Our focus moment this morning, Jami Smith used the imagery of wheat to explain how something that is lifeless, in the right conditions, can bring forth new life. During Lent, we are reminded that, like wheat, our lives will be fruitless unless we symbolically die to our self-interests, our needs, and our desires. By putting aside these things, God can use us as we grow in faith through Jesus Christ.
Kevin Blanchard continued along that theme in his message. He shared John 12:20-33 with the congregation and noted how Jesus used the example of the wheat to explain how we can die to our own desires and suffer for others to glorify God. He asked us to consider three questions – 1) Can we even imagine the self-less love that Jesus had for us? 2) Do we have that same kind of self-less love? 3) Does the way of the world keep us from glorifying God?
All God asks us to do is to serve him by serving others, but it is up to each one of us to choose how we will respond to that call.