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Week 8: You Are Fruitful

Coach's Corner

Warm-Up

My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.” – John 15:8

Hello Team! Today we are going to start with a quick game of categories. I’ll pick the category then we will go around and each name something in the category. If you repeat one that was already said, then you are out; or if you can’t think of one in three seconds, you are out.

Category 1: Sports

Category 2: Types of Fruit

You all came up with a lot of fruit, and congratulations to our winners! Today in our scripture, Jesus talks about producing fruit. He doesn’t mean to go plant an apple tree. He’s talking about fruit being the product of our actions.

Workout

When you first started playing your sport, you probably weren’t very good at it. You had to learn the rules, practice, mess up a few times, and then start to succeed. Eventually, you began to learn new skills and grow in your knowledge of the sport. Other people probably started to notice you were improving too. They saw “the fruits of your labor,” which is a fancy way of saying your hard work was paying off, and people noticed.

People notice a lot of things. You may have heard someone say, “Wow, you have grown so much. You used to be this big.” Your parents may notice when your grades are slipping a bit. Even I, as your coach, notice when you are growing or not trying as hard. People can’t see inside your heart or brain to know if you understand a particular skill. They are only able to tell by what you produce – your fruit. Jesus tells us that people can see our relationship with God by the “fruit” we produce, and it glorifies Him when others see His love through us.

You don’t have to cut open an apple tree to see if it is healthy and produces fruit. You look at the tree and see if there are any good apples. We can tell if the tree is healthy simply by seeing what it produces. What are we producing? Good fruits or bad fruits? Are you producing jealousy of friends who are starting when you’re not? Or are you producing joy in seeing your friends succeed? Our fruits will show if we are glorifying God with our life.

When we produce good fruits, we prove that we are true followers of Jesus. But the only way to produce good fruit is through the help God gives us – His Holy Spirit. If we accept the help of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to fight back the jealousy and replace it with joy for our friends. It won’t be easy, but with God’s help, joy can be the fruit that wins out.

Wrap-Up

  • What are some other examples of good fruits that people should see? What are examples of bad fruits?
  • Why would the fruit we produce either give glory to God or take it away?

“Father, we desire to glorify You with our life, with everything we have. Please show us if we are producing good or bad fruits, and have your Holy Spirit convict us of anything that is not glorifying You. We pray that we will be lights for You in all we do and with everyone we talk to. Amen.”