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Now, I have to check for a moment. Does anybody remember, is Pastor Jason good at growing

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plants or not so great at growing plants? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You've seen the little

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potted lavender. That thing never had a chance. It was just sad. But you know, I did actually

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go a few months ago, I think it was, and I decided, you know what, I'm going to try

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to go get something easy. I'm going to go buy some trees. So, I went ahead and bought

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two avocado trees and a fig tree. I know, right? That, yeah, that Linn is already like this

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is going to end in tears. But you know, though, I did have some pretty good help. Maybe the

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vultures helped me out a little bit here is to find out what you're supposed to actually

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do with plants, especially trees. So, they're doing really well. They're both doing great.

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I've kept them in the pots not because I'm lazy, but I've been putting them in, taking

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them out with the weather, making sure they're being watered and everything, move them over

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to make sure there's only indirect sunlight on them for the time being because the stems,

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the actual future trunk is not ready for all the stuff. Man, and they look beautiful. But

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you know, there's no fruits. There's no figs. There's no avocados. Oh, my word. How have

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I done such a terrible job with these trees? I haven't gotten any avocados or figs off

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of them, but probably because, yeah, it's not ready yet. It takes a few years for them

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to get to that point. So, what would it be if I were to come up to these trees and start

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getting upset? Hey, you know, LSU purple, where's my figs? What's wrong with you? What

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have I done to offend you, Mr. Fig Tree? That probably doesn't make a lot of sense, right?

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And avocado trees, I mean, come on, all right, if there's any place that we should be used

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to them. But you see, the idea of bearing fruit, we spend a lot of time wondering about

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that poor little fig tree. And at the same time, missing out on what it is that Jesus

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is trying to get across to us. Was Jesus just being too harsh on that little tree? Or is

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there something deeper going on? Now, let me make sure that I paint the picture and remind

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you about this. We talked about the story of Jesus going to the temple and flipping over

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the tables with the moneylenders. Okay, what we see here is a larger framework. Okay, we

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talked about the John passage previously, but this is where the Mark passage sits in,

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is in the middle of Jesus going to the temple in Jerusalem. And what is he writing? He's

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writing on a donkey. Now, the thing is, is that usually, whenever someone kingly is coming

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in, they're going to ride on either a horse or a mule, not usually a donkey, but this

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is very specific, because this is being spoken to and prophesied by Zechariah. Because if

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you're looking for the one who is to come and to bring salvation to the people, Hosanna,

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God save us, then look for the one that's riding on the full of a donkey. And isn't

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it fascinating that all they have to do is they're going up and they're taking this donkey

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off of this post and they're just like, oh, well, the master needs it. Oh, well, okay,

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yeah, go ahead and take it. But at this moment in time is that people see Jesus coming and

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they're excited. And they're waving their palms and they're putting cloaks on the ground

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and on the donkey. And they're excited and they want to see what he's going to do. They

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want to see him coming in to the city and they want to see what is Jesus going to be

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up to. And what does he spend his time doing? He's upset at the fig tree. Man, Jesus, in

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a little OCD over here, are you? I mean, come on, leave it to all the ADHD of us to be

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distracted. I mean, come on, why is it that this ends up being so important? But you see,

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I want to remind you about why it was that going to the temple was such a thing for Jesus

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is that as he goes outside of the temple, there is a court and inside of that court

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is where the Gentiles would go. So imagine you've never known who God is and you want

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to come to this place that you've heard about this temple, this place in Jerusalem and you

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want to know who God is. You're not a part of that original Jewish community. You're

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not going into the temple, the inner portions of it. You're not even going to the main,

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but you need to go somewhere to hear about who God is. Where are you going to go? The

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courts. But now imagine you're sitting there ready to hear about God and all you can hear

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are people haggling over the money and bringing the cattle in and making sure that all the

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animals are set to go and everything else. And you're just kind of like, I just want

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somebody to tell me about who God is. And nobody seems to have the time for me. Jesus

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comes to the one place that you should be able to see fruit. And there is none. Is it

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any wonder he was so upset at that moment with that fig tree? And if I may, is it quite

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possible that that's where we as the church are struggling? I was over at karaoke this

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last week with some friends or people who call me their friend. I don't know. They're

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a little weird, but I like them. Okay. And with it is that as we're over there, don't

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worry. I sang Piano Man by Billy Joel. Don't worry. I made sure I got that one in there.

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I also got somebody told me, I did not get around to you've lost that love and feeling,

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but next time, next time, yeah, it is on the list. I swear. I swear. I'm pretty good at

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it if I might just say it. But one of the things that came up was the question. It was

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like this thing of, okay, can you talk to so and so about making sure that they come

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over to church? And it was kind of like, well, yes, of course, I'd be happy to. But what

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it started getting in my head is this thought, this question. We sometimes wonder why it

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is that not as many people go to church these days as they used to. But there's a part of

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me that also wondered, is it something that we complain about just to complain? Or should

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we slow down and ask? Is there a reason? Is it possible that people are less likely to

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be in church today because they don't see a place that's bearing fruit? Is it possible

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that the church itself has lost its purpose? And I think that that's really what it is

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that we're supposed to get about this fig tree. You see, it talks about that Jesus can see

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the fig tree from a distance, and he sees the leaves that are on that tree. And when you

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see the leaves, it's pretty, it's vibrant, it's got life. And yet when you get there,

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where's the fruit? Is it possible that in many ways we have spent so much time trying

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to look alive, but we haven't slowed down to make sure we're bearing any fruit? I find

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it interesting about that poor little fig tree. But you know, I also find it interesting

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that Jesus was able to take a storm out on a sea and get it to quiet down. God is able

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to grow plants out of just the desert out of nowhere, and they spring up immediately.

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We know that there are so many ways that Jesus could take five loaves and two fish and just

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feed thousands of people with it. How amazing would it have been if at that moment, if out

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of season, there shouldn't be any figs on this tree. But Jesus were to come up and were

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to find figs because he's there. How amazing would it have been that the Lord is here,

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and even the very plants bear fruit because of him? And yet in a world where serpents

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can be cursed, in the world as opposed to bow at his feet, mountains can crumble and

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valleys can be filled, what does the fig tree do? Absolutely nothing. But isn't that also

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something that we find ourselves looking for excuses to? In many ways is that we keep finding

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reasons for why this is not the season. This is the wrong time. We're only a few years

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away out of COVID, if even that. Everybody's struggling. Everybody is having issues getting

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back into their habits, and you know, people are trying to identify what matters. And the

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world around us, the world around us has lost sight of who God is and what it is that matters.

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Of course it makes sense that the church struggles today because the whole rest of the world

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is struggling. This is not the season in which God's Word is being proclaimed and people's

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lives are being changed. This is the wrong season for that pastor, Jason. What are you

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expecting of us? But that's the thing about who God is, is that God doesn't wait for things

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to be in season to do his will. God isn't waiting for the day when we're comfortable. The day

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whenever we feel like we're ready. God's not waiting for the day whenever we think we've

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got it all figured out. God's not waiting for the day whenever we've got all of our

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teas crossed and our eyes dotted. God's not waiting for the day whenever we get to a point

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of saying, you know what, we've got it all figured out. Okay, now we're going to be living

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for the Lord and we're going to make everything, make straight the path of the Lord. He's saying,

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I'm here now. Because the reality is that that's the only time and place that we truly

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find life is because Jesus is with us. See, that's the thing about this is that being

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rooted in this ground is that the living water of Christ Jesus and his light coming to us

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is all we need. So then what is keeping us from growing in his presence? That's a challenge

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for you today. You see, as we're going forward, as we're moving toward what we're going to

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see with Jesus going to the cross is that he is going to do everything that is needed.

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He is there to sacrifice of himself for us. And yet, is it possible that we've lost sight

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of bringing people to know Christ Jesus and then asking what is it that God is doing in

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our lives today? So as much as I'm really glad for all the things that have been going on

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and great work that happens all around us and frankly, music is beautiful and I'm just

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really glad to get to know a lot of you all and I'm really glad for a lot of the program

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that we have. But if we look between the leaves, do we see God's spirit moving in your life?

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Are you being changed by God's spirit? What is God doing in your life right here right

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now? And if right now at this moment in time, you can honestly look at yourself and say,

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I feel like something's missing. Then you come bang on my door as fast as you can and

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all of us because that needs to change today. Because today is the day of the Lord. Today

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is where we are at his temple. So whatever you may be seeing around you, it is not meant

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to distract from the ultimate purpose. So fig trees aside, and yeah, I know that's not

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a fig tree. It was what I had. Just go with it, all of you, arborists and everything else.

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But the thing is, is that today we come back to who God is because he's the one giving

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us life and light and hope. And with that is that he is the one to bear fruit in our

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lives. So may this day and every day hereafter be another opportunity for God to do his work

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in us. And may we now take those fruits and go out into a world that needs to know his

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spirit. And if you need some ideas for that, please come find me. Nothing else at all that

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we do ever takes precedence over what God is going to do in your life. Thanks be to God.