The fruit of the Spirit are the supernatural characteristics of Jesus that are grown in the lives of those who have given their lives to him. But how does this happen? Do you just wake up one day and find yourself more patient? Do you just decide to be loving and bear down hard enough to make it happen? God cultivates this fruit in the lives of believers in a way that is counterintuitive to what we might think – The Garden Principle:

God plants us in a garden, speaks a word to us, and the way that we respond shapes our character and our destiny.

God cultivates love in the garden of rejection.

In the middle of our reading Jesus utters the proclamation “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jewish readers of the Torah would be familiar with the narrative of kingship and of God’s kingdom. Jesus however, in the calling of his disciples begins to give a different example of what that kingdom looks like. Jesus makes clear that:

1. Our Mission is God's Mission

Not much in our reality is unaffected by the 3rd Law of Motion – for every action there are reactions. In the case of Christian faith, there is a revelation and a response. When Jesus was revealed to John the Baptist the world would learn that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the unique Son of God, and the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. After hearing several times about Jesus, the disciples of John were intrigued and wanted to know more. When confronted by this revelation what will our response be? There are two main responses that move us forward: