A Matter of Life and Death

Series:

Summary

A Matter of Life and Death

Brandon Berg

John 12:24

“If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”

Martin Luther King Jr

“Death will be a great relief. No more interviews.”

Katharine Hepburn, American actress

“You only live twice: Once when you’re born, and one when you look death in the face.”

Ian Fleming, the onetime spy who created James Bond

John 12:20-26, CEB

Some Greeks were among those who had come up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and made a request: “Sir, we want to see Jesus.”

Philip told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

Jesus replied, “The time has come for the Human One to be glorified. I assure you that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it can only be a single seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their lives will lose them, and those who hate their lives in this world will keep them forever. Whoever serves me must follow me. Wherever I am, there my servant will also be. My Father will honor whoever serves me.

1. Another paradox of the Kingdom- death is necessary for life

2. God has designed you, and desires you, to bear much fruit

3. We choose to multiply or petrify

Big Idea: People will come to know Jesus when his death for our salvation becomes our design for imitation.

I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you, exalted for you, or brought low for you; let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing: I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal. And now, glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.

Discussion questions:

1. When you think about bearing fruit in the Kingdom of God, and that Jesus ties that process to death, what are some initial thoughts that come to mind?

2. Think about the shell of a seed that needs to be cracked open via various environmental factors. Do you have a “shell” around your life preventing you from bearing fruit in the Kingdom? If so, describe this.

3. Paul talked about “dying daily” and being “crucified with Christ”. He understood Jesus’s words here in John 12:24 about fruit being born out of death. What might this process of ‘dying to self’ look like for you?

Speaker: Brandon Berg

February 19, 2023

Brandon Berg

Executive Pastor

A Matter of Life and Death

Series:

Summary