Theme: Producing fruit in our lives 
Bible text: John 15:9-17 “I appointed you to bear fruit – fruit that will last. (This follows on from “Jesus is the Vine” last week.)
Objects needed for the lesson: A branch from a fruit tree (with or without fruit)
Basic Children's sermon Idea: This is a follow up from last weeks discussion of the importance of staying connected to Jesus the Vine. Show the children a branch from a fruit tree. Ask them what type of fruit it will produce. Drive home the point that although it may look nice it will never produce fruit because it has been broken off from the main true branch / trunk. Jesus appointed us to bear fruit by staying connected to him.
Full Children's Sermon: Good morning boys and girls. Do you remember last week I brought in a vine? Look what I have this week. Do you know what it is? Yes it is a tree branch. Can you guess what type of tree it’s from? (Let the children do some guessing.) That’s right. It’s from a cherry tree. I cut it off from the tree we have in our back yard. Do you think it will produce some nice big red cherries? How about if I leave the branch over on the side here and we can check back in a few weeks in order to see how it is doing. What – It won’t work? Why? That is right. You must have been listening well last week. Last week I showed you how a branch of a vine will dry up and wither if it isn’t connected to the vine. In the same way, if a branch like this is broken off from the main tree it can’t produce any fruit. This branch that has been broken off will never produce cherries, no matter how long we wait. When it’s broken off it is impossible for water, nutrients, and life to get from the tree out to the fruit that needs to grow. In our Bible reading from the Gospel of John today, Jesus said that he wants us to produce fruit in our lives. He didn’t mean we would produce apple, oranges and cherries. He wants our lives to produce the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, etc. That is the kind of fruit we will produce if we stay closely connected to Jesus.
Prayer: Thank you God that Jesus chose us and provides nourishment so we can produce fruit in our lives. Help us stay closely connected to Jesus (like a branch growing on a fruit tree). That way we will produce plenty of good fruit such and Love, Joy, Peace, etc. In Jesus’ Name – Amen.
Copyright 2009 Andrew Hewlett SundayChildrensFocus.com
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