I Am The Vine
"…he will bear much fruit" John 15:5.

High on the slopes of the Bolivian Andes, Jorge and Marta walked home from church one Sunday. Upon reaching their small farm, Marta told her husband, "I'm proud of your new fruits."

"The potatoes and corn will just meet our needs," Jorge said.

"That's not what I meant," Marta clarified. "I was thinking of Pastor Silvano's sermon today on bearing spiritual fruit. Since you came to faith in Christ a year ago, Jorge, I'm amazed at your crop of love, joy, peace and patience."

"Jesus is the vine; we are His branches. As Pastor Silvano explained today, the only reason why I am free from my former anger and drunkenness is that God grafted me into Christ, the true vine."

"However," Jorge changed the subject, "I'm concerned about another crop--our neighbors who do not yet know Christ and cling to their old ways. I didn't want to worry you, Marta, but after church Fernando whispered to me that gangs of coca farmers plan to burn the fields of those of us who refuse to grow coca anymore."

"When?"

"Tonight."

"What are we going to do?"

Suddenly, a young man from their church ran up and reported, "Pastor Silvano sent me out to tell everyone in the congregation to meet at church before sundown to pray for God's protection for our crops."

"We'll be there!" Jorge exclaimed.

That evening 96 men, women and children called on the Lord. As they prayed, hundreds of coca farmers gathered a half kilometer away. The leaders shouted tirades. The crowd chanted with frenzy. After guzzling plenty of alcohol, they lit torches and marched across the countryside.

The believers continued to pray. No flames appeared in the sky. The shouts of the mob finally died down. Then two coca farmers, with extinguished torches in hand, entered the church.

"What can we do for you?" Pastor Silvano asked.

One of them spoke up, "We meant to burn your crops, but at every field some unseen power held us at bay. We marched from field to field until our torches burned out. Finally, everyone headed home. But as my brother and I walked to our farm, our hearts began to burn with shame. What wrong have you done to us? You've only shown us love and kindness. So, we came here to ask: Please tell us about your God who protected you this day."

Before midnight the two men--plus six others who arrived later--repented of their sins and confessed faith in Christ.

As people were leaving for home, Jorge picked up the eight abandoned torches.

"What are you going to do with those?" asked Marta.

"Build a cross out of them, a cross to remind this church of the night the Lord saved our crops and gave us a harvest of people."

1. What are the trials and joys of planting and tending a fruit-bearing plant?
2. Compare John 15:1-8 to Rom. 6:1-7; and Gal. 2:20.
3. Describe the connection between bearing the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-25) and bearing the fruit of new converts to the faith.