Let’s talk about one of the hardest truths Jesus ever laid out:
“Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” — Mark 8:35
That statement doesn’t just sound counterintuitive—it feels impossible to live out. Everything in us wants to hold on—to our comfort, to our control, to the way things have always been. To the desperate, anxious desire to grow numerically. It must be clear; I am highly motivated for more people to know about Jesus and hopefully join us. But it’s important to put the emphasis on the right syllable, less we miss the point.
Jesus says that the more we cling, the more we lose. The tighter we grasp, the emptier our hands become. That’s true not just for individuals but also for churches. If we focus solely on keeping things afloat, we will lose what matters most. But if we give ourselves away to Christ and His mission, we will discover the kind of life, community, and joy we were made for.
That’s Kingdom logic: You find life when you give it away.
You Can’t Order Fruit Like You Order from Amazon
Most of us buy fruit without ever thinking about where it came from. We walk into the grocery store, grab an apple, and expect it to be there. Simple, right?
But have you ever planted a fruit tree?
It takes years before you see a single apple. You plant the tree, and for a long time, it looks like a whole lot of nothing is happening. But under the surface, the roots are stretching down. The branches are getting stronger. The tree is learning how to thrive in every season.
Then, after years of tending, watering, pruning, and waiting… the fruit appears.
Now, imagine someone planting a tree and then, two months later, walking up to it and demanding apples. That would be ridiculous. But spiritually, we do this all the time.
We want spiritual depth, but we don’t cultivate deep faith.
We want a growing church, but we don’t invest in discipleship.
We want to see people come to faith, but we don’t live in a way that makes faith attractive.
We can’t just want fruit. We have to tend the tree.
Practical Ways to Cultivate Your Faith
Following Jesus is not about passive belief. It’s an active, intentional way of life. Here are some concrete steps you can take to grow deeper:
✅ Join the Sunday Morning Bible Study (9 AM).
Sunday worship is essential, but let’s be honest—one sermon a week isn’t enough to shape your whole life. Our Sunday Bible study is a chance to go deeper, ask tough questions, and learn how to actually live out what Jesus teaches.
✅ Join a LIFT Group (Living in Faith Together).
Faith isn’t something you do alone. LIFT groups are where faith becomes real—where you share life with others, wrestle with Scripture, and encourage each other to put it into action. If you’re not in one yet, let’s fix that. I will know this has become successful when the decision to skip a LIFT group meeting is just as difficult as the decision to not attend worship. The one thing Jesus gave us to do at the very end before he ascended into heaven was to make disciples. Tragically, that is often the last thing Christian see as important. The truth is we always do what we prioritize.
✅ Find one way to serve this month.
Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Want to experience that firsthand? Choose one way to serve this month. Maybe it’s:
- Helping at a local food pantry or homeless shelter.
- Visiting a shut-in or someone in the hospital.
- Writing an encouraging note to a struggling friend or neighbor.
- Contacting Home Sweet Home and exploring what volunteering there might look like.
- Contacting Circle of Concern and again exploring what volunteering there might look like. Or any other number of ministries near where you live or near the church whichever works best for you. Giving beyond ourselves is a normal healthy thing in many times people live very unhealthy unsatisfied lives because most of what they do is turned inward.
- Sign up for a Spiritual Orphans, Network short-term mission trip.
- Offering your skills—whether that’s fixing something, making a meal, or mentoring someone. Faith grows when we put it into action.
✅ Make your home a discipleship zone.
Church isn’t just what happens on Sundays—it’s what happens in your home, at your dinner table, and in your conversations. Try this:
- Read one Bible passage together as a family each week. Once a week does sound like a lot, but for many households, it’s 100% improvement. Start with that and see where it goes. Reading scripture together and praying together has been one of the most transforming experiences in my marriage and my family.
- Start a weekly “God sighting” conversation—sharing how you’ve seen God at work in your life.
- Pray for people in your life who don’t yet know Jesus.
You don’t need a theology degree to do this. You just need a willingness to start.
Tending the Tree: Slow Growth is Real Growth
The reason we often don’t take these steps? We expect instant results.
But that’s not how growth works. Remember Jesus’ words in John 12:24:
“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
There’s a process:
- The seed has to go into the ground.
- It has to disappear for a while.
- It has to push through seasons of drought, wind, and storms.
- But in time, the harvest comes.
The problem is that we live in an instant-gratification culture. We want fruit without the tree, results without process, and real growth—whether in faith, the church, or life—takes time.
That means we have to be faithful, not frantic.
What If We Really Lived This Way?
Imagine what could happen if we stopped listening to fear and started living generously:
- If we prioritized discipleship over convenience.
- If we focused on transformation, not just attendance numbers.
- If we stepped into mission instead of waiting for others to do it.
- If we lived in such a way that people saw Jesus in us.
There are many fruits that the Gospel of Jesus produces. It. Is. Never. Fear.
The Jesus centered Gospel centered kind of church isn’t built overnight. It’s built over seasons of faithful, daily, sometimes slow, unseen work. It’s built when we stop expecting instant results and start tending the tree.
Final Thought: Are You Holding On Too Tightly?
Ask yourself this:
- Am I just attending church, or am I actually growing as a disciple?
- Am I living out my faith, or am I just keeping it private?
- Am I part of the mission of the church, or am I waiting for someone else to do it?
- Am I tending my faith like a tree, or am I demanding instant fruit?
- When I do talk about my Faith, am I talking more about external church programs and features or the Jesus that I know?
Jesus never said, “Go and desperately claw your way to numerical success.” Once again, so that I’m not misunderstood, I am all for more people knowing Jesus. That’s precisely why we’re here. But you can’t pick fruit without tending the tree.
He said, “Go and make disciples.”
That means we go. We serve. We invest. We give. We trust. It’s time to stop just wanting fruit. It’s time to cultivate it.
So here’s the challenge: Pick one of these action steps and commit to it. Today.
You will never regret investing in your faith. But if you keep waiting for “the right time” to grow, you may wake up one day and realize you spent your whole life holding on too tightly to things that never really mattered. Or demanding fruit from a tree that doesn’t exist
Let’s trust Jesus. Let’s plant deep roots. Let’s see what happens when we let go and give our lives away for something bigger. Remember, Church growth is an inside job. It starts when what is within us overflows onto others.
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