or understood.

If it was and everybody got it, then we wouldn't

have to keep being reminded of it over and over

and over again. And so the gospel as we see then

is not spread primarily through fancy programs.

No. It's spread. Through ordinary disciples.

A disciple is a student, an ordinary person.

Diaspora movements, a scattering, which is persecution,

oppression. It's spread by spirit -led interruptions.

And I wonder if that's the same today. I think

it is. I think that's how it's spreading today

in workplaces, in families, in neighborhoods,

in conversations that feel small but actually

bear eternal fruit. It's happening when somebody

is working in an embassy and thinks, I think

I could bring the gospel to my people in their

own language, so why don't we bring Alpha here?

It happens when a high school student says, well,

most of my friends don't know Jesus. I'm kind

of the only one here. Why don't we start praying

for the school? And eventually, through praying

for their school, they're given an opportunity

to open Open a club, and that club leads to not

just a dozen, but hundreds of people within their

school coming to faith, inclusive of history

teachers and biology teachers. It looks like

one of the greatest returns of a generation to

the gospel, Gen Z. It looks like one of our ministry

partners, our outreach partners, House of Blessing,

a space for teenage kids whose parents are in

prison to have hope for a life and a future because

somebody thinks that teenagers who have imprisoned

parents deserve something better. It looks like

Brody, one of our youth, who is discipled through

here, who goes on a missions trip with YWAM to

America, gets called back here and put in her

heart to help come alongside a school that's

providing access to those who don't have education.

It looks like, A, one of our youth leaders here,

but who's also a missionary to Thailand, who

grew up in a Buddhist family. Her dad is a monk,

and God meets her and sends her on mission into

our community, in our city, in our country. You

can meet her. She's downstairs today. It looks

like hope for the handicapped. Another one of

our outreach partners. Phenomenally talented

young women in corporate jobs who look at a group

of people within our community and think, the

handicapped are pushed to the side. They're told

they don't have the competencies that are required

to make a difference in the world. We don't just

want to speak the hope of Jesus into them. We

want to give them hope as well. And so they begin

to employ them and train them in something. Guys,

it's happening. It looks like Siloam, another

one of our outreach partners, just a small town

gal from Canada, here for 20 plus years now,

opens a home for boys with mental disabilities

who don't have an opportunity for access to education,

competency development, because there's too many

in the system. And she says, I'll make a home.

I'll become like a mom and create space for these

people to not just have dignity, but to also

know Christ. That's how it spreads. In workplaces,

in families, in neighborhoods, in conversations

that feel small. But there's eternal fruit. And

so this moves even future forward to new creation.

This imagery of fruit, of healing for the nations

comes in the book of Revelation. Revelation is

an interesting text where when you open it and

you begin to read it, you can both be overwhelmed

and confused by it. But thankful for the Holy

Spirit who leads us to truth and smart people

who help us understand it. But contextually,

you've got this guy named John who's being exiled

to Patmos probably because he was preaching the

gospel and talking about things that upset the

kingdom and the empire at the time. And so we've

got to silence this guy and we put him here.

And I wonder if it's because of solitary confinement

that he begins to have this crazy vision. But

John sees the brokenness of the world. And like

us, we can see the brokenness of the world. We

can see wars. We can see injustice. We can see

factured relationships. We can even begin to

feel this weariness inside of our own souls.

And we wonder, will any of the good that I do

last? Will any of the good that I see God doing

make a difference? Is fruitfulness temporary?

Do our small acts of faith even matter? But John's

final vision in Revelation answers that question

with an overwhelming yes. In Revelation chapter

Revelation 22 · chapter mention

22, he says this, on each side of the river stood

the tree of life bearing crops of fruit, yielding

its fruit every month, very fruitful tree. And

the leaves of the tree, are for the healing of

the nations. Remember here, Paul, John, isn't

just writing some sort of escape fantasy novel

that is like, oh, this is going to make the people

feel really good. No. It's written to a group

of persecuted Christians that are under Roman

rule. They're marginalized. They're oppressed.

They're tempted to despair. And here John isn't

just offering some sort of false hope for survival.

