About Prayer Sermon Notes

Open menu

About Prayer Sermon Notes

Loading note…

Walk through Scripture. Grow in faith. Together.

Home About Prayer Sermon Notes For Churches Privacy Terms

This Will Help Them Grow | Sermon Notes — Hello Pastor

Sermon Notes/Time of Celebration Ministries Church/This Will Help Them Grow

Sermon notes

This Will Help Them Grow

Jerry Flowers·Time of Celebration Ministries Church

Sunday, February 23, 2025

Summary

In this message on the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree, Pastor Jerry Flowers addresses our deep desire for spiritual growth and challenges us to stop mistaking God's pruning and fertilizer for spiritual warfare. True growth is rarely glamorous; it is surgical, uncomfortable, and requires us to surrender our self-will. When we embrace the losses, crosses, storms, and thorns God allows in our lives, He faithful removes internal baggage and produces the lasting fruit of repentance, trust, and righteousness in us.

Key Scriptures

Tap a passage to read it in the Bible app ↗

Psalm 119:71↗John 15:2↗Luke 13:6-9↗Galatians 5↗Luke 13:1-5

Keep growing this week

These are personal sermon notes shared to help you remember the message — not a replacement for Scripture, your church, or your pastors.

More from Jerry Flowers

Continue learning from this pastor

Sermon

Get Up: Faith Under Fire

Jerry Flowers · Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship

Aug 9, 2026

Messages for what you're walking through

Related teaching for similar life moments

↗

John 1:47-48↗

Luke 8:23-25↗

2 Corinthians 12:6-9↗

Themes

Spiritual Growth and MaturationPruning and PurificationPerspective Shift in TrialsFruitfulness vs. PresentationThe Fruit of RepentanceGod's Patience and Grace

Pastor's Points

1.Losses: Unexpected circumstances God allows to reveal what is in our hearts and where we lack trust in Him.
2.Crosses: Daily self-denial sent to stretch us and crucify carnal desire.
3.Storms: Weathered seasons meant to expose our faith level and blow away dead weight.
4.Thorns: Irritating situations allowed by God that keep us humble, dependent, and rooted in His grace.

Key Points

1.Mislabeling God's Development: Biblical ignorance causes us to mistake God’s refining hand for a satanic assault, mislabeling His training as trouble and His spiritual watering as a storm.
2.Pruning vs. Cutting Off: In John 15, every branch in Christ experiences cutting—unfruitful branches are removed, while fruitful branches are pruned so they can yield even more fruit.
3.Elevator Weight Capacity: You cannot carry lower-level, distracting relationships into higher spiritual seasons because every spiritual elevator has a weight capacity limit.
4.Presentation Without Fruit: God is not looking at outward presentation or 'leaves' (titles, posts, church attendance); He digs beneath the heart's surface to inspect the actual root system.
5.Fertilizer and Manure: In Luke 13, the vine dresser places manure around the fig tree; God frequently uses messy, uncomfortable, and frustrating situations as spiritual fertilizer to accelerate our maturity.
6.The Growth Formula: God uses four primary tools to build believers—Losses (exposing trust), Crosses (killing self-will), Storms (revealing faith levels), and Thorns (producing humility).
7.Spiritual Reversal: God's Kingdom math operates on reversal where the first shall be last and the last shall be first, teaching us to avoid arrogance when elevated and envy when overlooked.
8.Babies Fight Medicine: Just as small children fight the bitter medicine meant to heal them, spiritually immature believers often resist the uncomfortable correction and pruning God sends to heal their souls.

Sermon Moments

“If we truly desire to spiritually grow, we're going to have to stop praying for spiritual growth but then rebuking spiritual fertilizer and calling it the devil.”

“When you have been shaped by ignorance, you cannot trust your discernment because your discernment will cause your perspective to mislabel God's hand as a satanic assault.”

“If we're going to trust God to order our steps, we're going to have to surrender our feet.”

“You're not losing your mind; you are losing your will.”

“All elevators have a weight capacity... if you keep on keeping level six, seven, and eight people with you, why are you shocked that you're stuck at level 12?”

“God will give you a Wilderness to get all of the Egypt out of you so that you're not trying to take your Egypt appetite along with you.”

“Babies fight what heals them.”

“It's not an attack; it's fertilizer.”

This Week

Stop rebuking difficult circumstances as spiritual warfare before asking God what character trait He is trying to produce in you.
Evaluate your inner circle and let go of distracting relationships that exceed your spiritual weight capacity.
Examine what is beneath your outward religious presentation by confessing hidden triggers, bitterness, and unchecked anger.
Practice daily self-denial by choosing God's word over your fleshly cravings and personal convenience.
Thank God during uncomfortable fertilizer moments—such as difficult bosses or frustrating circumstances—knowing they develop self-control and patience.
Inspect your life for true spiritual fruit, ensuring that you exhibit real repentance rather than merely showing religious leaves.
Extend patience to brothers and sisters in Christ who are undergoing renewal, remembering how patient God was during your own rebellion.

Remember This

Stop praying for spiritual growth while rebuking the spiritual fertilizer and surgical pruning God sends to make you fruitful.

A Challenge for You

Surrender your feet and stop fighting the uncomfortable process of maturity. Thank God for digging up whatever strangles your soul, and trust His surgical hand to make you truly fruitful.

Sermon

It's Hard Out Here For A Husband

Dr Dharius Daniels · Change Church

Sep 20, 2026

Sermon

May We Be One

Philip Anthony Mitchell · 2819

Sep 20, 2026

Sermon

Jesus Will Give You Just What You Need

Herbert Fontnette · Strong Tower Ministries

Sep 20, 2026

Sermon

Are You Marriage Material?

Dr Dharius Daniels · Change Church

Sep 13, 2026

Related Sermon Notes

Shared themes and scriptures: God's Patience and Grace, Luke 13:6-9

Sermon

The Vineyard and the Tenants

Philip Anthony Mitchell · 2819

Apr 19, 2026

Sermon

Fruit And Faith

Philip Anthony Mitchell · 2819

Apr 19, 2026

Explore more Sermon Notes

Browse all sermon notes