KGM School of Service Knowing God Missions · Tumenyimana
Course: The Potter’s Wheel (Wheel)
Lesson: 3
Scripture: John 15:1–8; Matthew 3:13–17; Galatians 4:4–7
Language: English

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Lesson Three — The Father: The Source and Planter of the Church: The Pillar of Love

BIG IDEA


The Father planted the church, and the Father keeps her. Workers come and go, but the Gardener does not die. He says to His children, “You are mine” (Isaiah 43:1), and the life of Christ within us keeps expanding. God so loved the world that He gave. So a church that has received the Father’s love gives herself: her heart first, her time second, her resources last. This is the pillar of Love.

PART 1 — SCRIPTURE READING

John 15:1–8 • Matthew 3:13–17 • Galatians 4:4–7

Open your Bible and read slowly: John 15:1–8, Matthew 3:13–17, and Galatians 4:4–7. In John 15, Jesus says that He is the true vine, that we are the branches, and that His Father is the Gardener. In Matthew 3, Jesus is baptized in the Jordan, and the Father speaks from heaven over His Son. In Galatians 4, God sends His Son so that we may be adopted as His children, and He sends the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.

In Lesson One we saw that the five pillars rise from five relationships. In Lesson Two we saw the same five pillars in the picture of a river. Now we begin to walk through the five relationships, one by one. We begin where the church begins: with the Father. This lesson follows Chapter 3 of The Potter’s Wheel.

KEY VERSE — JOHN 15:1


“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”

PART 2 — WALKING THROUGH THE LESSON

A. The Worker Grows Old — The Work Continues

“When Joshua had grown old, the LORD said to him, ‘You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over’” (Joshua 13:1).

There is a strange comfort in this verse. The worker may grow old, but the work continues. Human workers come and go. God, who watches over the work, remains forever. Death is not a trap for those who look to the Everlasting One. The Kingdom of God does not depend on one person. It depends on the eternal purposes of the Father.

In human life the father usually dies first, and the son is left to take care of the house. In God’s Kingdom the order is different. The Father watches His children grow, mature, and complete their time on earth. Sometimes the Father adds years to the life of His child. He added fifteen years to the life of King Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:5–6). Sometimes the Father takes His child to heaven without death. Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11). And Paul could say, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). The work of God is never in danger of stopping because a servant of God dies. What God has begun, He will bring to completion (Philippians 1:6).

B. The Gardener Does Not Die — He Planted Her, and He Keeps Her

Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener” (John 15:1). (Your Kiswahili Bible says “the farmer.” It is the same thought: the Father is the One who cares for the vine and the branches.)

This is the first thing a church must know about the Father. He planted her, and He keeps her. A church that knows this is set free at once from two great fears: the fear of losing her leaders, and the fear of her own weakness. A worker may be planted, grow old, and die. But the Father’s hands remain on the work, so that the work flourishes from one generation to the next.

The Gardener does not die.

C. The Voice at the Jordan — “You Are Mine”

Jesus was baptized in the Jordan. “And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:17). It was the voice of the Father. Jesus lived in the love of His Father. The Gospel of John says, “The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands” (John 3:35). Jesus Himself spoke of that love openly. He said that the Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does (John 5:20). The love of the Father is not a distant idea. It is personal. It affirms us, and it changes us.

God speaks in the same way to His people: “But now, this is what the LORD says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine’” (Isaiah 43:1).

To be a son or a daughter of God is to belong. The heart of sonship is the security of belonging. When God says, “You are mine,” He declares who we are, He declares His love, and He takes responsibility for us. We are not orphans. We are not abandoned. We are God’s own possession, adopted into His family through Christ.

D. In What Sense Is God a Father?

God is not a father in the bodily sense, as earthly fathers are. His fatherhood is spiritual, redemptive, and eternal. Scripture shows us three things.

  1. Jesus is God’s one and only Son. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus alone is the Son of God in this way, and through Him we are brought into God’s family.
  2. Every person is God’s offspring by creation. Paul said in Athens, “‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring’” (Acts 17:28). Every human being is God’s creation. But not every person is a son or a daughter of God in the sense of redemption.
  3. We become heirs through Christ. “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory” (Romans 8:17). Sonship is not automatic. It is given through faith in Christ. Through adoption we receive the full rights of sons and daughters.

God is the Creator of all people. He becomes Father to those who are in Christ. “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir” (Galatians 4:6–7). Let us walk in this assurance of belonging.