He gives them a glimpse of the ultimate reality,

a city, a city filled with God's presence, a

city with a river that's overflowing from the

throne with a tree whose fruit never fails. This

is wild, a tree that heals nations. And if we

drill into this a little bit more, we see that

the Bible story begins with With a tree in the

garden. Remember? Garden of Eden. Lost because

of sin. Genesis chapter 3. And here it ends.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

With a tree. In a city. restored and its purpose

is for the healing of the nations. And so what

was lost in Eden is even more than restored in

Christ. And so what happens here is John, when

he's caught up in this vision, which starts in

Revelation chapter four, notice what happens.

He runs out of language. He's saying stuff. It's

like Jasper. It's like a rainbow. It's like a

sea of glass. It's like this. It's like that.

There's no, there's not enough words that he

can find to describe what it is that he's seeing

and the images begin to pile up. Streets of gold,

gates of pearl, a city without night. And here

it's not just about these literal building materials,

it's about this indescribable holiness. And holiness

means to be set apart, it's otherness. It's John

like grasping for words and he can't come up

with them. It's like he's coming up short. And

so the spirit is saying here, this is beyond

what you can imagine. It's holy. It's other.

It's different. It's set apart. And so even the

angels in this moment simply cry, holy or set

apart. Unlike anything that we can imagine, holy.

And here's the connection to us. This same Jesus

who will make all things new and is already at

work in us. And as we gaze at him, we are transformed.

And scripture says to us, be holy as I am holy.

And Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 3, verse

2 Corinthians 3:18

18. He says, and we all. We contemplate, we think

on with unveiled faces the Lord's glory and we're

being transformed into his image with ever increasing

glory. Even as we think and we consider and we

engage with him, he is transforming us. So that

when... When the world looks at us, when the

world looks at you, when the world looks at me,

they see something that they can't quite explain.

They see lives of love. That's the opposite of

what we're seeing today. They see lives of forgiveness.

They see lives of generosity. They see lives

of peace. They see lives of courage. And they

say, holy. What's wrong with you? Angels did

the same thing, but they weren't thinking a bad

word. This is other. We can't think of any other

word than this is other. So holy, out of this

world, holy, I can't describe what this is. Holy,

it's like nothing I've ever seen before. Holy,

this is indescribable. Holy, what's wrong with

you? Where does that come from? And yes, In my

text here, when I created this, I had this box,

and I had created the words outside of the box,

and I'm so glad they don't even have the box

there, because I think that's exactly it. It's

kind of sad, but it's the reality that love is

outside of the box. It's outside of the norm.

Forgiveness, outside of the box, outside of norm.

Generosity, courage, peace. So when they say,

holy, what's wrong with you? Where does that

come from? This makes me think of a moment in

my own life when I was a high school kid. I had

just come to Jesus. I was living in Canada at

the time on mountain sides. And so like high

school kids did at that time. We had these things

called bush parties and we had the bush parties

in the bush because the police couldn't get to

the bush easily. And so if we saw dust coming,

then we knew they were coming and we'd shut down

and then we'd move to Tim Hortons where all the

best and baddest parties happened. But I had

a few friends there. As I met Jesus, I felt like

I needed to be where my friends were, but I needed

to do it wise. And so I would bring a back scratcher

and a pack. of Nestea iced tea. That's how I

partied in high school. I'm not calling any of

our high school students to go and do this. I

don't know if I do the same. Anyways, in that

space, I got to walk along friends who were making

really poor decisions with their lives. And one

of these friends, they're actually twins and

they came from a very spiritual family and spiritual,

not in the sense that they are Christians, but

they were very much interested in nature and

jewels and gems and all of those kinds of things.

And there was a number of times when I had to

drive their vehicle home with them in it and

get my parents to come pick me up. But there

were moments when they drove me home after school,

not intoxicated. And one of these times that

they dropped me at home, I was about to get out

of the vehicle. And one of the girls kind of

looked at me. She says, I have a question. I'm

like, sure. She's like, what's wrong with you?

