Present Faith Despite Absent Fruit: We Shall Overcome

A tree was planted on 07/04/1776. The truth of this tree was supposed to produce a fruit that said we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That's the tree. But the fruit, the fruit are looking sparse. The fruit are looking like fascism and bigotry and racism and classism and division. [01:33:20] (40 seconds)  #FoundingTruthsVsFruit

Trouble is visible and that's the problem. When we don't see visible fruit, but we see visible problems. But I came by to give you some hope today because trouble is visible on your ring door cam, but I want to tell you to send faith to answer the door. Oh, that's why the Lord told us that we gotta come back to this table over and over again because there's a table in the house called God's table, the Lord's table, so we can remember that faith is all we need to face whatever trouble awaits us at life's doorstep. [01:41:31] (49 seconds)  #FaithAnswersTheDoor

The first fruit was just a sign that the roots are working. The first fruit were just a sign that there was potential and hope for future harvest. The first fruit is just evidence that if I keep on keeping on a little while longer, if I let these useless fruit go this season and I keep growing through my dormant season that when my spring season comes around again, you're going to see fruit like you hadn't seen before in your life. [01:20:37] (47 seconds)  #FirstFruitIsHope

And if we're honest, even when you're an expert at something, there was a season where you knew nothing. Oh, yeah. I know you got it going on today. I know you got it figured out today. I I know you can do it real fast today, but there was a time when you were learning. And how soon we forget what it was like to have the first season of worthless fruit when we moved into our harvestable season. [01:20:00] (37 seconds)  #RememberYourBeginnerSeason

you have outgrown your family role. You are called the responsible one, the mediator, the fixer. You oftentimes feel like you're the only adult in the room And many folk in the room are older than you are. And yes, there's fruit. There's less chaos. There are fewer cries. They say everything will be alright because uncle Johnny's here. Aunt Susan's here. But with that growth has come a heavy weight. No one checks on you. You always have to have it together. Lord knows you can't fall apart. [01:25:34] (63 seconds)  #OutgrownFamilyRole

But you can understand the owner's frustrations. I'm gonna hurry. He came in year three expecting to find some hope, not even a harvest, but just hope that there would be a harvest one day. I've waited two years to see some unusable fruit just so I would have hope of a future with fruit. And I've come now in year three and I don't even see the useless fruit. I don't even see the almost. All I see is the not there. [01:34:29] (38 seconds)  #WaitingForHopeInYearThree

Failure at this stage signaled, watch this, a serious problem. Here it is and I'm done. God will allow a serious problem to activate our faith. Oh, come here. There's somebody who can testify and say it wasn't until I had the serious problem of a sickness that the doctors could not heal. It wasn't until I had the serious problem of God unless you do it, it won't get done. [01:38:50] (49 seconds)  #ProblemsActivateFaith

You you show up on time every day for work, you stay late without extra pay, you sharpened your skills and knocked it out of the park at all your performance reviews, you work measurably and and and and and has contributed to the bottom line of the corporation and the company and after two years of faithfulness, you were expecting something in that third year but all they give you is a new title with no real authority. They give you a 3% raise that can't even keep up with inflation and they give you more responsibility framed as growth opportunity. [01:22:22] (36 seconds)  #UndervaluedAndOverworked