E. The Life Within Is Expanding

God says to His people through Isaiah, “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes” (Isaiah 54:2).

A father looks at his young son and is amazed at how much the boy has grown. His arms and legs are longer and stronger. He is even beginning to help in the house. This is a sign of maturity. He is bearing fruit. The boy is not growing more arms or more fingers. The life within him is expanding.

So it is in the church. We often think that growth means larger numbers. But true spiritual growth is the life of Christ being expressed in us. The local church is not a business or an institution. She is alive. Jesus is the vine, and believers are the branches (John 15:5). The real measure of a church is not how many people attend. The real measure is the evidence of Christ’s life changing the community around her.

F. The True Gardener — God Makes Things Grow

Who truly planted our church? Who cares for every branch and draws new disciples? It is easy to forget. Jesus has told us: His Father is the Gardener (John 15:1). The church does not stand by human effort alone. She flourishes because God is at work, and the Father is always at His work (John 5:17).

Paul wrote, “So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow” (1 Corinthians 3:7). Jesus said that every plant His heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots (Matthew 15:13). Only what the Father plants will stand. So a thriving church is not the result of strategies or numbers. She is the fruit of the Father’s planting. When we know that God is the true Gardener, we stop striving for success. We learn to remain in Christ, the true vine (John 15:4), and we trust the Father to bring the growth.

G. The Father’s Love Through Serving — Love Is Giving

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). (Your Kiswahili Bible says that we should always do the work of the Lord more and more. It is the same thought: we give all that we are to His work.)

Our love for God is shown through service. Believers who have received the self-giving love of the Father answer by giving themselves fully to His work. Love is not only a feeling. It is an action. Scripture teaches us three things about giving.

  1. Love is giving. God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son (John 3:16). Love that is not given is not love yet. The Father showed His love by giving us His Son. We show our love by giving ourselves, our time, and our resources.
  2. Giving is an act of faith. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Christ loved Paul and gave Himself for him. In answer, Paul gave himself completely to Christ. God is the source of everything we give, and God is the One who receives what we give. So giving is an act of obedience and of trust in His provision.
  3. Giving grows. “And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity” (2 Corinthians 8:1–2). The churches of Macedonia were poor, but they gave generously and with joy. As our faith grows, our giving should grow as well.

Love that is not given is not love yet.

H. Heart First, Time Second, Resources Last

Three principles keep our giving in its biblical order.

  1. Give your heart first. True giving starts with a surrendered heart. The believers of Macedonia gave themselves first of all to the Lord (2 Corinthians 8:5).
  2. Give your time second. If you would not give your time, think again before you give money.
  3. Give your resources last. Money should flow from a life that is already dedicated to God.

Many people give money without giving their time. But generosity should be the overflow of a willing heart. It is not a way to ease guilt or to avoid giving ourselves.

I. The Circle of Self — How Big Is Your Circle?

Every person has an invisible circle. The circle decides whom we allow into our lives. When we marry, the circle grows to include a husband or a wife. When we have children, the circle grows again. On the cross, Jesus stretched out His hands and widened His circle to include all of humanity, for God so loved the world (John 3:16).

How big is your circle? Does it include only your family and your close friends? Or does it reach the lost, the hurting, and the needy? To love beyond ourselves is to make room for others in our lives.

Giving is also a supernatural act. Tithing and generosity are not only matters of money. They are spiritual laws. God spoke through the prophet Malachi: “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it’” (Malachi 3:10). When we give in faith, we confess that God is our provider. We release what we have, and we trust Him to supply what we need. A church that receives the Father’s love and serves will see growth, unity, and spiritual strength. So we do not give up: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).

The Father and His Church at a Glance

J. The Lesson in One Sentence

The Father planted the church and keeps her, calls us His own, makes the life of Christ grow in us, and gives His love through us (John 15:1; Isaiah 43:1; 1 Corinthians 3:7; John 3:16).

In Lesson Four we come to the Son, the Foundation and Stability of the church, and to the pillar of Truth.

PART 3 — KNOW THE WORD: TEACHING FOCUS

1. The Father Is the Gardener

Read the key verse again (John 15:1). Then ask about every ministry in the church: whose garden is this? If a ministry would die when its leader leaves, it was planted in a person and not in the Father. Honour the workers, but build on the Gardener. Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow (1 Corinthians 3:7).