I was like, I'm not sure how to take that. What

do you mean? And she's like, what's wrong with

you? Why are you like this? And I guess if I

was like a really good Christian, I would have

said, well, that's the fruit of the Spirit. It's

like love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness,

kindness, and self -control. And the fruit of

the Spirit is not a coconut. No, I don't know

if you guys know that song. But it wasn't a moment

where I began to describe these things that probably

didn't make sense to them. It was a moment to

reflect on and be like, God, I haven't tried

to be anything but you. I don't know what that

looks like or means, but these people just put

it into words. Holy, what's wrong with you? And

so we know the answer when people say, holy,

what's wrong with you? It is Christ in us, the

hope of glory. And so this fruit that we bear

now, acts of love and service and witness, these

are not wasted. They're actually signs of this

tree that is coming. They're previews of this

healing of the nations. And the fruit that we

now have points forward to this eternal fruit

until the day when all people, scripture tells

us, all tribe, every tongue, every nation are

healed in the presence of the lamb. And so that

brings us to today, ECB's call to fruitfulness.

And in a place like this where we've got nice

lights and sound, it might look like, oh, we've

got tons of money. And as we've seen over the

last four weeks, we've got hundreds of people

that are leaning in to serve. You might ask,

is there a place for me? Or, like I've done,

you might easily reduce the church to a place

that we simply gather. Rather than act as a people

who are sent. God has always been ascending God.

Creation. Israel. Jesus. New creation. Today.

From creation to Acts to Revelation, the story

is clear. God's mission has always been for all

people carried through his people. It means we're

part of it. And so we've been talking over this

last month. of what it means to belong, to be

planted in Christ, to be rooted in community.

We've been talking about what it means to grow.

We're growing as disciples. We're being transformed

by his word, which convicts, which reproves us,

and which moves us to spaces of love, of God,

of ourself, of other people. And today we look

at this idea of being and fruitfulness, to be

witnesses, to bear fruit that feeds the world.

And so ECB does not exist for just gathering.

and just growing, though those are essential

parts of it, we exist to also go, to mobilize.

And mobilization then, as you've seen, not just

this day, but as you've seen over the last number

of weeks, people saying yes to what God's doing

inside of them, those are all examples of that.

It's not just for a few. It's for everyone, everywhere.

As Christ's ones. And so today, as you came in,

you probably walked by some outreach partners'

tables. You maybe saw some missionaries that

were there. And the reminder to me when I looked

at them this morning was that is not the end.

I kind of feel like they're like a jumping board.

They're like a catalyst. And they're a reminder

that we're all invited into a much bigger mission.

Look, see, they're already going right now. Go.

I can't wait. Go be. But this is it. Real fruitfulness

actually happens when ordinary people, you and

me from ECB, begin to live missionally in Bangkok,

in Thailand, and beyond. That changes a child's

opportunity in a classroom. It looks like a refugee

to another brother or sister in Christ who has

just arrived and doesn't know what to do. It

looks like a prisoner who's being rehabilitated,

leading another one to Christ. It looks like

a volunteer who's teaching Thai, math, or English

with one of the outreach partners. help support.

It looks like a mom from within our community

saying, there's a lot of moms that don't have

connection and belonging. I'm going to do that.

It looks like somebody who was from China, who

comes to Thailand, who feels like I'm here for

more than business is called to be a church planter

who starts an alpha parents group at their high

school and then launches a badminton ministry.

It looks like bench inviting people to pickleball.

And thinking that through sport and activity,

inclusive of saying in Siri and Bangkok Discipleship

Center, using sport as a means of reaching in,

it looks like a doctor being called out of their

space there to be serving in counseling. It looks

like a PTA member who's like, there's a lot of

families here who just feel like they're missing

connection again. I'm going to create a space

of belonging. And so I ask, I ask, What kind

of fruit is your life producing? If it's everyone,

to everywhere, as Christ's ones, what kind of

fruit is he producing in me? What kind of fruit

is he producing in you? Because remember, Jesus

says, I chose you. I appointed you to go and

bear fruit and fruit that will Last. And so for

some of us, that fruit is going to look like

contributing. We're like, we've got time and

money, and so we're going to contribute, we're

going to serve, we're going to give, and we're

going to support. But that's the easy thing to

do. Actually, ECB is fantastic at that. We're

very generous. We can always be more generous

with our money, but ECB is incredibly generous

with their funds. For others of us, we need to

look like we're not just outwardly but actually

inwardly and practically collaborating. We're

joining hands with other people. So there's a

ton of people downstairs that you can contribute

to. There's a ton of people downstairs that you

can say, I'm not just going to give something

to you, but I'm going to actually look to collaborate

and join in something with you. But there are

others of us that are in this place. see that

there is lots of really good things happening,

but something in your heart sees a gap and you're

like, I'm looking for an organization that's

doing this. Can't find it. Looking for a person

who's doing this. Look, can't find it. You've

looked to contribute. You've looked to collaborate.

