The "Church Field" and the Gardener

The first Sunday at First Baptist Leakesville was encouraging. It seems some people resolved to be more involved in church and some of them kept their commitments. Our attendance was up. In Sunday School, we almost doubled our attendance over the previous week.

One Ladies Sunday School Class Teacher shared, with excitement, that a lady she had been inviting to her class for several weeks came for the first time. Our Deacons Meeting, which was held at 8:00 AM, was well-attended with only 2 out and they had to work. A family--who my wife and I have been inviting for several months--came for the first time.

We started a special program for children on Sunday Night, DiscipleKID, and we had several workers help us. They are using the material Jesus: The One and Only, which is a study written by Beth Moore for children. Seventeen children came and we know of many more who were sick and out of town who usually attend. When I first came to FBC in Dec. 2005, there were very few children attending. So, this is thrilling.

So, I was encouraged on many different levels. I extend invitations to church on a regular basis and it is so exciting to see a family attend in response to my invitations and prayers. While I work the "church field," I know it is God who draws and grows people. I don't.

Jesus said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser (John 15;1)."

Jesus is the “true vine” because His Father, God, is the "vinedresser." In other words, Father God is the supreme gardener.

A vineyard does not produce on its own. Wild vines are not productive. A successful vineyard needs a knowledgeable and attentive grower who is responsible to cultivate the soil, water the vines, remove the weeds, repel insects, trim branches, and harvest the grapes. God is the irreplaceable vinedresser. He gets all the credit for any fruit produced. Paul acknowledged this truth when he wrote His letter to the Corinthians. He declared, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase (I Cor. 3:6, NKJV).”

As I serve the Lord, I am reminded I don't "grow" the faith of anyone. I simply introduce them to the gardener.