Mark - Lesson 6...Continued from page 2

DAY FOUR:  Sidelight:  Growing up in Christ

Last week we discussed preparing the soil of our hearts so that we can bear fruit for the Kingdom of God.  We will continue that thought today, but with a few other twists we see based on this week’s passage.

1.  When our heart’s soil is prepared and ready, we must receive that seed of God’s Word and let it go to work.  Sure, we need to do our part by watering and cultivating the garden of our hearts, but remember we saw that the growth of that seed is from God alone, an “automatic” process carried on by His power and work in us.  What are some further ways we need to tend our heart’s garden to assist in our spiritual growth according to the following passages?

Romans 12:1, 2

Ephesians 2:8-10

Philippians 2:12-16

2.  Although Mark 4:29 certainly reflects the last days or our gathering to go home with the Lord, just as certainly it reflects our own growth in Christ to the point that we are able to bear fruit for Him, at which time He reaps it and uses it to glorify Himself.  We must understand that our purpose on this earth is not just self-fulfillment, but to glorify Christ and bear fruit that reflects His great work in us.  What are some ways that the following passages speak about this and what we must always remember in this life?

John 12:24-26

1 Corinthians 3:9-16

Ephesians 4:1-3, 11-16

3.  Growing to full maturity as a plant that bears fruit for the Kingdom takes time, and God doesn’t expect us to be perfect or to bear fruit that we can’t.  Perhaps He made you a grape vine when you wanted to be a grapefruit tree.  You feel envy at those big pieces of fruit you see growing on the other tree, and all you can produce are those little grapes!  Yet if God wants “spiritual grapes” from you, that is His purpose for you. You weren’t meant to be nor expected to be what you can’t be.  We must bear the fruit that God has called us to and leave His work in others to His concern.  Rather, what should our attitude be as described by the apostle Paul in Philippians 3:7-21?

Scripture Memory:  Try to fill in the missing words in the blanks below, by memory if at all possible, and then review the passage several times today.

But He said to _____________, “Why are you so __________________? How is it that you ______________ no ___________________?” Mark 4:40 (nkjv)