If fruit trees are to produce a good crop, they need regular care, including pruning, cutting away all of the dead branches and anything that may be wasting the trees resources. And so it is with Christians. As part of God’s family, we are required to bear fruit, in this case bringing the unsaved into the saving grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without God’s help, this is an impossible task that is why He spends so much time telling us to remain in Him and He will remain in us. He gives us this command: Love each other. We must obey.

Let’s face it, feet are not the most attractive part of the body. In bible times, because they had little in the line of footwear, feet were twisted and bent, dirty and often smelly, yet Jesus washed His disciples’ feet as an act of servitude. This job is usually reserved for slaves, but Jesus chose this time to demonstrate what it meant to really serve others. None of the disciples questioned His leadership, but they could not understand why he was doing this. Washing their feet, even Judas’ who was about to betray Him. All of this took place just a few hours before Jesus was crucified.

Zacchaeus was a wealthy chief tax collector, hated by almost everyone. He was a small man, so when he heard that Jesus was coming to town he climbed up a tree to get a better view. Why did Zacchaeus want to see Jesus so badly? Perhaps he has reached a point in his life where he realized that, in spite of all his riches, his life was empty. Jesus saw him in there and told him to come down as He was going to stay with Zacchaeus. During their time together, Zacchaeus announced his about face. At this point Jesus said that Salvation had come to the house of Zacchaeus, and that He “…had come to seek and save the lost”.

“For good times and bad times, We'll be on your side forever more, That's what friends are for…..”. These words from a Dionne Warwick song describe the friends of the paralytic man who took him to see Jesus, even though it meant making a hole in someone’s roof and then lowering him through it lo to get him there. They were looking for Jesus to heal their friend. Instead of healing him, He told them because of their faith, their sins are forgiven. Not what they wanted to hear. They didn’t realize what Jesus had done was better than healing. Later, after chastising the Pharisees that were there, Jesus told the cripple man to pick up his bed and walk. He did.

Life through Jesus never ends and so this story is about the need to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. It also demonstrates Jesus love and compassion. Lazarus was Jesus’ friend and Mary and Martha’s brother so when he became sick, the sisters sent for Jesus. He told his disciples that Lazarus will not die but “it is for God’s Glory so that God’s Son will be glorified”. When he arrived, he was deeply moved by the mourning of the sisters and others, He openly cried. By this time, Lazarus had been dead for 4 days. After praying to God, He called to Lazarus to come out. Lazarus came out wrapped in his burial linen.

Phil and Mimi Bjorklund, Missionaries with World Venture - Journey Corps, and their family survived the horrendous 1994 genocide in Rwanda, suffering personal trauma during that time when 800,000 people lost their lives. Since then, their focus has been on preparing young adults for a 1-2 year ministry equipping them to become intentional young believers with a global perspective.

In this week’s study we find Jesus once again in conflict with the religious elite. This time, a man blind from birth is healed by Jesus. This nameless man did not know who it was who healed him, but he rejoiced. This caught the attention of the Pharisees who wanted to know who it was that healed him, but he couldn’t tell them. They didn’t connect the dots. The man was physically blind but the Pharisees were spiritually blind. The man eventually recognized Jesus as the Son of God, but the religious leaders didn’t. Do you have 20-20 spiritual vision?

Jesus needed to get away and rest so He crossed the sea of Galilee but when he got there, He found a large crowd of about 15,000 people people men, women and children, that had come to hear Him preach. He told his disciples to feed them and they wanted to know where the food was coming from. A boy had brought 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fishes, and after giving thanks, Jesus distributed to all who were there. When they were done, they collected the baskets of uneaten food, miraculously, there was more food leftover than when they started.

If you think you’ve had a stressful couple of days, consider this. Jesus had just heard that His relative John the Baptist had been beheaded, He fed about 10,000 people, had been preaching for a few hours. He needed some time to be alone in prayer, so He told the disciples go across the Sea of Galilee to the other side and He would catch up with them later. The wind was howling and the sea was rough and the disciples were scared. While it was still dark, Jesus walked on the water out to the boat. When the disciples saw Him, they thought He was a ghost. Jesus identified Himself to them and invited Peter to join him. As soon as Jesus got in the boat, the sea calmed and immediately they were at the other side of the sea.

Simon, one of the elite Pharisees, invited Jesus to dine with them. While they were reclining around the table, a "sinner" woman entered the room and the silence was deafening. She headed over to Jesus and was standing over him and started crying. Her tears fell on Jesus' feet and used her hair to dry them. She kissed His feet and poured her expensive perfume over them. Simon was thinking to himself, if Jesus was really a prophet he would know what kind of women she was. Jesus reading his mind, chastised him told him a story about forgiveness.