[musings from the manse] Continuing to reflect upon what does it mean to grow in Christ by bearing fruit in our lives as followers.  The third aid to us growing good fruit is pruning. When you come to garden that has been a bit let go, extensive pruning is important. Getting rid of dead branches, giving space to let others grow. Giving shape. Allowing plants to flourish and not be stressed. Pruning is important. Pruning is something Jesus talks about in John 15:1-2: “I am the true...

[musings from the manse] Continuing to reflect upon what does it mean to grow in Christ by bearing fruit in our lives as followers.  The second aid to us growing good fruit is full sun and good air circulation. We need full sun. We need the full Son of God. We need full Jesus in our lives. To produce good fruit, we need to know Jesus intimately and passionately. As Jesus says in John 15:4: “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain i...

[musings from the manse] Continuing to reflect upon what does it mean to grow in Christ by bearing fruit in our lives as followers.  The first aid to growing good fruit is support. And by this I don’t mean we need to construct a wooden frame to hold us up, but from my experience sometimes that might have been a useful thing to have! No, by support I mean that we cannot survive in the Christian life on our own. We need our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Jesus did not call just one d...

[musings from the manse – 2nd May 2020] What does it mean to grow in Christ?  Well, one of the metaphors used in the bible is that of bearing fruit and still God looks for us to bear fruit in our lives as his followers today. Jesus often talks in terms of bearing fruit. In the Sermon on the Mount he contrasts those who are in the kingdom bearing good fruit and those outside the kingdom bearing bad fruit (Matthew 7:17). And that a good tree will be recognised by good fruit (Matthew 12:33...

[musings from the manse – 25th April 2020] “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.” (Matthew 28:19-20a) How do you go and share Jesus when your opportunities to go have been curtailed by lockdown? Well, I don’t think the great commission has been suspended, not even the government has the power to do that. But I also don’t think it me...