And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat FALL into the ground and DIE, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much FRUIT.
(John 12:23-24)
Sacrifice is the master key which will take an average ministry to fruitfulness.
Sacrifice is the key that will transform a reverend minister from an official with a title, to a truly fruitful minister. It will make a church grow from a single church to a chain of churches. It will make a pastor move into church planting.
The corn of wheat symbolizes the missionary. And the missionary is the one who will be sent out to plant the churches. To be alone means to be fruitless. It means to be without members or followers. This dying process in the man of God will eventually bring out much fruit.
Imagine for a moment of Jesus had not died! There would be no harvest for God's Kingdom. That rigorous process of sacrifice yielded great fruitfulness. Now God has children all over the world.
The need to "die" is the most important truth to grasp. A single corn will become a big tree with many fruits only if it falls into the ground and dies.
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Based on Chapter 17 of Church Planting by Bishop Dag Heward-Mills.
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