Crown Christian
Center is our local church fellowship located in Odessa, Missouri.
As a local congregation, our primary goal is to be fruitful. However,
fruitfulness is a process. Through seasons of planting, cultivating,
nurturing, pruning, and harvest the Father brings forth good fruit
in our lives in due season.
Jesus said, “I
am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him,
he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone
does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up;
and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned...By
this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove
to be My disciples.” (John 15:5,6,8) The fruit of a tree reflects
the character of its root. If we are intimately joined to Jesus, then
the fruit of our lives will bear the mark of His character. In fact,
the branch that abides in the vine will bear much fruit. The Lord
(the vine) will see to it, for by doing so, He glorifies the Father.
This is a relational
process that’s brought forth in a corporate context. Jesus told
His disciples, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and
appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit
should remain, ...This I command you, that you love one another.”
(John 15:16-17) Notice here that “you” is plural. Fruit
bearing takes place as we are rightly related to the Lord and to one
another. We will experience the blessing of His promise, if we accept
responsibility to obey the command that enacts it.
Jesus Is Lord!
Pastor Bud Shepherd
