A Tree and Its Fruit

Do you like fruit? I have a basket filled with several different kinds of fruit with me today.

Here's an apple. How many of you like apples? Apples not only taste good, but they are good for you. Surely you have heard the saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."

How about bananas? There are lots of ways to eat bananas. They are great on cereal at breakfast, aren't they? How about banana pudding? Is there anyone who doesn't like banana pudding? Have you ever eaten banana bread? Yum, yum! One of my favorite snacks is a banana smoothie. Oh, did I mention that bananas have lots of vitamins?

What is one of the best ways to get a lot of vitamin C? The orange, of course!

Where do we get all of these delicious fruits? They come from fruit trees, don't they? Apples come from an apple tree. Oranges come from and orange tree. Bananas come from a banana tree.

Jesus had a lot to say about fruit. He told his followers that they were to bear fruit. Now I don’t think he was talking about apples, oranges, and bananas. What do you think Jesus meant when told his followers to bear fruit for him? [Give the children time to answer]. When Jesus says that good people produce good fruit, he doesn’t mean the kind of fruit that we eat. He means that if we are following him, we will want to do the things that make God happy. We will do good things, we will help people, we will share what we have with others, and we will treat other people with respect.

Jesus said, "A tree is identified by its fruit. A good person produces good things from a good heart, but an evil person will produce bad things from an evil heart. What kind of fruit tree do you want to be? A good tree producing good fruit, or an evil tree producing evil fruit?

Father, we want to be identified as a good tree, producing good fruit. Help us to do the things we know will be pleasing to you. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.