The Pineapple Story - Otto Koning 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 3 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and [a]behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? Watering, Working, Warning 5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. * Field * Matthew 9:37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. * We are not in a factory or on an assembly line. We are in a field that the produce is life. But this life can be choked out, rotten, or stolen, so God has placed in this field of life Farmers… * We don’t plant one plant in hopes to feed our family, we plant fields. * Farmers * We have probably heard that we are the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the family of God. All those bring lots of benefits to us but being a farmer in a field means work. It takes responsibility to tend the garden. * Later he talks about us being the building and how we are to work to on the building God is building. * The importance of this thought is that we each have a role God has giving His children to farm His fields and build His building, have we found ours and are when in the right field? * Fellow * Koinonia is a Greek word that occurs 20 times in the Bible. Koinonia’s primary meaning is “fellowship, sharing in common, communion.” The first occurrence of koinonia is Acts 2:42, “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Christian fellowship is a key aspect of the Christian life. Believers in Christ are to come together in love, faith, and encouragement. That is the essence of koinonia. * We don’t run the farm but we farm the field with God! He is right there with us but it is His field, His building, His resources, and His plan. * Though God does want us to put in the work that is not to confuse us whose field it is and who brings the harvest. If we aren’t seeing the harvest produce God doesn’t tell us to work harder he tells us to ask Him more often. * Finish with Otto Konning becoming a Christian. Transition: so as we move forward in our vision of what we believe God has for next year for Restoration Ranch we will plan for everything but count on nothing, “But God”!