But God has put something inside of you and he's

calling you to create something. He's calling

you to pioneer. And so this is an encouragement

to us all. All of us should be contributing to

something. All of us should be looking to collaborate

and join hands with something. But there are

moments when contribution and collaboration isn't

enough that he calls us to create, to step out

in faith. And God says, I'm going to invite people

to contribute to what you're creating. I'm going

to call people to collaborate with you on what

it is that I'm calling you to create in this

moment. And so some of us are being called into

a space and a season where pioneering something

new is it. But here's the thing. Here's the thing.

Whatever it looks like, Whatever it looks like,

please, please, please, please, please do not

be a floating seed. Fruitfulness looks like abiding

in Christ because only he, only he can produce

this fruit that lasts. This happens through spaces

of belonging. It happens through spaces of becoming.

But then it looks like overflow. Fruitfulness

looks like overflow where the blessing that you've

received, that I have received, begins to flow

out of us from him. It doesn't stop with us,

but it flows through you to other people. It

looks like participation in God's mission, not

just for personal growth or because it's going

to look great on your CV or because you want

to be part of a good Christian club, but joining

him in his heart for our communities, our city,

our country, our world is part of his invitation

to us. It looks like healing both here and now

where small acts of love and justice begin to

point people towards the day when the tree of

life will heal the nations. And so for you and

I, a fruitful posture is not just being busy

or about being successful. It's about being available.

And when I hear that term, I remember an old

missionary couple who had spent 70 plus years

in the continent of Africa, pioneering church

planting in East and West and South Africa, there

since the turn of the 20th century. And I was

finishing my first year of college wondering,

what am I doing? Is this what I'm called to?

And they brought out some dessert, some frozen

freezer burnt ice cream, some dried brownies.

And we're like, here. It wasn't like Parker's.

And I was like, I'm going to eat this and enjoy

it because someone's made it. But then in kind

of... asking some different questions about where

and what. All of a sudden, Gerald, who's in my

Bible, he's right here. He passed away a few

years ago. Jer. He says, Zach, God doesn't care

about your abilities. He cares about your availability.

Make yourself available to God and watch as he

gives you the abilities. And then he kind of

talked about books and people and what not are

there. And I remember to continue to eat. And

at that moment, it kind of passed in one ear

and out the other. But it's one of those things

through the last 20 plus years of my life that

continues to bring me back and reminds me that

God is interested in my availability. And when

I make myself available to him, this fruitfulness

begins to come out of ordinary people like you

and I that are filled with this extraordinary

God -like thing inside of us. And we live in

such a way. Like a window where people get to

gaze through or like a piece of food where people

get to taste his kingdom. And when they see it

and when they taste it, they don't just see us,

but they see him and they say, holy, what's different

about you? And to me, that is fruitfulness. That

is fruit that feeds the world. It's not just

our partners and our missionary. It's all of

us. Because from the beginning of time to the

end in eternity, God is on mission for his people

and he's invited everyone. Say it with me. Everyone.

Everywhere. And so if everyone is sent everywhere

and you're new here and you're like, I don't

like, I just. came to this church for the first

time. And they're like, making me stand up. Like,

I'm not coming back. I'll give you a cookie,

okay? Downstairs. But here's the thing. Nothing

is wasted on God. And we say this in church sometimes.

Nothing is wasted on Him. And God's brought you

here by design, 100%. We believe that it's true.

We believe it's 100 % true that it's not a mistake

that God has brought you here, that you've sang

the songs that you've sang today, that you've

heard what it is that you've heard today, and

that you're standing hopefully around people

who are living a life that you're like, holy,

what's wrong with you? Because he's calling you

into that too. He's calling you into a life of

purpose and significance and calling. Actually,

scripture says that he came to give life and

life that's abundant. That means indescribable,

beyond anything that you could create on your

own. That's the kind of life that God invites

you and me into, everyone, everywhere. Thank

you for tuning in to the ECB Sermon Podcast.

Whether near or far, If you are looking for community

or are in need of prayer, we welcome you to engage

by sending us an email to office at ecb .asia.

If God is calling you to support our ministries,

you will find giving options on our website.

And remember to join us next week. God bless

you.