2. To Be a Child of God Is to Belong

At the Jordan the Father declared His love for His Son (Matthew 3:17). In Christ, that voice is over us too: we are loved, we are His own, and we are pleasing to Him. Jesus said that the Father has loved us even as He has loved the Son (John 17:23). We are no longer slaves but God’s children, and God has made us heirs (Galatians 4:7). Think of every insecurity that drives us: the need to be seen, to be needed, to be applauded. Each of these needs grows quiet in the presence of a Father who says, “You are mine” (Isaiah 43:1).

3. Love Is Shown by Giving

God so loved the world that He gave (John 3:16). The Son of God loved us and gave Himself for us (Galatians 2:20). So love that is not given is not love yet. Let the giving of the church be examined in the biblical order: hearts first, time second, money last. The believers of Macedonia gave themselves first of all to the Lord (2 Corinthians 8:5). A congregation of surrendered hearts will never lack resources for what the Father is planting. God is able to give us all that we need for every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8).

PART 4 — TRUST THE SPIRIT: TEACHING FOCUS

1. The Spirit Calls Out “Abba, Father” in Our Hearts

Because we are His children, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, and the Spirit calls out, “Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6). The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children (Romans 8:16). This assurance is the work of the Holy Spirit. He makes us sure that we belong to the Father.

2. The Spirit Pours the Father’s Love into Our Hearts

We cannot give what we have not first received. God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Romans 5:5). He fills us with the Father’s love, and out of that love we serve. Serve out of the Father’s love, and service becomes joy. Serve without His love, and service becomes slavery.

3. The Spirit Produces the Fruit

The life within us is expanding, and the Holy Spirit is the One who produces the fruit. The fruit of the Spirit begins with love (Galatians 5:22). We do not produce this fruit by our own effort. We remain in Christ, and we bear much fruit (John 15:5). The Spirit produces the fruit. We simply bear the fruit. He also gives gifts to each one, just as He determines, for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11).

Word and Spirit in Lesson Three — Side by Side

PART 5 — FORMING CHRIST IN THE BELIEVER

This lesson forms Christ in us in three ways:

  1. Christ is formed in us when we hear the Father’s voice. Stand at the Jordan and hear the Father speak over His Son. Then remember that in Christ that voice is over you too. You are loved. You are His.
  2. Christ is formed in us when we serve as children who belong. We do not serve in order to be seen, to be needed, or to be applauded. We serve as children who are already loved. Then service becomes joy.
  3. Christ is formed in us when we give in the right order. Give your heart first. Give your time second. Give your resources last. The Son of God loved us and gave Himself for us (Galatians 2:20).

PART 6 — DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Come prepared to answer. Come prepared to listen.

  1. Joshua grew old, and there was still much land to be taken (Joshua 13:1). What does this verse say to you about the work you lead? What comfort does it give you?
  2. Think of the ministry you lead. Whose garden is it? What would help this work to be planted in the Father, so that it continues after you?
  3. The Father says, “You are mine.” How does this word quiet the need to be seen, to be needed, or to be applauded? What changes when you serve as a child who is already loved?
  4. How does your church measure growth: by numbers, or by the life of Christ in her people and in the community around her? Where do you see the life of Christ growing?
  5. Heart first, time second, resources last. Is this the order of your own giving? And how big is your circle: whom is the Father asking you to make room for?

PART 7 — WEEKLY ASSIGNMENT

Before next class, take time with the following:

CLOSING PRAYER

A PRAYER TO PRAY OUT LOUD THIS WEEK


Father, You are the Gardener. You planted our church, and You keep her. Workers come and go, but You remain forever. Set us free from the fear of losing our leaders and from the fear of our own weakness. Teach us to build on You.


Thank You that You have called us by name and that we are Yours. Let Your Spirit call out in our hearts, “Abba, Father.” Pour Your love into our hearts by Your Holy Spirit, so that we serve You as children who are loved, and our service becomes joy.


You so loved the world that You gave Your one and only Son. Teach us to give as You gave. Let us give in the right order: our hearts first, our time second, our resources last. Widen our circle to make room for the lost, the hurting, and the needy, in our town and across Tanzania. Let the life of Christ grow within us, and keep us from growing weary in doing good. In the Name of Jesus, amen.

NEXT LESSON — Lesson Four — The Son. The Foundation and Stability of the Church: The Pillar of Truth

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