Postured for Growth

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:5-6

Suggested Activities:

• Have your meeting at the botanical gardens nearest your corps location.
• Volunteer at a community garden.
• Choose seeds to plant to start your own community garden.
• Teach the women to grow a plant from a seed.

Decoration ideas

• Greens
• Leaves
• Potted plants
• Garden tools
• Watering cans

Music to play for the planting time of reflection, which can be found on YouTube.

• “Lift My Life Up”- Unspoken
• “Graves Into Gardens” – Elevation Worship
• “Great Things” – Phil Wickham
• “Goodnes of God” – Bethel Music
• “Come As You Are” – Crowder
• “Just Like Heaven”- Brandon Lake

Educational Script – using the suggested activity of growing your own plant.

Can anyone tell me the four main needs of plants to grow, survive, and thrive? (soil/nutrients, air, water, sun)

Today we are going to travel back to that very first biology lesson as we try to make these little seeds grow into healthy, lovely plants. For the purpose of tying back to the Biblical lesson, I have chosen seeds for plants that will “produce fruit” for us. I have some sunflower seeds, pepper variety seeds (depending how spicy you like your home cooking), some tomato seeds, and for the extremely brave/talented, I even have some fruit tree seeds.

Go ahead and choose the pot and seed you would like to work with. Remember to choose the size of pot that will allow the plant you selected its best chance of growing strong. Bigger plants need more root space, and regardless which seed you choose, these may all need to be transplanted into bigger pots, or eventually into your yard or garden at home.

Make sure that your soil has space to drain the excess water when needed, so it doesn’t get flooded and wash away. For this, you can choose to put coarse sand, small pebbles, garden rubber, or a drain plate at the bottom of your chosen pot. Just a third of the way up will do.

You can choose regular potting soil, nutrient-rich soil, soil mixed with fertilizer, or if you really want to “cheat,” you can load the whole pot with Miracle Grow soil. You don’t want to fill to the very top, because we still haven’t planted our seed yet. Dig a hole according to the instructions, and plant the seed, gently cover it with the topsoil. There should still be a good inch between the top of the soil and the top of the pot.

What are the two things we haven’t introduced to our seed to create the perfect environment yet? (water and sunlight). For this first watering, you want to completely saturate that soil but remember not to drown that seed. Place the pots where the first rays of sunlight will coax the seeds to life. Mark your pot so you’ll remember which plant is yours.

Plant a Seed and Water It

Our Scripture for today is 1 Corinthians 3:5-6 which says: “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe–as the Lod has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” In these verses, Paul is addressing an issue that has wormed its way into the body of believers—jealousy over who led them to Christ. Paul is reminding them that it doesn’t matter how they became believers, but only that they allow God to continue working in each of their hearts and lives to make them into the person He created them to be.

When we see a mature apple tree, we don’t wonder, who planted that, where did it come from, or how long has it been there? We’re more concerned with how the apples taste, and if they are growing well and look pretty. As Christians, our pasts don’t matter as much as what God is doing in and through us right now. I love when people share their testimonies and we get to hear and understand how they first found and decided to follow Jesus, but this shouldn’t be the only testimony we have. God should still be constantly at work in and through us to bring His good purpose.

Just as a plant needs nutrients, air, sun, and water, we fully rely on God for any good thing that could come from our lives. The Bible also says in John 15:4-5 “Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Imagine wanting to grow a plant but knowing you didn’t have the know-how or a green thumb, you simply picked out the seed you wanted and put it in a picture frame on the wall. Would that seed become what you hoped it would? In the same way, we can’t make anything happen with our lives simply by desiring it. Good things are only produced in and from us if we are constantly in communion with God. Just as Paul pointed out to the early believers, it’s not about any of us, our skills, abilities, popularity, or work, it’s only God! Remember: “apart from Him, [we] can do nothing”. All good things come from God. True fruit of the Spirit comes from God. We can only be useful and fruitful if we remain in Him and allow Him to remain in us, molding and shaping us every step of the way.

If your plant springs up and starts looking dry, let it remind you of your need for the Living Water. If it grows tall and needs a support post to keep it upright, may it be a reminder to turn to God who you can always lean on. As it looks to the sun, may you remember to turn your face back to the Light of the world, God’s Son. And may you find that when it begins to produce fruit, that you have Godly fruit springing up from your life as well.

Prayer: Lord, help us to always remain in You. Tend to us in ways that only a perfect Gardener can. Keep what’s fruitful and cut away anything that does not point to You. May we only bear Your good fruit. I pray these plants would be a constant reminder of God’s provision, care and work in our lives. It’s in Your Holy Name we pray, Amen.