“Fading or Fruitful” – Palm Sunday

Entering the Holy Week, we discussed the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree on his way into Jerusalem. At first glance, this story seems odd and unrelated to our everyday lives. However, upon further investigation, we can see (as we always do) that He is teaching us even in this interaction how we are to be engaged and active in our own lives to bear fruit. Key verses: Mark 11:11-17, 20-21, 2 Timothy 4:2, Proverbs 13:12, 11:30, Rev. 22:1-3, Jeremiah 17: 5-8, and Psalm 1:1-3 Read the key verses and discuss the following questions: 1. What was Jesus expecting from the tree and why did He curse it? What happened to the tree? 2. How is the condition of the temple and the people welcoming Jesus on Palm Sunday a mirror of the fig tree? (What similarities can we see?) 3. How does the modern church compare to the temple? What practical things can you think would change it for the better? (Note we are not talking about any specific church, just the church as an organization). 4. Why are we called to bear fruit in and out of season? Who is our fruit meant for? 5. The natural inclination when we are told to produce fruit is to try to do more, but what do we see in Jeremiah 17:5-8? Who is blessed in these verses? 6. From these verses, how do we see that God meets all the needs of our spiritual trees? 7. What is the practical advice we get from David in Psalm 1:1-3? How does the advice from these verses equip us to be able to pass along fruit to those to who need it?